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Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.
At school the children are taught to add up and subtract(减法) but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.
Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.
As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75%of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26%see a credit card or overdraft(透支) as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”
The UK has been in the worst financial recession(衰退)for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97%supported financial education in schools, while 3%said it was a job for parents.
1. The passage is mainly about _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
A. how to manage school lessons
B. how to deal with the financial crisis
C. teaching young people about money
D. teaching students how to study effectively
2. It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
A. the author complains about the school education
B. pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract
C. students have been taught to manage their finances
D. laws on financial education have been effectively carried out
3. The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
A. instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money
B. promote the connection of schools and families
C. ask the government to dismiss the parliament
D. appeal for the curriculum of financial education
4. According to Pfeg, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
A. it is easy to keep good habits long
B. teenagers spend their money as planned
C. parents are willing to pay the debt for their kids
D. it will be in trouble if the teenagers are left alone
5. A poll is mentioned to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
A. stress the necessity of the curriculum reform
B. show the seriousness of the financial recession
C. make the readers aware of burden of the parents
D. illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal