Money Matters

    Parents should help their children understand money.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}So you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things,candy or toys,for example.

    1）The basic function of money

    Begin explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the things he wants to have.If he wants to have a toy，give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier（收银员）{#blank#}2{#/blank#} When your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money，you can start explaining more complex ways of using money.

    2）Money lessons

    Approach money lessons with openness and honesty.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}If you must say no to a child's request to spend money，explain，“You have enough toy trucks for now.”Or，if the request is for many different things，say，“You have to make a choice between this toy and that toy.”

    3）{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Begin at the grocery store. Pick out two similar brands of a product—a name­brand butter and a generic（一般的），for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} If he chooses the cheaper brand，allow him to make another purchase with the money saved. Later，you may explain how the more expensive choice leaves less money for other purchases.

A．Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.

B．The value of money.

C．The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest.

D．Tell your child why he can—or cannot—have certain things.

E．Wise decisions。

F．Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you.

G．Permit the child to choose between them.

    Steel is a hard metal that people use to make many different products. Car bodies, bridges, building frames, and containers are just a few of the things made from steel. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But steel is better than iron in many ways. Steel is stronger but lighter than iron. Steel also lasts longer than iron.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Then they add carbon to the liquid iron. They may also add other materials to make different types of steel. For example, steel with added chromium（铬）is called stainless steel. It will not rust（生锈）or stain. Finally, workers use machines to cool the liquid steel into bars or long sheets.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    People made the first steel as early as 1400 BC. Ancient people heated iron inside a pile of burning charcoal（木炭）. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. The result was not the same as modern steel, but it was stronger than regular iron.

    In the 1800s people began to use huge ovens to make large amounts of steel. In the late 1800s builders used steel to make some of the first skyscrapers. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. In the 1900s new processes made steel-making easier. Today steel remains one of the most popular building materials in the world.

A. This added carbon to the iron.

B. Steel is quite different from iron.

C. The hardened steel may then be made into products.

D. Steel is basically iron mixed with a little carbon.

E. Then they will be cooled and put on the market.

F. To make steel, workers hear iron until it melts.

G. They also used steel to make large, modern bridges.

Are You a Prisoner of Perfection?

    Do you struggle for a goal that is beyond your reach?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Are you setting yourself up for failure and shame when you can't achieve the unachievable? Understanding what drives perfectionism is the first step toward releasing this self-created anchor that keeps us stuck.

    Shame and fear are often the hidden drivers of perfectionism. We believe that if we can fashion a perfectly polished personality, flash our intelligence, and perfect our humour, then no one can hurt us with criticism and we'll win respect and approval.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Politicians who display a desperate need to be right and refuse to acknowledge mistakes or uncertainty are often driven by a secret shame. They fear that showing vulnerability(弱点) will expose them to the accusation that they're weak. They stick to a desire to be right, perfect, and polished, even when it's obvious that the emperor has no clothes.

    Perfectionism keeps us leaning toward the future. We're constantly evaluating ourselves in order to do better.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}However, if we can't relax and enjoy lighter moments, then we become prisoners of our perfectionism. We get painfully self-conscious and take ourselves too seriously. Sadly, we deprive(剥夺) ourselves of the simple pleasure of enjoying the moment and being ourselves.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}We realize that failing at any enterprise doesn't mean that we are a failure. Without failures, we'll never learn from our mistakes; we'll never move forward in our lives. Those who succeed have made countless mistakes. The important thing is to learn from our error, forgive ourselves and move on.

    Being human, perfection is impossible.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Releasing ourselves from the desire to protect our image, we're freed to sail gracefully through our successes and failures—and enjoy our precious life.

A. Do you hold an idealized vision that is impossible to realize?

B. A cure to perfectionism is to make room for our human shortcomings.

C. Do you fear that others will be horrified by what you judge about yourself?

D. The addiction to staying perfect protects us from any sign of being imperfect.

E. There's nothing wrong with wanting to do our best and self-correcting along the way.

F. People who are addicted to perfection are often isolated, even if they seem outgoing and popular.

G. By accepting ourselves as we are and doing our best, we begin to rid the shame that drives perfectionism.

    Americans use many expressions with the word "dog". People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

    Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

    Dog expressions are also used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Zoey admits it was a little sad saying goodbye to her fish. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Zoey's class at Hawthorne Elementary School spent most of the school year raising the fish from time they were nothing more than little eggs with eyes.

    The program the Hawthorne kids took part in is called" Trout in the classroom". {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The kids at Wilson Middle School in Fishersville took part in the project, too.

    "I got to feed them every morning and watch them grow up," said seventh-grader Lauren Clayton. We have to protect them, or some of the fish could go extinct." Lauren was right. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} But later, pollution, overfishing and loss of natural habitat have pushed some species to the danger of extinction.

    Thanks to the kids in the program, trout are being reintroduced into rivers and streams across the country. And by doing that, the kids are helping to restore there local ecosystems—the natural balance that existed before human disturbed it,

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Because the fish are in their classrooms, the kids are responsible for making sure there is cool, clean water, proper food and proper living conditions in the tanks.

    By the middle of May, they were "as big as a finger." That is, they are old enough to be released into Oneida Creek." Remember to swim back here to meet us and eat the food we bring little trout". {#blank#}5{#/blank#}