Lying in the sun on a rock, the cougar(美洲獅) saw Jeb and his son, Tom, before they saw it. Jeb put his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands, making himself look big to the cougar. It worked. The cougar hesitated, ready to attack Jeb, but ready to forget the whole thing, too.
Jeb let go of his jacket, grasped Tom and held him across his body, making a cross. Now the cougar’s enemy looked even bigger, and it rose up, ready to move away, but unfortunately Tom got scared and struggled free of Jeb.
“Tom，no!”shouted his father.
But Tom broke and ran and that’s the last thing you do with a cougar. The second Tom broke free, Jeb threw himself on the cougar, just as it jumped from the rock. They hit each other in mid-air and both fell. The cougar was on Jeb in a flash, forgetting about Tom, which was what Jeb wanted.
Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined man stands a chance, even with just his fists. As the cougar’s claws(爪子) got into his left shoulder. Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit hard. The animal howled(吼叫) and put its head back. Jeb followed up with his other fist. Then out of the corner of his eye. Jeb saw Tom. The boy was running back to help his father.
“Knife, Tom,” shouted Jeb.
The boy ran to his father’s bag, while Jeb started shouting as well as hitting, to keep the cougar’s attention away from Tom. Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb. The cougar was moving its head in and out, trying to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms. Tom swung with the knife, into the cougar’s back. It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains.
The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds.
小題1:Why did Jeb pull his jacket open when he saw the cougar?

A．To get ready to fight.	B．To frighten it away.
C．To protect the boy.	D．To cool down.

小題2:What do we know about cougars?

A．They are afraid of noises.

B．They hesitate before they hit.

C．They are bigger than we think.

D．They like to attack running people.

小題3:How did Jeb try to hold the cougar’s attention?

A．By keeping shouting and hitting.

B．By making a wall out of his arms.

C．By throwing himself on the cougar.

D．By swinging his fists at the cougar’s eyes.

小題4:Which of the following happened first?

A．The cougar jumped from the rock.

B．Tom struggled free of his father.

C．Jeb asked Tom to get the knife.

D．Jeb held Tom across his body.

Sitting and eating quietly on his father’s lap, the 18-month-old was oblivious to the infection in his veins(血管).But his father a strong farmer, knew only too well. It was the same one that killed his wife four month ago, leaving him alone with four children. The man started to cry.
“When my wife died, I thought ,well, it is from God, but at least I have him.” he said. “Then I learned he is sick, too. I asked if there was medicine and the doctors said no.
HIV and AIDS have quietly arrived in this land. They remain almost completely underground, hidden in ignorance（無知）and shame.
The father of the infected 18-month-old said his village teacher had never talked about AIDS. Nearly a year of tests on the father have found no HIV, and the old children are clear, but his smallest child tested positive（陽(yáng)性）at ten months.
Six years earlier, his wife lost a baby and have several transfusions in Pakistan. After she became sick and was found to be infected, “I told the family her blood was not good and to avoid eating with her.” he said. “And I told them not to kiss his son, he burst into tears.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said; “I have sacrificed so much since my marriage.. I mortgaged (抵押)half my land to pay for her medical care.”
The father can do little for his son but keep his secret. There are no AIDS treatment centers in Afghanistan, only a single secret clinic in the capital that just monitors the disease, and no drugs are available.
小題1:The underlined part “was oblivious to” in Paragraph 1 can best be replaced by______.

A． was shocked by

B． was afraid of

C． was curious about

D． was unaware of

小題2:What happened to the man?

A． He was diagnosed with AIDS just now

B． He has no money to support the family

C． His wife died of AIDS four weeks ago

D． His youngest son was infected with AIDS

小題3:It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that______

A． the wife had several blood transfusions

B． the family knew how to avoid AIDS

C． the farmer had little knowledge about AIDS

D． the family loved the youngest son most

小題4:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A． There are several AIDS treatment centers in Afghanistan

B． The farmer will keep his son’s disease unknown to others

C． The farmer sold his house to pay for his wife’s medial care

D． Afghanistian’s medical conditions have been greatly improved.

Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.
In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because her thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely----a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “Creative voice.”
“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”
Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection.
小題1:Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?

A．She had seven brothers.	B．She felt herself a nobody.
C．She was too shy to go to school.
D．She did not have any good teachers.

小題2:The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to _____.

A．work for a school magazine	B．run away from her family
C．make a lot of friends	D．develop her writing style

小題3:According to Cisneros, what played the decisive role in her success?

A．Her early years in college.	B．Her training in the Workshop.
C．Her feeling of being different.	D．Her childhood experience.

小題4:What do we learn about The House on Mango Street?

A．It is quite popular among students.

B．It is the only book ever written by Cisneros.

C．It wasn’t success as it was written in Spanish.

D．It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine.

A tourist comes out of the airport. There are a lot of taxis, but he asks every taxi-driver’s name, and takes the third taxi. It costs 5 from the airport to the hotel. “How much does it cost for the whole day?” the tourists asks. “100,” says the taxi-driver. This is very expensive, but the tourist accepts the price.
The taxi-driver takes the tourist everywhere. He shows him all monuments and all the museums. In the evening they go back to the hotel. The tourist gives the taxi-driver 100 and says, “What about tomorrow?” The taxi-driver looks at the tourist. “ Tomorrow? It’s another 100 tomorrow.” But the tourist says, “That’s OK. If that’s the price. See you tomorrow.” The taxi-driver is very pleased. The day the taxi-driver takes the tourist everywhere again. And in the second evening they go back to the hotel. The tourist gives the taxi-driver another 100 and says, “I’m going home tomorrow.” He likes the tourist, above all, 100 a day is a good money. “So you are going home, where do you come from?” he asks.
“I come from New York.”
“New York!” says the taxi-driver, “I have a sister in New York. Her name is Susannah, Do you know her?”
“Of course I know her. She gave me 200 for you.”
小題1:The tourist is _______.
an Englishman
a Frenchman.
a Swedish.
an American.
小題2:The tourist asks every taxi-driver his name because_______

A．he is afraid f being cheated

B．he knows one of the taxi-drivers

C．he knows of one of the taxi-drivers

D．there is a friend of his among the taxi-drivers.

小題3:Why is the taxi-driver very pleased with the tourist?

A．None but the tourist agrees to the price given without arguing with him

B．His sister knows the tourist.

C．His sister had brought so much money to him

D．He wants to be the guide of the tourist.

小題4: We can conclude that _______

A．he tourist will give the taxi-driver another 200

B．the tourist makes fun of the taxi-driver

C．the tourist will give the taxi-driver half of sum

D．the taxi-driver insists that the tourist should pay him another 200

A brother and sister have been reunited after more than 60 years, thanks to a letter in the Welwyn and Hatfield Times.
For years John Hannant Kept a photograph of his long-lost sister, hoping they would meet again. Margery, the eldest of the three children, had signed up to the Royal Air Force as part of the war effort, when John was still a baby. The family lost touch and as the decade s passed only a single letter gave a clue to her whereabouts. The clue was enough for a WHT reader to recognize  Margery and put the family back in touch..
John, 67, had been searching for a long time and a friend suggested writing to the paper.
“That’s the one that made it, the letter to the paper a few months age,” he said. “It’s like a dream come true. The last time we ever heard from Margery was in 1953 after the floods. She wrote home to know if we were all right. My sister Dorothy wrote back, But Margery had moved again and never got the letter.”
Having retired from his job as a gardener at Park House, Mr. Hannat decided to take action once and for all. He and his wife Doreen, travelled to Margery’s home in Chelwood Avenue, Hatfield , which she shares with her husband Jack Cooke.
Now 88, she was recovering after several months in hospital, but immediately recognized her brother. John said, “It’s something that I never thought was going to happen, but I always hoped it would.” As well as finding his sister, John has also discovered he now has a nephew, niece and six grandnieces and grandnephews.
小題1:Margery left her family because______
there was a flood in her hometown
she signed up to serve the army
she wanted to get her husband back
a war broken out in her hometown
小題2:When she wrote to John last time ,Margery was ______

A．34 years old	B．40 years old
C．44years old	D．54 years old

小題3: What do we know about Jack Cooke’s family?

