Time is more precious than money for an increasing number of people who are choosing to live more with less—and like it.
Kay and Charles Giddens, two lawyers, sold their home to start a B & B hotel. Four years later, the couple dished out banana pancake breakfast, cleaned toilets and served homemade chocolate chip cookies to guests in a B & B hotel surrounded by trees on a hill known for colorful sunsets.
“Do I miss the freeways? Do I miss the traffic? Do I miss the stress? No，” says Ms Giddens. “This is a phenomenon that's fairly widespread.A lot of people are reevaluating their lives and figuring out what they want to do.If their base is being damaged, what's the pay­off？”
Simple living ranges from cutting down on weeknight activities to sharing housing, living closer to work, avoiding shopping malls, borrowing books from the library instead of buying them, and taking a cut in pay to work at a more pleasurable job.
Vicki Robin, a writer, lives on a budget equal to a fifth of what she used to make. “You become conscious of where your money is going and how valuable it is，” Ms Robin says. “You tend not to use things up. You cook at home rather than eat out ...”
Janet Luhrs, a lawyer, quit her job after giving birth and leaving her daughter with a nanny for two weeks. “It was not the way I wanted to raise my kids，” she says, “Simplicity is not just about saving money; it's about me sitting down every night with my kids to a candlelit dinner with classical music.”
Mrs Luhrs now edits a magazine, Simple Living, which publishes tips on how to buy recycled furniture and shoes, organize potluck dinners instead of expensive receptions, and generally how to consume less.
“It's not about poverty，” Mrs Luhrs explains, “It's about conscious living and creating the life you want.The less stuff you buy, the less money goes out of the door, and the less money you have to earn.”
4. Kay and Charles Giddens sold their home to ________.
A. pay off the debt    　　B. buy living necessities
C. cut down expenses  　　D. start a private hotel
5. Simple living includes ________.
A. building a home library
B. sharing housing with others
C. enjoying a colorful night life
D. living in the countryside
6. It can be learned from the passage that now Janet Luhrs ________.
A. works as a reporter of a magazine
B. helps people buy recycled clothes
C. spends more time with her kids
D. has an interest in classical music
7. How does the author develop the passage?
A. By giving examples.  　　
B. By asking questions.
C. By using figures.     　　
D. By making comparisons.
B 【语篇解读】 本文是一篇说明文。越来越多的人摆脱激烈竞争的环境回归简单的生活。他们重新审视生活的价值，希望过上一种自己喜欢的生活。
 D　细节理解题。根据第二段第一句中的“...sold their home to start a B & B hotel.”可知，他们把房子卖掉是为了经营自己的旅馆。
 B　细节理解题。根据第四段中第一句“Simple living ranges from cutting down on weeknight activities to sharing housing ...”可知，B项中所描述的内容包含在simple living的内容中。
 C　推理判断题。根据第六段中的“Simplicity is not just about saving money; it's about me sitting down every night with my kids to a candlelit dinner with classical music.”可知， Janet Luhrs辞掉工作是为了把时间花在陪伴孩子们上。
 A　写作手法题。纵观全文不难看出，文章是用了几个人物的例子来讲述简单生活的理念。