阅读试题

Wealth starts with a goal and saving a dollar at a time. Call it the piggy bank strategy(策略). There are lessons in that time-honored coin-saving container.

Any huge task seems easier when reduced to baby steps. I f you wished to climb a 12,000-foot mountain, andcould do it a day at a time, you would only have to climb 33 feet daily to reach the top in a year. If youwant to take a really nice trip in 10 years for a special occasion, to collect the $15,000 cost, you have to save $3.93 a day. If you drop that into a piggy bank and then once a year put $1,434 in a savings account at 1% interest rate after-tax, you will have your trip money.

When I was a child, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me that, if I wanted something, I should savemoney to buy it. We associate piggy banks with children, but in many countries, the little containers are also popular with adults. Europeans see a piggy bank as a sign of good fortune and wealth. Around the world, many believe a gift of a piggy bank on New Year's Day brings good luck and financial success. Ah, yes, but you have to put something in it.

Why is a pig used as a symbol of saving? Why not an elephant bank, which is bigger and holds more coins? In the Middle Ages, before modern banking and credit instruments, people saved money at home, a few coins at a time dropped into a jar or dish. Potters(制陶工) made these inexpensive containers from an orange-colored clay(黏土) called "pygg," and folks saved coins in pygg jars.The Middle English word for pig was "pigge". While the Saxons pronounced pygg, referring to the clay, as "pug", eventually the two words changed into the same pronunciation, sounding the "i" as in pig or piggy. As the word became less associated with the orange clay and more with the animal, a clever potter fashioned a pygg jar in the shape of a pig, delighting children and adults. The piggy bank was born.

Originally you had to break the bank to get to the money, bringing in a sense of seriousness into savings.While piggy banks teach children the wisdom of saving, adults often need to relearn childhood lessons. Think about the things in life that require large amounts of money - college education, weddings, cars, medical care, starting a business, buying a home, and fun stuff like great trips. So when you have money, take off the top 10%, put it aside, save and invest wisely.

阅读试题

41. What is the piggy bank strategy?

A. Paying 1% income tax at a time.

B. Setting a goal before making a travel plan.

C. Aiming high even when doing small things.

D. Putting aside a little money regularly for future use.

42. Why did the writer's parents give him a piggy bank as a gift?

A. To delight him with the latest fashion.

B. To encourage him to climb mountains.

C. To help him form the habit of saving. 　

D. To teach him English pronunciation.

43. What does then underlined word "something"(Paragraph 3) most probably refer to?

A. Money

B. Gifts　　　　　

C. Financial success

D. Good luck

44. The piggy ban originally was _________.

A. a potter's instrument

B. a cheap clay container

C. an animal-shaped dish

D. a pig-like toy for children

45. The last paragraph talks about ________.

A. the seriousness of educating children

B. the enjoyment of taking a great trip

C. the importance of managing money

D. the difficulty of starting a business

参考译文

财富源于目标，与此同时储蓄每一美元。我们称之为扑满策略，而这些经验源自于历史悠久的货币储蓄。

任何艰巨的任务从一小步开始做似乎都要容易很多。如果你想爬上一万两千英尺的山，并且一天爬一次，那么你只需要每天爬33英尺，一年就能到达顶峰。如果你计划在10年内的某一特殊场合进行一次真正美好的旅行，需要储存一万五千美元，那么你必须每天节省3.93美元。如果你将钱投入扑满银行，然后每年向税后利率1%的储蓄账户里存1434美元，你就有旅行的钱了。

当我还是个孩子的时候，我的父母给了我一个存钱罐，并教我如果我想要什么，那么我就要存钱买它。我们通常把存钱罐与小孩联系在一起，但在许多国家，小额储蓄也很受成年人欢迎。欧洲人将存钱罐看作是好运和财富的象征。在世界各地，许多人认为在新年时将存钱罐作为礼物会带来好运和财富。哦，是的，但是你必须存点钱进去。

为什么将猪作为储蓄的象征？大象更大，也能储存更多硬币，但为什么没有大象储蓄罐呢？中世纪时，在现代银行和信贷工具出现之前，人们的钱都存在家中，存入一个罐子或盘子里。制陶工用一种橙色黏土制作了这些廉价的储蓄罐，称之为“pygg”，而人们把钱存在储蓄罐里。中世纪的英语单词猪是“pigge”。撒克逊人的发音是“pygg”，代指粘土，称作“pug”，最终两个单词变成了同一个发音，发“pig”和“piggy”中的“i”这个音。当这个词与橙色黏土的关系越来越小，而与动物的关系越来越密切的时候，一位聪明的制陶商将陶罐制成了猪的形状，以此取悦小孩和成年人。故此，扑满银行应运而生。

起初你需要打破存钱罐，才能取出你严格意义上的存款。小猪储蓄罐不仅教孩子们储蓄的智慧，与此同时，也经常让成年人温习了童年的经验。要考虑生活中需要大量用钱的事，如大学教育、婚礼、汽车、医疗、创业、买房以及像美妙的旅行这样的趣事。所以当你有钱时，拿出最高额的10%，把它放在一边，明智地储存和投资。

答案解析

41. D 推理判断题。第一段提出存钱策略，第二段和第三段讲什么是存钱的策略，即平常有规律地存少量的钱，积少成多，以便于将来用。故选D项。

42. C 细节理解题。根据第三段的首句可知，"我"的父母给"我"存钱罐教"我"如果"我"想要买什么，就得存钱来买，是想让"我"养成存钱的好习惯，故选C项。

43. A 词义推测题。划线词前说把存钱罐作为礼物给孩子象征好的运气，是想让孩子把钱放到存钱罐，故选A项。

44. B 细节理解题。根据倒数第二段的内容可知，存钱罐最初是用比较便宜的黏土来做成的容器，放在家里面把硬币放进去存起来。故选B项。

45. C 段落大意题。最后一段一开始就讲了理财的重要性，然后举例说明，故最佳答案是C项。