Homeownership has let us down. For generations, Americans believed that owning a home was undoubtedly good. Our political leaders hammered home the point. Franklin Roosevelt held that a country of homeowners was “unconquerable.” Homeownership could even save babies, save children, save families and save America. A house with a lawn and a fence wasn’t just a nice place to live in or a risk-free investment; it was a way to shape a nation. No wonder leaders of all political types wanted to spend more than $100 billion a year on subsidies（补助）and tax breaks to encourage people to buy.

But the dark side of homeownership is now all too apparent: Indeed, easy lending stimulated（刺激）by the cult of homeownership may have triggered（引起）the financial crisis. Housing remains a drag on the economy. Existing-home sales in April dropped 27% from the previous month, worsening fears of a double-dip. And all that is just the obvious tale of a housing bubble and what happened when it popped. The real story is deeper and darker still.

For the better part of a century, politics, industry and culture lined up to create a fetish of the idea of buying a house. Homeownership has done plenty of good over the decades; it has provided stability to tens of millions of families. Yet by idealizing the act of buying a home, we have ignored the downsides. In the bubble years, lending standards slipped dramatically, allowing many Americans to put far too much of their income into paying for their housing. And we ignored longer-term phenomena too. Homeownership contributed to the hollowing out of cities and kept renters out of the best neighborhoods. It fed America’s overuse of energy and oil. It made it more difficult for those who had lost a job to find another. Perhaps worst of all, it helped us become casually self-deceiving: By telling ourselves that homeownership was a pathway to wealth and stable communities and better test scores, we avoided dealing with these frightening issues head-on.

Now, as the U.S. recovers from the biggest housing bust（破产）since the Great Depression, it is time to rethink how realistic our expectations of homeownership are—and how much money we want to spend chasing them. Many argue that homeownership should not be a goal pursued at all costs.

1.Political leaders wanted to spend money encouraging people to buy houses because______.

A．owning a home was undoubtedly good

B．homeownership could shape a country

C．houses could save families and America

D．homeownership was unconquerable

2.The underlined sentence in Para. 2 means ______.

A．homeownership has quite a lot of bad effects

B．there might be another housing breakdown in the U.S.

C．the existing-home sales will keep decreasing in the U.S.

D．the result of homeownership is much worse than it appears

3.It can be inferred from Para. 3 that ______.

A．Americans choose to live out of urban areas

B．it is the way to wealth to have one’s own house

C．it is hard for Americans to get a home loan

D．homeownership has made many people out of work

4.What is the author’s attitude towards homeownership?

A．Cautious.          B．Ambiguous.        C．Favorable.         D．Optimistic.

This is time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents. Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.

       Littleton Children’s Home

       We don’t want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes in good condition would be very welcome.

       Also—we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests. You have so much—will you share it?

       Phone Sister Thomas on 55671.

       Children’s Hospice

       We look after a small number of very sick children. This important work needs skill and love. We cannot continue without gifts of money to pay for more nursing staff. We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games.

       Please contact The Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road.w.^w..c.#o@m

       Street Food

       In the winter weather, it’s no fun being homeless. It’s even worse if you’re hungry. We give hot food to at least fifty people every night. It’s hard work, but necessary. Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we urgently need some new saucepans. Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.

       Contact Street Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way, Littleton. Phone 27713.

       Littleton Youth Club

       Have you got an unwanted chair?—a record player?—a pot of paint?

       Because we can use them!

       We want to get to work on our meeting room!

       Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us.

       Thank you!

       The Night Shelter

       We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go. We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street. Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money. Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help.

       Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton. Please make check payable to Night Shelter.

1.Reading the passage, you might like to help these organizations which work for     

       A．homeless and sick children                  

       B．less fortunate members of our society   

       C．hungry people who have no beds to sleep in                          

       D．friendly members of our society to help others

2.If you like children and can offer a happy family to a homeless child, you may go to      .

A．Street Food  B．Night Shelter                C．Children’s Home   D．Children’s Hospice

3.We can infer that       .

       A．there are too many social problems in this country                 

       B．people are very poor during the time for giving presents        

       C．warm-hearted people like to give away money                      

       D．this passage is taken from a local newspaper

4.If your child has grown up, you may take the child’s things to        .         

