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UNIT 3 ■ Achievement Test
Name
ﲵListen to the conversation. Read the sentences. Then listen again and check
true or false.
true false
Example: The man and woman are talking about financial goals. ✔
䡺 䡺
1. The woman has clear long-term financial goals. 䡺 䡺
2. The man did not expect to have such a serious conversation. 䡺 䡺
3. The man and woman are both over 40. 䡺 䡺
4. The woman plans to retire at 40. 䡺 䡺
5. The woman plans to be financially secure by the time she is 40. 䡺 䡺
6. The woman knew that the man was going to pay for dinner. 䡺 䡺
Circle the letter of the answer that correctly completes each sentence.
Example: “Jim will spend two hours looking for a restaurant that gives free bread. I can’t believe
he is .”
a. so cheap b. so generous c. such a spendthrift
7. “It’s not hard to be ; you just have to spend a little less and save a little more.”
a. thrifty b. stingy c. a spendthrift
8. “Whenever Jeremiah goes into a record store, he comes out with four or five CDs for himself.
He’s .”
a. a real tightwad b. a real spendthrift c. really generous
9. “My uncle is so he won’t even buy ice cream for his own children.”
a. generous b. frugal c. stingy
10. “Jeanne always shares whatever she has with everyone. She’s the most person I
know.”
a. frugal b. stingy c. generous
11. “They are all saying I’m a just because I said that I would rather walk than
pay for parking.”
a. tightwad b. big spender c. spendthrift
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UNIT 3■ Achievement Test (continued) Name
Complete each sentence with a word from the box. You will not use all of the words.
money philanthropist contribution charity
investment profit donations
Example: “Charitable donations usually increase around the holidays.”
12. “Some people give 10 percent of their money to a favorite or
not-for-profit organization.”
13. “Would you like to make a to help fight childhood diseases?”
14. “If we buy roses for £1.00 and sell them for £2.00, we’ll make a 100 percent
.”
Rewrite each sentence, using the past unreal conditional: inverted form.
Example: “If we had been told it would cost so much to maintain, we never would have
bought this car.”
Had we been told this car would cost so much to maintain, we never
would have bought it.
15. “If I had known this furniture would be so hard to put together, I wouldn’t have bought it.”
16. “We would’ve bought a smaller couch if we had realized this one wouldn’t fit in the elevator.”
17. “If he had known his digital camera would just sit around collecting dust, he wouldn’t have
bought such an expensive one.”
Complete each sentence in your own way. Write about your financial plans or goals for the future.
Example: By the end of the summer, I expect to have saved enough money to buy a new car .
18. By the time , I hope .
19. I plan by the end of next month.
20. By this time next year, I .
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UNIT 3■ Achievement Test (continued) Name
Read the magazine article. Then read it again and circle the word or phrase
that correctly completes each sentence.
A gift-giver’s guide
Things to consider when choosing a gift
Y
ou’ve experienced buyer’s remorse—that feeling Size of the manual
of regret that comes from buying something you Everybody loves technology, but before buying that new
didn’t really need or shouldn’t have bought. gadget, measure the thickness of the instruction manual.
And you may have even experienced a bit of “receiver’s Will the person need an
remorse,” too—the disappointment of opening up a engineering degree
beautifully wrapped gift to discover—oh, dear— just to figure out
something you don’t need that someone else shouldn’t how to use it? I
have bought. Here’s a gift-buyer’s guide for avoiding once bought a
buyer’s (and receiver’s) remorse. digital camera for
my uncle. A year
later, when I
Hidden costs noticed him still
When choosing a gift, be mindful that the store price tag taking pictures with
may not be the only cost. Some products require regular his old camera, I asked about the digital camera. He
service or care to admitted that he had returned it after failing to find the
keep them power button.
operational.
My grandmother Some assembly required
once received a Two important rules when choosing a gift that the
large tropical fish receivers must put
aquarium as a together themselves:
gift. However, 1) They shouldn’t
the aquarium need to use more
used so much than two tools;
electricity that 2) The product
her electric bill must not come
doubled. in more than six
pieces. My daughter
was given a wagon
Space issues that took me over
Here’s something else to think about: size. Sure, my
four hours to put together. I cut my hand using the
sister would love
wrong screwdriver, and I never could get the wheels to
an exercise bike,
spin correctly. I hate that wagon.
but would it fit in
her tiny studio
apartment?
Practicality
Finally, it’s important to consider how practical the gift is
When purchasing
for the person receiving it.
large or bulky
Let’s face it, it could be a
items, think about
great product, but it’s only a
where they are
great gift if it gets used. I
going to be kept.
bought my brother one of
Is there enough
those big electric mixers
space? Where will
just because it looked cool.
it be stored when
Since he doesn’t cook,
not in use?
however, it never left his
kitchen cabinet.
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UNIT 3■ Achievement Test (continued) Name
Example: The article offers shopping advice / recommends places to shop.
21. The article is written for people who buy gifts / receive gifts.
22. The article offers advice on how to avoid spending too much money / buyer’s remorse.
23. The author’s grandmother was given an aquarium that cost too much to maintain / was too
hard to operate.
24. An exercise bike would be a poor choice for the author’s sister because it would just sit around
collecting dust / take up so much room.
25. The author’s uncle returned the digital camera because it was so hard to operate / put together.
26. The author dislikes the wagon because it was hard to put together / operate.
27. An electric mixer wasn’t a good gift for the author’s brother because it just sits around collect-
ing dust / costs so much to maintain.
Match each sentence beginning to the correct ending. You will not use all of
the sentence endings.
Example: “There’s always something with this computer that needs to be
fixed or updated. I would’ve bought a different brand had
I known this one would d .”
28. “I would have bought already-assembled furniture had I known a. take up so much room
this do-it-yourself kind would .” b. be so hard to operate
c. be so hard to put
29. “I wouldn’t have bought this confusing, high-tech camcorder
together
had I known it would .”
d. cost so much to maintain
30. “I wouldn’t have gotten this big exercise machine that doesn’t fit e. just sit around collecting
in any of my closets had I known it would .” dust
Choose one of the following topics to write about. Write a paragraph of at
least four to five sentences.
• What are your short-term financial goals? Refer to specific completion dates.
• What arehad
Have you theany
reasons for charitable
experiences giving?
with charitable organizations? What kinds of groups will
you give (or not give) your money to in the future?
31–33.