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In the past year some 69 of America's billionaires have promised to give away at least half of their fortunes by signing the Giving Pledge championed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Among them is 27-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, a founder of Facebook, proof that America's giving gene has passed to the next generation.

The question is will all that giving actually do any good? There is rather a depressing history of well-intentioned donations often doing nothing to alleviate society's problems, and sometimes even making matters worse. As Mr. Buffett has said many times, "making money is far easier than giving it away effectively." Moreover, the need to give effectively is about to become even greater, as many of the organisations that receive their funds from private charity or the public sector begin to feel the effects of America's fiscal problems. Spending cuts will cause a crisis in the social sector that "will have an impact on almost every non-profit organisation in America, whether or not it receives government funds," writes Mario Morino, a veteran philanthropist, in Leap of Reason, one of three new books that addresses the tough question of how to not merely give, but to give well.

For Mr. Buffett, the main reason why giving is harder to do than making money is that in business "you go after the low-hanging fruit", whereas in charity you are trying to tackle problems that are inherently difficult, such as how to educate unmotivated urban kids or end rural poverty. But all the three books make the case that the ineffectiveness of much charity is actually the fault of the charitarian. They applaud the motives for giving, but also make the point that people too often let their charity be guided by their hearts alone. The biggest problem for charitarians may be that "they are essentially accountable to no one but themselves." To avoid being tempted into a misjudged belief in their own success, charitarians should create systems that force them to hear what may at times be unpleasant truths about the ineffectiveness of their work, and to be constantly challenged to improve.

Of the six practices of effective charity described in another book named Do More Than Give, two stands out as being unusual. To achieve real change, the best course may be to engage in political advocacy to change government policy, they argue. While their second sound piece of advice is that charitarians should work together more often, which seems obvious.

For Mr. Morino, a pioneer of "venture charity", in which the donors work closely to build up the non-profits he supports, one of the key lessons is for charitarians and non-profits to be clear about the outcomes they are trying to achieve—and to measure properly the progress they are making towards those goals. He is the first to admit that measuring the right thing is not easy, and he has wasted money by measuring the wrong things.

6. Mark Zuckerberg is cited in Paragraph 1 to show that______.

[A] many people, including the young, are participating in charity

[B] many people become rich at a young age in America nowadays

[C] more and more young people become successful and sympathetic

[D] American younger generation has inherited the virtue of charity

7. According to Paragraph 2, the major problem about charity is that______.

[A] most people feel dissatisfied with its effectiveness

[B] it has achieved much less than expected

[C] the decline of donation has a bad effect on it

[D] it has caused a crisis in non-profit organizations

8. It is suggested in the three books that much charity is ineffective because______.

[A] the problems which charitarians are trying to solve are too tough

[B] charitarians ask charity organizations to be accountable to them

[C] charitarians lack rational thinking in evaluating the outcomes of their donation

[D] the charities do not have systems to improve their work

9. Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 4?

[A] Government should take its responsibility as the guide for charity.

[B] It is important to establish a close link between politics and charity.

[C] More cooperation will probably improve the outcomes of charity.

[D] Charitarians are sympathetic but not willing to work together.

10. In the last paragraph, Mario Morino advises charitarians to______.

[A] set attainable goals and make plans for achieving them

[B] supervise the progress of their charity work closely

[C] donate more money to non-profit organizations

[D] manage their charity work in a more profitable way