题目内容
（请给出正确答案）
My finances are on the rocks just now. The underlined part means ______.
A．safe
B．a mess
C．tight
D．bankrupt
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更多“My finances are on the rocks j…”相关的问题
W: Well, follow a month-by-month plan and stop buying those unnecessary items in your room.
Q: What does the woman suggest the man do？
(6)
A．Try to save money month by month.
B．Try to exercise each day.
C．Try to buy some necessary items.
D．Try to stick to a budget each month.
Section B
A)Last July, Julie Baldocchi's mother had a massive stroke and was paralyzed. Baldocchi suddenly had tobecome a family caregiver, something that she wasn't prepared for. "I was flying by the seat of my pants," saysBaldocchi, an employment specialist in San Francisco. Both of her parents are 83, and she knew her fathercouldn't handle her mother's care. The hospital recommended putting her mother in a nursing home. Baldocchiwasn't willing to do that. But moving her back into her parents' home created other problems. Baldocchi,48, ismarried and lives about a mile away from her parents. She has a full-time job and has back problems thatmake it difficult for her to lift her mother. "I couldn't do it all," she says. "But I didn't even know how to findhelp."
B)
With help from the Family Caregiver Alliance, she eventually hired a live-in caregiver. "But even if you planintellectually and legally, you're never ready for the emotional impact," Baldocchi says. In the first two monthsafter her mother's stroke, she lost about 30 pounds as stress mounted. More than 42 million Americans providefamily caregiving for an adult who needs help with daily activities, according to a 2009 survey by the AARP.An
additional 61.6 million provided at least some care during the year. And many are unprepared.
C)
While many parents lack an advance care directive, it's the most basic and important step they can take. Thedirective includes several parts, including: a durable power of attorney, which gives someone legal authority tomake financial decisions on another's behalf; a health care proxy, which is similar to the power of attorney,except it allows someone to make decisions regarding medical treatment; and a living will that outlinesinstructions for end-of-life care. (For example, parents can say if they want to be kept alive by artificialmeasures.) "It's invaluable for the kids, because it's hard to make those decisions for a parent," says JenniferCona, an elder-law attorney at Genser Dubow Genser & Cona in Melville, N.Y. An advance care directive isthe first line of defense if a situation arises, says Kathleen Kelly, executive director of the Family CaregiverAlliance, which supports and educates caregivers. Without an advance directive, the family will have topetition the court to be appointed the parent's legal guardian, says AgingCare.com.
D)
It's important for families to talk about long-term care so the adult children know their parents' preferences,wishes and goals, says Lynn Feinberg, a caregiving expert at AARP. But ifs not an easy conversation. Elderlyparents are sometimes suspicious of their children's financial motives, says Susan John, a financial planner atFinancial Focus in Wolfeboro, N.H. One client asked John to hold a family meeting because they needed anintermediary to talk about financial issues, she says. And when there are many siblings, the family decisionscan become a three-ring circus with much acrimony, says Ann-Margaret Carrozza,
an elder-law attomey inGlen Cove, N.Y. Families who need information and help sorting out disagreements can call on elder-lawattorneys, financial planners, geriatric care managers and caregiver support groups. In February, AARP said itwill offer its members a new caregiving support service through financial services firm Oenworth.
E)
Many families are unprepared for quick decisions, especially when they find out that Medicare doesn't pay forlong-term care, Feinberg says. The median cost of a year in a private room at a nursing home in 2011 was$77,745, according to Genworth. And only those who have spent most of their assets can qualify for Medicaidto pay for the nursing home.
F)
Assisted living is another option. Residents can have their own apartment to maintain some independence. Butthe facilities generally provide personal care services, such as meals, housekeeping and assistance withactivities. Still, it's not cheap: The national median cost in 2011 was $39,135, according to Genworth. Assistedliving isn't covered by Medicaid.
G)
If they have a choice, at least 90% of elderly parents prefer to stay at home as long as they can, according toAARP research. But if the parents can no longer safely live at home, it can be hard for children to move theminto an adult care facility. There may be another option. Sometimes the home can be modified so a parent canstay there. For example, Baldoechi put in a chair lift for her mother. She also arranged for a home caregiver.
