While surfing television channels over the weekend，a scene from a family classic of last year portraying the now-so-familiar sorry state of retired parents being ill-treated by their children and families caught my attention. I wondered why the description of this relationship had not changed much over the many years! Even though the same movies and soaps accurately capture several other social changes around us — from value systems to new found economic freedom to the importance of technology and the changing approach to consumerism(消費主義) — are these creative efforts far from the truth in telling us that an average retiree is still struggling?
Look around and you will agree that the post-retired lifestyle for an ex-salaried class people is often a pale shadow of their last working years. Even self employed people, who have handed over the responsibility to the next generation, are no exception. Did the average middle class not save enough through his working years?
Socially, we already know that the Indians are taught the benefits of start saving early on in life. Household savings data supports this social behavior — India has the highest rates of savings among various economies and is far ahead of the west. Yet, tragically, a lifetime of savings does not seem to provide enough for a comfortable retirement!
A closer look at the pattern of what we do with our financial savings may tell us a bit more. Over half of households’ financial savings is put into a “safe” deposit, followed by large portions in insurance, pension, provident funds（福利基金） and the rest in physical currency. Less than a tenth goes into “risky” assets(資產(chǎn)) like stocks. While there might be nothing, in particular, worrisome in this investment pool, one has to consider inflation(通貨膨脹). The real value of savings, over a few decades, may actually be lower than the starting point.
小題1:What had not changed much over the many years according to the passage?
A．Value systemsB．The poor situation of retirees
C．Economic freedomD．Approach to consumerism
小題2:Which of the following statements about saving in India is right?
A．the concept of saving has been well received by Indians.
B．the amount of the savings ranks number one across the world.
C．long-standing savings can help the retirees live a care-free life.
D．saving early can not benefit people at all.
小題3: What can be inferred according to the last paragraph?
A．Half of the financial savings in stocks can be accepted.
B．The real value of saving must be lowered in a few years.
C．A loss of savings may hardly be avoided.
D．Inflation can be avoided on condition that you consume instead of saving.
小題4:What’s the best title of the text?
A．Retirees being treated unfairly
B．Is saving enough
C．Saving in India
D．How to deal with saving
小題1:B小題1:A小題1:C小題1:B
略
練習冊系列答案
相關(guān)習題

科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Valencia is in the east part of Spain. It has a port on the sea, two miles away on the coast. It is the capital of a province that is also named Valencia.
The city is a market center for what is produced by the land round the city. Most of the city’s money is made from farming. It is also a busy business city, with ships, railways, clothes and machine factories.
Valencia has an old part with white old buildings, colored roofs, and narrow streets. The modern part has long, wide streets and new buildings. Valencia is well known for its parks and gardens. It has many old churches and museums. The university in the center of the city was built in the 13th century.
The city of Valencia has been known since the 2nd century. In the 8th century it was the capital of Spain. There is also an important city in Venezuela named Valencia.
小題1: From the text, how many places have the name Valencia?
A．One.B．Two.C．Three.D．Four.
小題2: What is the main difference between the two parts of the city?
A．The age of the buildings.B．The parks and gardens.
C．The number of people.D．The churches and museums.
小題3: When was Valencia the most important city in Spain?
A．In the 2nd century.B．In the 8th century.C．In the 13th century. D．In the 20th century.
小題4: What is Valencia famous for?
A．Its seaport.B．Its university.
C．Its churches and museums.D．Its parks and gardens.
小題5: The main income of the city of Valencia is from its _____.
A．marketsB．businessesC．factoriesD．a(chǎn)griculture