A．Jack now has a son and a daughter.

B．Jack and his wife live with their children now

C．Jack’s wife is in good health all the time.

D．Jack lost touch with his family a long time ago.

小題4: It can be inferred from the passage that______

A．since 1953 Margery has come back home only once.

B．Margery received only one letter from John.

C．Margery does not care about her family.

D．WHT refers to a newspaper.

One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes. It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that ,”and it is even harder to say, “I was wrong ,and you were right about that.” I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago .He told me he had been the manager of a cartons (紙箱).Then he talk of an incident and I began to remember the incident he was describing.
I was about eight years old at the time , and I had gone into the store with my mother to do the weekly grocery shopping. On that particular day, I must have found my way to the food department where the incident took place.
There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there was a big show of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons. The cartons were put three or four feet high. I must have stopped in front of them to admire the show. Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the pile of cartons. For some reason, I decided it was up to me to put the cartons back together, so I went to work.
The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened. When he appeared, I was on my knees checking some of the cartons to if any of the eggs were broken, but to him it looked as if I was the person who was to blame .He scolded me loudly and wanted me to pay for those broken eggs. My face turned red and I tried to explain, but it did no good. Even though I quickly forgot the incident, but the manager did not.
小題1:How old was the author when he wrote this article?
A  About 8years old                 B  About 18 years old
C About 23 years old                D  About 15 years old
小題2:Who was to blame for knocking off the pile of cartons?
A  The author                        B  The manager
C  A woman                         D  The author’s mother
小題3:Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A  The woman who knocked off the pile of cartons was seriously scolded by the manager.
B  The author was loudly scolded by the manager.
C  A woman was loudly scolded by the manager.
D  It was the author who put the cartons back together.
小題4:The tone of the article expresses the author’s______
A  admiration for the manager’s willingness to admit mistakes
B  anger to the manager for his wrong
C  dissatisfaction with the woman who knocked off the pile cartons
D  regret for the mistake he made in the store

One August afternoon, Richard Allen dropped off his last passenger, Mrs. Carey. Lifting two grocery bags, he followed her across the yard and stood on the step of her house. Glancing up, he saw a large wasp（黃蜂） nest under the roof. Allen had heard that wasps can become more likely to sting (sting, sting, stung蜇) in summer. He mentioned this to Mrs. Carey, who had opened the door.
“Oh, they don’t bother me,” she said lightly. “I go in and out all the time.”
Anxiously, Allen looked at the nest again—— to see the wasps flying straight at him. “Hurry!” he shouted to Mrs. Carey. “Get in!”
She stepped quickly inside. Allen ran for his mini-bus. Too late; they were upon him. Just as he jumped aboard, half a dozen red spots showed on his arm, and he felt more on his back and shoulders.
As he was driving down the road, Allen felt as if something was burning at the back of his neck, and the “fire” was spreading forward toward his face. And immediate anxiety took hold of him. Allen knew that stings could cause some persons to die. But he had been stung the previous summer and the after-effects soon passed. However, what he didn’t know what that the first sting had turned his body into a time bomb waiting for the next to set off an explosion.
Miles from the nearest medical assistance, Allen began to feel his tongue thick and heavy and his heartbeat louder. Most frightening, he felt his breathing more and more difficult. He reached for the radio mike（話筒）, trying to call the mini-bus center, but his words were hardly understandable. Signals were also poor that far out. He knew a rescue team was on 24-hour duty at the Amherst Fire Department’s north station. So his best chance was to make a run for it.
Rushing down the mountain, Allen tried not to panic, focusing his mind on each sharp turn. He was almost through the last of them when he felt sure he was going into shock（休克）. Just then he reached for the radio mike again.
“Call fire station,” he shouted, concentrating to form the words. “Emergency. Bee sting. Emergency. There in ten minutes.”
“Five-ten,” the center replied.
Hold on, Allen thought. Keep your eyes open. Breathe. Keep awake.
At last he reached the station. Two firemen ran out. Allen felt their hands grasp him before he hit the ground. You made it, he thought.
小題1:It is mentioned in the passage that wasps are more likely to attack when _______.