H) Family caregivers take over many responsibilities. One might manage a parent's finances, while anothersibling will take the parent to doctors' appointments and shopping. Those who move in with a parent take on asignificant and sustained burden of care. Jan Walker moved into her mother's home in Leesburg, Fla. After hermother, who is 83, had fallen, she wasn't able to get around as well. Walker,55, has three brothers. But she isthe only daughter, is divorced and has no children. "I always knew that this was the role that I would have, andI guess my mind was prepared for it," says Walker, who now is a full-time caregiver and works from home asa tutorial instructor for a digital scrapbooking website. "When you get into the trenches, it's literally baptismby fire," she says. "New things come up. It's not just about advance planning for finances or medical care. It'severything," she says.
I) Carcgivers need to also watch their own health. "There is such a thing as caregiver burnout," Cona says.Among female caregivers 50 and older,20% reported symptoms of depression, according to a 2010 study onworking caregivers by MetLife. "It's a hard job," Walker says. "But most worthwhile things are hard. She wasalways there for me when I needed a helping hand. It's only natural that I be here for her now."
根据以上内容，回答46-56题。
46、When elderly parents cannot live at home safely, their children can change their home instead of sending them to an adult care facility.
47、To talk about long-term care is not easy because sometimes aged parents are suspicious of their children's financial motives.
48、Besides advance planning for finances or medical care, family caregivers take over many other responsibilities.
49、The difference between a durable power of attorney and a health care proxy is that the latter allows someone tomake decisions regarding medical treatment.
50、Baldocehi did not want to send her mother to a nursing home, but she had difficulty taking care of her.
51、Over 42 million caregivers helped an adult with everyday activities in the USA in 2009.
52、If a family needs information or help to sort out disagreements, there are many people they can call on.
53、Caregivers should pay attention to their own health, or they may bum out or.become depressed.
54、One will have to petition the court to be the parent's legal guardian, if there is no advance directive.
55、The national median cost of assisted living in 2011 was $39,135 and it is not covered by Medicaid.
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
It’s an annual argument. Do we or do we not go on holiday？ My partner says no
because the boiler could go, or the roof fall off, and we have no savings to save us. I
say you only live once and we work hard and what’s the point if you can’t go on
holiday. The joy of a recession means no argument next year – we just won’t go.
Since money is known to be one of the things most likely to bring a relationship
to its knees, we should be grateful. For many families the recession means more than
not booking a holiday. A YouGov poll of 2,000 people found 22% said they were
arguing more with their partners because of concerns about money. What’s less clear
is whether divorce and separation rates rise in a recession – financial pressures mean
couples argue more but make splitting up less affordable. A recent research shows
arguments about money were especially damaging to couples. Disputes were
characterised by intense verbal (言语上的) aggression, tended to be repeated and not
resolved, and made men, more than women, extremely angry.
Kim Stephenson, an occupational psychologist, believes money is such a big deal
because of what it symbolises, which may be different things to men and women.
“People can say the same things about money but have different ideas of what it’s
for,” he explains. “They’ll say it’s to save, to spend, for security, for freedom, to
show
someone you love them.” He says men are more likely to see money as a way of
buying status and of showing their parents that they’ve achieved something.
“The biggest problem is that couples assume each other knows what’s going on
with their finances, but they don’t. There seems to be more of a taboo (禁忌) about
talking about money than about death. But you both need to know what you’re doing,who’s
paying what into the joint account and how much you keep separately. In a healthy
relationship, you don’t have to agree about money, but you have to talk about it.”
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 2 上作答。
61.What does the author say about vacationing？
A.People enjoy it all the more during a recession.
B.Few people can afford it without working hard.
C.It is the chief cause of family disputes.
D.It makes all the hard work worthwhile.
Man: Not at the moment, Sandy. But I was earlier this morning.
Woman: Can we start off by looking at the finances of this great success story？ How much exactly is the sportswear industry worth？
Man: At the moment I would say it's worth something like ￡3,500 million a year.
Woman: To whom？ Where are people going for their sportswear？
Man: Well, traditionally, up to the end of the 80s, shall we say, sportswear was produced almost exclusively by sportswear specialists and passed on to the department stores to be sold. In the last 10 years there's been an interesting development of the mail-order business but most sportswear by far is still produced by sportswear companies like our own and then retailed through our own specialist outlets.