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

The rise of the so-called “boomerang generation” is revealed in official figures showing that almost one in five graduates in their late 20s now live with their parents.
By contrast, only one in eight university graduates had failed to fly the nest by the same age 20 years ago. It also found that grown-up sons are twice as likely as their sisters to still be living with their parents in their late 20s. With nearly a quarter of men approaching 30 still living at home, the findings are bound to lead to claims of a “generation of mummy’s boys”.
Young professionals in their late 20s or early 30s have been nicknamed the “boomerang generation” because of the trend toward returning to the family home having initially left to study. Recent research has suggested that young people in Britain are twice as likely to choose to live with their parents in their late 20s than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe.
Rising property prices, mounting student debts and the effects of recession on the job market have forced a wave of young people to move back into the family home at an age when they would normally be moving out. But commentators warned that the phenomenon may have more to do with young people facing “dire” prospects than simply a desire to save money.
While the proportion of those of university or college age moving out from the family home has continued to rise in the last 20 years, among those in their mid and late 20s the trend has been reversed. Overall 1.7 million people aged from 22 to 29 now share a roof with their parents, including more than 760,000 in their late 20s. In 1988, 22.7 per cent of men aged 25 to 29 were still living with their parents but last year the proportion was 24.5 per cent.
小題1: What is the main idea of the passage?
A．The economic crisis has shown its effect on the young generation.
B．More young professionals are returning home to live.
C．British parents are suffering more loads from their grown-up children.
D．Britain is suffering more than any other country in Europe.
小題2: Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Male children seem to more independent than females.
B．Eighty percent of university graduates were able to live independently two decades ago.
C．The grown-up children choose to live with their parents only to save money.
D．More and more children are moving out at university age.
小題3: What does the underlined word “dire” probably mean?
A．promising.B．inconvenient.C．very bad.D．hopeful
小題4: The following factors may account for the phenomenon except _____.
A．that living prices have risen a lot.
B．that it’s difficult to land a job.
C．that education has already cost them a lot
D．that parents can help them more

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh.2011. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami（海嘯） warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.
There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes.
There are also concrete(混凝土) sea walls around much of the Japanese coastline. But these measures proved no match for the powerful earthquake and tsunami.
Costas Synolakis ，a tsunami expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said，"Japan is one of those most well-prepared countries on earth in terms of tsunami warning. They had a warning. I think what went wrong is that they had not expected the size of this event."
He says there are two reasons for this. Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large earthquake happening off the coast of Japan.
The nine point zero magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to have reached as high as thirteen meters in some areas.
Costas Synolakis says Japan's concrete sea walls were not built to handle such high waves.
Experts say early warning systems will continue to be limited by these facts until earthquakes and tsunamis can be predicted
小題1:Where can this passage probably be adapted from?
A．A magazine on scienceB．A fairy Tale
C．A scientific fantasy bookD．A newspaper
小題2:Which of the following statements NOT true ?
A．A terrible earthquake hit the northeastern coast of Japan
B．It was also the worst earthquake in Japan
C．The 9.0 earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan
D．Japan's concrete sea walls was unable to handle such high waves.
小題3:According to Costas Synolakis, why did Japan suffer such a loss?
A．The country has never experienced any event as big as this one over the past 150 years
B．Japan has the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.
C．There are not concrete sea walls around all of the Japanese coastline
D．The government didn’t announce its first tsunami warnings three minutes earlier.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

In the long discussion of water on the Moon, a new study contradicts(與……相矛盾)) some recent reports that say the Moon had water at the time of its formation. A group of researchers reported in the journal Science that when the Moon was created, some 4.5 billion years ago, there was not much hydrogen(氫氣) on it, and therefore no water.
The researchers surveyed and evaluated this by analyzing chlorine isotopes（氯同位素） found in lunar rock samples from Apollo missions. The range of chlorine isotopes in lunar samples was 25 times that found in samples from Earth.
If the Moon had significant levels of hydrogen, as Earth did, this range would have been far less, said Zachary D Sharp, a scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of new Mexico and the study’s lead authour.
The chlorine would have stuck together with hydrogen, forming compounds like hydrogen chloride, and escaped from the Moon’s surface, he said. The abundance of chlorine indicates a lack of hydrogen and water.
“ The amount of water on the Moon was too low for life to possibly have existed there,” he said.
Most scientists believe the Moon was formed when a large object stuck Earth, breaking off a chunk(a vast piece) that has since orbited Earth.
On Earth, goes one theory, water was released as steam form molten basalts(玄武巖) over time, eventually forming bodies of water.
“An understading of whether the Moon was dry or wet will help us understand how water appeared on Earth,” Dr Sharp said.
小題1: A new study indicates that _____ on the moorn.
A．there is plenty of waterB．water is unlikely to exist
C．water existed in the pastD．there is a little water now
小題2: The author would like to tell us ______ through the sixth paragraph.
A．why there is no water on the MoonB．how the Moon was formed
C．when the Earth struck the MoonD．where the Moon orbited
小題3:  Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Zachary D. Sharp, a scientist of New Mexico was in charge of the new study.
B. Chlorine isotopes in lunar samples are 25 time larger than those on the Earth.
C. The more aboundant chloride, the shorter hydrogen and water.
D. The new study is benificial to understand how water appeared on Earth.
小題4: What can we learn from the passage?
A．There is enough water on the Earth.
B．Hydrogen chloride easily escaped from the Moon’s surface.
C．The Earth had significant levels of hydrogen.
D．Water on the Earth is directly from molten basalts.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

