( D )
In Western countries people have been using the installment plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments. In the U. S., the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.
The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.
Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment. There is, however, the danger that when business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit, it becomes more likely to have a depression. This is why, in some countries, the government controls the installment plan by fixing the amount of the down payment and installments to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.
56. Which of the following is NOT true about the installment plan?
A. A lot of British families use the installment plan.
B. More than 10 percent American families buy things on installments.
C. Americans depend more on installment than British people do.
D. Americans spend one tenth of their income on installment buying.
57. Goods bought on installments are more expensive than goods bought by cash because ______.
A. the buyer has to pay extra money as interest
B. the delivery of the goods charges extra money
C. the buyer has to pay a down payment
D. the service offered by installment plan charged extra money
58. What will happen to a buyer if he fails to make the full payment for an item bought on installments?
A. He might lose his job.
B. He will stop owning the item he has bought.
C. He will have to sell what he has bought.
D. He will go into debt.
59. The advantage of installment buying might include all the following EXCEPT that ________.
A. purchasing power is strengthened
B. employment might be increased
C. people develop a good habit of saving money
D. young couples are able to furnish their homes
60. In some countries, the governments control the installment plan to ________.
A. increase employment
B. avoid depressions
C. ensure that businesses make good profits
D. ensure that people can pay for what hey buy

                                                                                               Dec. 24, 1848

Dear Johnston,

       Your request for eighty dollars, I do not think it best to satisfy now. At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said to me, “We can get along very well again,” but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again. Now this can only happen by some fault in your behavior. What that fault is, I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are an idler(游手好閑). I doubt whether since I saw you, you have done a good whole day’s work, in any other day. You do not very much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely because it does not seem to you that you could get much for it.

This habit of uselessly wasting time is the whole difficulty; it is vastly important to you, and still more so to your children, that you should break this habit. It is more important to them, because they have longer to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it, easier than they can get out after they are in.

You are now in need of some ready money; and what I suggest is, that you shall go to work hard, for somebody who will give you money for it.

Let father and your boys take charge of your things at home-prepare for a crop, and make the crop, and you go to work for the best money wages, or to pay back any debt you owe. And to secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you that for every dollar you will, between this and the first of May, get for your own labor, I will then give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month for your work.

Now if you will do this, you will soon be out of debt, and what is better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again. But if I should now clear you out, next year you will be just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place in Heaven for $ 70 or $80. Then you value your place in Heaven cheaply, for I am sure you can with the offer I make you get the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months’ work. You say if I furnish you the money you will deed(抵押) me the land, and if you don’t pay the money back, you will deliver possession-Nonsense! If you can’t now live with the land, how will you then live without it? You have always been kind to me, and I do not now mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth more than eight time eighty dollars to you.

               Affectionately

  Your brother

   A. Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln wrote the letter to Johnston mainly to ________.

A. show his concern for him                 B. recommend him to save money

C. decline his request and motivate him              D. introduce him a new job

What’s the problem with Johnston, according to Lincoln?

A. He was very lazy.                                 B. He wasted time a lot.

C. He couldn’t get much from work.           D. He disliked working.

In the letter Lincoln suggested that Johnston should ________.

A. keep himself from getting into trouble    B. go to work hard for somebody

C. manage well the things at home             D. keep the children out of the idle habit

If Johnston got one dollar for his work, Lincoln promised to _________.

A. reward him with labor                           B. pay off his debt

C. hire him at 10 dollars a month                      D. give him another dollar

In order to get 80 dollars from Lincoln, Johnston promised to ________.

A. take away his place in Heaven                B. deed Lincoln the land

C. live without the land                                    D. do good work every day 

Soon after Dave left college, one of his 1_____, who was 2_____ and had no children of his own, 3_____ and left a lot of money, so he decided to 4_____ his own real estate company.

He found a nice office, bought a lot of things to 5______ it, and moved in. He had only 6_____ there for a few hours 7_____ he heard someone 8_____ towards the door of his office.

“It’s my first 9_____!” he thought. He quickly 10_____ up the telephone and 11_____ to be very 12_____ in answering an important call from someone in New York who wanted to 13_____ a big and 14_____ house in the country.

