How to Make a Budget(预算)
Most likely, you aren’t the family breadwinner. But doing a small job or getting a weekly allowance would put some money in your pocket. For kids and grown-ups alike money is easy to spend. If you aren’t careful, it can be gone in no time.
Being responsible with your money is an important skill to learn and the sooner you start the better. Whether you are tracking your spending or saving for something special, creating a budget can help you deal with expenses and plan for the future. All you need are paper and a pencil and some self-control.
First, take a look at our sample monthly budget. Then, use a separate sheet of paper to plan your own. In the first two columns, list your sources of income and how much you expect to earn from them. In the third and fourth columns, list what you expect to spend your money on and the amount.
Sample Monthly Budget
| Monthly income |
Amount |
Monthly Expenses |
Amount |
| Allowance |
$ 20.00 |
Snacks |
$ 26.00 |
| Money earned selling drinks |
$ 25.00 |
Music downloads |
$ 12.00 |
| Money earned babysitting |
$ 12.50 |
Movies |
$ 18.00 |
| Money earned delivering newspapers |
$ 30.00 |
Video Rentals |
$ 10.00 |
| Total: |
$ 87.50 |
Total： |
$ 66.00 |
The left-hand total should be more than or equal to the right-hand total. If it is, you have an effective budget.
Budgets are not complex, but sticking to them can be tough. When planning your budget, be realistic about your expenses. If you know that you drop $18 at a movie, don’t write $12 in that space simply because you wish you were spending less.
If you are eyeing a big purchase, such as a $150 skateboard, spend less and save more until you have the total amount. No matter how attractive it may be, avoid spending your savings. One day, you will thank yourself!The purpose of making a budget is to help people ___.
| A．learn to be realistic |
| B．manage their money well |
| C．increase their savings |
| D．test their power of self-control |
What should people do when planning a budget?
| A．Fill in the expenses as they really are. |
| B．Avoid spending money on expensive things. |
| C．Set aside a fixed amount of money as savings. |
| D．List income and expenses on two pieces of paper. |
Who is the passage written for?
| A．Bank manager | B．Parents |
| C．Breadwinners | D．Children |
It’s nearly noon on a Saturday and you can’t believe it: your teenager is still in bed, sleeping away. But before you wake him up---mumbling to yourself that you can’t believe what a lazybones he is---you should know that he probably needs all the zzzs he can get.
As much as nine hours of sleep a night, in fact. Furthermore, teens’ circadian rhythms (i.e., processes that occur once a day) mean that young people would rather stay up past midnight and rise after 9 a.m. The result? Many teens stay up late, drag themselves out of bed early for school and try to make up the sleep debt on the weekends---or in class!
“There’s a biological reason why teens stay up late and want to sleep late,” says Dr. Stan Kutcher, the Sun Life Chair of Adolescent Mental Health at Dalhousie University in Halifax. “Their natural sleep-wake cycle changes as part of the maturation process. And because of changes in their social activities, recovering from sleep debt is more problematic.”
Teens need extra sleep for several reasons. First, their brains are changing. “The brain is reorganizing itself, laying down new pathways. What we’re seeing is a relationship between brain redevelopment and an increased need for sleep,” says Kutcher. As well, growth hormones are released during sleep, so adequate sleep is crucial for adolescents’ physical development. In addition, everything adolescents have learned in school that day is being processed and locked into long-term memory during sleep. Sufficient sleep also plays a key role in overall physical health. The immune system, for example, needs deep sleep to become and remain robust(healthy).
Staying up late on school nights means that, on average, teens get between six and a half and seven hours of sleep a night---about two hours less than they need. As a result, many either doze off in class or have trouble concentrating. Some of the behavioural problems and irritability in teens can be linked directly to sleep deprivation(损失), Kutcher says.
