Question

One afternoon, after finishing shopping in a supermarket, my family and I went to the checkout. I suddenly thought we didn’t need any of the junk, and we abandoned all of those, saving $300.

That got me thinking about all our pointless expenses in life. With a promise that we’d stop if it was killing us, I convinced the family to take the leap into frugality(节俭). The rules were that we would buy nothing for 30 days except absolutely essentials.

Our adventure began with a great start. By 9 a.m., my wife, Ruth, had already made cakes from old strawberries and picked flowers I didn’t even know we had in the garden. I cleared the car by hand for the first time for years. I read and returned the neighbor’s newspaper before he woke up. Total spending on the first day: $0.

As days turned into weeks, we became so proficient(熟练的) at living frugally. We started riding our bikes to save gas. My child’s finger painting was recycled as gift wrap for the homemade presents. We started to use an Internet application like Skype for free phone calls and ask neighbors with gardens for extra vegetables and herbs.

In the end, we saved more than $2000 by not spending for a month. When we began, I imagined we would rush out the moment we were done and buy a lot of things in the supermarket, then maybe hit the mall or go to the movies.

1.We can infer from the passage that before that very afternoon, the family _________.

A. had had higher income

B. had had a good habit of saving money

C. had often spent money without thinking much

D. hadn’t realized they would have met financial problems

2.How many things were mentioned about the things the family did to save on the first day of the “30 days”?

A. Two.B. Three.C. Four.D. Five.

3.The end of the story tells the readers that the family _________.

A. stopped halfway

B. couldn’t stand the life of frugality

C. would make up for missing the junk after the “30 days”

D. succeeded in saving in the end

4.This passage is mainly about _________.

A. how a family managed their daily life

B. a family’s no-buying try

C. a family’s way of solving life problems

D. how a new idea came up

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：文章讲述了作者一家发现无意义花钱后，尝试一个月尽量少买东西，然后省下$2000多的故事。

1. 推理判断题。根据第一段I suddenly thought we didn’t need any of the junk和第二段That got me thinking about all our pointless expenses in life. With a promise that we’d stop if it was killing us可知，那天之前全家人是无意义的花费，不假思索地花钱。故选C。

2. 细节推理题。根据第三段my wife, Ruth, had already made cakes from old strawberries and picked flowers. I cleared the car by hand for the first time for years. I read and returned the neighbor’s newspaper before he woke up.可知，提到了第一天省钱的三件事，故选B。

3. 推理判断题。根据最后一段In the end, we saved more than $2000 by not spending for a month.可知，全家人最后省钱成功，故选D。

4. 主旨大意题。文章讲述了作者一家发现无意义花钱后，尝试一个月尽量少买东西，然后省下$2000多的故事。B项能概括文章大意，故选B。

考点：考查故事类短文阅读。

【名师点睛】

推理判断题的解题方法：

推理判断题不仅要求考生读懂文章中的每个句子的意思还要推理它们之间的关系，结合自己的生活常识和经验，再通过逻辑推理和判断，理解文章的言外之意，从而揭示文章的深层涵义。如文中第8小题根据第一段I suddenly thought we didn’t need any of the junk和第二段That got me thinking about all our pointless expenses in life. With a promise that we’d stop if it was killing us可知那天之前全家人是无意义的花费，不假思索地花钱。故选C.任何一篇文章都有其特定的写作目的，读者应当知道如何去做或按照某种方式传递思考问题。第10小题根据最后一段In the end, we saved more than $2000 by not spending for a month.可知全家人最后省钱成功，故选D。

推理判断题的答案不可能在文章中直接找到，因此推理时我们务必要忠于原文，在文章中寻找并确定可推论的依据，即：已知部分－推论的前提，从中推测出未知部分－推理的结论，切忌妄加评论，把自己的观点当成作者的观点。