Teddy Bears have been a very popular children’s toy for many years. Most adults can remember their first stuffed（填充玩具）bear, and over the decades these toys have become nearly a symbol of their childhood. However, children are not the only ones with whom these toys have become popular, as many adults make it a habit to collect these toys as well.
The Teddy Bear first became popular during the early 20th century and was associated with then President Theodore Roosevelt. The story can date back to a hunting trip that President Roosevelt had taken where he was invited to be the one to shoot a black bear that had been tied to a tree. Being a crazy outdoors lover and hunter, Roosevelt refused to kill the animal because he believed that shooting the helpless bear was unsportsmanlike and wrong. This story quickly spread through newspapers across the country, and in the end inspired the introduction of a stuffed toy called “Teddy’s bear”.
These toys became popular soon after first introduced, and within ten years, they were being produced by dozens of companies around the world. Within a generation, these stuffed bears were “the” toy to have, and have always been within children’s toy boxes ever since.
They are most often mass-produced in factories in order to keep up with the high demand.  However, there are still companies that take great pride in their handmade designs; and while handmade teddy bears are often preferred, they are also generally more expensive than their mass-produced ones.
Today, these bears and other similar toys generate well over a billion dollars a year in profits for the companies that make them. Walk through just about any toy store in America and you will find dozens of different teddy bears lining the shelves.
【小題1】According to the passage, we can know President Roosevelt ______.

A．didn’t like hunting

B．enjoy being special

C．was not brave enough

D．was fair and respectable

【小題2】Compared with mass-produced teddy bears, the handmade ones ______.

A．don’t sell well

B．a(chǎn)re of high quality

C．a(chǎn)re more expensive

D．a(chǎn)re preferred by adults

【小題3】From the last paragraph, the writer intends to show ______.

A．teddy bears are very popular

B．toys are loved by many companies

C．producing toys can earn more money

D．teddy bears are also enjoyed by adults

【小題4】What is the passage mainly about?

A．History of the Teddy Bear.

B．A popular toy — Teddy Bear.

C．Who made the first toy bear?

D．Profits Teddy Bear have made.

In-line skating（滾軸溜冰）is a fun sport that everyone can enjoy. Follow these safety tips to keep skating safe and fun.
Step 1: Gear up!
Even before you put on your skates, put on all your safety gear（護(hù)具）.
Step 2: Buckle up!
Strap（綁緊）on your skates. Make sure they fit well and are snugly（緊貼）around your ankles. This helps your ankles stay strong and straight.

Step 3: Fall down!
You probably do not usually try to fall. But it is good to practice falling on skates. Fall forward onto your knee pads. Put out your hands and let your wrist guards hit the ground. See? Are you surprised that it doesn’t hurt?
Practice falling until it is easy to fall forward and get up again. If you are not afraid to fall, you will try new things. Knowing how to fall will help you be a better skater and find your balance. When you can stay balanced, you won’t fall as much.
Step 4: Stop!
Make sure you can stop on your skates. The quickest and safest is probably the brake stop. The brake is usually on the back of the right skate.
The brake stop:
Roll forward with your skates pointing the same way. Let your right skate roll a little forward. Bend your knees as if you are sitting down. Then press your right heel down hard. This will make your brake pad drag on the ground until you stop.
The T stop:
Roll forward with your skates pointing the same way. Then turn your right foot out so the toes are pointing to your right. Drag your right skate. Let the wheels drag on the ground until you come to a stop.
Another way to stop is to run or jump onto the grass.
Step 5: Roll around!
Find a flat, smooth place to practice. Do not skate in streets. Parks and playgrounds are good places to practice. Look for “No skating” signs to make sure you can skate there.
【小題1】According to the article, which of these steps are most important for a new skater?

A．Learn to fall and stop safely.

B．Find a class and skate fast.

C．Relax and have fun.

D．Buy expensive gear and skates.

【小題2】In the step right after “Buckle up!” you should practice how to _____________.

A．skate fast

B．brake

C．fall safely

D．put on gear

【小題3】To begin a brake stop, you should let your right skate roll forward, bend your knees, and _________.

A．turn your foot

B．press your right heel down

C．put your wrists out in front

D．tighten your skates

【小題4】How is the passage organized?

A．It tells stories about skating.

B．It gives descriptions of skates.

C．It uses a question-and-answer form.

D．It gives step-by-step instructions.

