题文
It may not be news to parents of teenage girls, but researchers have confirmed that no one can stop their 16-year-old daughter from deciding how the family spends its money.The willpower and determination of teenage girls give them a big say in how a family’s money is spent on everything from food and meals to mobile phones, and, of course, clothes. Teenage boys did not show up at all in the analysis, which was designed to find out the influence of young people on household spending.
The findings on the spending power of teenage girls were calculated from Office for National Statistics records of family spending during the 1980s and 1990s. Researchers examined how much money went on services and leisure goods in different kinds of homes. They checked spending on food, restaurant meals, alcohol, tobacco, services, heating, transport, clothes and sports in 2,745 British families.
They found that teenage girls in the UK typically played an active role in family decisions about the allocation（分配）of household resources. But older children— those over the age of 21 who are still living with their parents—appear to have no say in household decisions.
They also tried to calculate to what extent the bargaining power of a teenager affected family budgets. “Every parent knows that children, even at a very early age, have their own preferences with regard to consumption, researchers said. “But children are only interested in a limited range of goods—mainly sweets and toys—and parents are able to use punishment to reduce their children’s bargaining power or remove it.” When they become teenagers, however, girls are much more independent and they are capable of earning their own money, which improves their bargaining power in family decisions.
The researchers could not explain why girls have more influence over spending while the evidence for boys is much less conclusive. However, this study could be of great significance to market research and how marketers target children.
小题1: From the passage we can learn that .A．teenage girls have more influence over family budgets than teenage boysB．teenage boys don't want to decide on household spendingC．teenage boys have some influence over householdD．teenage girls have weaker willpower and determination than teenage boys小题2:What does the underlined part “give them a big say” in the second paragraph mean?A．Make them dare to say something.B．Make them want to know.C．Make them say something meaningful. D．Make their influence stronger.小题3:It appears that household decisions are NOT affected by .A．girls living with parentsB．girls over 21C．girls over 12D．girls living alone小题4:How can parents reduce children’s bargaining power?A．By persuading themB．By offering them sweets or toys.C．By threatening to punish them.D．By allocating household resources. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:A
小题2:D
小题3:B
小题4:C
解析
小题1:A 细节题。根据文章最后一段girls have more influence over spending while the evidence for boys is much less conclusive.说明女孩对家庭花费的影响比男孩要大，故A正确。
小题2:D 推理题。根据本句The willpower and determination of teenage girls give them a big say in how a family’s money is spent on everything在通读全文可知在家庭花费方面女孩子比男孩更有发言权影响更大故D正确。
小题3:B 细节题。根据第四段3,4行But older children— those over the age of 21 who are still living with their parents—appear to have no say in household decisions.说明B正确。
小题4:C 细节题。根据倒数第二段3,4,5三行But children are only interested in a limited range of goods—mainly sweets and toys—and parents are able to use punishment to reduce their children’s bargaining power or remove it.”说明C正确。
点评：：文章介绍了在家里女孩对于家庭花费的影响要比男孩要大得多，并分析了原因。考生在阅读文章时要抓住每一段的中心思想和所持观点，要求考生关注细节和上下文。提高判断推理能力。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“It may not be news t.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
