Part B
Are you a compulsive spender, or do you hold on to your money
as long as possible Are you a bargain hunter Would you rather use charge
accounts than pay cash7 Your answers to these questions will reflect your
personality. According to paychologists, our individual money habits not only
show our beliefs and values, but can also stem from past problems.
Experts in psychology believe that for many people, money is an important
symbol of strength and influence. Husbands who complain about their wives’
spending habits may be afraid that they are losing power in their marriage.
Wives, on the other hand, may waste huge amounts of money because they are angry
with their husbands. In addition, many people consider money a symbol of love.
They spend it on their family and friends to express love, or they buy
themselves expensive presents because they need love. People can
be addicted to different things--for example, alcohol, drugs, certain foods, or
even television. People who have such an addiction are compulsive; that is
they have a very powerful psychological need that they feel they must satisfy.
According to psychologists, many people are compulsive spenders: they feel that
they must spend money. This compulsion, like most others, is
irrational--impossible to explain reasonably. For compulsive spenders who buy on
credit, charge accounts are even more exciting than money. In other words,
compulsive spenders feel that with credit, they can do anything. Their pleasure
in spending enormous amounts is actually greater than the pleasure that they get
from the things they buy. There is even a special psychology of
bargain hunter. To save money, of course, most people look for sales, low
prices, and discounts. Compulsive bargain hunters, however, often buy things
that they don’t need just because they are cheap. They want to believe that they
are helping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game: when
they can buy something for less than other people, they feel that they are
winning. Most people, experts claim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good
reason for the things that they do and the real reason. It is
not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending
habits, but also business people. Stores, companies, and advertisers use
psychology to increase business: they consider people’s needs for love, power,
or influence, their basic values, their beliefs and opinions, and so on in their
advertising and sales methods. Psychologists often use a method
called "behavior therapy" to help individuals solve their personality problems.
In the same way, they can help people who feel that they have problems with
money: they give them "assignments". If a person buys something in every store
that he enters, for instance, a therapist might teach him self- discipline in
this way: on the first day of his therapy, he must go into a store, stay five
minutes, and then leave. On the second day, he should stay for ten minutes and
try something on. On the third day, he stays for fifteen minutes, asks the
salesclerk a question, but does not buy anything, and he can solve the problem
of his compulsive buying. Directions : The passage below summarizes the
main points of the passage. Read the summary and then select the best word
or phrase from the box below according to the pas-sage. You should decide on the
best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single
line through the center. A. two kinds
K. express
love B. therapy
L. former C.
psychological problems
M. strength and influence D. money
N. symbol E. store
O.
reflects F. take pleasure
P. bargain hunters G. compulsive
spenders
Q. on end H. cheap
R. all
right I. beliefs
S. explain J.
psychologists
T. longer than According to
(1) , the way we spend our money (2) our
personality, (3) and love. For many people, money is an
important (4) of (5) . Some people spend
money to (6) . Others waste huge amounts of money because
they have some (7) . There are (8) of
problem spenders: (9) and compulsive (10)
. The (11) are those who feel that they must spend
money, but cannot (12) why they do so. These people
(13) in spending enormous amounts of money. Compulsive bargain
hunters are those who often buy things not because they need them but because
they are (14) . If anyone has problems
with (15) , he can get help from psychologists. The
(16) . goes like this: the person is required to go into a
(17) once a day, for three days (18) , and
each time he stays (19) the day before, but he doesn’t buy
any- thing. Soon he will learn that it is (20) if he doesn’t
spend any money there.