Most American students have said goodbye to fancy(高級的) fruits these days. In school canteens across the country, cheaper fruits like apples and oranges have taken their places.
“People are afraid to spend now,” said Linda Morrow, who owns a shoe and handbag store. “They don’t know what the future will bring.”
During the financial crisis(金融危機), several of the country’s biggest banks have been forced to sell or close. This has made lots of Americans afraid to buy expensive goods.
Samira Marino, a restaurant owner in Miami, has found everyone is ordering water instead of juice and more people are sharing meals. In more than two dozen interviews with The Associated Press across the country last month, Americans talked about their concerns, from worries about small businesses to doubts about simply making ends meet.
The crisis began last year. Experts think it was because US banks lend money too easily. Last year a lot of people and companies, who borrowed money, have found themselves unable to pay it back. This left the banks, as well as the people who put their money in the banks, without money. Since the banks borrowed money between themselves and even across borders(國界), the whole world was in trouble.
This month the US government agreed on a $700 billion plan to try to save the financial market. But no one is sure whether it will help or not. President George W. Bush has warned it will take some time.
Last week top finance officials from 20 countries promised to work together to find a way out of the money trouble.
【小題1】Why are people in the US afraid to spend?

　 My grandfather is an eighty-year-old man. He changed, and he often says that life used to be better.

　 Families aren’t families the way they used to be．A lot of families have broke down．If husband and wife have problems with their marriage, they no longer stay together．And mothers used to stay at home and take care of their children，but now everyone’s working．No one has time to look after children at home．

And the cars! No one walks any more：everyone drives．We used to walk five miles to school every day，even in winter．But now they don’t．And in schoo1．the children don’t have to think any more．In math class，for example，we used to add，subtract, multiply and divide in our heads．Kids don’t use their heads any more；instead，they use calculators(計算器)．

Most families have computers now．In the past we didn’t have computers．We didn’t even have lights．My mother used to spend all day cooking in the kitchen．But now nobody eats home．cooked food any more．

And people don’t talk to each other any more．They are too busy to talk，too busy to eat，too, busy to think……

Life used to be simple, but it isn’t any more．

(　 )6．My grandfather thinks the 1ife　　　 ．

　　 A．is better than it used to be　 B．is worse than it used to be

　　 C．is as good as it used to be　　 D．is as bad as it used to be

(　 )7．What does the underlined word “marriage” mean in Chinese?

　　 A．生活　　 B．工作　　 C．婚姻　　 D．家庭

(　 )8．What changes have happened to some families?

　 ①There are lights at home．

　 ②People like to eat home．cooked food．

　 ③Lots of families have computers．

　 ④Lots of couples live apart because of some prob1ems．

　　 A．①②④　　 B．②③④　　 C．①②③　　 D．①③④

(　 )9．Which is TRUE according to the passage?

　 A．People have too much time to talk with each other．

　 B．Life now is very simple．

　 C．Many families have broken down because of problems between husbands and wives．

　 D. Mothers stay at home and look after their children．

(　 )10.．Which is the best title for this passage?

　 A．How life used to be　　　　 B．The better life

　 C．The changes in our life　　　 D. Hard-working students