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BEIJING (News Agency) — Children in China today spend five times more money than their parents did when they were young.
So what are all these children buying? The list is long: iPads, cell phones and jeans are typical items that children “have to” buy. And they will do anything to get them. They ask their parents over and over until they buy them.
But parents also need to take the blame(责备) for spending so much money. They want their children to have the best things. They end up competing with other parents over whether their children have the latest products.
So it’s no wonder children find it hard to learn the importance of saving money rather than spending it all the time.
And it’s hard to save when companies use advertising (打广告)and clever slogans (口号) to encourage young people to buy their products. They even encourage children to keep asking their parents for something until they get it.
Today, you don’t even need to have money in order to buy something. Banks give out credit cards and loans (贷款) all the time, so people are saving less and less. We are used to carrying lots of money around. And if you don’t have much, you can always borrow some.
But this hasn’t always been the case. When our grandparents were young, there was very little money and everyone had to save hard for things they bought. They only bought things they needed, not things they just wanted.
The older generation made the wise expression, “Money doesn’t grow on trees. ” This is as true now as it was 50 years ago. They give money a great deal of value. And we all have a lot to learn from them.
【文章大意】作者讲述了现在的孩子们花钱多、高消费的现状, 分析了导致此现象的原因。
21. The text mainly tells us ______.
A. differences between teenagers and their parents
B. what is popular among children at the moment
C. how to spend money wisely
D. children’s high consumption(消费) of products
【解析】选D。主旨大意题。第一段表明了本文主题——现在中国的孩子们花钱是父辈花钱的5倍, 下文说明了他们购买的东西和导致此现象的原因。所以本文主要内容是讲述孩子们对产品的高消费问题, 故选D。
22. Parents are to blame for children’s spending a lot of money because ______.
A. they don’t give children positive guidance in consumption
B. they offer to buy the latest fashions for their children
C. they always give children too much pocket money
D. their consumption habits set a bad example to children
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据第三段But parents also need to take the blame for spending so much money. They want their children to have the best things. 可知父母总是想给孩子买最好的东西, 造成了孩子的高消费问题, 所以父母也该受到责备。
23. The saying “Money doesn’t grow on trees. ” in the last paragraph seems to tell us that ______.
A. the older generation understood how to teach children to save
B. in the past, people attached more importance to saving money
C. money has a great deal of value both in the past and at present
D. money is not easily earned and we should be careful when we spend it
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据When our grandparents were young, there was very little money and everyone had to save hard for things they bought. They only bought things they needed, not things they just wanted. 可知祖辈们都是为买东西攒钱, 他们只买需要的东西, 而不是想要的东西。所以“Money doesn’t grow on trees. ”告诉我们挣钱不容易, 花钱要节省。