Then there’s the breakfast issue. Dr. Carlyle Smith, a sleep researcher and a psychology professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., adds that many teens simply cannot tolerate food when they first wake up, so skipping breakfast becomes another factor in reduced alertness in class. The most obvious solution to the teen sleep problem is to have school start later in the day, but initiatives(积极性) toward this across the country have gone nowhere, Smith says, mainly because of costs and resistance from school boards and teachers.
So for now, just sympathize with your teens. Encourage them to go to bed, if not early, then at least at a regular time, so they won’t develop insomnia from erratic(不稳定的) schedules. Warn them not to have too many caffeinated drinks before bed. And don’t let sleeping away the weekend become an issue to fight over. Schedule family activities to take place later in the day on weekends and let them sleep in. “If you want your kids to grow and remember stuff, let them sleep,” says Smith. “It’s not laziness. Their brains are working really, really hard.” The word “zzzs” (Paragraph 1) most probably means __________.
| A．food | B．sleep | C．energy | D．blame |
What causes teenagers to be less sleepy late at night and more sleepy early in the morning?
| A．Caffeinated drinks. |
| B．Too much family activities. |
| C．Circadian rhythms. |
| D．Too much homework. |
How many reason why teens need extra sleep are mentioned in Paragraph 4?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
One of the reasons why many teenagers fail to have better performances in class is that __________.
| A．teenagers go to bed early and sleep late |
| B．teenagers stay up late and get up late |
| C．teenagers participate in too many social activities at night |
| D．teenagers skip breakfast because of sleeping in |
The author wrote this article to __________.
| A．advise parents to let sleeping teenagers lie |
| B．explain why teenagers often sleep late |
| C．state schools should start late in the day |
| D．warn teenagers not to drink coffee before bed |
Audrey Hepburn is one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest actress. She is famous not only in the USA, but also in other parts of the world.
Hepburn was born in Belgium on May 4, 1929. She began taking ballet (芭蕾) lessons at a very young age. She loved dancing and her dream was to become a successful ballet dancer. She had put most of her effort into ballet training before she entered the film industry.
In 1951, Hepburn was chosen to play the lead role of a young princess in the Hollywood film Roman(罗马) Holiday. It was a big success and Hepburn became famous immediately. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in this film.
During her life time, Hepburn earned four more Oscar nominations(提名). Some well-known films that she acted in include Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany and My Fair Lady.
Hepburn also devoted much of her time to charity(慈善). She spent the last few years of her life working closely with UNICEF to help poor children in different parts of the world. She was honoured with a number of awards(奖励) because of her efforts in helping them.Hepburn was born in ________.
| A．USA | B．Belguim | C．Italy | D．England |
Her dream was to become a successful ______ when she was very young.
| A．singer | B．trainer | C．dancer | D．director |
______ made Hepburn a big success.
| A．Roman Holidays | B．Funny Face | C．Breakfast at Tiffany’s | D．My Fair Lady |
Hepburn was honoured with a number of awards because she __________.
| A．acted in many films | B．was good at ballet |
| C．gave everything to others | D．did her best to help poor children |
Four students are talking about the future after class.
Deng Yu: In 2050, China will be richer than it is now. Beijing will be getting ready for the 40th Olympic Games in 2050. We will see the blue and clear sky and smell the fresh air. There will be more pandas living happily in China. I believe that 2050 will be the year of China.
Liu Yan: A holiday to the moon will no longer be a dream. We can also travel far to other planets and talk with spacemen. We might also eat something like pills instead of today’s meals. Everyone will enjoy a longer life.
Sun Wei: Robots will be more popular. They will do what people don’t want to do. We’ll build new homes on other planets. By then, I’ll be sixty years old.
