阅读理解。
This year I'm buying presents for 16 children, as well as my own daughter, Mia-Grace, who will be two
on Christmas Day. My tree will be beautifully decorated, I'm bringing the turkey to the family Christmas lunch
and having an open house on Boxing Day. And the whole thing's only going to cost me ￡150.
We're very careful now and we don't overspend or owe anything on credit cards. I work for an electrician
and my husband Neil, 33, works in construction business. We're concerned about our jobs because our
companies are quiet at the moment.
We've also been hit by rising prices, particularly food, petrol, gas and electricity. Everyone I know is
worried. One of my friends' husbands has just gone self-employed and if he doesn't work, they have no money
coming in.
Christmas has been playing on my mind for the past three or four months. We decided on a budget of ￡150
because that's just under my weekly wage and it meant we could afford Christmas while using Neil's salary for
our essential bills.
We quickly realized that we buy some things every year just for the sake of it. Even though we have loads
of decorations, we usually buy something new for the tree but this Christmas we're not going to. We've already
got our tree-a big artificial one which I bought half-price in the January sales. It will last us for years.
After all, no one can escape from this financial crisis (经济危机) which is spreading throughout the globe.
1. From the passage, we can infer Boxing Day most probably falls on _____. [ ]
A. January 20
B. May 5
C. October 24
D. December 26
2. Which of the following is TRUE about the author? [ ]
A. She has bought an artificial Christmas tree at a low price.
B. She has bought Christmas presents for 16 children altogether.
C. Both the author and her husband are already out of work now.
D. She'd like to buy a new Christmas tree for this Christmas.
3. Why can the author only spend $150 for Christmas? [ ]
A. Because she and her husband have little earnings.
B. Because she is always careful with money.
C. Because she wants to save for the future.
D. Because she is a mean woman.
4. According to the passage, we can conclude that _____. [ ]
A. the author often quarrels with her husband about their little earnings
B. nobody but the author was worried about the rising prices
C. the author has never been worried about her job
D. the author and those around her are suffering from the financial crisis
5. Which is the best title for the passage? [ ]
A. An Unexpected Christmas
B. A Christmas during Financial Crisis
C. An Unforgettable Christmas
D. A Christmas without Christmas Tree