Woman: Approximately what proportion of expenditure on all clothing and footwear is spent on sportswear？ Do you know？
Man: I'm not absolutely sure of the very latest figures, but it's something in the region of 9%. That includes expenditure on children's sportswear. What I think is more interesting or surprising is that a recent survey showed that last year 41% of sportswear was purchased by adults, not for use as sports clothes, not, I mean, to play a sport, but just as casual wear for their entertainment activities.
Woman: You say adults. But my impression is that it is the young who buy this sort of clothing. I mean, my mother hasn't bought any sports shoes yet and they've been in fashion for years. I'm not sure she ever will buy any now.
Man: Of course it basically is a youth market. However, one surprising fact is that the 16-25 age-group is in fact getting smaller and will continue to do so for a few more years. The size of this group has fallen from 9.5 million in the mid 1980s to something like 7.5 million now. And yet the sportswear market has expanded considerably during the same period. It can't be simply a youth market.
Woman: What do you see as the reason for the development in sportswear？
Man: It's hard, if not impossible, to give you any single reason. There are even plenty of reasons why it shouldn't have happened, such as the rising costs of production and marketing, leading to much higher prices. What's clear is that changing social conditions have greatly helped. The market couldn't have grown to its present size without the relaxation in codes of dress that has taken place since the late 70s. We have relaxed some of our rules. This has allowed sports participants to wear their tracksuits and sports shoes for many other activities they are not designed for. At a very practical level, clothing and footwear which are suitable for sports are so easily used for other non-sporting activities as well. For DIY, or gardening, or just playing with the children.
Woman: And how do you see the future for sportswear？
Man: I expect increased competition between the manufacturers to produce more attractive and fashionable materials. I don't expect this to affect the number of manufacturers active in the marketplace but it could well bring the prices down.
Woman: Will we be wearing the same sportswear products then？ Five years from now.
Man: Almost definitely. This is not just a passing fashion. It will last. People young and old are putting an ever-increasing emphasis on the importance of feeling, and looking, fit and healthy. Most experts believe that sportswear will actually increase its market share over the next few years.
•You will hear a radio interview about the sportswear industry.
•For each question (23
A．as a consultant to the sportswear industry.
B．for a sports centre.
C．for a sportswear company.
M: Not at the moment, Sandy, But I was earlier this morning.
F: Can we start off by looking at the finances of this great success stray？ How much exactly is the sportswear industry worth？
M: At the moment I would say it's worth something like ￡3,500 million a year.
F: To whom？ Where are people going for their sportswear？
M: Well, traditionally, up to the end of the 8Os, shall we say, sportswear was produced almost exclusively by sportswear specialists and passed on to the department stores to be sold. In the last 10 years there's been an interesting development of the mail-order business but most sportswear by far is still produced by sportswear companies like our own and then retailed through our own specialist outlets.
F: Approximately what proportion of expenditure on all clothing and footwear is spent on sportswear？ Do you know？
M: I'm not absolutely sure of the very latest figures, but it's something in the region of 9%. That includes expenditure on children's sportswear. What I think is more interesting or surprising is that a recent survey showed that last year 41% of sportswear was purchased by adults, not for use as sports clothes, not, I mean, to play a sport, but just as casual wear for their entertainment activities.
F: You say adults. But my impression is that it is the young who buy this sort of clothing. I mean, my mother hasn't bought any sports shoes yet and they've been in fashion for years. I'm not sure she ever will buy any now.
M: Of course it basically is a youth market. However, one surprising fact is that the 16-25 age-group is in fact getting smaller and will continue to do so for a few more years. The size of this group has fallen from 9.5 million in the mid 1980s to something like 7.5 million now. And yet the sportswear market has expanded considerably during the same period. It can't be simply a youth market.
F: What do you see as the reason for the development in sportswear？
M: It's hard, if not impossible, to give you any single reason. There are even plenty of reasons why it shouldn't have happened, such as the rising costs of production and marketing, leading to much higher prices. What's clear is that changing social conditions have greatly helped. The market couldn't have grown to its present size without the relaxation in codes of dress that has taken place since the late 70s. We bare relaxed some of our rules. This has allowed sports participants to wear their tracksuits and sports shoes for many other activities they are not designed for. At a very practical level, clothing and footwear which are suitable for sports are so easily used for other non-sporting activities as well. For DIY, or gardening, or just playing with the children.
