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方式和消費習慣能反映出消費者的性格特征和不同的心理需求。
小題1:事實細節(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:事實細節(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項文中沒有講到,C項錯在taking some medicine D項錯在all businessmen。選A。
點評:本文是一篇很有趣的文章,介紹了關(guān)于理智消費的問題,本文有些難度,對于考生的能力要求較高,但只要認真細致閱讀,并不難發(fā)現(xiàn)答案?梢韵瓤搭}目再讀文章,這樣可以提高閱讀的速度。
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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
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C.Talk on your cell phone if necessary.
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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 and Keeping Friends Is More Than Child's Play
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A Skill for Life
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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.
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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."
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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
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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.
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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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