Are you a compulsive spender, or do you hold on to your money as long as possible? Are you a bargain hunter? Would you rather use charge accounts than pay cash? Your answers to these questions will reflect your personality. According to psychologists, our individual money habits not only show our beliefs and values, but can also stem from past problems.
Experts in psychology believe that for many people, money is an important symbol of strength and influence. Husbands who complain about their wives’ spending habits may be afraid that they are losing power in their marriage. Wives, on the other hand, may waste huge amounts of money because they are angry at their husbands. In addition, many people consider money a symbol of love. They spend it on their family and friends to express love, or they buy themselves expensive presents because they need love.
People can be addicted to different things — for example, alcohol, drugs, certain foods, or even television. They are compulsive in their addictions, i.e. they must satisfy these needs to feel comfortable. In the same way, according to psychologists, compulsive spenders must spend money. For people who buy on credit, furthermore, charge accounts are even more exciting than money: in other words, they feel that with credit, they can do anything. Their pleasures in spending enormous amounts are actually greater than those they get from the things they buy.
There is even a special psychology of bargain hunting. To save money, of course, most people look for sales, low prices, and discounts. Compulsive bargain hunters, however, often buy things that they don’t need just because they are cheap. They want to believe that they are helping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game: when they can buy something for less than other people, they feel that they are winning. Most people, experts claim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good reason for the things that they do and the real reason.
It is not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending habits, but also business people. Stores, companies, and advertisers use psychology to increase business: they consider people’s needs for love, power, or influence, their basic values, their beliefs and opinions, etc. in their advertising and sales methods.
Psychologists often use a method called “behavior therapy(療法)” to help individuals solve their personality problems. In the same way, they can help people who feel that they have problems with money: they give them “assignments”. If a person buys something in every store that he enters, for instance, a therapist might teach him self-discipline in this way: on the first day of his therapy, he must go into a store, stay five minutes, and then leave. On the second day, he should stay for ten minutes and try something on. On the third day, he stays for fifteen minutes, asks the salesclerk a question, but does not buy anything. Soon he will learn that nothing bad will happen to him if he doesn’t buy anything, and he can solve the problem of his compulsive buying.  
小題1:If you use charge accounts, ____.
A.you pay in cashB.you pay with credit card
C.you pay less than you shouldD.you pay more than you should
小題2:Compulsive bargain hunters buy things for all the following reasons except that ____.
A.the things they buy are cheap
B.they believe they can balance their budgets
C.they get psychological satisfaction
D.they really need the things they buy
小題3:Behavior therapy in this case aims at____.
A.helping businessmen to increase their business
B.helping compulsive spenders to buy less
C.finding out how people will react if they are allowed to buy
D.finding out what people will do in front of a bargain
小題4:The underlined word “those” in Paragraph 3 refers to ____.
A.different thingsB.their addictions
C.charge accountsD.their pleasures
小題5:From the passage we can conclude that ____.
A.how you spend money reveals if you are psychologically healthy
B.money is a necessity and will bring you happiness if you have much
C.compulsive buying problems can be solved by taking some medicine
D.a(chǎn)ll businessmen understand well the psychology of customers

小題1:B
小題2:D
小題3:B
小題4:D
小題5:A

試題分析:文章講述的是不同的消費(fèi)方式和消費(fèi)習(xí)慣能反映出消費(fèi)者的性格特征和不同的心理需求。
小題1:事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第一段第一,二行Would you rather use charge accounts than pay cash?可知。選B。
小題2:事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。 根據(jù)第五段Compulsive bargain hunters,however,often buy things that they don’t need just because they are cheap.可知選D。
小題3:推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段最后一句可知。
小題4:詞義猜測題。句意為他們花大量金錢的樂趣實(shí)際上比他們從買到的東西那得到的樂趣更多。所以是樂趣與樂趣相比,即pleasure,選D。
小題5:推理判斷題。B項(xiàng)文中沒有講到,C項(xiàng)錯在taking some medicine D項(xiàng)錯在all businessmen。選A。
點(diǎn)評:本文是一篇很有趣的文章,介紹了關(guān)于理智消費(fèi)的問題,本文有些難度,對于考生的能力要求較高,但只要認(rèn)真細(xì)致閱讀,并不難發(fā)現(xiàn)答案。可以先看題目再讀文章,這樣可以提高閱讀的速度。
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