The man knocked at the door when this was 15_____, came in and waited 16_____ for Dave to 17_____ his conversation. Then he said to him, “I’m 18_____ the telephone company. I 19_____ here to 20_____ your telephone.

1. A. grandparents        B. parents               C. aunts           D. uncles

2. A. ill          B. kind                 C. rich            D. healthy

3. A. died         B. remarried            C. fell ill      D. went out

4. A. set up              B. find                 C. build            D. buy

5. A. supply       B. furnish（用家俱等布置）C.fill     D. surround

6. A. lived               B. been                C. gone             D. left

7. A. and        B. as                  C. when            D. suddenly

8. A. going        B. walking         C. crying             D. entering

9. A. repairman          B. visitor        C. worker      D. friend

10.A. hung              B. put                  C. picked          D. brought

11.A. seemed       B. looked               C. appeared        D. pretended

12.A. interested   B. active                C. busy        D. comfortable

13.A. build        B. repair               C. sell             D. buy

14.A. cheap      B. expensive             C. wide        D. splendid

15.A. beginning    B. going on            C. holding          D. finished

16.A. happily      B. politely       C. hurriedly         D. impatiently

17.A. finish             B. stop                 C. start            D. continue

18.A. from        B. for                  C. to          D. with

19.A. came      B. left                  C. stayed          D. stood

20.A. use        B. borrow              C. lend            D. connect

In Western countries people have been using the installment (分期付款) plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments. In the U.S.A.,the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.
The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment (預(yù)付定金) when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.
Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment,There is,
however, the danger that when business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment.
If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts, there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit,it becomes more likely to have a depression (蕭條). This is why, in some countries,the government controls the installment plan by fixing the amount of the down payment and installments to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.
【小題1】 Which of the following is NOT TRUE about the installment plan?

Soccer star David Beckham will be there with his pop star wife Victoria. Elton John is attending with partner David Furnish.

The guest list for the April 29 union of Prince William and Kate Middleton is still being kept secret, but details have begun to leak out, with some coming forward to say they are attending and the Mail on Sunday newspaper claiming to have  the  official  invitation  roster (名單).

The palace dismissed the newspaper's list as speculation (猜測) Sunday.

It won't be clear until the day how the royal couple has balanced the protocol demands (王室規(guī)則) that they invite statesmen, diplomats, religious leaders, politicians and the like with invitations to the people they really want to see, particularly the crowd they made friends with when they met and fell in love at St. Andrews University in Scotland.

Kate Reardon, editor of high-society magazine Tatler, said many prominent Britons acted as if they didn't really care about receiving an invitation while secretly checking the mail every day to see if the invitation had arrived.

"Everyone's been hoping," she said.

William and Middleton have showed their modern side by inviting a number of close friends, including some former sweethearts, the newspaper said.

The wedding is not technically a state event, which somewhat limits the protocol requirements applied to the guest list. But royal obligations (職責(zé)) still order that a large number of the 1,900 or so seats go to guests from the world of politics, not actual friends of the couple.

The couple have also invited many guests from the charities they work with, and Middleton has used her influence to invite the butcher, shopkeeper and pub owner from her home village of Bucklebury.

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were not invited and many other international leaders are also expected to be watching on TV, not from a seat at Westminster Abbey.

It is not clear if treasured Brits from the world of stage and screen and pop music will be on the list.

1. Who were not invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding?    

A. David Beckham and his wife.

B. Elton John and his partner David Furnish.

C. People from the charities they work with.

D. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

2.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?      

A. The guest list for the wedding is officially announced.

B. The wedding is technically a state event.

C. Only the actual friends of the couple will be invited to the wedding.

D. A large number of guests from the world of politics will be invited.

3.The word "prominent" in paragraph 5 probably means         .   

A. honest                                    B. modern

C. well known and important                  D. busy and hardworking

4.It can be inferred from the passage that         .   

A. their wedding will be held at Westminster Abbey on April 29^th.

B. Kate Reardon was invited to the wedding.

C. journalists will not be allowed to attend the wedding.

D. their former sweethearts are sure to attend their wedding.

5.The best title for the passage might be         .    

A. Prince William and Middleton fall in love at St. Andrews University

B. British royal wedding guest list details leaks out

C. Prince William and Middleton prepares for their grand wedding

D. British singers and movie stars invited to the wedding