What is colour? Why do some of the things around us look red, some green, others blue?
　Colours are really made by reflected(反射)light. We see colour because most of the things reflect light. Something is red, for it reflects most of the red light. In the same way, if something is green, it reflects most of the green light. If something reflects all light, it is white. If it doesn‘t reflect any light, it is black.
　Some of the light is reflected and some is taken in(吸收)and turned into(變成)heat(熱能).The darker the colour is, the less light is reflected, the more light is taken in. So dark-coloured(深色的)clothes are warmer in the sun than light-coloured clothes.
小題1:When something reflects light, we can_______.

A．see its colour

B．see its heat

C．not see its colour

D．see nothing

小題2:In summer _____make people feel cool.

A．dark-clolured clothes	B．red-coloured clothes
C．green-coloured clothes	D．light-coloured clothes

小題3:(Originally created) Why does the author use a question at the beginning of this passage?

A．The author doesn’t has a knowledge of colour.

B．The author shows off his knowledge of colour.

C．To ask the readers to answer this question.

D．To draw the readers’ interest in reading this passage.

小題4:(Originally created) In which of the following you can find this passage?
A. A travel book                  B.A history book
C. A popular science magazine      C, An entertainment newspaper.
小題5:What’s the best title(題目)of this passage(短文)?

A．Dark colour

B．Colour

C．Heat

D．Clothes

A special laboratory at the University of Chicago is busy only at night. It is a dream laboratory where researchers are at work studying dreamers. Their findings have discovered that everyone dreams from three to seven times a night, although in ordinary life a person may remember none or only one of his dreams.
　　While the subjects—usually students—sleep, special machines record their brain waves and eye movements as well as the body movements that signal the end of a dream. Surprisingly, all subjects sleep soundly.
Observers report that a person usually fidgets(煩躁不安) before a dream. Once the dream has started, his body relaxes and his eyes become more active, as if the curtain had gone up on a show. As soon as the machine shows that the dream is over, a buzzer wakens the sleeper. He sits up, records his dream, and goes back to sleep—perhaps to dream some more.
Researchers have found that if the dreamer is wakened immediately after his dream, he can usually recall the entire dream. If he is allowed to sleep even five more minutes, his memory of the dream will have disappeared.
小題1:According to the passage, researchers at the University of Chicago are studying ____.

A．contents of dreams	B．dreamers while they dream
C．the meaning of dreams	D．the progress of sleeping

小題2:Their finding has discovered that _____.

A．everyone dreams every night

B．dreams are easily remembered

C．dreams are likely to be frightening

D．One person dreams only one dream a night

小題3:The machines being used in the experiment record _____.

A．the depth of sleep

B．the subjects’ brain waves and eye movements

C．how many dreams a person has

D．what a sleeper dreams during his sleep

小題4:A person would be most likely to remember the dream that _____.

A．was of most interest to him

B．occurred immediately after he went to sleep

C．occurred just before he woke up

D．was the longest one to him

Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the
reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
The latest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.
“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”
What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.
“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink. They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease. “The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart,” said Goldspink.
The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.
小題1:The text mainly talks about ________. 

A．men’s heart cells	B．women’s ageing process
C．the gender difference	D．hearts and long life

小題2:According to the text, the UK scientists have known that ________. 

A．women have more cells than men when they are born

B．women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat

C．the female heart loses few of the cells with age

D．women never lose their pumping power with age

小題3:We can know from the passage that ________.

A．the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out

B．scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells

C．the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss

D．women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20

The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image(形象) of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. "We were surprised by just how positive today's young people seem to be about their families," said one member of the research team. "They're expected to be rebellious(叛逆的) and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There's more negotiation(商議) and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don't want to rock the boat."
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. "My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me," says 17-years-old Daniel Lazall. " I always tell them when I'm going out clubbing. As long as they know what I'm doing, they're fine with it." Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. "Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I'd done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that."
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, "Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over."
小題1:According to the author, teenage rebellion ________.