In today's world, almost everyone knows that air pollution（污染）and water pollution are harmful to people's health. However, not all the persons know that noise is also a kind of pollution, and that is harmful to human health, too.
People who work and live under noisy conditions usually become deaf（聾）. Today, however, scientists believe that 10 percent of workers in Britain are being deafened by the noise where they work. Many of the workers who print newspapers and books, and who weave（織）cloth become deaf. Quite a few people living near airports also become deaf. Recently it was discovered that many teenagers in America could hear no better than 65-year-old persons, for these young people like to listen to pop music and most of pop music is a kind of noise. Besides, noise produced by jet planes or machines will make people's life difficult and unpleasant, or even make people ill or even drive them mad.
It is said that a continuous noise of over 85 decibels（分貝）can cause deafness. Now the governments in many countries have made laws to control noise and make it less than 85 decibels.
In China, the government is trying to solve not only air and water pollution problems but also noise pollution problems.
小題1: The text is mainly about _________ .
A．a(chǎn)ir pollutionB．noise pollution
C．water pollutionD．world pollution
小題2:According to the text, a continuous noise of _______ decibels can make people deaf.                                                                
　    
A．less than 85B．less than 65
C．more than 85D．a(chǎn)bout 65
小題3:10 percent of the workers in Britain are being deafened because_______________ .
A．they are too busy to listen to others' talk
B．they often listen to pop music
C．they live near airports
D．they are working in noisy places
小題4:The government of China is trying to solve ____________ .
A．a(chǎn)ir, water and noise pollution
B．only air and water pollution
C．only water pollution
D．only air pollution

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

For photographers lacking training, experience and even the ability to click a shutter button, they produce remarkable pictures．Under the sea, deep in the woods and high in the sky, furry, feathery and leathery-skinned creatures are opening up vistas（遠景）by taking cameras where no human can go．
This is the world of animal-borne imagine celebrated last month at a conference sponsored(supported) by the National Geographic Society for the 20th anniversary of its Crittercam, the device that started it all．
Since its debut（首次公開露面）in 1987 on the back of a turtle, the Crittercam and similar devices developed by others have grown smaller and more powerful．
“It’s more than just a camera now,” said Greg Marshall, the marine biologist and now filmmaker who invented the Crittercam．“We are now including more instruments to gather more data while at the same time reducing everything in size．”
The idea of attaching video cameras to animals came to Mr．Marshall in 1986 on a dive off Belize when a shark apporached him．When the animal quickly turned away, he noticed a shark with a sucker fish on its belly．He came up with the idea that putting a camera in place of the sucker fish would allow people to witness the shark’s behavior without disturbing it．
Crittercams have been attached to sharks, sea lions and other marine animals, and, more recently, to land animals．
Birds are a new addition, Mr．Marshall said．Dr．Christian Rutz of Oxford recently reported on tiny cameras called feathercams that monitor the crows in the South Pacific．It has discovered that crows are smarter than anyone knew they not only use twigs（嫩枝）and grass stems as tools to root out food, but they also save their favorite tools to use again．
Tracey L．Rogers, director of the Australian Marine Mammal Research Center in Sydney, said crittercam was a powerful tool in her work with leopard seals（豹斑海豹）in Antarctica．“In studying animals,” Dr．Rogers said at the meeting, “you want to see how our animal models align（與……一致）with reality．With a camera, you actually see what they do．You don’t have to guess．”
小題1:What’s the text mainly about?
A．The advantages of crittercam．
B．The development of Crittercams in the past 20 years．
C．How crittercam was invented．
D．How crittercam works．
小題2:What inspired Marshall to invent crittercam?
A．The sight of sucker fish clinging to a shark on a dive．
B．The thought of how to photograph animals better．
C．Noticing a shark eating a sucker fish on a dive．
D．Seeing a shark with a camera on its belly on a dive．
小題3:According to Dr．Rogers, crittercam ____．
A．can clear up all your doubts about animals
B．is the most powerful tool in studying animals
C．enabled her to observe the crows in the South Pacific closely
D．helped a lot with her research on leopard seals in Antarctica
小題4:All of the following are improvements of crittercams EXCEPT that ____．
A．the size is becoming smaller
B．more instruments are involved to gather more data
C．they allow researchers to see where and how animals live
D．they are able to be applied to smaller animals such as birds

