When Steve Maxwell graduated from college, he had an engineering degree and a high tech job — but he couldn’t balance his checkbook. “I took one finance class in college but dropped it to go on a ski trip,” says the 45-year-old father of three, who lives in Windsor, Colorado. “I actually had to go to my bank and ask them to teach me how to read my statement.”
One of the biggest obstacles to making money is not understanding it: Thousands of us avoid investing because we just don’t get it. But to make money, you must be financially literate. “It bothered me that I didn’t understand this stuff,” says Steve, “so I read books and magazines about money management and investing, and I asked every financial whiz (能手) I knew to explain things to me.”
He and his wife started applying the lessons: They made a point to live below their means. They never bought on impulse, always negotiated better deals (on their cars，cable bills, furniture) and stayed in their home long after they went for an expensive vacation. They also put 20 percent of their annual salary into investments.
Within ten years, they were millionaires, and people were ing to Steve for advice. “Someone would say, ‘I need to refinance my house — what should I do? ‘A lot of times, I wouldn’t know the answer, but I’d go to find it and learn something in the process,” he says.
In 2003, Steve quit his job to bee part owner of a pany that holds personal finance seminars for employees of corporations like Wal Mart. He also started going to real estate investment seminars, and it’s paid off: He now owns $ 30 million worth of investment properties, including apartment plexes, a shopping mall and a quarry.
“I was an engineer who never thought this life was possible, but all it truly takes is a little self education,” says Steve. “You can do anything once you understand the basics.”
【小题1】The underlined part “live below their means” (in Paragraph 3) probably means “ ”.A．take effective measuresB．live a miserable lifeC．spend more money than they hadD．spend less money than they had【小题2】Since Steve Maxwell became a millionaire, he .A．has been unwilling to help othersB．hasn’t stopped learning from practiceC．has been willing to follow others’ adviceD．has stopped to invest in houses【小题3】What would be the best title for the passage?A．A self made engineerB．How to balance your checkbookC．Don’t avoid investing D．Educate yourself to bee a millionaire【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that .A．self education is very important to one’s lifeB．everyone should learn how to invest in their lifeC．Steve Maxwell was quite interested in finance classes in collegeD．Steve became rich because he saved every penny he had earnedD
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(答案→)D
解析：本文讲述了Steve从自己的经历中取得经验，开始的时候他也不会理财，后来经过学习，合理花钱有节制，最终成为了百万富翁，通过这个情况告诉我们如何理财。
【小题1】D 推理题。根据该句的下一句They never bought on impulse, always negotiated better deals (on their cars，cable bills, furniture) and stayed in their home long after they went for an expensive vacation.说明他们量入为出，有节制，不乱花钱。故D的说法正确。
【小题2】B 推理题。根据倒数1,2行‘A lot of times, I wouldn’t know the answer, but I’d go to find it and learn something in the process,” he says.说明他一直在学习，故B正确。
【小题3】D 主旨大意题。本文讲述了Steve从自己的经历中取得经验，开始的时候他也不会理财，后来经过学习，合理花钱有节制，最终成为了百万富翁，通过这个情况告诉我们如何理财。故D正确。
【小题4】A 推断题。Steve从自己的经历中取得经验，开始的时候他也不会理财，后来经过学习，合理花钱有节制，最终成为了百万富翁，他的所有的成功都是通过自己的个人努力，自我教育实现的。故A正确。