Have life insurance? Is it enough or maybe too much?

   Most parents know that they need life insurance. But many would rather have a root canal than shop for the best life insurance policy.
   "People don't think about, 'What will my family do if I am gone and not earning a living? '" says Peter Katt, a fee-only life insurance adviser. "The whole point of this kind of planning is to provide the family with maximum flexibility so they're not stuck."
     (1)   Too often, parents make a quick decision, ignoring important considerations. Among their mistakes, one is that they do not buy enough life insurance.  (2)   "They don't think that the person who is not bringing in an income needs life insurance," says Greg Daugherty, executive editor of Consumers Union. But if that person dies, the other parent can't stop working and usually has to pay someone to help care for the family.
     (3)   Katt recommended that one young couple should buy $3 million for the husband who earns $100,000 a year and $1 million for the stay-at-home wife.
   At the same time, many families rely on employer-provided life insurance, but employer-provided coverage is rarely sufficient to support your family.  (4)   Some employers provide a year's salary, but that may also fall well short of the amount your family would need to maintain its standard of living.
   Some employers let workers buy group life insurance through payroll deductions. That may be a good deal for workers who have health problems that would disqualify them for an individual policy.  (5)  
   Another drawback is that if you leave your job, you may not be able to take your insurance. "Given the job market, most of us are not absolutely certain that our jobs are secure," Daugherty says.  (6)  
   On the other hand, some families buy too much insurance. Not everyone needs life insurance. Some people buy life insurance for babies, which is unnecessary, unless the baby is a child model who is supporting the family, Daugherty says:  (7)  . Single people and those who have no children to care for usually don't need life insurance.
   Katt says a man with substantial savings in stocks and bonds and other sources of income recently asked him how much life insurance he needs. "I said none," Katt says.  (8)  
   A. Many employer-provided policies provide a death benefit of $10,000 to $25,000 — barely enough to cover your funeral expenses.
   B. Families don't always insure a parent who is staying home to care for the children.
   C. "There are people who don't need life insurance but have it and many more people who need it but are woefully uninsured."
   D. The purpose of insurance is to replace the income that a family has been relying on.
   E. "Even if you have a lot of insurance at work, it makes sense to have some more insurance on your own."
   F. To make insurance more affordable, you may not need to buy the same amount of insurance for both parents.
   G. Planning for your death is not a cheerful topic.
   H. But if you're young and healthy, you may be able to get a better rate on your own.

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Happiness Secrets for Tough Times

   1. You don't need an expert to tell you that relationships are critical to happiness. Not being the bread-winner anymore or not being able to fulfill your kid's needs can weigh down hard on your family life. But the trick is to stop feeling guilty and focus on nurturing your loved ones. "I was at a psychology conference where an expert was talking about the effects of this economy on families and how parents can't afford to buy their kids luxuries like toys anymore," says Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want. "But what they don't realize is that kids don't care about toys-what they care about is parents being grumpy and taking it out on them."
   2. Now more than ever we need each other to survive. Lyubomirsky found that doing good things for friends, family, or strangers can make you happier. Think of practical, everyday gestures that can make someone's life a little bit easier. For example, Lyubomirsky says, "Maybe now many of us can't afford to take a cab to the airport, so offer to give a friend a ride."
   3. "You could spend a lot of time ruminating," says Lyubomirsky. "But that just makes you feel even more pessimistic, more out of control, and affects your self esteem. Your relationships will suffer and your job performance will suffer." Get rid of pessimism. One of the most effective ways to cope when things are difficult is to adopt a positive thinking strategy. "What can I learn from this? Times are tough, I've been furloughed at work, but I can spend more time with the kids, adopt a new hobby, or learn a new set of skills."
   4. "if you find a happy person you will find a project," says Lyubomirsky. "Happy people all have goals they care about." Commit yourself to a project — whether it is a business you want to start or a dance you want to learn. But it's also important to remember to be flexible in these times. Don't get frustrated if circumstances are stopping you from meeting your goals. Adopt and change! "If your spouse has lost their job you might have to change your goal," says Lyubomirsky. "Or you might have to learn a whole new skill for a new job."
   5. When times are tough, it's easy to get skip your regular workouts in favor of moping in front of the TV and eating a bag of chips. Your thinking is "I have more important things to worry about right now than looking good." But carve out a small part of your day to give your body some TLC. It will go a long way in boosting your happiness. "Even if you can't afford to go to the gym," Lyubomirsky says, "take time out to exercise at home or meditate."
   A. Have a goal and be flexible
   B. Find a new friend
   C. Avoid over-thinking
   D. Do some physical exercise
   E. Help others
   F. Focus on your relationships
   G. Try to fulfill your kid's needs

9. 
Paragraph 1 ______

10. 
Paragraph 2 ______

11. 
Paragraph 3 ______

12. 
Paragraph 4 ______

13. 
Paragraph 5 ______

A. give a friend a ride
   B. adopt a new hobby
   C. feel less out of control
   D. learn a new set of skills
   E. need each other to survive
   F. take some time to exercise
   G. weigh down hard on one's family life