A．there are huge noises	B．strangers are approaching
C．the air is filled with food smell	D．the hottest season comes around

小題2:Allen didn’t know that if stung by wasps again, he would _______.

A．have no after-effects	B．suffer from sharper pain
C．surely lose his life	D．become more sensitive

小題3:Allen failed at his first attempt to send his message to the mini-bus center because _______.

A．he was unable to speak clearly	B．his radio equipment was poor
C．he was in a state of shock	D．no one was on duty

小題4:Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Allen, A Helpless Driver	B．Wasps, Bloody Killers
C．A Race Against Death	D．War Against Wasps

Last night was the last game for my eight-year-old son’s soccer team. It was the final quarter. The score was two to one, and my son’s team was in the lead. Parents surrounded the playground, offering encouragement.
With less than ten seconds remaining, the ball suddenly rolled in front of my son’s teammate, Mickey O’Donnell. With “Kick it!” echoing across the playground, Mickey turned around and gave it everything he had. All around me the crowd erupted. O’Donnell had scored!
Then there was silence. Mickey had scored all right, but in the wrong goal, ending the game in a tie. For a moment there was a total hush. You see, Mickey has Down syndrome(綜合癥) and for him there was no such thing as a wrong goal. All goals were celebrated by a joyous hug from Mickey. He had even been known to hug the opposing players when they scored.
The silence was finally broken when Mickey, his face filled with joy, hugged my son tightly and shouted, “I scored! I scored! Everybody won! Everybody won!” For a moment I held my breath, not sure how my son would react. I need not have worried. I watched, through tears, as my son threw up his hand in the classic high-five salute and started chanting, “Way to go Mickey! Way to go Mickey!” Within moments both teams surrounded Mickey, joining in the chant and congratulating him on his goal.
Later that night, when my daughter asked who had won, I smiled as I replied, “It was a tie. Everybody won.”
小題1:The underlined word “hush” in paragraph 3 means ________.

A．cheer.

B．cry

C．laughter

D．silence

小題2:What did the author worry about when Mickey scored and hugged his son?

A．The result of the match would fail his son.

B．His son would shout at Mickey for his goal.

C．Mickey would again hug the opposing players.

D．His son would understand Mickey’s wrong goal.

小題3:It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A．both teams liked and respected Mickey

B．both teams were thankful to Mickey for his goal

C．Mickey didn’t mind though his goal was wrong

D．Mickey was a kind-hearted boy and hoped everybody won

小題4:The purpose of the author in writing the passage is _____.

A．to tell a joke to make readers laugh

B．to suggest we should not mind losing

C．to show enjoying a game is more than winning a game

D．to present his son’s fine qualities of understanding others

A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work..
He may have the idea that he is not capable of it. It is easy to get such an idea even though there is no justification for it. A child may think he is stupid because he does not understand how to take the most of his mental faculties, or he may accept another person s mistaken estimate of his ability. Older people may be handicapped by the mistaken belief that they are incapable of learning anything new because of their age.
A person who believes that he is incapable will not make a real effort, because he feels that it would be useless. He won’t go at a job with the confidence necessary for success, and he won’t work hardest, even though he may think he is doing so. He is therefore likely to fail, and the failure will strengthen his belief in his incompetence.
Alfred Adler, a famous psychiatrist（精神病醫(yī)生）, had an experience which illustrates this. When he was a small boy he got off to a poor start in arithmetic. His teacher got the idea that he had no ability in arithmetic, and told his parents what she thought in order that they would not expect too much of him. In this way, they too developed the idea, "Isn’t it too bad that Alfred can’t do arithmetic?" He accepted their mistaken estimate of his ability, felt that it was useless to try, and was very poor at arithmetic, just as they expected.
One day he became very angry at the teacher and other students because they laughed when he said he saw how to do a problem which none of the other students had been able to solve.
Adler succeeded in solving a problem. This gave him confidence. He rejected the idea that he couldn’t do arithmetic and was determined to show them that he could. His anger and his new found confidence stimulated him to be at arithmetic problems with a new spirit. He now worked with interest, determination, and purpose, and he soon became extraordinarily good at arithmetic. He not only proved that he could do arithmetic, but he learned early in life from his own experience that , if a person goes at a job with determination and purpose, he may astonish himself as well as others by his ability.
This experience made him realize that many people have more ability than they think they have. And that lack of success is as often the result of lack of knowledge of how to apply one’s ability, lack of confidence, and lack of determination as it is the result of lack of ability.
小題1:The underlined word “justification” most probably means ________.