On the first day of school I brought my camera to school. I gave the students a piece of 8 ×11 cardboard(紙板), and asked them to write their names on both sides. As they finished, I asked them to get into groups of three to four students and took photographs of them holding their name cards.
After school, I developed the film and printed two sets of photos. That evening, I started to match the names with the faces. I kept one set of pictures at home for about a week so that I could review their names each night. On the second day of school, I put up the other set of photos as a bulletin board (公布欄), with a title such as "Presenting Room 108, ..."
The kids loved it! After I had learned all of their names I brought the second set back to school and stuck them onto an 8 ×11 sheet of paper. I placed it in the classroom for other teachers.
The cardboard name cards that were made on the first day were collected and put on a shelf. From time to time, they were given back to the students and placed on their desks so that guests or supply teachers (代課老師) could identify all of the students.
I’ve been doing this with my grade 7 students for the last nine years and they liked it. It’s fun to bring the photos out again at the end of the school year to see how much they have all changed in ten months.
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A.play some kind of game B.decorate the classroom
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小題3:Why did the writer leave the second set of the photos at home?
A.To memorize the students’ names at home.B.To make cardboard name cards for supply teachers.
C.To make a bulletin board in the classroom.D.To match the students’ names with their faces
小題4:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.The students didn’t have to use the cardboard name cards to identify each other.
B.Other teachers couldn’t identify the students without the cardboard name cards.
C.The writer kept the cardboard name cards as a souvenir for nine years.
D.The guests will know the students’ names by reading the cardboard name cards.
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

Over three million people will do their Christmas shopping entirely online this year without once visiting an actual shop, a poll (民意調(diào)查) has found. Overcrowding and long queues in shops are forcing people away from the high street as the hassle (煩擾) of Christmas shopping becomes too much.
The number of people turning their backs on the high street is almost one million higher than it was last year, according to the poll by YouGov. Last Christmas 2.4 million shoppers did not do any of their shopping in actual shops. The figure this year is predicted to be around 3.4 million, equal to around 7 percent of the adult population.
Over a third of people said that the main turn-off about shopping on the high street is 0ver-crow-ding. Meanwhile almost a quarter said that long queues at the cheek-out are the worst thing about it.
Of the 2.065 people pored, even those who are stir taking to the shops plan to spend less time in them this Christmas. Around 31 percent of shoppers who plan to spend at least some time on the high street will spend less than half of their shopping time in actual shops, using the rest of the time to shop remotely via the internet. This compares to 28 percent of people last year. Meanwhile the proportion of people spending over half of their shopping time in high street shops has dropped from 41 percent last year to 39 percent this year. Just 2 percent of people said that they are looking forward to dealing wi.th store staff this festival season.
Guy Boxall, senior product marketing manager at Casio Business Solutions Division, which commissioned the research from YouGov, said that despite the fall in people visiting the high street,humans are "social creatures" who actually like spending time together.
"Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers (零售商) should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away," said Mr. Boxall.
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C.a(chǎn)bout 39% of shoppers will do more than half of their shopping in actual shops
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C.retailers should focus on the advantage of in-store shopping.
D.retailers will make more profits this Christmas than last Christmas
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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The number of cameras in public and private areas is on the increase and with rising crime rates and the recent terrorist attacks, more and more surveillance cameras are being used to watch us. This means that we all have to be aware that our employers, department stores, police and even some of our friends could be spying on us at any time!
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D.a(chǎn)re fearful of
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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C.They are most likely to go back to the store to buy albums in the near future.
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A.How Steve Jobs and Apple destroyed the music industry.
B.Why young people prefer downloading music to buying albums.
C.The problem of illegal downloading of music.
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early efforts to economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.
But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium(獎金) price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.
小題1:What does the passage mainly discuss?
A.The influence of ice on the diet.
B.The development of refrigeration.
C.The transportation of goods to market.
D.Sources of ice in the nineteenth century.
小題2:According to the passage, when did the word “icebox” become part of the language of the United States?
A.in 1803B.sometime bore 1850
C.during the civil warD.near the end of the nineteenth century.
小題3:The phrase “forward-looking” in line 3 is closest in meaning to______.
A.progressiveB.popularC.thriftyD.well-established
小題4:The author mentions “fish” in the passage because _____.
A.many fish dealers also sold ice.
B.fish was shipped in refrigerated freight cars.
C.fish dealers were among the early commercial users of ice
D.fish was not part of the ordinary person’s diet before the invention of the icebox.

