Recently, professor of philosophy（哲学）in the United States has written a book called Money and the Meaning of Life. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our daily life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life.
He says our relations with others often become clearly defined（清晰的）when money
enters the picture. You might have wonderful relationship with somebody and you think that you are very good friends. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend some money. If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn’t. This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it.
Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.
Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about being rich, because you are a self-made man?
Answer: The most surprising thing is how people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I don’t know much. All I am is rich.
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? How much do I need for any given purposes in my life? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life.
小题1:According to the first paragraph, people have not realized ______.
| A．how important money is in their daily life |
| B．how one spends money shows what is important to him |
| C．that money is more important than their philosophy of life |
| D．that their understanding of life is more important than money |
小题2:The author seems to believe that asking your friend to lend you some money ________.
| A．is a good way to test your friendship |
| B．will do harm to your friendship |
| C．will strengthen your friendship |
| D．is a good way to break off your friendship |
小题3:What does the American professor of philosophy want to explain in his book?
| A．Money is an end． | B．Money is a means． |
| C．Money is everything． | D．Money is unimportant |
小题4:The underlined phrase “enter the picture” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “_________”.
| A．is used up | B．is spent on pictures |
| C．is paid in the right way | D．is paid attention to |
小题5:What can we learn about the millionaire from his answer in the interview?
| A．He doesn’t feel that he is well educated. |
| B．He doesn’t think he is a very important person. |
| C．He doesn’t consider himself to be very successful. |
| D．He doesn’t think that being rich deserves so much attention. |