A．reason

B．rightness

C．need

D．demand

小題2:What is the main idea of this passage?

A．The basic principles in doing math problems.

B．Our idea about ourselves may have a negative influence on our work.

C．Our ideas do not always have and influence on us.

D．All actions are caused by impulse.

小題3:What does Alfred Adler’s story tell us?

A．Many people have more ability than they think they have.

B．Anybody can become a mathematician, if he has determination.

C．Arithmetic is actually very easy.

D．Most teachers are wrong when they evaluator their students.

小題4:Why did he become angry one day?

A．Because the teacher and other students laughed at him.

B．Because they challenged him to do a difficult arithmetic problem.

C．Because he couldn’t solve the arithmetic problem.

D．Because he was very poor at arithmetic.

小題5:What idea did Alfred’s teacher have?

A．He was slow in arithmetic.

B．He should work harder.

C．He should be transferred to a special school.

D．He should not tell his parents that he was slow.

“If it rings one more time, I’ll hang up,” Amy thought hopefully, as she waited for someone to answer. Apologizing wasn’t an easy thing to do. 
“Hello,” a woman’s voice said. There was no backing out now. 
“May I speak to Missy, please?”
“Just a minute.”
In much less than a minute, Missy was on the phone. “Hi, who’s calling?” asked the cheerful voice. 
“It’s Amy. I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about what I said to you. I didn’t really mean it.” Amy paused, trying to think of what to say next. 
“Thank you, Amy. No hard feelings.”
“Missy, you’re a very nice person. You’re a lot nicer than I am!”
Missy laughed. “You’re not so bad, Amy. By the way, I’ve got some great news. Mr. Grumbell said that you were the only candidate for class president. He talked me into being a candidate too. Isn’t that cool?”
Amy didn’t think the news was cool. Missy was very popular; she’d get a lot of votes. Fortunately, Amy was in a gracious mood. “You’ll be a tough opponent, Missy,” she said. “May the best woman win.” “Thanks, Amy,” Missy replied. “But you might even win.”
Amy had to laugh. “Hey, I’m the one who’s supposed to make comments like that!”
小題1: Amy called Missy on the phone to _______. 

A．tell her that the Titanic sank	B．tell her she needed a brain
C．a(chǎn)pologize for insulting her	D．a(chǎn)sk her to run for president

小題2:Amy was hoping that no one would answer the phone because _______. 

A．she was too tired to talk

B．she felt uncomfortable about apologizing

C．she was afraid she had dialed the wrong number

D．she was wearing pajamas

小題3:If one of the following statements is true, which is it?

A．Missy was home alone.

B．Missy’s mother answered the phone.

C．Missy’s father answered the phone.

D．Missy’s little sister answered the phone.

小題4:Which word best describes the girls’ conversation?

A．Nasty.	B．Uncomfortable.
C．Sad.	D．Friendly.

小題5:Missy let Amy know that she wanted something that Amy wanted. What was it?

A．She wanted to have the most friends.

B．She wanted her own telephone.

C．She wanted mushrooms on her pizza.

D．She wanted to be class president.