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  3. Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans aren’t too slick with money. We tak

Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans aren’t too slick with money. We tak

admin2013-07-02  72
问题     Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans aren’t too slick with money. We take out home loans we can’t afford. We run up sky-high credit-card debt. We don’t save nearly enough for retirement.

    In response, proponents(支持者)of financial-literacy education are stumping with renewed zeal. 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 efforts to 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 savvy(有常识的)students are about things such as budgeting, credit cards, insurance and investments.
    "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 studying financial-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 is needed. They advocate starting financial education a lot earlier than high school, putting real money and spending decisions into kids’ hands and talking openly about the emotions and social influences tied to how we spend.
    Other initiatives are tackling such real-world issues as the commercial and social pressures that affect purchasing decisions. Why exactly do you want those expensive name-brand sneakers so badly? "It takes confidence to take a stand and to think differently, " says Jeroo Billimoria, 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. "
    Amid such a complicated landscape, some experts question whether there could ever be enough education to adequately prepare Americans for financial life. A better solution, these critics contend, is to reform the system. "What works is creating institutions that make it easy to do the right thing, " says David Laibson, a Harvard economics professor who, like Mandell, has decided after years of research that education isn’t a silver bullet. One idea being discussed in Washington is the automatic IRA. Employers would have to enroll each worker in a personal retirement-savings account unless that worker decided to opt out.
    Yet even the skeptics are slow to write off financial education completely. More than anything, they say, we need to rigorously study the financial decisions of alumni of programs like Ariel and Aflatoun and compare them with those of peers who didn’t get the same sort of education. "Until you have experimental evidence, it’s all a little speculative," says Michael Sherraden, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who is conducting a seven-year, randomized, controlled study on whether giving children bank accounts inculcates the habit of saving. Yes, good, solid research like this takes a lot of time and resources. But if what we’re doing right now isn’t working, it’s in our own best interest to figure out what does.
What a radical approach do a growing number of researchers and educators advocate?
选项 A、Tackle real-world issues that affect purchasing decisions.
B、Start financial education from high school instead of adults.
C、Put kids in financial environment to learn from life experiences.
D、Avoid discussing the emotions and social influences about spending.
答案C
解析 事实细节题。第四段中提到越来越多的研究人员和教育工作者认为我们有必要采取更彻底的办法。他们主张在高中以前就开展金融教育，给孩子真钱，并把支出权交给孩子，并和他们坦诚地讨论与花钱方式相关的情绪和社会影响，也就是说让孩子在现实生活中学习金融，故[C]项正确，[B][D]两项与原文意义相反，故错误。[A]项是第五段中其他人的倡议想法，故排除。
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