My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.
If you come to visit, you’ll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN （個(gè)人身份號(hào)碼）to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it’s dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.
Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console (控制臺(tái)), a small machine that turns things on and off around you.
The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.
I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I’ve put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I’ve put in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, “How will I live without them?”
【小題1】What does the passage mainly discuss?

It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. We are always doing things that someone else makes us do and aren’t allowed to do all the things we like. Sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships (苦難) in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains!
Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time.
As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched (豐富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves.
We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps (碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains!
1. What would be the best title for this passage?
A. No pains, no gains
B. Growing pains and gains
C. Growing up is a pain         
D. Growing up is easy
2. The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) refers to things that _____.
A. make it easy for you to do sth        
B. make it difficult for you to do sth
C. make you happy                            
D. make you full of energy
3. What does the author now think about what her parents did for her in the past?
A. She is angry with them.                     
B. She is dissatisfied with them.
C. She is thankful to them.                  
D. She couldn’t forgive them.
4. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Growing pains are part of our life.
B. Our growing pains will finally turn into growing gains.
C. We should stop when facing many challenges.
D. Life without challenges is boring and meaningless.

Why should you learn Sign Language? Do you want to improve your communication with a family member or friend who is deaf? Do you want to be able to communicate with deaf people in general? Would you like to advance in your career by being able to communicate in ASL? Do you want to be a Sign Language interpreter?
Sign language is not just a random (隨意的) collection of gestures but a full-blown (完全成熟的) language in its own right, complete with its own grammatical rules. Each country or region has its own sign language, as different from each other as English is from Spanish. Each version of sign language is somewhat linked to the spoken language in its region. For example, American sign language does share similarities with English, even though it is its own language.
The advantages of knowing sign language in addition to a spoken language are many. Communication becomes possible on many levels with the deaf community, with other people either hearing or not in any of the above situations, as well as many more.
While other languages take years to learn, American Sign Language can be taught in a much shorter time period. It is one of the easiest languages to learn because most of the signs were developed to mimic the actual word or phrase it is representing. Even the alphabet signs look like the letters of the English alphabet.
American Sign Language, or ASL, is the third most used language in the United States. Used by the deaf community, interpreters, and friends and family of the deaf. There are a lot of sites on the internet that not only shows you the sign with video, but will help you practice reading signs as well.
Teaching even hearing babies sign language seems to be the fashion in recent years and for good reason. Communicating in sign language is fun and natural as babies naturally use body gestures in early communication. Teaching baby sign language actually appears to enhance the learning of verbal skills and brain development of the children involved.
【小題1】Which two regions share similarities in their sign language?
A. Spain and Britain.
B. Mexico and USA.
C. Australia and Canada.
D. Japan and Korea.
【小題2】Sign language ________.

Do you like to eat out? Do you like to eat quickly? Do you like inexpensive food? Some people go to fast-food restaurants for these reasons. In the past, people usually went to diners（小餐館）for these reasons. In fact, many people in the States still go to diners today for the same reasons.
A man named Walter Scott had the first “diner” in 1872. It wasn’t a real diner. It was only a food cart. People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. These carts served late-night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late-night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs. In 1887, Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside. However, they did not sit down. Later, people built diners with counters and stools, and people sat down while they ate.
Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in diner at any time. Diners changed in other ways, too. The original menu of sandwiches and coffee became bigger. It included soup, favorite dishes, and a breakfast menu. In addition, diners soon became permanent buildings. They were no longer carts on wheels.
Diners today look similar to  the diners of the early 1900s. They are usually buildings with large windows. Inside, the diners have shining counters with stools, booths, and tables and chairs. People can eat all three meals in a modern diner.
Today, many people eat in fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King. However, the diner remains an American tradition, and thousands of people still enjoy eating there. It was popular a century ago, and it is still popular today.
1.A man named Walter Scott had the first “diner” in 1872. Why is the word “diner” in quotation marks(引號(hào))？
A.Because it is spelled differently from “ dinner”
B.Because the first diner was not what it is now
C.Because diner was a new word
D.Because it is a special kind of restaurant
2.What meals did the first diners serve?
A. only breakfast    B. Only lunch   C. Only night-meals  D. All of the above
3.According to paragraph 3, diners changed in __________
A. Two ways      B. three ways     C. four ways       D. five ways
4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．Diners existed before a fast-food restaurant
B．The menu included more food than sandwiches and coffee
C．Burger King is a fast-food restaurant
D．Sandwiches became bigger
5.The main idea of the passage is that ______________.
A. The diner is a traditional , popular place to eat in the United States
B.Samuel Johns built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside
C.American diners serve many types of food 24 hours a day to their customers
D.Diners are different from fast-food restaurants in many ways