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

While in Banff, make time for a walk around town. A special treat is to go up the mountainside on the Banff Gondola for a surprising view of the valley below. Here is The pines, whose cook has developed a special way of mixing foreign food such as caribou, wild boar, and reindeer with surprising sauces.
Best time to visit is during the off-season, from early May to mid-June, or in October. This way you can avoid sharing the high way with mobile homes which can be pulled by cars. But whatever the season, take some lunch with you from Banff, because there are only a few food stops on the road.
Forty minutes north of Banff, side by side with the Banff National Park, sits world-famous Lake Louise. This surprisingly small body of water is attractive with towering mountains around it. Glaciers, huge masses of ice, moving very slowly against rocks, produce what is called glacier rock flour, making its water dark to see. It is worth taking a walk around the grounds of the Chateau Lake Louise, another beauty, proud of its early 20th century history.
Back on the road, and it’s time to continue north past the astonishing Columbia Icefield, then turn off the highway and take the short road to the base of the Athabaska Glacier. You can rent ice cleats (夾板) and do some climbing or do a more pleasant snowmobile tour. Either way, you can enjoy endless beautiful sights.
Finally you’ll reach Jasper, the usual turning around the place for the Banff-Jasper loop (回路). It’s worth riding the Jasper Skytram, and be sure to visit the wonderful Jasper Park Lodge, also dating back to the 1920s. If you can have lunch there, do it. The restaurant has an adventurous menu and their wine list would put a smile on any visitor’s face.
小題1:According to the passage, The Pines is a ________.
A．place in which you can see many mobile homes
B．mountain where you can get a good view of the valley
C．town which happens to be near the Banff National park
D．restaurant where you can ask for some special kinds of food
小題2: What will probably happen when visitors come at the end of June?
A．They may have trouble finding a restaurant.
B．They may come across traffic jams.
C．They may travel more easily with cars.
D．They may do much more sightseeing.
小題3: Similar to the Chateau Lake Louise, ________.
A．the Banff National Park is to the west of Banff
B．the Columbia Icefield lies between Lake Louise and the Banff National Park
C．the Jasper Skytram has a history of more than 80 years
D．the Jasper Park Lodge was built in the 1920s
小題4:Besides the beautiful sights in Jasper Park Lodge, visitors to Jasper can enjoy themselves by ________.
A. taking the Jasper Skytram and eating in the restaurant
B. taking the Banff-Jasper loop and Jasper Skytram

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

How Many Lies Do the Children Tell You?
Mothers who feel their children don’t appreciate them can add another complaint to the list: half the time, their children are lying to them. A study designed to expose the truth about lying shows that undergraduates lie to their mothers in 46% of their conversations. Still, mums should feel better than-total strangers, who are told lies an astonishing 77% of the time.
Bella DePaulo and a team of psychologists from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, asked 77 undergraduates to keep a record of all their conversations for a week, and write down whether they lied at any time. DePaulo named lying broadly, as “when you intentionally try to mislead someone”, so she would catch the smallest of lies.
The students told an average of two lies a day. They said they had been studying when they had been out drinking. One told his parents that a textbook cost $50 rather than $20 so that they would send him extra money. Female students constantly told their plain-looking roommates that they were pretty. “They are everyday lies,” says DePaulo.
DePaulo and her colleagues conclude that people tend to tell fewer lies to those they feel closest to. College students lied to their best friends 28% of the time but lied to acquaintances 48% of the time. In close relationships, people were more likely to tell “kind-hearted” lies, designed to protect feelings, rather than self-serving lies.
DePaulo finds that unmarried lovers can expect less honesty than best friends because of the insecurity that comes with romance.
Mothers can take heart from one other finding. They may have been lied to, but at least their children talked to them. The students were recorded telling few lies to their fathers because they had little interaction with them.
小題1: Female students lied to their roommates to ________.
A．get money from themB．offer them the services
C．gain more securityD．make them happy
小題2: According to the passage, college students told fewer lies to ________.
A．mothersB．best friends
C．a(chǎn)cquaintancesD．romantic partners
小題3: Which of the following statements is correct ?
A．Undergraduates lie to their mothers in 77% of their conversations.
B．Strangers become very annoyed when children tell lies to them.
C．Compared with mothers, students’ fathers are told fewer lies.
D．Best friends can expect more insecurity than unmarried lovers.
小題4:What is the purpose of this article ?
A．To present a fact.B．To argue an idea.
C．To tell a story.D．To explain a theory.

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習冊答案