with almost half of all marriages ending in divorce, men and women are realizing they need to be financially savvy, regardless of whether they are in a relationship.
the financial hardship on individuals after a divorce can be extremely difficult, even more so when children are involved, the lack of permanency in relationships, jobs and family life may be the cause of a growing trend to keep a secret bank account hidden from a partner; in other words, an “escape fund0”.
margaret’s story is far from unique, she is a representative of a growing number of women in bong-term relationships who are becoming protective of their own earnings.
every month on pay day, she banks hundreds of dollars into a savings account she keeps from her husband . she has been doing this throughout their six-year marriage and has built a nest egg worth an incredible ＄100，000 on top of her pension.
margaret says if her husband found out about her secret savings he’d hurt and would interpret this as a sign she wasn’t sure of the marriage. “he’d think it was my escape fund so that financially i could afford to get out of the relationship if it went wrong. i know you should approach marriage as being forever and i hope ours is , but you can never be sure.”
like many of her fellow secret savers, margaret was stung in a former relationship and has since been very guarded about her own money.
coming clean to your partner about being a secret saver may not be all that bad. take colleen, for example, who had been saving secretly for a few years before she confessed to her partner. “i decided to open a savings account and start building a nest egg of my own. i wanted to prove to myself that i could put money in the bank and leave it there for a rainy day.”
“when john found out about my secret savings, he was a little suspicious of my motives. i reassured him that this was certainly not an escape fund and that i feel very secure in our relationship. i have to admit that it does feel good to have my own money on reserve if ever there are rainy days in the future. it’s sensible to build and protect your personal financial security.”
51.t he trend to keep a secret bank account is growing because .
a. “escape fund” helps one through rainy days
b.days are getting harder and harder
c.women are money sensitive
d.financial conflicts often occur
52.the word “savvy” (line 2, para,2) probably means .
a.suspicious b.secure c.shrewd d.simple
53.which inference can we make about margaret?
a.she is a unique woman b.she was once divorced
c.she is going go retire d.she has many children.
54.the author mentions colleen’s example to show .
a.any couple can we make about margaret?
b.privacy within marriage should be respected
c.everyone can save a fortune with a happy marriage
d.financial disclosure is not necessarily bad
55.which of the following best summarizes this passage?
a.secret savers b.love is what it’s worth
c.banking honesty d.once bitten, twice shy
questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage:
“the word ‘protection’is no longer taboo(禁忌语)”.this short sentence, uttered by french president nicolas sarkozy late last month, may have launched a new era in economic history, why? for decades, western leaders have believed that lowering trade barriers and tariffs was a natural good. doing so, they reasoned, would lead to greater economic efficiency and productivity, which in turn would improve human welfare. championing free trade thus became a moral, not just an economic, cause.
these leaders, of course, weren’t acting out of unselfishness, they knew their economies were the most competitive, so they’d profit most from liberalization. and developing countries feared that their economies would be swamped by superior western productivity. today, however, the tables have turned-though few acknowledge it. the west continues to preach free trade, but practices it less and less. asia, meanwhile, continues to plead for special protection but practices more and more free trade.
that’s why sarkozy’s words were so important: he finally injected some honesty into the trade debate. the truth is that large parts of the west are losing faith in free trade, though few leaders admit it, some economists are more honest. paul krugman is one of the few willing to acknowledge that protectionist arguments are returning. in the short run, there will be winners and losers under free trade. this, of course, is what capitalism is all about. but more and more of these will be in the west. economists in the developed world used to love quoting joseph schumpeter, who said that “creative destruction” was an essential part of capitalist growth. but they always assumed that destruction would happen over there. when western workers began losing jobs. suddenly their leaders began to lose faith in their principles. things have yet to reverse completely but there’s clearly a negative trend in western theory and practice.
上一页 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] 下一页