A．resulted from changes in families

B．may be a false belief

C．is common nowadays

D．existed only in the 1960s

小題2:What is the passage mainly about?

A．Education in family

B．Negotiation in family

C．Teenage trouble in family

D．Harmony in family

小題3:The study shows that teenagers don't want to ________.

A．go boating with their family

B．share family responsibility

C．make family decisions

D．cause trouble in their families

小題4:What is the popular images of teenagers today?

A．They dislike living with their parents

B．They quarrel a lot with other family members

C．They worry about school

D．They have to be locked in to avoid troubles

小題5:Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today's parents ________.

A．care less about their children's life

B．give their children more freedom

C．go to clubs more often with their children

D．a(chǎn)re much stricter with their children

Sharks have lived in the oceans for over 450 million years, long before dinosaurs appeared. There are now about 360 species of sharks, whose size, behavior, and other characteristics differ widely.
Every year, we catch and kill over 100 million sharks, mostly for food and for their fins. Dried shark fins are used to make shark fin soup, which sells for as much as $50 a bowl in fine Hong Kong restaurants. Other sharks are killed for sport and out of fear. Sharks are vulnerable(易受傷的) to overfishing because it takes most species 10 to 15 years to begin reproducing and they produce only a few offspring（后代）.
Influenced by movies and popular novels, most people see sharks as people-eating monsters. This is far from the truth. Every year, a few types of shark injure about 100 people worldwide and kill about 25. Most attacks are by great white sharks, which often feed on sea lions and other marine（海洋的） mammals. They sometimes mistake human swimmers for their normal prey, especially if they are wearing black wet suits.
If you are a typical ocean-goer, your chances of being killed by an unprovoked（非受挑釁而發(fā)生的）attack by a shark are about 1 in 100 million. You are more likely to be killed by a pig than a shark and thousands of times more likely to get killed when you drive a car.
Sharks help save human lives. In addition to providing people with food, they are helping us learn how to fight cancer, bacteria, and viruses. Sharks are very healthy and have aging processes similar to ours. Their highly effective immune system allows wounds to heal quickly without becoming infected, and their blood is being studied in connection with AIDS research.
Sharks are among the few animals in the world that almost never get cancer and eye cataracts（白內(nèi)障）. Understanding why can help us improve human health. Chemicals taken from shark cartilage（軟骨）have killed cancerous tumors in laboratory animals, research that someday could help prolong your life.
Sharks are needed in the world’s ocean ecosystems. Although they don’t need us, we need them. We are much more dangerous to sharks than they are to us. For every shark that bites a person, we kill one million sharks.
小題1:Which of the following is NOT a reason why people kill sharks?

A．People kill sharks for food.

B．People kill sharks for sport.

C．People kill sharks out of fear.

D．People kill sharks because they often attack swimmers.

小題2:According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．There are many different species of sharks, but only a few of them are dangerous to humans.

B．Sharks never get ill.

C．Sharks are a valuable resource for human.

D．Sharks play an important role in the ocean ecosystem.

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

A．movies have given people the wrong impression of sharks

B．most sharks are dangerous to humans

C．sharks will attack anyone who is wearing black

D．it is dangerous to swim in the ocean

小題4:The underlined word “prolong” in the last but one paragraph means ______.

A．save

B．protect

C．lengthen

D．improve

小題5:The best title for the passage would be _______.

