Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.

　At school the children are taught to add up and subtract(减法) but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

　Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.

　As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft(透支) as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”

　The UK has been in the worst financial recession(衰退)for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents.

1.The passage is mainly about _____________.

A．how to manage school lessons             B． teaching young people about money　

C．how to deal with the financial crisis          D．teaching students how to study effectively

2.It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.

A．laws on financial education have been effectively carried out

B．pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract

C．students have been taught to manage their finances

D．the author complains about the school education

3.The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.

A．instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money

B．promote the connection of schools and families

C．ask the government to dismiss the parliament

D．appeal for the curriculum of financial education

4.A poll is mentioned to ___________.

A．show the seriousness of the financial recession

B．stress the necessity of the curriculum reform

C．make the readers aware of burden of the parents

D．illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal

More than half of Americans do not take all their vacation days，even though they think they need one more holiday.And nearly a third of workers who take a break check their e-mails from the boss every other day and some even keep in touch hourly.

“We’re workaholics(工作狂)’，”said Samuel Nahmias.“From a general perspective，this has a lot to do with the economic situation in the US.More and more people are unemployed.”

With jobless numbers reaching 9.6 percent，people who have jobs seem to be unwilling to take time off.“It_is_not_a_great_picture and that affects vacations.People are not going on vacation as much and those who are going on vacation are being more selective about where they are going.”Nahmias explained.

Unlike European countries where four or more weeks of holiday each year is normal,27 percent of people questioned in the poll said they had 6 to 10 days of annual leave and 20 percent had less than 3 days.With more people on unemployment lists in America，those still with jobs are facing more responsibility at work，which is reflected in their lack of time off.

The majority of workers who did not take time off mentioned too many responsibilities or stress at work，while some people said they simply did not have time to plan a holiday.“People are more conscious of what they are doing and when they are going on vacation because they don’t want to look bad in this situation，”Nahmias explained.

Technology is also playing a part with smartphones enabling workers to keep in contact in ways that were not possible before.It has to do with technology and the level of concern about what is going on in the office.

1．Americans don’t take all their vacation days because ________.

A．they devote themselves to the whole work

B．they are afraid that they may lose their jobs

C．they are asked to keep in touch with their bosses

D．they aren’t in need of holidays at all

2．What does Nahmias mean by saying the underlined words in Paragraph 3?

A．Travelling makes people unwelcome.

B．People are unwilling to go on short vacations.

C．The economic situation remains at a low point.

D．People are more selective about places of interest.

3.We can infer from Paragraph 4 that ________.

A．Unemployment rate is higer in America than that in Europe

B．European economic situation is better than that in America

C．Americans are more hard-working than Europeans

D．More people are losing their jobs in Europe

4．What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Americans are all workaholic.

B．Many Americans don’t choose to take vacations.

C．Unemployment is going from bad to worse.

D．US economic situation becomes worse and worse.

Traditional fairytales are being abandoned by parents because they are too scary for their young children, a study found.

         Research revealed one in five parents has ditched old classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Rapunzel in favour of more modern books. One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the horrible details of Little Red Riding Hood. And nearly half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumplestiltskin to their kids as the themes of the story are kidnapping and execution. Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it forgives stealing.

         The survey of 2,000 adults was conducted to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM, which starts tonight at 9 p.m. on Watch, and sees six episodes(片段) based on traditional fairytales. The poll found a quarter of parents polled wouldn’t consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they prompt too many awkward questions from their offspring(后代子孙).

         Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: “Bedtime stories are supposed to soothe children and send them off to sleep soundly. But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it’s understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children.”

         “As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five year old with an over active imagination could take things too seriously. Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will triumph over evil and there is always a moral to the story.”

         The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares.

         However, half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids’ books, such as The Gruffalo, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr. Men books.

1.Why don’t some parents want to read Rumplestiltskin to their kids?

A. Rumplestiltskin is too long.

B. Rumplestiltskin is too difficult.

C. Rumplestiltskin forgives stealing.

D. Rumplestiltskin may influence Children badly.

2.We can learn from paragraph 3 that Grimm is ___________.

A. a fairytales book

B. a movie for children

C. a play loved by children

D. a drama based on traditional fairytales

3.The underlined word “soothe “in paragraph4 can be replaced by___________.

A. put down                   B. calm down         C. take down                 D. come down

4.What’s the author’s attitude towards traditional fairytales?

A. Optimistic         B. Not mentioned

C. Casual             D. Disapproving

Cellphone feels like a part of your body? A global survey has found that most people can’t live without their mobiles, never leave home without them and, if given a choice, would rather lose their wallet.

 Calling mobile phones the “remote control” for life, market research firm Synovate’s poll said cell phones are so ubiquitous that by last year more humans owned one than did not.

Three-quarters of the more than 8,000 respondents polled online in 11 countries said they take their phone with them everywhere, which Russians and Singaporeans the most attached.

More than a third also said they couldn’t live without their phone, topped by Taiwanese and again Singaporeans, while one in four would find it harder to replace the mobile than their purse.

Some two thirds of respondents go to bed with their phones nearby and can’t switch them off, even though they want to, because they’re afraid they’ll miss something.

Mobiles have changed the nature of relationships, with the survey finding a fifth of all respondents set up first dates via text and almost the same number use the same method to end a love affair.

Apart from the obvious calling and SMS-ing, the top three features people use regularly on their mobile phones globally are the alarm clock, the camera and the games.

As for email and Internet access, 17 percent of respondents said they checked their inboxes or surfed the Web on their phones, led by those in the United States and Britain.

One in 10 respondents log onto(注册) social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace regularly via mobile, again led by Britain and the United States.

Not everyone is tech savvy(科技通), however,37 percent of respondents said they don’t know how to use all the functions on their phone.

1. How many people of all respondents end a love affair via text?

A. About 4,800.                          B. About 3,600.

C. About 2,400.                          D. About 1,600.

2. According to the survey,       like surfing the Internet with a cellphone most.

A. Singaporeans    B. Russians             C. Americans            D. Chinese

3. Which of the following functions of cellphones is the least used?

A. Calling.                                  B. Playing games.

C. Taking photos.                            D. Surfing the Internet.

4. Which would be the best title of the passage?

A. People can live better without the cellphone.

B. People would rather lose their wallet than their cellphone.

C. Different uses of the cellphone.

D. New functions of the cellphone.

Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.

At school the children are taught to add up and subtract(减法) but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.

As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft(透支) as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”

The UK has been in the worst financial recession(衰退)for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents.

1.The passage is mainly about _____________.

A. how to manage school lessons????????

B. how to deal with the financial crisis

C. teaching young people about money???

D. teaching students how to study effectively

2.It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.

A. the author complains about the school education??

B. pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract

C. students have been taught to manage their finances

D. laws on financial education have been effectively carried out

3. The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.

A. instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money?

B. promote the connection of schools and families

C. ask the government to dismiss the parliament???

D. appeal for the curriculum of financial education

4.According to Pfeg, ___________.

A. it is easy to keep good habits long??????????????

B. teenagers spend their money as planned

C. parents are willing to pay the debt for their kids???

D. it will be in trouble if the teenagers are left alone

5.A poll is mentioned to ___________.

A. stress the necessity of the curriculum reform?????

B. show the seriousness of the financial recession

C. make the readers aware of burden of the parents?

D. illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal