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.  

1.If you use charge accounts, ____.

A．you pay in cash                         B．you pay with credit card

C．you pay less than you should               D．you pay more than you should

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

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

4.The underlined word “those” in Paragraph 3 refers to ____.

A．different things                         B．their addictions

C．charge accounts                        D．their pleasures

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

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[1]Everybody is familiar with Christmas music； its played everywhere. Whether it's the music from a grocery store or random(隨機的）songs on the radio， holiday music remains to flood in the air from the day after Thanksgiving to the beginning of December. Christmas music gets extremely over- played through the Holiday season. “'I think the common seasonal Christmas music is annoying because it keeps being played over and over.”said junior Devin McFarland.

[2]The Christmas music still played today is what she heard in her childhood. Some famous Christmas songs have never been changed. The original music is played so much that in some cases people dream about or even sing Christmas music__________. She wishes that there was a wider variety of songs. She likes the newer Christmas songs that bands either re- make or write themselves. "They have a fresher sound to Christmas songs, and they add their own characteristics to them so that they are more like their own songs. ” McFarland explained.

[3]Christmas is known as a happy and homecoming festival, so the holiday season is meant to be spent happily with your family. It is recognized that the music media wants to get the point across and add to the festival atmosphere. But isn't the music being pushed to the public too much?

[4]Most grocery stores play the music non-stop ，Christmas song after Christmas song， disgusting the customers who don't like that kind of music. You can walk through stores and attempt turning off the music, but sometimes it's impossible to do so. On the other hand, almost everyone has witnessed random persons walking along happily and either singing or whistling to the tune of the song that's played throughout the store.

1.What is the main idea of the passage? (no more than 10 words)

2.Why is the common seasonal Christmas music annoying? (no more than 8 words)

3.What does the music media hope to tell the public?

4.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words.(no more than 3 words)

5.What does the word “them” (Line 6 Paragraph 2) probably refer to? (no more than 4 words)

Water, which covers about 74 percent of the earth’s surface, is man’s most precious resource. Without it we cannot live. Clean water keeps us alive; polluted water means disease and death.Keeping our water pure is by no means an easy task but it is something that must be done.
Hong Kong once prided herself on being the “Fragrant Harbour”. However, these days, it is not certain if Hong Kong’s harbour could still be called “fragrant”. For, like many other places, Hong Kong has not been spared water pollution. A visit to Tolo and Victoria Harbour, or any of the beaches in Hong Kong is enough to make one aware of the ugly truth that Hong Kong waters are indeed polluted.
The great threat to our water is bacteria pollution. Another great source of water pollution is poisonous chemicals. These substances, which are found in industrial waste and agricultural pesticides, make up unseen dangers that enter biological food chains.
Pollution control is a continuing problem for the government. It is believed that the most effective form of control is legislation（立法）. Most importantly, the present laws on pollution should be given more force. On the other hand, no amount of legislation can effectively control pollution unless those concerned are properly educated about the danger posed by pollution.
While a great majority of Hong Kong citizens and residents seem to be greatly concerned about ways to control water pollution, it is discouraging to note that there are, in our midst, some people who remain apathetic（無動于衷）about the problem. In a recent radio programme conducted on what people in the streets thought about the water pollution problem, one apparently unconcerned person said, “What do I care about water pollution? I don’t drink polluted water. As long as the water I drink is not polluted, I’m not bothered. Water pollution is too big a problem and let’s leave it to the government.”
If all residents in Hong Kong will take such an indifferent attitude, all the government’s attempts to control pollution, let alone the anti-pollution legislation, will prove useless. The best form of pollution control each citizen can employ is to be aware of his surroundings. We hope that someday, the problem of water pollution in Hong Kong will cease to alarm us.

1. 1.

   By the underlined sentences, the writer wants to show that ______.

   1. A.
      we should not use polluted water
   2. B.
      it is our responsibility to keep our water clean and safe
   3. C.
      clean water is vitally important to the survival of human beings
   4. D.
      water is abundant but very expensive
2. 2.

   What can you infer from the second paragraph?

   1. A.
      Hong Kong indeed deserves the name.
   2. B.
      Hong Kong never deserves such a name.
   3. C.
      Hong Kong can’t avoid the damage of pollution.
   4. D.
      Hong Kong has failed to live up to such reputation.
3. 3.