A．Are Sharks Dangerous?	B．Sharks And Humans
C．Sharks: Humans’ Friends	D．Sharks Help Save Human Lives

The goal of earthquake prediction is to give early enough warning. The U.S. Geological Survey conducts and supports research on the likelihood of future earthquakes. Scientists estimate earthquake probabilities in two ways: by studying the history of large earthquakes in a special area and the rate at which strain（拉力）accumulates（積累）in the rock.
Scientists study the past frequency of large earthquakes in order to determine the future likelihood of similar large shocks. For example scientists researched the large earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay region during the 75 years between 1836 and 1911. For the next 68 years, no earthquakes of magnitude (震級) 6 or large occurred in the region. Beginning with a magnitude 6 shock in 1979, the earthquakes in the region increased dramatically; between 1979 and 1989, there were four magnitude 6 or greater earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. So scientists estimated that the probability of a magnitude 6.8 or larger earthquake occurring during the next 30 years in the region is about 67 percent.
Another way to predict earthquakes is to study how fast strain accumulates. When plate movements build the strain in rocks to a critical level, like pulling a rubber band too tight, the rocks will suddenly break and slip to a new position. Scientists measure how much strain accumulates along a fault (斷層) each year, how much time has passed since the last earthquake, and how much strain was released in the last earthquake. This information is used to calculate the time required for the accumulating strain to build to the level that results in an earthquake. This simple model is so complicated that such detailed information about faults is rare. In the United States, only the San Andreas Fault System has adequate records for using this prediction method.
Scientific understanding of earthquakes is of vital importance to the Nation. As the population increases, expanding urban development and construction encroach (侵蝕) upon areas susceptible(易受影響的) to earthquakes. With a greater understanding of the causes and effects of earthquakes, we may be able to reduce damage and loss of life from this destruction.
小題1:What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．What an earthquake is like.

B．How to predict earthquakes.

C．Where earthquakes often happen.

D．When a fault is formed.

小題2:That scientists study the history of large earthquakes in certain areas is to ultimately_________.

A．do research on the past frequency of large earthquakes

B．estimate the magnitude of similar earthquakes

C．forecast the possibilities of similar earthquakes

D．judge the specific location of future earthquakes

小題3:Which is TRUE according to the passage?

A．There were four magnitude 6 earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay region between1979 and1989.

B．The accumulating strain of the fault to a certain level results in the earthquake.

C．About 68 years after 1911, no earthquakes occurred in the San Francisco Bay region.

D．The fast increasing population on the earth is the main cause of the earthquake.

小題4:What is the critical factor of forming a fault?

A．The material of rocks.

B．The existing time span of the rocks.

C．The plate movements around the rocks.

D．The amount of strain released in the last earthquake.

小題5:According to the passage, we can know that the San Andreas Fault System____.

A．has a greater understanding of the causes and effects of earthquakes

B．stores much more information about the history of large earthquakes

C．offers the potential for doing research on the faults where strain accumulates

D．illustrates specifically how rocks along a fault are formed

完形填空（共20小題；每小題1.5分，滿分30分）
In the past, man didn’t have to think about the protection of his environment. There were few people on the earth, and natural resources seemed to be   1 .
Today things are  2 , and the world has become too  3  . We’re using up our natural resources too quickly, and at the same time we are   4  our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we continue to do this, human life on the earth   5 survive.
Everyone 6 today that if too many fish are taken from the sea, there will soon be none left. Yet, with modern fishing  7, more and more fish are caught. We know that if too many trees are cut down, 8  will disappear and nothing will grow on the land. Yet, we 9  to use bigger and more powerful machines to  10 more and more trees.
We know that if rivers are polluted with waste products from factories, we’ll die.   11 , in most countries wastes are   12 put into rivers or into the sea, and there are  13  laws to stop this.
We know, too, that if the   14  of the world continues to rise at the present rate, in a few years there will not be enough  15  . What can we do to solve these problems?
If we eat more vegetables and less  16 there will be more food available for every one. Land that is used to grow crops 17 five times more people than land where animals are kept.
Our natural resources will   18  longer if we learn to recycle them.
The world population will not rise so quickly if people use modern methods of birth 19 .
Finally, if we educate people to think about the problems, we shall have a better and cleaner   20 in the future.