Zhang Lan: By the year of 2050, cloning will have been used in many ways. It will bring back animals which disappeared many years ago. There will be no pollution. The whole world will be one big family. There will be no wars. We’ll live a much easier and better life.Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?
| A．China will be richer than it is now. |
| B．Shanghai will be getting ready for the 40th Olympic Games. |
| C．We will see the blue and clear sky and smell the fresh air. |
| D．More pandas will live happily in China. |
______ thinks that people can spend their holidays on the moon in the future.
| A．Deng Yu | B．Zhang Lan | C．Sun Wei | D．Liu Yan |
Zhang Lan thinks ________________ in the future.
| A．people will live in a world without wars |
| B．robots will do everything for people |
| C．people can talk with spacemen |
| D．2050 will be the year of China. |
What is the dialogue mainly about?
| A．the 40th Olympic Games | B．How to spend our holiday |
| C．the future | D．cloning |
Mr and Mrs King have two children, Jim and Liz. The whole family are all busy, so they often leave notes to each other. Read these four notes today to know something about them.
| 3:30 p.m. To dad and mum, Mr. Brown rang. No football practice today. I’m going to Tom’s house to plan our project and be back at 5:00pm. Liz |
4.00 p.m. To Liz, It’s your turn to walk the dog. I have to do my homework after school. Remember to play with Teddy when you get home ! Jim |
| 6:45 pm Has anyone seen my tennis shoes? I’m in my bedroom doing my homework, and I need to wear them tomorrow. Jim |
10.00 p.m. I saw your tennis shoes this morning. They smelt terrible so I put them outside the back door. Good night, dear! Mum |
Liz will be back home at ______.
| A．3.30 p.m. | B．4.00 p.m. | C．5.00 p.m. | D．10.00 p.m. |
______ should walk the dog today.
| A．Liz | B．Mrs. King | C．Jim | D．Mr. Brown |
Jim was _______ at 6.50 p.m.
| A．practicing football | B．going to Tom’s house |
| C．playing tennis | D．doing his homework. |
Jim can find his tennis shoes ______.
| A．in his bedroom | B．outside the back door |
| C．in the living room | D．at Tom’s house |
Europe’s deadly outbreak of a rare form of E. coli bacteria (大肠杆菌) has brought new attention to food safety issues. One of the problems when people get sick from food is that the simplest question is often difficult or even impossible to answer. Just what did the people eat that made them sick?
Of course, one way to avoid these medical mysteries is to keep dangerous organisms out of the food supply. This is easier said than done, but scientists keep looking for new ways.
Scientists in the United States have developed an experimental system that uses a high-tech optical scanner. The system is designed to identify the presence of contaminants(致污物) like soil or animal waste on fresh produce. These can be sources of E. coli. E. coli bacteria naturally live in the intestines(肠) of humans and many animals. Most kinds of E. coli are harmless but some can make people sick.
The new scanner can also show damage and imperfections that might make the produce unappealing to shoppers.
Scientists designed the system at a Department of Agriculture research center in Beltsville, Maryland. Moon Kim of the Agricultural Research Service led the team.
MOON KIM: “We were requested, we were asked, to develop a method to detect contamination in produce. So we started with the apple as the model sample.”
The scanner uses a high-speed camera placed over the conveyer belt that moves the produce along. As the apples move along the belt, the scanner captures images of each piece of fruit.
Moon Kim says the team hopes the system will be available before long.
MOON KIM: “We are targeting for development in commercial plants for the next several years.”
The scanner can direct a sorting machine to separate the bad apples from the good ones. The system is currently able to show the surface of only half the apple as it speeds by. The inventers hope to improve the process so it can show the whole surface.What is the main topic of the text?
| A．Bacteria. | B．A high-tech scanner. | C．A camera | D．Food safety. |
E. coli bacteria ______.
| A．broke out all over the world | B．comes from soil or animal waste |
| C．is extremely harmful to health | D．does not cause illness |
The high-tech scanner ______.
| A．can help to sort out different fruits |
| B．make the produce appeal to shoppers |
| C．can only capture images of the whole apple |
| D．can identify the presence of contaminants |
What can be inferred from the text?
| A．The scanner needs to be improved. |
| B．The scanner will be available in the next several years. |
| C．Moon Kim is unwilling to develop the scanner. |
| D．The scanner is connected to a sorting machine. |
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