When Steve Maxwell graduated from college, he had an engineering degree and a high tech job — but he couldn’t balance his checkbook. “I took one finance class in college but dropped it to go on a ski trip,” says the 45-year-old father of three, who lives in Windsor, Colorado. “I actually had to go to my bank and ask them to teach me how to read my statement.”
One of the biggest obstacles to making money is not understanding it: Thousands of us avoid investing because we just don’t get it. But to make money, you must be financially literate. “It bothered me that I didn’t understand this stuff,” says Steve, “so I read books and magazines about money management and investing, and I asked every financial whiz (能手) I knew to explain things to me.”
He and his wife started applying the lessons: They made a point to live below their means. They never bought on impulse, always negotiated better deals (on their cars，cable bills, furniture) and stayed in their home long after they went for an expensive vacation. They also put 20 percent of their annual salary into investments.
Within ten years, they were millionaires, and people were coming to Steve for advice. “Someone would say, ‘I need to refinance my house — what should I do? ‘A lot of times, I wouldn’t know the answer, but I’d go to find it and learn something in the process,” he says.
In 2003, Steve quit his job to become part owner of a company that holds personal finance seminars for employees of corporations like Wal Mart. He also started going to real estate investment seminars, and it’s paid off: He now owns $ 30 million worth of investment properties, including apartment complexes, a shopping mall and a quarry.
“I was an engineer who never thought this life was possible, but all it truly takes is a little self education,” says Steve. “You can do anything once you understand the basics.”
小题1:The underlined part “live below their means” (in Paragraph 3) probably means “______”.
A．take effective measures
B．live a miserable life
C．spend more money than they had
D．spend less money than they had小题2:Since Steve Maxwell became a millionaire, he ______.
A．has been unwilling to help others
B．hasn’t stopped learning from practice
C．has been willing to follow others’ advice
D．has stopped to invest in houses小题3:What would be the best title for the passage?
A．A self made engineer
B．How to balance your checkbook
C．Don’t avoid investing
D．Educate yourself to become a millionaire小题4:It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A．self education is very important to one’s life
B．everyone should learn how to invest in their life
C．Steve Maxwell was quite interested in finance classes in college
D．Steve became rich because he saved every penny he had earned