小題1:	A．beautiful B．unlimited C．rare D．valuable

小題2:	A．common B．the same C．changeable D．different

小題3:	A．crowded B．small C．dirty D．busy

小題4:	A．protecting B．saving C．polluting D．fighting

小題5:	A．may not B．will not C．shall not D．could not

小題6:	A．wonders B．realizes C．considers D．discovers

小題7:	A．poles B．boats C．methods D．ideas

小題8:	A．mountains B．seas C．trees D．forests

小題9:	A．continue B．have C．ought D．go on

小題10:

A．cut away B．cut off C．cut up D．cut down

小題11:

A．Thus B．However C．Generally speaking D．Therefore

小題12:

A．still B．even C．a(chǎn)lso D．certainly

小題13:

A．too many B．a(chǎn) few C．some D．few

小題14:

A．production B．pollution C．population D．revolution

小題15:

A．houses B．vegetables C．food D．lives

小題16:

A．fruit B．meat C．fish D．grain

小題17:

A．feeds B．increases C．supplies D．helps

小題18:

A．use B．stay C．keep D．last

小題19:

A．control B．born C．place D．reward

小題20:

A．star B．sea C．planet D．forest

完形填空（共20小題；每小題1分，滿分20分）
請認真閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
Most people think of birds as feathered animals that fly. Scientists,   36 , do not define (給…下定義) birds as animals that fly, because some birds do not. Of the 10,000 or so species of birds, 46 cannot   37 . Flight plays a key role in   38  for most birds. It allows them to find food over a   39  area and to get away from enemies. Ancestors of flightless birds may have   40   their ability to fly because they had no regular predators (捕食者) or did not need to fly to find food. Rather than fly, some of these birds developed other   41  to catch food and avoid enemies. Two examples of   42  birds are penguins and ostriches.
  43  birds that fly, penguins do not have wide wings or large feathers. In order to catch the fish they feed on, penguins use their powerful wings to swim   44 . And when they swim,  they look as if they are flying through the water. The   45  of penguins’ bodies makes it possible for them to dive deep underwater,  46  their thick feathers protect them from the cold.
Ostriches are known for their long legs, long necks, and large size. To   47  themselves, they stay in groups and use their excellent sight and hearing to   48  enemies. As soon as    49  approaches, they can run at a speed of more than 65 kilometers per hour to   50  . In addition to using their strong legs to run, they can kick powerfully. 
Not all flightless birds have been   51  in protecting themselves. Flightless birds on some islands had no enemies until people   52 . These birds were hunted and easily caught by people and the animals   53  by people. Human land development has   54  the habitats of some birds. A number of flightless birds   55  because they were unable to adapt to new conditions and new enemies.

小題1:	A．thus B．however C．therefore D．otherwise

小題2:	A．stand B．fly C．hear D．sing

小題3:	A．growth B．communication C．health D．survival

小題4:	A．wide B．familiar C．crowded D．special

小題5:	A．developed B．improved C．lost D．proved

小題6:	A．parts B．habits C．ways D．tools

小題7:	A．wild B．interesting C．rare D．flightless

小題8:	A．Instead of B．Because of C．Besides D．Unlike

小題9:	A．quickly B．carefully C．differently D．gradually

小題10:

A．shape B．color C．bone D．skin

小題11:

A．if B．a(chǎn)nd C．but D．so

小題12:

A．help B．feed C．protect D．hide

小題13:

A．kill B．notice C．confuse D．frighten

小題14:

A．dawn B．darkness C．danger D．food

小題15:

A．look B．escape C．move D．fight

小題16:

A．successful B．natural C．unusual D．positive

小題17:

A．realized B．a(chǎn)cted C．stopped D．a(chǎn)rrived

小題18:

A．brought B．found C．bought D．hunted

小題19:

A．provided B．formed C．destroyed D．controlled

小題20:

