As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, and rooms to be cleaned. Parents are ___36___ with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real ___37___. On Christmas Eve, young children find the excitement almost unbearable.  They are torn between the  wish to go to bed early so that  Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to ___38___ up late so that they will not ___39____ the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early, they often lie ___40___ for a long time, hoping to get a short ___41___ at Father Christmas.
Last Christmas, my wife and I ___42___ hid a few large presents in the storeroom. I ___43___ the moment when my son, Jimmy, would ___44___ me where that new bike had come from, but ___45___ he did not see it.
On Christmas Eve, ___46___ took the children hours to go to sleep. It must have been nearly___47___ when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began ___48___ stockings. Then I pushed in the ___49____ I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree. We knew we would not get much sleep that night, for the children were ___50___ to get up early. At about five o’clock the next morning, we were ___51___ by loud sounds coming from the children’s room — they were shouting excitedly! ___52_____ I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came riding into the room on his new bike, and his sister, Mary, followed close behind pushing her new baby carriage. ____53_____ the baby arrived. He moved ___54____ the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon behind him. Suddenly it burst. That woke us up ___55___. The day had really begun with a band(巨響) !

My 8­year­old son，Kevin，has made friends with some boys in the neighborhood. He has been 36    with them after school. My wife，and I are 37    he has other kids to be with and we have __38__ and encouraged him to play with his friends. We also want Kevin to learn __39__，so we have asked him to tell us __40__ he's going and to come home at a specified time.
The __41__ started when Kevin didn't come home on time. On one occasion，I asked Kevin to be back at 6 pm. By 6：30，I needed to go __42__ him. I found him at a friend's house，and he looked 43    that he couldn't continue playing. After we came home，I sat  Kevin down for a talk about the _44  _ of  keeping his word. I told him I was not worried about his arriving a few __45__ late， after a half hour， he told me he understood and I was _46_  _.
The next day，I came home from work at about 6:30 pm and my wife asked me to go and get Kevin back __47__ she said he should be back home at 6. I walked to his friend's house and a look of __48__ appeared on Kevin's face when he came to the door.
At __49__，my wife and I spoke to Kevin about why he didn't come home on time again. He said he just wanted to _50__ playing. This was __51__，so we decided to ground(罰不準出門)him for a week. This __52_ no playing with his friends.
For the next week，whenever his friends came to ask for Kevin，we let him __53__ to them that he was grounded. We felt this would help him be responsible for his __54__.
As a __55__，I believe one of the most important things we can teach our kids is self-responsibility and that actions have consequences.

Have you ever had to decide whether to go shopping or stay home and watch TV on a weekend? Now you  36 do both at the same time. Home shopping television networks(網絡) have become a  37 for many people to shop without  38 having to leave their homes.
Some shoppers are  39 of department stores and supermarkets—40 the crowds, waiting in long lines, and sometimes   41 of finding anything they want to buy. They’d rather sit quietly at home in front of the TV set and   42  a friendly announcer describe a product   43  a model shows it. And they can   44  around the clock, buying something   45  by making a phone call.
Department stores and even mail-under companies are   46  to join in the success of home shopping. Large department stores are busy  47 their own TV channels(頻道)to encourage TV shopping in the future.  48 can ask questions about products and place   49  , all through their TV sets.
Will shopping by television   50  take the place of shopping in stores? Some industry managers think so.  51  many people find shopping at a   52  store a great enjoyment. And for many shoppers, it is still important to   53  or try on dresses they want to buy. That’s   54  specialists say that in the future, home shopping will   55  together with store shopping but will never entirely replace(取代) it.

As a teenager, I didn’t get along well with my mother before. She   36  every aspect of my life, leaving me unable to have my   37  space.
About two years ago, I had a   38  with her. I just couldn’t control my bad temper that day. I said something   39  to mum. Mum was hurt, but she went away without saying anything.
When I was   40  at home. I started to recall the happy time we spent together and realized that I should   41 . But when I saw mum, the   42 moments pushed all the thoughts of saying sorry out of my head. I came back to my bedroom, feeling distracted (心煩意亂的). That night I didn’t’  43  well.
The next day, I got up earlier than usual. And I   44  a letter beside my bed. It was mum! In this letter, mum   45  how she loved me and how she worried about me. The   46  of mum’s love raced through my mind when I read it. I couldn’t help crying out. I went out of the bedroom and saw mum standing there   47  me.
“I am sorry, mum, Please   48  me!” I said with a guilty conscience (愧疚感). Then I saw tears of   49  coming into mum’s eyes. We embraced (擁抱) emotionally. That moment was totally  in my   50 forever.
From then on,    51  there is argument between us, we will write our feelings and thoughts to each other. Then we can   52  and soon get on well.
By telling my story, I just want   53  people to know that if you have problems with you parents, try to find the   54 . Never think that you have nothing to talk with them. They are the persons who always love you and stand   55 you! Maybe they’ve hurt you before, probably just because they didn’t know how to express love.

Mickey was a cheerful boy. He didn’t  36  whatever people said to him. He never  37
anyone. Even our teachers liked his  38  . I always wondered why he never got  39  . I found the secret in his bedroom．，
When I first came to Mickey’s house, I was  40  to the wall of his bedroom．The huge wall was a unique collage (拼貼畫) of thousands of  41  and shapes! “Some people at school think I never think  42  of anyone.”Mickey started to  43  to me, “and that nothing at all bothers me, but that’s not  44  . I used to get angry easily. But years ago,  45  the help of my  parents．I started a small collage．I could  46  any kind of material and color for it．On every little piece I stuck I  47  some bad thoughts.”
I looked  48  atthe wall. In each one of the small pieces I could read，in tiny  49 ,   “fool”, “idiot”, “pain”,“  50  ”, and a thousand other negative thing.
“Now I like the collage so much that, each time someone makes me angry, I couldn’t be 51  . They’ve given me a new piece for my work of art.”
I never  52  how an ordinary classmate had shown me the secret of changing the  53  times into a chance to smile．On that very day, I began my own  54 . I recommended it to my friends and we all became more  55  ．

Our thoughts, words, and actions often cause harm to others and to us. Without reconciliation (和解), we cannot deepen our understanding and only cause more suffering. "Beginning Anew" is a(n)   1  of reconciliation. It involves three steps —— sharing appreciation, expressing   2  , and expressing hurt and difficulties.
In the first step, we share appreciation. We acknowledge the   3  qualities of the other person. The second step——expressing regret, is to  4 with the other person our regrets for the things we have done or said that might have caused him or her  5 . This requires humility (謙遜), and the   6  to let go of our own pride. In the third step, we express our own hurt with mindful and loving   7  without blaming or criticizing. We speak in such a way that the other person can listen and   8 our words. If we blame the other person, his heart will   9   and he will not be able to hear us. We ask the other person to help us to understand why he has spoken and acted as he has, causing us so much pain. Perhaps, later, he can share his feelings so that we can understand him more deeply. If a strong   10  arises in us while we are expressing our suffering, we should simply   11  and come back to our breathing until the emotion becomes   12 . The other person can   13  us by following his breathing until we are ready to continue. We can enjoy practicing "Beginning Anew" with our partner, our family, or our friends   14 . By doing this, we will   15  misunderstandings from accumulating. Rather, we will take care of them as they arise, as we take care of our children.

While getting ready for school today, my 16-year-old daughter came into my room to give me a big hug and kiss. I asked her, “What do you want?” She said, “36 Mum, you always tell us to have a good day 37  we leave the house, but I was 38 about who tells you to have a good day and lets you know how much you are 39.”
I am so 40 by the capacity of love and understanding that 41 my children. My 15-year-old son asked me last night if there was a(n) 42 for him to get a summer job this year in order to help us to pay our bills. 43, in our area, he must be 16.
44 of my children depend on me so much because I am a 45 parent, but just when I pay the 46 that I will not be able to provide for them, they come up with ways to 47. I completely understand that I will 48 have to find a way to pay the bills as I do not want my children to take up anything. But for now the 49 that they have stepped up and 50 to help without anyone asking touches me.
When my daughter was two, I remember rushing to get to 51, getting to the front door and asking her to 52 and come. Then she appeared at the door with a bag that she was holding open. I said, “We don’t have 53 for this.” She stopped me and said, “Fill it with love, Mum.” I 54 to my knees and hugged her and then kissed her. From then55 she would bring the bag and I would bring the love to the door before we left for school and work.