   The writer quotes the words in the programme to show us that a block to the solution of the problem is _________.

   1. A.
      people’s lack of education
   2. B.
      people’s I-don’t-care attitude
   3. C.
      people’s wait-and-see attitude
   4. D.
      people’s over-dependence on the government
4. 4.

   In the final analysis, the best approach to the problem of water pollution is ________.

   1. A.
      legislation
   2. B.
      rapid development of modern science
   3. C.
      mass education
   4. D.
      everybody taking care of his own surroundings

My sister and I have been a headache for my mother, because my father was in the army, he was not around too often. __21__, my mother brought us up almost single-handedly and it must have __22__ real strength of mind to bring up such naughty and stubborn children who got out from one trouble only to get into another.

Bonus and I weren’t scholars either. __23__, we hated studying from the very beginning. We were __24__ to spend time with our schoolbooks---out of the fear of Mum’s scolding. I almost did not make it to 10th grade. That entire summer Mum __25__ that I read my schoolbooks from the very first chapter till the last.

I left __26__ college at 18. In my second year of college, while I was studying for my final exams, I got a phone call from Mum __27__ my sister had failed her 9th grade exams. Mum was heartbroken. My mother was an English teacher in a famous school in the city and it was a(n) __28__ for her.

Then started another __29__ for my Mum. There always seemed to be people who would come and talk about how well their children were doing __30__ my mother would be having a tough time making sure we stayed on the right path. Mum was __31__ that we would do well for ourselves. She never let my sister and me __32__ that we had lost out on something and always told us: “Let this be a lesson. We are going to work really really hard...__33__ will change.”

Things did change, but very slowly and __34__, one little step at a time. Last year I finished with law school and started working. My mother’s belief in me __35__. And just a few days ago I got a phone from Bonus. She had __36__ the exam with honors and was __37__ to the best university in the country. I was in tears. Later that night I __38__ Mum: “Mum, your two little failures didn’t do as badly as everybody thought.” Mum __39__ and said: “You are my daughters and I knew you the best. I always knew that you would succeed. It was just a __40__ of time.”

1.                A．However       B．Thus           C．Otherwise D．Besides

2.                A．devoted        B．spent          C．taken D．wasted

3.                A．In that case      B．In this way       C．On the other hand  D．On the contrary

4.                A．pleased        B．a(chǎn)nnoyed        C．forced   D．a(chǎn)dvised

5.                A．demanded      B．concluded       C．promised D．mentioned

6.                A．a(chǎn)t             B．for            C．from D．a(chǎn)fter

7.                A．a(chǎn)nnouncing     B．reading         C．knowing  D．saying

8.                A．shame         B．challenge       C．pride D．honor

9.                A．experiment     B．research        C．conflict   D．trial

10.               A．though         B．while          C．a(chǎn)s    D．unless

11.               A．determined     B．a(chǎn)stonished      C．satisfied   D．concerned

12.               A．predict         B．imagine        C．guess D．feel

13.               A．Environment    B．Society         C．Circumstances  D．Impressions

14.               A．quickly         B．extremely       C．smoothly  D．gradually

15.               A．made up        B．paid off         C．took on   D．burst out

16.               A．a(chǎn)ttended       B．received        C．passed    D．failed

17.               A．a(chǎn)ccepted       B．a(chǎn)llowed        C．a(chǎn)dmitted  D．permitted

18.               A．questioned      B．convinced      C．persuaded D．called

19.               A．nodded        B．laughed        C．shouted   D．joked

20.               A．matter         B．period         C．waste D．length

Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self- respect? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized as "honor" help you create this life of good feelings.

Here's an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.

Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item. If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk's mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky excitement. Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune. On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty. We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.

Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?

In the first case, where we don't tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen. Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief. In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect. We would also demonstrate that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends. We damage our own reputations by telling others. In contrast, bringing the error to the clerk's attention causes different things to happen. Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable. Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased. Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility.

There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions. Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions. Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence. And it's easy to think and act honorably again when we're happy. While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it's started, it's easy to continue. Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.

1.According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our ________.

2.The phrase "bringing the error to the clerk's attention" (in Para.5) means ________.

3.How will we feel if we let the clerk know her mistake?

4.Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?