A．flew away B．watched out C．gave away D．died out

In New Britain, Connecticut, a new official in charge of schools named Kelt Cooper wants to end high truancy (逃學(xué)) rates among public school students, and he’s suggesting financial punishments to get job done. A plan to fine students up to $75 for each day they skip school is now being considered by New Britain authorities.
The concept of fining kids for skipping school may come as a shock, but it’s not new. In Ohio, the parents responsible for a student guilty of habitual truancy can be fined up to $500 and/or be required to perform up to 70 hours of community service. Until recently, students in Los Angeles could be hit with a $250 punishment for each count of truancy; in early 2012 the law was changed and the heavy fines were removed, though a $20 punishment may still be handed out if a student truants for the third time.
Fines for truancy are also in effect overseas. In the UK, The Guardian reports, parents can be fined ￡50 (about $80) per skipped school day. The punishment doubles if it’s not paid within 28 days.
The question is: Do fines like this work? The vast majority of authorities in the UK said that, indeed, they do. The fines were believed either “very successful” or “fairly successful” by 79% in reducing truancy, according to a survey.
If the plan is passed in Connecticut, it’s unclear how effective the law might be, how to make parents and students obey the law and what might happen if they refuse to pay. However, local officials seem to be willing to give it a shot. According to the Hartford Courant:
“The mayor agrees that truancy is a real issue in New Britain schools, and what’s been done in the past hasn’t been working to reduce truancy.” said Phil Sherwood, assistant to Mayor Timothy O’ Brien.
And what do the students think? In the New Britain Herald, one 17-year-old entering her senior year called the plan “ridiculous” and predicted that the punishments will bring about negative effects on the court system. Besides, “I don’t see the point,” she said. “Kids will just try harder not to get caught.”
小題1: The passage mainly discusses whether __________.

A．schools have the right to punish students

B．a(chǎn)uthorities should consider protecting kids

C．students should be fined for skipping school

D．parents are responsible for children’s truancy

小題2: If a British kid skips two school days and fails to pay fines in a month, the punishment will be __________.

A．two hundred pounds	B．fifty pounds
C．eighty pounds	D．a(chǎn) hundred pounds

小題3: We can learn from the passage that ___________.

A．truancy is a serious problem in New Britain

B．Cooper’s plan has been passed in Connecticut

C．fining kids for truancy is a new idea in America

D．little has been done to reduce truancy in New Britain

小題4: The underlined part “give it a shot” most probably means _____________.

A．get used to it	B．help improve it
C．try to carry it out	D．fight against it

Speak, speak, speak!
Practise speaking as often as you can. Speaking to yourself is good practice.
Try recording yourself whenever you can.
Compare your pronunciation with the master version（原版）to see how you can do better and have another go. If you do this several times, you will find that each time is better than last.
Why not learn with someone else?
It helps if you can learn with someone else. If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working.
Don't get stuck by a word you don't know.
Practise improving ways of getting your meaning across when speaking spontaneously（本能地），even if you don't know the exact words or phrases. Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time. Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to make yourself understood.
Language learning is also about intuition（直覺）．
Guesswork is an important way to learn a new language. When listening to recorded material, you aren't expected to understand everything first time round. If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time.
Build up your vocabulary.
A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don’t try to learn too much at once. It’s best to study frequently, for short periods of time. Take at most six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them. Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, and then come back to them later.
And above all, have fun!
小題1:  What’s the purpose of this passage?

A．To tell us the importance of practicing speaking as often as we can.

B．To tell us a few tips to help us learn a new language well.

C．To tell us that guesswork is an important way to learn a new language.

D．To tell us that a wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning.

小題2: What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase in the first part?

A．Have another try or attempt.

B．Move away from a place to another.

C．Enter a certain state or condition.

D．Follow or take a certain course.

小題3:  To learn English well, we shouldn’t _______ according to the passage.

A．practice speaking as often as possible

B．study frequently, for short periods of time to build up our vocabulary

C．try to understand everything and stop when we meet a new word

D．try to persuade a friend or family member to study with us

小題4: According to the passage, to learn a new language well, the most important thing is ______.

A．speaking as much as possible	B．having fun
C．a(chǎn) wide vocabulary	D．guesswork