2013年6月英语四级作文预测：零花钱

 　　很多中国父母经常用给孩子零花钱的方式来激励孩子好好学习。你赞同这种做法吗?

　　Personally, I don’t believe that giving children pocket money is a very good idea. In my opinion, doing so only encourages children to think that things in life are free. As humans, we only value those things that cost us something to obtain¹.

　　When I was a child, my parents never gave us any pocket money(or “allowance” as we call it in America). They made us work to earn any money we had. They wanted us to know that money is valuable, and that hard work is even more valuable. They wanted us to learn to make wise choices with our money, and they knew we would be more careful with our money if we earned it ourselves. Finally, they wanted us to understand that work and money are related²: you cannot have one without the other.

　　I think there are two things parents need to do to help their children understand the value of money. First, they should make their children earn their spending money, which will make the children consider the money precious³. Second, they should not always stop their children from doing foolish things with their money. Making some mistakes will teach the children to be wise.

1 obtain   

vt.获得，得到；vi.通用，流行，存在

参考例句：

• He has enough money to obtain the necessaries of life.他有足够的钱购买生活必需品。
• Where can I obtain the book?我在哪里能买到这本书？

2 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

3 precious   

adj.宝贵的，珍贵的，过于精致的，珍爱的

参考例句：

• Each life is precious.生命都是宝贵的。
• Spring rain is as precious as oil.春雨贵如油。