Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans aren’t so good at money-management. We take out home loans we can't afford.We run up sky-high credit-card debt. We don't save nearly enough forretirement.In response, supporters of financial-literacy education are moving with renewed enthusiasm. School districts in states such as New Jersey and Illinois are adding money-management courses to their curriculums . The Treasury and Education departments are sending lesson plans to high schools and encouraging students to compete in the National Financial Capability Challenge that begins in March.

Students with top scores on that exam will receive certificates -but chances for long-term benefits are slim. As it turns out, there is little evidence that traditional effortsto boost financial know-how help students make better decisions outside the classroom.Even as the financial-literacy movement has gained steam over the past decade, scores have been falling on tests that measure how well students learn about things such asbudgeting, credit cards, insurance and investments. A recent survey of college studentsconducted for the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy found thatstudents who'd had a personal-finance or money-management course in high schoolscored no better than those who hadn't.

"We need to figure out how to do this the right way,"says Lewis Mandell, a professor at the University of Washington who after 15 years of studyingfinancial-literacy programs has come to the conclusion that current methods don't work.A growing number of researchers and educators agree that a more radical approach isneeded. They advocate starting financial education a lot earlier than high school, puttingreal money and spending decisions into kids' hands and talking openly about theemotions and social influences tied to how we spend .

Other initiatives are tacking such real-world issues as the commercial andsocial pressures that affect purchasing decisions.Why exactly do you want those expensive brand-name shoes so badly? "It takes confidence to take a stand and to thinkdifferently," saysJerooBillimoria ,founder of Aflatoun,a nonprofit whose curriculum, used in more than 30 countries ,aims to help kids get a leg up in their financial lives .”

“This goes beyond money and savings"

The financial-literacy education is intended to________.

Write a composition of at least 150 words about the topic: The possibility of using the mobile phone to study English (or any other subject). You should write according to the outline given below:

1. 我认为手机(不)可以用来学习英语或其他知识。

2. 理由是……

3. 结论

Unhappy is like an infectious disease. It causes people to shrink away from the sufferer. He soon finds himself alone and miserable. There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous: if you don’t feel happy, pretend to be! It works. Before long you will find that instead of pushing people away, you attract them. You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and wider circles of good will.

Then the make-believe becomes a reality. Being happy, once it is realized as a duty and established as a habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens filled with grateful friends.

Jeroo Billimoria is most likely to agree thatcommercial and social pressures makeone's purchasing decisions________.

Ironically, a study finds that we’re awful gift-givers precisely because we spend too much time trying to be considerate.We imagine our friends (1) a gift that is impressive,expensive,and sentimental. We imagine the look of happinessand surprise on their faces and the warmth we feel. (2) .But there’s something thatthe most sentimental-gift-givers tend not to think too much about: (3) the gift is practical in the first place.

(4) , practicality seems like an enemy of great gift giving. Beautiful jewelry, lovely watches, perfect rugs, finely crafted kitchen hardware: These things(5) great gifts because they communicate something beyond practicality. Theycommunicate that the giver cares.

But do the receivers care? Often,no. "Gift receivers would be (6) ifgivers gave them exactly what they requested (7) . attemptingto be'thoughtful and considerate' by buying gifts they did not explicitly request" to surprisethem, the researchers write. Their clever paper asks givers and receivers to (8) gifts from two perspectives: desirability (e.g. the cost of a coffee maker) and feasibility(e.g. the (9) of the coffee maker).Across several experiments, theyfind that givers consistently give gifts based on desirability and receivers (10) favor gifts based on feasibility .

Bysaying that "the financial-literacy movement has gained steam"(Para .3) ,theauthor means that the movement______.

Lewis Mandell suggests that we should figure out how to ________.

Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans aren’t so good at money-management. We take out home loans we can't afford.We run up sky-high credit-card debt. We don't save nearly enough forretirement.In response, supporters of financial-literacy education are moving with renewed enthusiasm. School districts in states such as New Jersey and Illinois are adding money-management courses to their curriculums . The Treasury and Education departments are sending lesson plans to high schools and encouraging students to compete in the National Financial Capability Challenge that begins in March.

Students with top scores on that exam will receive certificates -but chances for long-term benefits are slim. As it turns out, there is little evidence that traditional effortsto boost financial know-how help students make better decisions outside the classroom.Even as the financial-literacy movement has gained steam over the past decade, scores have been falling on tests that measure how well students learn about things such asbudgeting, credit cards, insurance and investments. A recent survey of college studentsconducted for the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy found thatstudents who'd had a personal-finance or money-management course in high schoolscored no better than those who hadn't.

"We need to figure out how to do this the right way,"says Lewis Mandell, a professor at the University of Washington who after 15 years of studyingfinancial-literacy programs has come to the conclusion that current methods don't work.A growing number of researchers and educators agree that a more radical approach isneeded. They advocate starting financial education a lot earlier than high school, puttingreal money and spending decisions into kids' hands and talking openly about theemotions and social influences tied to how we spend .

Other initiatives are tacking such real-world issues as the commercial andsocial pressures that affect purchasing decisions.Why exactly do you want those expensive brand-name shoes so badly? "It takes confidence to take a stand and to thinkdifferently," saysJerooBillimoria ,founder of Aflatoun,a nonprofit whose curriculum, used in more than 30 countries ,aims to help kids get a leg up in their financial lives .”

“This goes beyond money and savings"

The financial-literacy education is intended to________.

She often says her greatest happinessconsists inhelping the disadvantaged children.

According to the author, the National Financial Capability Challenge will be_______.

The new cut in interest rate is meant topromotedomestic investment.