Active Skills for Reading 1 (Unit 4: Money and Budgets)


CHAPTER 2 - My Money

Reading Skill - Identifying Supporting Details

When we identify supporting details, we read carefully for the details that support a main point. Paragraphs are often organized around a main point in the first sentence, and the details that support this point follow in the paragraph. In this passage, Lisa gives details that support her answers to Young Min's questions.

A. Scan up to line 20 of the passage. Write two details to support the idea that Lisa doesn't have much money for fun.

  2. Answer

    Lisa has to work part-time. She also lists the following expenses: rent, meals, cell phone, books, transportation, and clothes. These are things she pays for with the money she earns. The list doesn’t include any additional luxuries.

B. How can Lisa save money? Write down your ideas.

  4. Answer

    Lisa provides a total of six ways in which she saves money: rents movies and splits the cost with her roommates; cooks her own food; walks or rides a bicycle; buys second-hand clothes; borrows books and magazine from the library; is careful to save water and electricity.

C. Read the last paragraph of the passage. Were your ideas in B the same as Lisa's? Discuss with a partner.

D. Now read the entire passage carefully.

http://www.moneyspot.heinle.com

My Money

In this week's Students Around the World, Min Young Kim inteNiews an American university student, Lisa Conroy. They talk about living on a student budget.

Min Young: Thanks for talking with me today, Lisa. Tell us a little about yourself.

Lisa: Well, I'm 21, and I'm a junior1 at a university in Chicago.
Min Young: How are you paying for your college education?
Lisa: My expenses for every semester2 are almost $15,000. At the start of each semester, I get $2,000 from my college scholarship. My parents pay the rest of the $10,000 tuition, and they give me $2,000 for personal expenses. I have to pay the remaining $3,000 myself.
Min Young: How do you do that?
Lisa: I have a part-time job as a waitress. I work three nights a week, and I usually earn about $400 a week. In a good week I can make $600, but in a bad week it can be less than $300.
Min Young: How do you spend that money?
Lisa: It helps to pay for my rent and meals at college. It also pays for things like my cell phone, books, transportation, and clothes.
Min Young: You don't have much money for fun, do you?
Lisa: That's true! My mother advised me to stick to my budget carefully so I don't have to borrow. I don't like to owe money. And I don't want to pay the bank any interest. I hardly ever go to the movies. My roommates and I usually rent movies and split the cost. And, I don't go to restaurants very often. My roommates and I usually cook our own food, so it's cheaper to eat.
Min Young: How else do you save money?
Lisa: I try to walk or ride my bicycle to college. Oh, and I buy a lot of my clothes at second-hand stores. You can find some very cheap, nice clothes in those stores. I also try to borrow books and magazines from the library, rather than buying them on my own. My roommates and I are also very careful to save water and electricity, so we don't have to pay a lot for those things.

1 In four-year university programs in America, a first-year student is called a freshman, a second-year student is called a sophomore, a third-year student is called a junior, and a fourth-year student is called a senior.
2 A semester is part of the school year, usually half.

Chapter - 2: Before You Read - Money Quiz Chapter - 2: Reading Comprehension - Check Your Understanding

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