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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

Aggressive pedestrians are in fact as dangerous as careless drivers. They cause traffic accidents, injury and death.
These dangerous walkers can be seen in any big city over the world. About 69% of last year’s pedestrian deaths in the US occurred in urban areas. They cross streets ignoring “DON’T WALK” signals, suddenly appear without warning from behind parked vehicles, walk slowly at crossroads with cell phones attached to heads, blocking traffic.
These pedestrians and drivers share a common disregard for the rules of the road, both for selfish reasons. The drivers believe in the power of their machines. If their machines can go faster, they believe they have the right to go faster. If their machines are bigger, they believe they have the right to push smaller vehicles aside. Aggressive pedestrians, on the other hand, believe in the primacy(首位) of the individual, the idea that they are first in any environment, under any circumstances, even when they are on foot in a roaring tide of steel and rubber.
Last year, an estimated 5,220 pedestrians died in traffic accidents. Some 69,000 pedestrians were injured. On average, that worked out to one pedestrian killed in a traffic crash every 101 minutes, and one injured every eight minutes.
The good news is that the accident rate is dropping. For example, the number of pedestrians killed last year was 24 percent less than the number killed in traffic accidents a decade earlier. The bad news is that the basic causes of pedestrian deaths remain pretty much the same----disregard for traffic signals, inattention and crossing roads under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Alcohol, in fact, was involved in 46 percent of the traffic accidents that resulted in pedestrian deaths. Of those, 31 percent of the pedestrians were found to be drunk.
The bottom line is that the pedestrians must do more to protect their lives as well as the lives of other road users. They can start by obeying traffic signals, using marked cross-walks and calling a cab when they’ve had too much to drink.
小題1:The passage is mainly about __________.
A.how aggressive pedestrians cause traffic accidents
B.why so many Americans were killed on roads last year
C.what the traffic rules of the road about pedestrians were
D.who are to blame for pedestrian deaths, drunk drivers or the aggressive pedestrians
小題2:What is the pedestrians’ selfish reason for traffic jams?
A.They know all drivers are skilled and with great care.
B.They believe individuals are always first.
C.They think traffic rules have nothing to do with them.
D.They guess all vehicles will slow down at crossroads.
小題3:What was NOT the basic cause of pedestrian deaths in the US a decade ago?
A.Disregard for traffic signalsB.Paying no attention to surroundings.
C.Crossing roads drunk.D.Overspeeding driving.
小題4:As one of all the road users, what should we students do on busy roads?
A.Obey traffic signals at crossroads.
B.Run as fast as possible at crossroads.
C.Talk on your cell phone if necessary.
D.Always watch out for big trucks.
小題5:What word can best describe the author’s attitude to the traffic accidents caused by pedestrians?
A.Excited.B.Cold.C.ConcernedD.Inconnected.

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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

Research shows that childhood friendships are important indicators of future success and social adjustment. Children's relationships with peers (同齡人) strongly influence their success in school, and children with fewer friends are more likely dropping out of school, becoming sad and other problems.
Making and Keeping Friends Is More Than Child's Play
When 6-year-old Rachel returned to school on a recent Monday morning, her eyes immediately scanned the playground for her friend Abbie. Though they were only separated by a weekend, the girls "ran right into each other's arms and hugged," recalls Rachel's mother Kathryn Willis of Gilbert. "It was like a scene from a movie."
Most parents instinctively (本能地) know that having friends is good for their child. Experts agree that friendship is not simply child's play, but a powerful predictor of social adjustment throughout life.
A Skill for Life
"Childhood friendships serve as a very important training ground for adulthood," says Dr. Robbie Adler-Tapia, psychologist with the Center for Children's Health & Life Development.
Researcher William Hartup states, "Peer relations contribute significantly to both social and cognitive (認(rèn)知的) development." Hartup concludes that the single best childhood predictor of adult social adaptation is not school grades or classroom behavior, but rather, how well a child gets along with other children.
The work of Arizona State University proves that just as being able to make and keep friends is beneficial to kids, so is the lack of friends detrimental.
Good Friendships Don't Just Happen
Experts agree that it is basic for children to develop high-quality friendships. But, researchers warn, these friendships don't necessarily just happen. Often, a good friendship begins with involved (卷入,牽連)parents.
Valley psychologist Dr. Lynne Kenney Markan believes kids should be taught social skills in much the same way they are taught math and reading.
Bad Company
Many parents worry about the quality as well as the quantity of their child's friendships. "When she was in 1st grade, her supposed 'best friend' began calling her names and threatening to hurt her," says Mindy Miller. "My daughter wasn't allowed to talk to or even look at other girls in her class. It really crushed (壓跨) her spirit. I told my daughter she didn't need a 'friend' like that."
"I'll bend over backwards to help my son get together with a friend I think is good for him," Adler-Tapia says. "I don't look at it as manipulation (操縱), just positive parental involvement. "
小題1:The example of Rachel and Abbie is used to show that ________.
A.childhood friendship is of great benefit to their growth
B.a(chǎn) positive friendship helps children solve emotional and physical problems
C.it is a proven(被證明的) fact that peer friendship is the most rewarding experience throughout life
D.Rachel missed her friend Abbie very much because of their separation of one weekend
小題2:The underlined word "detrimental" could be replaced by _______.
A.valuable B.disappointing C.a(chǎn)ccurate D.harmful
小題3:We can learn from the passage that high-quality friendship most probably results from ______.
A.social skills and good study habits
B.school grades and classroom behaviors
C.a(chǎn)cademic success and social adaptation
D.positive parental involvement and social skills
小題4:From the last paragraph we can conclude that Dr. Robbie Adler-Tapia agrees that ______.
A.parents should regard making friends as something that just happens
B.it's wise for parents to support and encourage healthy peer relationships
C.parents only need to help their children to deal with difficult social situations
D.parents are supposed to encourage their children to make as many friends as they can

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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

When I worked as a waitress in Chicago, US, my coworkers and I would sigh whenever we heard someone with a foreign accent coming into our restaurant. We knew what it meant to serve a non-American: no tip. We would work just as hard as we always did, but we might not get paid.
Americans have an unspoken rule about tipping: they give tips to almost everyone who offers them a service of some kind. Americans tip their waiters, barbers and taxi drivers. An appropriate tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the amount charged for the service (But the charge for the tip doesn’t appear on the bill. The customer is expected to add it himself/herself.) Tipping less than this sends a message to your waiters that you think they’ve done a bad job serving you. And to leave no tip at all is simply unacceptable.
It’s not that American waiters are greedy. In many countries, waiters are paid a salary for their work. They’ll earn money even if no one comes into the restaurant. This system offers much more safety for waiters than the American version. In the US, waiters know that a night without customers means a night without pay.
Some countries include a tip for waiters – a “service charge” – on the bill itself. Since the tip is included with the other charges, waiters don’t need to worry about people forgetting to tip. But in the US, waiters do not receive a salary, and service charges only appear on bills when there are six or more customers at the table.
Since almost all American customers are familiar with the system, they know to add a tip without being told. But visitors to the US may expect waiters to be paid a salary, or think that the tip is included on the bill.
So much as we waiters loved hearing stories about other places from our foreign customers, we were always nervous when they got ready to leave the restaurant. We were never sure what to expect.
小題1:If you order $200 worth of food, which of the following is a proper total payment?
A.$200B.$215C.$220D.$230
小題2:Why don’t some foreigners tip a waiter according to the writer?.
A.because they are unfamiliar with the American tip system .
B.because they are too mean to give tips to any waiter.
C.because they have difficulty communicating with waiters.
D.because they are not really easy to become satisfied.
小題3:What can we learn from the passage?
A. The service charge never appear on the bill in the USA.
B. Customers are usually expected to tip waiters in the USA.
C. Dining out in other countries is much more expensive than in the USA.
D. Waiters in other countries earn much more money than those in the USA.
小題4:What is the main purpose of the passage?
A.To complain about the difficult life of American waiters.
B.To warn other waiters not to serve any foreign customer.
C.To call on foreign customers to leave tips for American waiters.
D.To tell us something about American waiters’ salary system.

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