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Whenever someone begins to talk to me about how horrible it is to eat meat and suggests that a nice piece of tofu would be just as good, I just smile and show them those nice pointy teeth we all have in the corners of our mouths. They are called canines, and they are there for the sole purpose of eating meat.
When it comes to satisfying this kind of desire, soy (豆类) food can never match a well-prepared tri-tip (also know as triangle beef steak). Just the thought of the beef, burning on the grill（烤架）, with the smell of wood smoke gets the mouth watering and brings back memories of summer barbecues. When the knife cuts through the tri-tip, exposing the red meat bursting with juices, it’s more than just cooking. It’s a cultural event, showing we are at the top of the food chain, like no other food can.
Nutritionally speaking, the tri-tip is one of the better cuts of beef. It is lower in fat than many other cuts, and the proteins (蛋白质) you get from eating meat are more complete than those that come from vegetables, making meat a better choice for building and keeping up your muscle tissue healthy.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, one thing to be aware of with soy products in general is that while they are high in iron, a necessary mineral for the body, they also contain something that blocks the body’s absorption of iron. So roast it, barbeque it, grill it or cut it up into steaks and steam it. Anyway, the tri-tip goes a lot better with ice-cold beer than a large piece of bean-curd cheese would, no matter how you cook it.
I guess I should say at least one good thing about tofu. If you cook it just right, you can make it taste a little like the tri-tip, but only a little.
64. What’s the author’s attitude towards eating meat?
A. Uncaring. B. Approving. C. Ambiguous. D. Cautious.
65. From the second paragraph, we learn that a well-prepared tri-tip _______.
A. can be appealing and attractive
B. can be served only for barbecues
C. should be eaten with soy food
D. should be cooked longer on the grill
66. Compared with tofu, the tri-tip is _______.
A. more nutritious but poorer in proteins
B. higher in iron and other useful minerals
C. more beneficial for muscle development
D. harder for eaters to take in its iron
67. The best title of the passage is _______.
A. The tri-tip, your right choice B. Differences between tri-tip and tofu
C. Tofu, a nutritious soy food D. Best food partner—Tri-tip and tofu
D
Personal money-management website Mint.com suggests recently that responsible parents should give their kids credit cards — possibly starting as young as middle school. The website says a credit card will help children master responsible spending habits and give parents the chance to teach them some valuable lessons.
It’s absolutely true that kids should learn about how a credit card works and how to use it responsibly. But the idea that they need a card of their own to practice this is questionable.
Yes, credit cards are a teaching tool, but it’s the time you spend educating them about money management that does the teaching, not the piece of plastic. Sit down with your child — here we are referring to teens — and walk them through your credit card statements. Point out important things like the due date, late fee warning, and APR (年贷款利率).
If you have good credit, adding a child as an authorized user onto one of your credit cards also provides teachable moments. Allow kids to use the card to make specific purchases and require their participation in payment.
Since the card is still in your name, you can take them off it at any point and cut off their access if they’re not able to handle the responsibility.
Another option is to set them up with an account at a local bank that offers free use of a debit card. Unlike credit card, the debit card has no overdraft (透支) function. Children can only use the card to pay for things and the money is taken directly from their bank account. If the account is empty, the worst that will happen is the card being declined at a cash register.
68. Why does Mint.com advise parents to give middle school kids credit cards?
A. To leave their kids financially independent.
B. To help their kids form good spending habits.
C. To teach their kids’ how to save pocket money.
D. To strengthen the relationship with their teenage kids.
69. The author considers a credit card as a teaching tool because _______.
A. it motivates teens to ask their parents for less finance support
B. it helps teenagers to know basic knowledge of credit cards
C. it contains detailed financial information on the card surface
D. it offers parents the chance to teach kids to manage money
70. What is the purpose of adding kids as credit card authorized users?
A. To avoid extremely high overdraft fees.
B. To encourage them to share household expenses.
C. To teach them to be responsible credit card users.
D. To help them pay close attention to their bank account.
71. What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
A. Further discussion about the debit card. B. The overdraft functions of a debit card.
C. More disadvantages of credit cards. D. The kids’ attitude towards a credit card.
E
Why do people feel so rushed? Part of this is a perception（认知）problem. Generally, people in rich countries have more free time than they used to. This is particularly true in Europe, but even in America free time has been inching up. Women’s paid work has risen a lot over this period, but their time in unpaid work, like cooking and cleaning, has fallen even more significantly, thanks in part to dishwashers, washing machines and microwaves, and also to the fact that men shift themselves a little more around the house than they used to.
The problem, then, is less how much time people have than how they see it. Ever since a clock was first used at a workplace to record labor hours in the 18th century, time has been understood in relation to money. Once hours are financially quantified(量化), people worry more about wasting, saving or using them profitably. When economies grow and incomes rise, everyone’s time becomes more valuable. And the more valuable something becomes, the rarer it seems.
Once seeing their time in terms of money, people often grow stingy with the former to maximize the latter. Workers who are paid by the hour volunteer less of their time and tend to feel more upset when they are not working.
The relationship between time, money and anxiety is something Gary Becker noticed in America’s post-war boom years. “If anything, time is used more carefully today than a century ago,” he noted in 1965. He found that when people are paid more to work, they tend to work longer hours, because working becomes a more profitable use of time. So the rising value of work time puts pressure on all time. Leisure time starts to seem more stressful, as people are forced to use it wisely or not at all.
72. Women’s time in unpaid work has fallen partly because _______.
A. men’s ability to support a family has been increasing
B. men’s involvement in housework has increased
C. women’s leisure time was taken up by heavy housework
D. women become more skilled at household equipment
73. From the second paragraph, we can infer _______.
A. people are getting to treat time more seriously
B. people haven’t realized the value of time
C. labor hours are in relation to economies
D. less working time brings more income
74. The underlined phrase grow stingy with can probably be replaced by _______.
A. refuse to delay
B. intend to kill
C. try to accumulate
D. hesitate to spend
75. According to Gary Becker, what causes people feel anxious about time?
A. The wrong way time is spent. B. People’s willingness to work hard.
C. The increasing value of work time. D. More and more leisure time.