第三部分閱讀理解    （共10小題；每小題2分，滿分20分）
閱讀下列短文,從每小題后所給的A、B、C、D四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中,選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin （頑童） was walking around the shining car．“Is this your car, Paul?” he asked.
Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…” He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He wished he had a brother like that．But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.
“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”
“Oh yes, I’d love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car．But Paul was wrong again．“Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
He ran up to the steps．Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast．He was carrying his little crippled （殘疾） brother． He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs．His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent．And some day I’m going to give you one just like it… Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car．The shining-eyed older brother climbed in and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.
56．The street urchin was very surprised when __________．
A．he saw the shining car            B．Paul told him about the car
C．he was walking around the car     D．Paul received an expensive car
57．From the story we know that the urchin __________．
A．wished to give his brother a car
B．wished Paul’s brother to give him a car
C．wished Paul could be a brother like that 
D．wished he could have a brother like Paul’s 
58．The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ______.
A．to show he had a rich friend        B．to show his neighbors the car
C．to let his brother ride in the car      D．to tell his brother about his wish
59．We can infer from the story that __________.
A．Paul couldn’t understand the urchin
B．the urchin’s wish came true in the end
C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother
D．the urchin had a deep love for his brother
60．The best title for the story probably is __________．
A．A Christmas Present    B．A Street Urchin  
C．A Brother Like That    D．An Unforgettable Ride

Normally, kids have curiosity(好奇) about everything around them including animals. As a parent you are willing to teach everything to our children because you want to develop their EQ and IQ. But a few people have some troubles in how to introduce animals to their kids. Here I have some advice on how to do that.
1. Visiting a zoo.
This way must be the best choice to choose. If you have free time or maybe on holiday you can take your children to the zoo. Kids usually are excited to see live animals and feed them if possible. It can be an unforgettable moment for your children when they visit so many animals in a place. Parents can describe an animal to their children so they can learn something about that animal.
2. Doing a coloring activity.
If you have not free time or just have a short time, you can choose this. Actually doing animal coloring activity is mostly used by parents and teachers to tell children about an animal. You can download free animal coloring pages through the internet or you can buy your children an animal coloring book.
3. Doing a paper craft.
If it sounds difficult you can skip this method. Just forget it. Generally, the difficulty level depends on your paper craft models. You can find free animal paper crafts on the internet but make sure of the difficulty level. Remember your purpose is not about how beautiful your paper crafts are but to describe an animal to your children.
4. Story telling.
Have you heard about an animal story when you were a child? You still remember it? How about the character of those animals? Yeah! It is still in your mind. You can buy a story book of animals and read it for your children.
There are also many other ways and everything needed here is just the creativity to connect it with the children and make them enjoy and have fun with your activities.
59. What’s the purpose of this passage?
A. To satisfy the curiosity of the kids.
B. To develop children’s EQ and IQ.
C. To give parents and teachers advice on how to introduce animals to kids.
D. To introduce some activities to let parents know more about their kids.
60. In the author’s opinion, which is the best way to let a kid know something about an animal?
A. Visiting a zoo                                                      B. Doing a coloring activity
C. Doing a paper craft                                           D. Telling a story
61. If you are busy, which activity can you choose?
A. Download some beautiful paper crafts on the internet.
B. Buy your kid an animal coloring book.
C. Give your kid an unforgettable moment to visit many animals in a place.
D. Buy your kid a story book.
62. According to the author, what matters most in whatever activities you design for your children?
A. fun                                    B. joy                  C. imagination                   D. creativity

Have you ever suddenly felt that someone you knew was in trouble—and was he? Have you ever dreamed something that came true later? Maybe you have ESP (超感覺知覺).
　　ESP stands for Extrasensory Perception. It may be called a sixth sense. It seems to let people know about events before they happen, or events that are happening some distance away.
　　Here's an example. A woman was ironing clothes. Suddenly she screamed, "My father is dead! I saw him sitting in the chair!" Just then, a telegram came. The woman's father died of a heart attack. He died sitting in a chair.
　　There are thousands of stories like this one on record. Scientists are studying them to find out what's behind these strange mental messages. Here's another example—one of hundreds of dreams that have come true.
　　A man dreamed he was walking along a road when a horse and carriage came by. The driver said, "There's room for one more." The man felt the driver seemed dead, so he ran away. The next day, when the man was getting on a crowded bus, the bus driver said, "There's room for one more."
　　Then the man saw that the driver's face was the same face he had seen in the dream. He wouldn't get on the bus. As the bus drove off, it crashed and burst into flames. Everyone was killed!
　　Some people say stories like these are coincidences. Others, including some scientists, say that ESP is real. From studies of ESP, we may someday learn more about the human mind.
44．According to the passage, the author believes that the sixth sense is_________.
　　A．in existence B．imaginative C．not real D．impossible
45．ESP lets people know___________.
　　A．a(chǎn)bout events before they happen
　　B．a(chǎn)bout events after they happen
　　C．a(chǎn)bout events that are happening some distance away
　　D．A and C
46．In the last paragraph the underlined word "coincidences" probably means ____.
　　A．things that may not happen
　　B．things that happen in a dream
　　C．things that must happen
　　D．things that happen by accident
47．This article is mainly about_________.
　　A．the human dream        B．the sixth sense
　　C．the human mind          D．a(chǎn) crowded bus