【小題1】

A．nothing B．anything C．something D．everything

In this modern world, we rush around all day, doing things, talking, sending and reading messages. We are always on, always connected, always thinking, always talking. There is no 36 for stillness.
And when we are 37 to be still because we’re in line for something, or waiting at a doctor’s appointment, or on a bus or train, we often  38 something to do. Some will play with mobile devices, other will read something. Being still isn’t something we’re 39.
This comes at a   40 : we lose that time for  41 , for observing and listening. We lose peace.
And   42 yet: sometimes too much action is worse than no action at all. You can run around crazily, but get  43 done.
Take a moment to think about  44 you spend your days. Are you constantly rushing around? Are you constantly reading and answering  45 checking on the news and the latest stream of information? Are you always  46 through your schedule?
Is this how you want to spend your  47 ? If so, peace be with you. If not, take a moment to be   48 . Don’t think about what you have to do, or what you’ve done already.   49 be in the moment.
Then after a minute or two of doing that, consider your life, and how you’d  50 it to be. See your life with less move anent, less doing, less rushing. See it with more stillness, more consideration, more  51 .
Then be that vision.
It’s pretty simple: all you have to do is sit still for a little bit each day.   52 you’re gotten used to that, try doing less each day. Breathe when you feel yourself moving too  53 . slow down. Be present. Find happiness now, in this moment, instead of   54 for it.

Haddy’s parents are different than the average（普通人）. While she was  36  up they required her to  37  . First of all she had to work around their home. Later on Haddy worked for other people.
When Haddy was 14 years old her mother and father told her that they were no  38  going to buy her clothes. Sure, they would continue to buy shoes for her and also the special clothes  39  suits, but  40  else was her responsibility. Some people thought that they were  41  . But they wanted to teach Haddy some  42 lessons. One thing she learned was that nothing is cheap or  43  . She learned how to deal with her money  44  . Another thing she learned was how to keep from  45  out her clothes too fast.
Also, even  46 Haddy went to school she was  47  to work. All through her high school and  48  years she worked as well as studied. Haddy’s parents had plenty of  49  but they felt she would  50  her education more if she had to  51  it. And strange  52  it may seem, they had heard that students who worked part-time generally got  53  grades than students who did no work.
Now Haddy is a mother herself. She requires her  54  to do the same  55  she did, especially working part-time as they go to school.

【小題9】

A．quickly B．slowly C．carefully D．suddenly

【小題15】

A．value B．have C．use D．receive

Coming home from school that dark winter day so long ago, I was filled with excitement of having the weekend off. But I was   41  into stillness by what I saw. Mother, seated at the far end of the sofa, was   42  with the second-hand green typewriter on the table. She told me that she couldn’t   43  fast and then she was out of work. My shock and embarrassment at finding Mother in tears was a perfect proof of how   44  I understood the pressure on her. Sitting beside her on the sofa, I began very slowly to understand. “I guess we all have to   45  something,” Mother said quietly. I could   46  her pain and the tension of   47  the strong feeling that were interrupted by my   48 . Suddenly, something inside me lit up. I reached out and put my arms around her. She broke then. She put her face   49  my shoulder and sobbed. I held her  50    and didn’t try to talk. I knew I was doing what I should, what I could and that was   51  . At that moment, feeling Mother’s   52  with feelings, I understood for the first time her being easy to   53 . She was still my mother,   54   she was something   55  : a person like me, capable of fear,   56  and failure. I could feel her pain as she must have felt mine on a thousand occasions when I sought  57  in her arms.
A week later Mother took a job selling dry goods at half the salary the radio station __58 .
“It’s a job I can do, though.” She said simply. But the evening practice on the green typewriter continued. I had a very   59  feeling now when I passed her door at night and heard her   60   away across the paper. I knew there was something more going on in there than a woman learning to type.