An allowance is an important tool for teaching children how to make plans for the use of money, save and make their own decisions. Children remember and learn from mistakes when their own dollars are lost or spent foolishly. How large is an allowance is suitable? Experts say there is no right amount. Actually amounts differ from region to region, and from family to family. To set up a suitable allowance for your child, work up a weekly plan. Allow for entertainment costs such as movies or fast food. Next, include everyday expenses such as lunch money, bus fare, school supplies. "If you make the child responsible for these bills," says Josephine ,a specialist , "he or she will learn to plan for necessary costs." Finally, add some extra money to make saving possible, if you keep your children's allowance in line with that of his friends. A child whose buying power falls away below his peer's can feel left out. It can be taught but don't excuse your children when they make a mistake with their allowance. When Brooke was ten, her mother gave her $5 a week, $1.75 of which was for bus fare and lunch. "If you lose your money, Brooke" mother told her, "you walk home." One week that girl spent all her money in a candy store; then she called home for a ride. "Mom made me walk home," recalls Brooke, now a financial planner in a big company. "At first I was angry. But I finally realized that she was trying to teach me an important lesson." Why does the writer mention the girl Brooke? A) To explain that parents should be strict in developing children's good habit about money. B) To question the opinion about pocket money. C) To compare Brooke with other financial experts. D) To suggest pocket money is useless in developing a child's sense of responsibility
A
Writing being largely a self-taught occupation, texts on how to get about it -though great in number- seldom are of much use. You try, and fail. Then try again. Until at last, if you have some gift for it, the failures become less frequent, or at any rate less apparantly. It is this ability to cover up one's defects that is finally regarded as accomplishment or achievement. Along the way there are the discouragements of unkind criticism, outright rejection, troublesome insecurity and irregular inability to meet debts. It is uncommon, therefore, to come across a book containing advice of much practical value for anyone toying with the dangerous idea of staring on a writing life. A friend recently lent me such a book, however - one I wish I'd had the luck to read years ago, and which I would recommend to any young person devoted to making a career of words. It is the autobiography of the English novelist Anthony Trollope, first published in 1883, the year after his death. Needing some means to support himself, Trollope at age 19 worked as a junior clerk in the British postal service. He was at his desk at 5:30 each morning to write for three hours. And he remained in the mail service 33 years, long after reputation and prosperity had come to him. Now, what of his advice in his works? 1. For safety's sake, arm yourself with some other skills, some other line of work to fall back on . That way, failure at writing, though the disappointment may appear, will not mean ruin. 2. Do not depend too much on inspiration. Writing is a craft, which Trollope compared to the craft of shoemaking. The shoemaker who has just turned out one pair of his work sets to work immediately on the next pair. 3. Have a story to tell, but, more important than that, people with characters who will speak and move as living creatures in the reader's mind. Without memorable characters, story alone is nothing. 4. Meet your deadlines. Life is endlessly "painful and troublesome" for writers who can't finish their work on time. 5. Do not be... From the passage we may infer that the author is most probably A) an instructor of writing B) a writer C) an educator D) a publisher
B
Q: Looking for some inspiration or the "write" kind of ideas for your creative stories? To start with, some writers describe winter by using their five senses or their imagination. Others write on their favorite winter activity. Whatever you choose to write about, working on a winter story can always help to improve your writing skills. Now read the following story and see if it helps get rid of any icy writing block you' ve been struggling with. A Winter Adventure Beep, beep. Beep-beep: the alarm clock rang. Slowly, I got out of warm bed down onto the wooden floor which the winter had thrown its cold upon. The bitter cold temperature penetrated my socks and I hurried to put my feet in shoes. Looking out of the window, I watched the white snow, soft and thick, drop onto rooftops and trees. Half an hour later, finishing the last of my hot chocolate, I prepared to enter the _ that waited for me outside. I buttoned my jacket and fastened my boots. Hat on, I opened the door and was greeted by the winter coldness. In the depths of winter, the early morning did not have the rush of the rest of the year. Most of my neighbours were put off by the cold, and stayed in bed until the sun had climbed higher into the sky. Unseen by those who remained locked inside their homes, warm in their beds, I enjoyed being alone with the beauty of the wintertime. Those indoors were unable to appreciate the snow-scapes, ice crystals, frost and the crisp breeze. For them, the coming of winter meant just the arrival of the cold. Appreciation depends on contrasts. One cannot love the warmth of April if one has not known the freezing cold of winter. Later that year, the heat of the sun on my skin would be all the more wonderful for my memories of that cold morning and others like it. What function does the story A Winter Adventure serve? A) To share some winter thoughts with readers. B) To show readers how to work on a winter story. C) To inspire readers to take more exercise in winter D) To tell readers how to appreciate the beauty of winter.
A: B
*Question*
How to eat healthfully can be especially complex for working women who often have neither the desire nor the time to cook for themselves (or for anyone else ).Registered dietitian Barbara Morrissey suggests that a few simple rules can help. "Go for nutrient-dense foods,"she suggests,"foods that contain a multiple of nutrients. For example,select whole wheat bread as a breakfast food,rather than coffee cake. Or drink orange juice rather than orange drink,which contains only a small percentage of real juice--the rest is largely colored sugar water. You just can't compare the value of these foods, the nutrient-dense ones are so superior,"she emphasizes. Morrissey believes that variety is not only the spice of life,it's the foundation of a healthful diet. Diets which are based on one or two foods are not only almost impossible to keep up the strength,they can be very harmful, she says, because nutrients aren't supplied in enough amounts or balance. According to Morrissey,trying to find a diet that can cure your illnesses,or make you superwoman is _ ." As women,many of us are too concerned with staying thin,"she says,and "we believe that vitamins are some kind of magic cure to replace food." "We need carbohydrates,protein and fat-they are like the wood in the fireplace. The vitamins and minerals are like the match,the spark,for the fuel,"she explains." We need them all,but in a very different proportions . _ ." Orange juice is different from orange drink because _ . A) it contains only a small percentage of real juice B) it is natural,nutritious and prepared from real oranges C) it is largely orange-colored sugar water D) it produces nothing but calories
**Answer**
B