agriculture 農業，農耕

agriculture  農業，農耕
livelihood  生活；生計
rely on  依靠, 信賴
resident  居民，定居者；僑民

region  地區，地帶；行政區域
a region of
gravity  【物】重力；引力；地心吸力
escape  逃跑；逃脫

( 3 ) I’m John, and ________ I really like doing is riding a bike
1 if  2. so 3. what 4. yet

celebrate  慶祝
economics  經濟學

There are two reasons I don’t have a credit card.
The first reason is that using a piece of plastic instead of 41 makes it too easy for me to buy things I can’t afford.
42 , last week I saw a $75.00 pair of pink shoes in my favorite shoe store. Of course,
I don’t need pink shoes, 43 can I afford them.
With a credit card, however, I would now own those shoes and be worrying about
 how to 44 for them.
The second reason I don’t have a credit card is that I would end up in 45 like my friend Sara, the Shopaholic, who got a credit card last year and already owes $4,000.

【2】41.   card    cash    credit    check
【1】42.   For instance    In addition    Not to mention    On top of that
【3】43.   and    but    nor    so
【3】44.   buy    choose    pay    work
【2】45.   army    debt    fashion    success

plastic  塑膠的；塑膠製的  可塑的，塑性的


Pawn shops are businesses where people bring their possessions to sell or
to get a short-term loan.
The United States has about ten thousand of them.
In the past few years, pawn shops have been doing business with
more people than ever before.
That is because many lenders now do business only with individuals having good
credit ratings or a high-paying job.
Often, the individuals most in need of a loan have poor credit ratings.
But they do not need a good job or credit rating to get a loan from a pawnbroker. They only need something of value.
When a traditional lender approves a loan, it may be days or weeks before an individual receives the money.
But pawnbrokers will give a loan in just a few minutes based on the resale value of an object and without asking about the person’s job or credit history.

Many pawn shops specialize in jewelry.
But most shops accept almost anything of value, including computers, musical instruments, guns, old coins and other antiques.
The item itself acts as the security, or collateral, for the loan. If the loan is not repaid, the object can be sold.
Customers can get the object back -- called redeeming it -- at any time by repaying the loan plus the interest and fees they agreed to pay.
Or they can pay the interest and leave the item at the pawn shop for a while longer.

【2】46. According to the article, how many pawn shops are there in the United States now
                 1,000.    10,000.    100,000.    1,000,000.

【2】47. According to the article, what kind of people become pawn shops’ clients
                 People who have very good jobs.    People who are in need of money.
                 People who work for banks.    People who own two shops.

【1】48. According to the article, what should a client give in order to get what he wants in return                     from a pawn shop
                 Something of value.    Good credit ratings.
                 A loan.    Job histories.

【1】49. According to the article, what is a reason that people prefer a pawn shop to a lender
                They can get the money faster.    The interest rate is lower.
                The service fee is not fixed.    The operation is legal.

【1】50. According to the article, what will happen if the clients of the pawn shops cannot pay back                   the money on time
                The collateral will be sold.
               The clients have to pay higher interest.
               The pawn shops will press a charge against the clients.
               The police will take away the clients’ jewelry.

pawn 典當；抵押
possession  擁有；佔有 所有物；財產
loan  借出；借出的東西
term  term
pawnbroker  典當商；當舖老板
approve  贊成，同意；贊許
specialize  專攻；專門從事
antique  古董的  古代的
redeem  買回；贖回
repaid  repay  償還；還錢給；付還
interest  利息
collateral  擔保品，抵押品
item  一件物品  項目；品目；條款；細目
security  保證；保障；擔保（品）  安全，安全感[
plus  加，加上