14. 
Losing one's job in hard times may ______.

15. 
In tough times people more than any other time ______.

16. 
Thinking positively can make people ______.

17. 
When looking for a new job in hard times, one may have to ______.

18. 
When times are tough people should still remember to ______.

Small, Imperfectly Formed

   One has to look a long time for an American politician of any political stripe who has failed to laud small businesses. Still, many have little clue as to what makes such businesses succeed or fail.
   Federal agencies aimed at helping small business, such as the Small Business Administration and the Minority Business Development Agency, have been around for half a century, yet persistent differences remain between the performance of businesses founded by white, male entrepreneurs and the rest. Blacks are less likely to be self-employed, for example, and when they are their businesses, on average, have lower sales and profits than do their white-or Asian-owned counterparts. If researchers could explain the causes of these differences, policy-makers could (at least in theory) supply small businesses with more useful help.
   Two researchers for the Census Bureau's Centre for Economic Studies, Ron Jarmin and C.J. Krizan, recently published a working paper attempting to understand demographic differences behind small businesses' success and failure. They concentrated on the years 2002 to 2005, with three databases at their disposal: the Survey of Business Owners, conducted every five years; the Longitudinal Foreign Trade Transaction Database, which includes every US export transaction between 1992 and 2005; and a database co-developed by Mr. Jarmin, which allowed the authors to track whether the owners of the firms in their sample had prior experience being their own bosses. By drawing from on the power of the Census's data collection efforts, the authors hoped to create a more nuanced picture of business survival.
   Some of their findings were not terribly surprising. A firm's chances of survival, regardless of the race or sex of its owner, decreased in poorer areas; and the better the education of the founder, the more likely it was to succeed. Businesses owned by Asians, Hispanics, or Pacific Islanders were more likely to be exporters. Older entrepreneurs were more likely to use personal savings to start their businesses; younger owners were more likely to have to close up shop during the study period than were their middle-aged rivals.
   However, the data also confirmed that black-and female-owned businesses tended to perform worse than the average. They were also less likely to have been funded by bank loans. Still, the businesses that survived, regardless of the owner's race, tended to add employees at similar rates. Furthermore, after controlling for factors such as the education and race of the owner, there was no statistically significant difference in firms' abilities to expand into different locations. Finally, black entrepreneurs were more likely to have a history of self-employment than their white counterparts. Messrs Jarmin and Krizan's paper is not the first to suggest that black entrepreneurs, less likely to have other business owners in their family or personal networks, tend to "start small" when they venture out on their own.
   Most researchers get to end their papers by speculating, usually without much fear of consequence, as to the policy implications of their work. The authors of this paper, not wishing to imply that the Census Bureau might have policy opinions, declined to do so. But the reader can make some guesses. One is that mentorship programmes may be particularly useful for promoting entrepreneurship among blacks. Another is that reaching out to businesses based on the owner's race might be less useful than supporting businesses in poorer areas. And small businesses of all stripes would be helped by improving that other institution lauded by politicians: America's education system.

Less education, income linked to obesity in women, not men

   Women who are better educated and live in households that are middle-income or above are less likely to be obese than women who are less educated and live in the lowest income households, new government research shows.
   Among men, there is not a statistically significant  (26)   in obesity based on income and very  (27)   difference based on education, the data show.
     (28)  , about one in three U.S. adults-almost 73 million people-are obese, which is  (29)   30 or more pounds over a  (30)   weight. Extra weight raises the  (31)   of diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer and other  (32)  .
   "There is a relationship between obesity and income, but it's not a  (33)   story," says Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   "When looking at these two  (34)   of socioeconomic status-income and education-their  (35)   is greater on women than men," she says.
   Jennifer Lovejoy, president of the Obesity Society, says that  (36)  -income women may be more likely to become obese because of environmental  (37)   such as lack of access to safe places to do physical activity and easy access to fast food.
   Among the findings:
   ·29% of women who live in households with an annual income of $77,000 or more for a family of four are obese in opposition  (38)   42% of women who live in households with an annual income below $29,000 for a family of four.
   ·23% of women with a college degree are obese, significantly less than the 42% of women with  (39)   than a high school education.
   ·33% of men who live in households with an annual income of $77,000 or more for a family of four are obese,  (40)   29% of men who live in households with an annual income below $29,000 for a family of four are obese. This difference is not considered statistically  (41)  .
   The analysis is based on  (42)   from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is considered the gold  (43)   for evaluating obesity because it is a(an)  (44)   survey of people whose weight and height are actually  (45)   rather than being self-reported.

26. 
A. difference      B. discovery          C. preference        D. association

27. 
A. little          B. much             C. big              D. few

28. 
A. Therefore      B. However          C. Overall           D. Whereas

29. 
A. roughly       B. actually           C. gradually         D. frankly

30. 
A. lucky         B. dangerous          C. great            D. healthy

31. 
A. degree         B. risk                C. level             D. number

32. 
A. hopes         B. subjects           C. problems         D. points

33. 
A. funny         B. simple            C. real              D. long

34. 
A. states          B. members          C. records           D. measures

35. 
A. coverage       B. dependence        C. response         D. impact

36. 
A. lower         B. low               C. higher           D. high

37. 
A. disasters       B. developments      C. factors           D. attacks

38. 
A. on            B. to                C. from             D. at

39. 
A. better         B. more              C. less              D. smaller

40. 
A. since          B. so                 C. though           D. while

41. 
A. reliable        B. poor               C. informative       D. significant

42. 
A. data           B. evidence           C. reference         D. guidance

43. 
A. chance        B. standard       C. plate      D. dust

44. 
A. exclusive      B. extensive          C. public            D. proper

45. 
A. collected       B. estimated          C. measured         D. added