Part One-A Designing a Reading Test

Good news kids! Weekly pocket money nudges up to a nine-year high – but how
much should you give?

Pocket money dished out to kids has reached its highest level for nine years, according
A to an annual survey that has been running since the 1980s. Children now receive £6.55
per week from a parent or guardian on average, an increase of six per cent compared
to last year, according Halifax. This is now the highest allowance since before the
financial crisis, which suggests a loosening of family purse strings after almost a decade,
but it yet again raises the thorny question of how much pocket money should you give
children?

The number of children receiving pocket money has increased by three per cent in the
B last 12 months, meaning four in five kids are now given a weekly cash sum. Nine year-
olds receive the least on average at £4.68 while 14 year-olds receive the most at £8.03.
But those averages hide the fact that many parents will have grappled with the issue
of what age to start giving pocket money and how much to give. They must weigh up
two opposing points: the desire not to give children too much and lead them to think
money grows on trees, with the need to give them a meaningful sum that reflects the
modern-day cost of buying things and fosters a savings habit.

Giles Martin, head of Halifax Savings, said: 'Pocket money is a great training tool in
C money management and a fantastic way of instilling a sense of the value of money
from an early age. He suggests that getting children to set aside even just a small
amount each week can help them to develop a strong savings habit that with serve
them well through to adulthood. Those who received pocket money as a child exercise
more control over their spending than those who didn’t and are less likely to be
 overdrawn, a study by ING Group found in 2014. It also said more than half who
received pocket money when they were younger now regularly add to their savings
suggesting it can help people develop long-term financial planning skills.

Boys receive more pocket money than girls. On average, boys receive £6.93, compared
D to £6.16 for girls, meaning boys are over 12 per cent better off. The data shows that
between 1987 and 1998, pocket money nudged up only slightly from £1.13 per week
to £1.76. But by 2000, kids were receiving £3.60 on average – and this had risen to
above £8 from 2005 to 2007, before falling back to £5.89 in 2010 as more families
faced up to financial difficulties in the recession. Despite the pocket money pay rise,
42 per cent of children still believe they should receive more pocket money than they
do. However, 51 per cent believe they receive the right amount of money. Almost half
say knowing how much their friends get is important to them, a significant increase on
2015.

The data also shows that a larger proportion of children now save some of their pocket
E money, up to 79 per cent compared to 70 per cent last year. Almost one in eight save
all of it. Children who live in London have by far the strongest savings habit, with 94
per cent saving some or all of their pocket money. This might be because children in
the capital get the most, at £8.21. Scots are the second most generous, handing over
£7.06 per month. Kids in East Anglia get the rawest deal, receiving £4.96 on
average. Nine in 10 parents say they encourage their children to save some of their
pocket money. On average, parents say they start giving their children pocket money
between the age of six and seven.
A. Which paragraph contains the following information? Match the information with
the correct paragraph.

i. Children who are given pocket money perform better on the control
of using money than children did not receive pocket money.
ii. There is an increase of the proportion of children who save their
pocket money.
iii. The amount of pocket money children receive is likely to influence
their decision about whether they should save money or not.
iv. The age of the children and the amount of pocket money should
give are two issues people will have taken into consideration.
v. The amount of pocket money children receive had experience
fluctuation over a period of time.
vi. Children are given an amount of pocket money by their family
members or care-takers on a regular basis, reaching the peak
before a period of economy difficulties.

1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D
5. Paragraph E

B. Choose a propriate sub-title for Paragraph B-E

Sub-titles

i. Do kids save their pocket money?

ii. How much should kids get?
iii. How much do kids get?
iv. Why give pocket money?
v. Do kids need much pocket money?

6. Paragraph B
7. Paragraph C
8. Paragraph D
9. Paragraph E
C. Choose a correct answer from the four choices of each question.
10. What does the word it in paragraph C refer to?
A. The habit of saving pocket money
B. The amount pocket money
C. The skill of money management
D. The number of children who save pocket money
11. Paragraph D supports all of the following points except:
A. The amount of pocket money girls receive is less than the amount of pocket
money boys receive.
B. The amount of pocket money children received had increased before 2007.
C. An economic crisis resulted in the decrease of the amount of pocket money
children receive.
D. A great majority of children believe that the amount of pocket money they
receive is not enough.
12. Where would the following sentence best fit? Choose a correct place from (A) to
(D) in the following paragraph.

Therefore, it’s particularly encouraging to hear that almost four in five children
are now making this good habit.

Giles Martin, head of Halifax Savings, said: 'Pocket money is a great training tool
in money management and a fantastic way of instilling a sense of the value of
money from an early age. (A) He suggests that getting children to set aside even
just a small amount each week can help them to develop a strong savings habit
that with serve them well through to adulthood. (B) Those who received pocket
money as a child exercise more control over their spending than those who didn’t
and are less likely to be overdrawn, a study by ING Group found in 2014. (C) It also
said more than half who received pocket money when they were younger now
regularly add to their savings suggesting it can help people develop long-term
financial planning skills. (D)

D. Are the following sentences in line with the information of the passage?
 True if the sentence is in line with the passage
False if the sentence is NOT in line with the passage
Not Give if the sentence is NOT REFLECTED in the passage

13. The amount of pocket money decreased because of the economic crisis from
2007-2010.
14. Many children is indifferent to the amount of money their peers have.
15. Children in London prefer to spend their pocket money rather than save it.
16. Parents believe the age of their children is an important factor when they decide
whether they should give pocket money to their children.
Answer Key and the Scoring System of the Test
1. Answer Key
1. vi
2. iv
3. i
4. v
5. ii
6. ii
7. iv
8. iii
9. i
10. A
11. D
12. B
13. True
14. False
15. False
16. Not Given

2. The Scoring system of the test

There are 16 question items in total in this reading section. Each item values one point.
The following table is the score scales of the test.
Range Level
14-16 Advanced, Passing (Advanced course)
11-13 Intermediate, Passing (Advanced course)
Under 11 Preliminary, Failing (Fundamental course)