F: And how do you see the future for sportswear？
M: I expect increased competition between the manufacturers to produce more attractive and fashionable materials. I don't expect this to affect the number of manufacturers active in the marketplace but it could well bring the prices down.
F: Will we be wearing the same sportswear products then？ Five years from now.
M: Almost definitely. This is not just a passing fashion. It will last. People young and old are putting an ever-increasing emphasis on the importance of feeling, and looking, fit and healthy. Most experts believe that sportswear will actually increase its market share over the next few years. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, despite the fall in the 16—25 age-group, the amount of time available for leisure...
•You will hear
A．as a consultant to the sportswear industry.
B．for a sports centre.
C．for a sportswear company.
What is the speaker mainly describing？
A．Qualifying for a loan
B．Managing personal debt
C．Getting a line of credit
D．Avoiding credit card fees
How Executives Deal with the Jobless Time？
Although the economy has improved, a jobless executive may have to face up to a year or more of unemployment. That's a lot of time, especially for those who are not used to having any free time. While some job seekers spend hundreds of hours discovering daytime television, others seem to thrive on activities that boost their professional careers or resolve family issues when they aren't working.
Having an extended period of free time in the prime of one's life can in fact be a unique opportunity to focus on volunteer service, professional education or personal growth.
Community Involvement
For Lisa Perez, the wakeup call was burned pork chops. An executive who previously hadn't been particularly interested in home and health had become obsessed with homemaking during a period of unemployment.
She realized that cleaning and organizing her home wasn't helping her job search. Nevertheless, "I made lists of 50 things to do every day," says Ms. Perez, a political and public-relations consultant in Scottsdale, Ariz. "My house was clean, just so I'd have something to do."
One day, her boyfriend didn't arrive on time for dinner because he had to work late, and her pork chops were ruined. She flied into a rage. "I'd never been a person like that," she says. "So I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself, and go out and do something productive."
Ms. Perez, 35, resolved to become an active volunteer for the duration of her search. She gave her time to a health-care concern, a housing program and a political campaign.
The work offered her self-confidence. "Volunteering takes the focus off you. One thing you have that's still valuable is your time. And, of course, you learn that there are thousands of people with a life that's much worse than yours," she says.
Volunteer assignments are also great ways to meet powerful and well-connected people. Over a six-month period, her volunteering evolved into working as a paid consultant and then as a full-time employee, a job she still holds today. In all, she was unemployed for eight months.
Before her job loss, she thought she didn't have time to volunteer while working. "Now, even though I have a demanding job, I still volunteer, because of what I got out of it," says Ms. Perez.
Continuing Education
Gene Bellavance, a 36-year-old information-technology project manager, took another route during his unemployment. When he was laid off from a steel company near Cleveland, he knew his immediate prospects were bleak. He expected his search to take a year. He faced a decision: take a job that would set back his career or hold out for an offer he really wanted.
Mr. Bellavance, single and virtually debt free, shifted his finances into survival mode. He cashed out his pension, sold his house, unloaded things he didn't need at garage sales, and rented an apartment with a roommate. Then, he says, "I signed up for every benefit I could find."
But he wasn't just waiting out the year. He spent the rest of his search updating his skills, including becoming certified in new database and project-management software. "You have to invest in yourself," Mr. Bellavance says. "I estimated what technology was going to be the most beneficial and chose applications that were going to ensure top pay.
His job search was one month shy of the full year he'd expected. He looked for work during his training and says he would have finished the certification programs even if he'd been hired before completing them.
Family Matters
In addition to pursuing training or volunteering, some displaced careerists use their time off work to attend to family matters. Many executives rediscover their children or find time to help their parents.
Stanford Rappaport held three jobs in
A．Y
B．N
C．NG
A) So does my mother. B) Nor does my mother.
C) My mother isn’t, either. D) My mother doesn’t,too.
There was no bus in my town.
A．Right.
B．Wrong.
C．Doesn't say.
