自考英语二(新版)原文Unit6TheValueofMoney.doc

Unit 6 The Value of Money
A Famous Quote:
Never spend your money before you have it.
– Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third President of the United States and primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

Text A Teaching Children to Spend Pocket Money Wisely
Pre-reading Questions:
1. Recall and describe how your parents allocated pocket money to you and how you spent it.
2. What influence does that way of giving pocket money have on kids finance management?

School-going children need pocket money for food, stationary and bus fare. Parents give pocket money to their children in different ways. Some give a lump of sum at the beginning of a month or a week. Others prefer to give pocket money on a daily bias. The way in which pocket money is given affects how money is spent or saved. On the other hand, the children’s spending habits may affect how pocket money is given.
Pocket money given on a daily bias is sometimes termed as “food money”. Children usually use the pocket money to buy food during recess and also at lunch hour if they have school activities in the afternoon. They learn how to manage small sums of money. As the money is limited, they have to control their spending. Some parents choose this method of allocating pocket money in order to prevent their children from overspending, hoping that in time they can be trusted with larger sums of money. Parents who earn daily wages may also opt for this due to financial constraints.
Giving pocket money on a daily bias places responsibilities of budgeting on the parents, instead of child. The child may spend every single cent of the daily pocket money by overindulging in junk food, as they know they will get another sum of money the next day. This results in children being short-sighted in their spending. The thought of saving money never crossed their minds. They may develop the mentality that money is meant to be spent. Others spend more than they are given. They borrow from their siblings or their classmates when they feel like indulging themselves. Then they may ask for money to pay off their debts. This habit of borrowing causes then to depend on others to solve their problems. In such instances, the purpose of rationing is defeated.
Children need to learn how to budget their money. Some parents go by the “learning by doing” principle and give their children lump sums at the beginning of the month, and by the third week of the month their account is already dry.
On the other hand, some learn to budget their pocket money very well and even have savings at the end of the month. They do not borrow money necessarily. In other words, they learn to spend within their means. Buy the necessary first, and indulge ourselves only if there is money left. This habit, when inculcated since young, stands them in good stead when they start working and earning their own money. It enables them to resist the temptation of “buy now and pay later” schemes.
Formation of any habit starts at a tender age. There is no better way to teach children to manage money than to start with their pocket money. They need to learn the importance of budgeting right from kindergarden days. It is a good idea to start with daily pocket money and move on to monthly pocket money. When children learn to spend within their means, they are able to manage their finances well later in their lives.

Text B The Importance of Money in Life
Pre-reading Questions:
1. What do you think of the old saying, “money is the root of evil”?
2. Do you believe how people think about money determines whether their money flow is constant?

What were you taught about money as you were growing up? Something like “money doesn’t grow on trees”, or “money is the root of all evil”, or maybe “all rich people are greedy’?
Well, how do you expect to become a success financially if you believe these things? You attract into you life what you are thinking about and what you believe. If you think there is not enough money in this world for everyone you will never have enough money. That is called the Law of Attraction.
First of all, believing that “money doesn’t grow on trees” is an example of what’s called lack or scarcity programming. Our parents taught us that there was never enough money to go around, and that it was not readily available or abundant. But in truth, the universe is very abundant, and there is lots of money as your heart desires. What wonderful thing you could do with it: travel to the countries you have always dreamt of, buy a house you are even scared to think about, attend meditation classes so you could spiritually grow, donate money to your favorite charity, spend more quality time with your family, and the list goes on.
The key is to start thinking that you deserve the money and that there is lots of it available for your, and then you can start attracting in into your life. That’s abundance thinking, which is the opposite of lack or scarcity thinking. When you start thinking about abundance the Law of Attraction will do the rest. You do not need to know how it is going to happen. Just make the first step, first thought. Starting is already winning.
And what about thinking that “money is the root of all evil”? Can you really expect to become a success if you believe that money is the root of all evil? Unless you have a desire to be an evil person, your subconscious will not let you have money if you believe deep down that it is the root of evil.
By the way, the quote is taken out of context in the first place. It was originally stated as “the love of money is the root of all evil”. So it has nothing to do with the money itself.
Now that you understand that, you can start to think that money is in fact good. You can help people with money. You can stimulate the economy with money. Even the most kind-hearted spiritual person, who says they don’t need money, can do more to make the world a better place with money than without it.
And what about thinking that “all rich people are greedy’? Well, that creates us versus them, whereby you have labeled all of “them” greedy in your mind. You, on the other hand, are very giving in your mind. That’s why you don’t have money, because you’re not greedy.
Sure, there must be some rich people in the world who are greedy. But there are also poor people who are greedy. There are both rich and poor people who are very giving as well. The amount of money you have has nothing to do with these character traits.
In fact, a lot of rich people got there by not being greedy. Having a giving attitude opens up a flow of money that often brings them more. You will find the same thing: giving away money joyfully to a friend, and notice that it comes back to you in some other form. The world needs to be a balance of give and take, and being joyful both as you give and receive will ensure that you always go with the flow.
And changing your mindset from what you were taught as a child to a healthier view of money will allow you to become the financial success you deserve to be, to become the real you.