B
Most American kids love Halloween treats, but a bucket of Halloween candy can be a dentist’s nightmare. Some parents try to get rid of half of the candy after their children go to bed, but dentists say parents also need to separate the good kinds of treats from the bad.
It is not exactly what a child eats that truly matters, but how much time it stays in his mouth. According to pediatric dentist Dr. Kaneta Lott, the most damaging stuff is something that is sticky or very hard and thus stays in the mouth for a long time. This is because we all have bacteria in our mouths. When we eat, the bacteria take our food as their food and produce an acid that destroys the surface of the teeth, causing cavities to form. The longer the food stays in the mouth, the more likely cavities will develop. Therefore, potato chips are worse than candy because they get stuck between teeth. For the same reason, raisins and crackers are not the best choice. Hard candies take a long time to consume and are also a bad choice for Halloween treats
If children really love candy, dentists recommend that they eat chocolate instead. Unlike hard candies, chocolate dissolves quickly in the mouth. Besides, chocolate contains tannins, which help to kill some of the bacteria in the mouth. But no matter what a child eats, brushing after each meal is still the best way to fight cavities.
55．What is the main purpose of this passage?
A. To discuss how cavities can be treated.
B. To point out the problems with Halloween celebrations.
C. To tell parents what sweets are less damaging to their children’s teeth.
D. To teach parents the meaning of Halloween candies for their children.
56．Why are hard candies especially bad for teeth?
A. They may break the child’s teeth.
B. They contain too much sugar.
C. They help bacteria to produce tannins.
D. They stay in the mouth for a long time.
57．According to the passage, which of the following is a better choice for Halloween treats?
A. Chocolate.                     B. Crackers.                        C. raisins.                            D. Potato chips.
58．According to the passage, which of the following is true of tannins?
A. They are produced when the bacteria digest the food.
B. They help to get rid of some bacteria in the mouth.
C. They help chocolate to dissolve more quickly.
D. They destroy the surface of the teeth.

In the modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity (繁榮). Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another, that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is really forgotten.
However, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often notice that they have a desire to fail. They seem to choose failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” They don’t believe that if they had really tried and lost, such a loss would prove their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison(比較) with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (緩解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.
【小題1】What does this passage mainly talk about?

    It is true that a smile means the same thing in any language. So does laughter or crying. There are also a number of clear similarities in the way different animals show the same feeling. Dogs, tigers and humans, for example, often show their teeth when they are angry. This is probably because such behavior patterns are inherited (遺傳) rather than learned.
　　Fear is another emotion that is shown in much the same way all over the world. In Chinese and in English literature, a phrase like “he went pale and begin to tremble (顫抖)”suggests that the man is either very afraid or he has just got a very big shock. However, “he opened his eyes wide” is used to suggest anger in Chinese whereas in English it means surprise. In Chinese surprise can be described in a phrase like “they stretched out（伸出）their tongues”! Sticking out your tongue in English is an insulting（侮辱）or expresses disgust.
　　Even in the same culture, people differ in ability to understand and express feelings. Experiments in America have shown that women are usually better than men at recognizing fear, anger, love and happiness on people’s faces. Disgust, contempt (蔑視) and suffering seem to be the most difficult emotions for people everywhere either to recognize or to express. Other studies show that older people usually find it easier to recognize or understand body language than younger people do. And psychologists (心理學(xué)家) such as E.G. Beier have also shown that some people often give the completely impression of how they feel. For example, they try to show love but in fact communicate dislike. Or when they want to show interest, they give the impression that they don’t care. This can happen even among close friends and members of the same family. In other words, what we think we are communicating through language, voice, face and body movements may be the exact opposite of what for people understand.
71．According to the passage, even in different cultures the most easily recognized emotion is    .
A．a(chǎn)nger       B．dislike      C．happiness  D．surprise
72．Experiments show that easier understanding of words and gestures has something to do with your           .
A．a(chǎn)ge and sex             B．love and cultural differences
C．impressions about the speaker D．emotional state
73．When we communicate with people,        .
A．we know exactly what they mean while they express their emotions
B．we sometimes misunderstand each other
C．we usually mislead them by expressing the opposite of our feeling
D．it seems much mere difficult to understand body language than language
74．Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A．When we communicate our real emotions, we many cause misunderstanding to others.
B．Different people in different cultures may have different ways to understand one gesture.
C．Some people are likely to hide their real feelings and express them in the opposite way.
D．What we say does always mean the same thing as the gestures we make.
75．The underlined word “disgust” in Paragraph 2 probably means “     ” in this passage.
A．strong dislike   B．friendliness      C．love  D．sickness