       A．Children’s Home and Children’s Hospice  B．Youth Club and Children’s Home     

       C．Children’s Hospice and Night Shelter          D．Youth Club and Night Shelter

  If we bought only things we needed, there would be enough for everybody. What do we need? What you need depends on how old you are and your way of life. Rearrange the list of things you can buy and put the things you think we most need at the top of the list.
Coat             Designer jeans          Water       CD player
Dental check up   Restaurant meal     Telephone   Jewelry
Food          Shampoo             MP3 player  Beer
Toothpaste        Bar of chocolate        Cushion covers
If we don’t need to buy so much, we don’t need to work so much. We can take part-time jobs or reduce our working day from eight hours to six hours. Some people are leaving very well paid jobs to live a healthier life in the countryside or a more exciting life abroad. Parents can spend more time with their children and the unemployed are given more opportunities to work.
If we start to respect saving the earth more than spending money, we will become ‘conservers’ (保护者). When we are conservers, we try to choose environmentally friendly products that last a long time. We may find growing our own vegetables or making our own clothes more rewarding than buying them.
Next time you go shopping, think about what you really need to buy. Don’t deprive (剥夺) yourself of things you like, but decide what you should buy before you go out, so that you won’t be influenced by advertisements or promotions. If it is more expensive to buy goods that don’t have much packaging and things that are more durable (耐用的), buy less. If you can choose to work less, decide which things you would like to make, do or grow yourself. Even though you have less money, your life will become richer.
by Julie Bray
【小题1】 From the passage, we can see the author suggests us consumers ______.

I was nineteen years old the first time I saw my own true character.
My trip to and from work each day included a ten-minute walk through the heart of downtown, where the   36  often gathered. Like most busy citizens, I learned to   37  those nameless faces. When it came to homeless beggars, my   38  life experience had led me to one   39  that they are on the street because they choose to be, probably due to alcohol or drugs.
It was an extremely cold day. When I passed the groups of beggars as usual, I heard a shaky voice target me.
“Spare some change?” he asked.
I didn’t even   40  looking up at his nameless face. I briefly   41  him walking into a liquor store and buying whiskey with the money we spared him. Like most teenagers, it took me only moments to   42  him.
“I have no money on me,” I said quickly
Looking back now, I feel as if God had set out that day to teach me a lesson. And God   43 . Just a few feet past him, I managed to find the only ice patch on the sidewalk. I   44  and landed heavily on my right knee. The   45  was almost killing me as I tried to get up. Then I heard a shaky voice only inches above me.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
I knew immediately this was the man I had just rushed past. Even in pain, I   46  took a quick moment to sniff for the smell of alcohol on his breath. There was none. He wasn’t   47 . I saw the   48  in his eyes.
I   49  to get to my feet. He held my arm as I walked difficultly to the nearby bus stop.
“My name is Mike,” he said. “That’s quite a fall you took, and you really need to get it checked by a doctor,” he said with deep   50 .
“This bus goes past the hospital,” I said.
Mike paused, and a look of sudden   51  crossed his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cup. He took out all the change and held it out toward me.
“I think there’s just enough here for you to take the bus,” he said,
I was highly embarrassed as I remember my   52 . I reached for my purse and took out my change. At least ten dollars. I offered Mike all my change.
“Thank you and take care of yourself,” I said. Both of us knew that few minutes earlier I couldn’t have   53  what happened to him.
Mike held his cup tightly,   54  it as if it were the first gift he had ever received.
A half cup of change seemed too small a gift for the man who gave a   55  to every nameless face I’ve ever seen.

Several weeks ago, my friend advised us to sell some of our things which we will not use any more. I thought it was a good chance to  46  my 7-year-old son’s room and  47  some toys that were no longer suitable for him to play with. We  48  that all the money we got from selling the toys would be his money.
The night before the  49 , we loaded up the truck with toys and a little bike that was too  50  for him. In the yard he  51  the bike for the last time and then happily put it onto the truck. This little bike had at least two previous owners as far as we  52  . It wasn’t in the best  53  and was certainly not new, but the tires were  54  good.
We put a price of $10 on it, but it didn’t sell. So, after the sale was  55  , my friend put it on the sidewalk with a sign that  56  “FREE BIKE”. Within five minutes her doorbell rang. A little boy was   57  there. In poor English he asked whether the bike was  58  free. She said yes and that he could have it for  59  . He smiled, got on the bike and rode away.
Later that evening when I told my son how much money he had made at the sale, he was very  60  , shouting happily. He asked about a few of his things, wondering  61  they had been sold. When he asked about the bike, I told him about the little boy and that made him  62  . He was much happier than when I told him how much he had  63  . He was so happy to  64  that someone else would make good  65  of that little bike!