Most of my earliest childhood memories are of the beach — in the hot sun, building sandcastles, burying Dad in the sand.
Now the coast has a pleasant and relaxing attraction beyond words. I look forward to a windy cliff-top walk or a rainy day rock-picking just as much as those rare moments when I get to a short sleep in the sun. But there’s nothing more pleasurable than turning up at a beach to find it deserted.
These are my favourite secret beaches — ones either not well known or take a bit of effort to get to. Most of those listed scored highly in the Marine Conservation Society Good Beach Guide 2009; the others are too secret even for them.
Sennen Clove is just a mile northeast of Land’s End, the westernmost point of mainland England. It’s a beautiful spot, with white sands, deep green sea and amazing sunsets over the Isles (群島) of Scilly, 28 miles away.
The west-facing beach is popular with surfers, with bigger waves and winds often found at the Gwenver end. There’s a beach restaurant with good views of the bay and the sunsets.
The smallest of Isles of Scilly, Bryher is a mile long, half a mile wide — and a natural wilderness of unbelievable scenery. Walk along the narrow sandy roads to the eastern seaboard and you come to two quiet beaches.
Green Bay has views over to the palm trees of Tresco’s Abbey Gardens, and a little further south is Rushy Bay, a beautiful beach facing the deserted island of Samson.
On Bryher, farm shops sell locally grown produce, and they trust you to leave the money in the pot. It’s that kind of place.
【小題1】The best title for this passage is ________.

A．The Beautiful British Isles

B．Secret Beaches on the British Isles

C．The Most Pleasurable Place in Britain

D．My Experience of Searching Beaches

【小題2】According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The author is a tourist guide in a tourist agency.

B．The author likes walking on a rainy cliff-top most.

C．The author wrote the article to advertise for the beaches.

D．The author loves beaches that are not known to most people.

【小題3】Which of the following maps can correctly describe the geography position?
(LE="Land’s" End    SC="Sennen" Cove        IS="the" Isles of Scilly)

【小題4】In the author’s view, farmers on Bryher are ________.

A．sincere

B．selfish

C．courageous

D．mean

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of “grey matter” and  “white matter”. While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources（來(lái)源）at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.
There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial (空間的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: Why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses (胎兒) are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it,” says a biologist.
【小題1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the first paragraph?

A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s.

B．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.

C．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.

D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter.

【小題2】What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

A．Women don’t need to tell directions.

B．Women prefer doing many things at a time.

C．Men have weaker spatial abilities.

D．Men do better dealing with one job at a time.

【小題3】Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls.

B．Women may have stronger feelings than men.

C．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills.

D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.

【小題4】What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A．Defensive.

B．Persuasive.

C．Supportive.

D．Objective.

How many coins do you have in your pocket right now? Three? Two? Or one? With a phone card, you can make up to 200 calls without any charges at all．
★What do you do with it?
Go to a telephone box marked "Phone-card"．Put in your card to start, make your phone call and when you have finished, the screen will tell you how much is left on your card．It costs no extra for the cards, and the calls cost 10 p（便士） per unit, the same as any other pay-phone call．You can buy it in units of 10, 20, 40, 50, or 100．
★Appear in a shop nearby．
Near each card-phone place, you will find a shop where you can buy one．They are at bus, train or metro stations．At universities, hospitals, clubs, restaurants and shopping centers, you can also buy it．
★No more broken pay-phones．
It is possible that many pay-phones don't work because they have been damaged． There are no coins in a card-phone to excite the thieves' interest in it．So you are not probably to find a broken one．
Get a phone-card yourself and try it out．Or get a bigger wallet．
【小題1】The passage is most probably ____．

A．a(chǎn) warning	B．a(chǎn) notice
C．a(chǎn)n advertisement	D．a(chǎn)n announcement

【小題2】The underlined word "one" means ____．

A．a(chǎn) shop

B．a(chǎn) coin

C．a(chǎn) pay-phone

D．a(chǎn) phone-card

【小題3】It is suggested in the passage that you buy a phone-card because ____．

A．you have got a bigger wallet than others

B．it's convenient to make calls with a phone card

C．the phone box might have been damaged

D．there are many different kinds of phone-cards

It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, 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 in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. 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. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. 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!
【小題1】The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.

A．a(chǎn)re related to your studies

B．you easily achieve

C．make you happy

D．make it difficult for you to do something

【小題2】How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?

A．She is fearful	B．She is grateful
C．She feels trapped	D．She feels hateful

【小題3】We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.

A．life without challenges is dull

B．life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness

C．we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours

D．we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up

【小題4】The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.

A．life is full of hardships

B．growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way

C．everyone is painful in growing up

D．everyone should do what they don’t like when young

If women are mercilessly exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame.  Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion. When you come to think of it, only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.
　 Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time altering the dresses they have. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck－lines are lowered or raised, and soon.
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital things like warmth, comfort and durability. They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn’t at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or delicately picking her way through deep snow in high－h(huán)eeled shoes.
　 When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious. Does the constantly changing fashion of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanged styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide.
【小題1】The writer would be less critical if fashion designers placed more stress on the of clothing
___ .

A．comfort

B．a(chǎn)ppearance

C．cost

D．suitability

【小題2】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE？

A．Fashion designs should not be encouraged since they are only welcomed by women.

B．The constant changes in women's clothing reflect their strength of character.

C．The fashion industry makes an important contribution to society.

D．New fashions in clothing are created for the commercial exploitation of women.

【小題3】By saying “the conclusions to be drawn are obvious”, the writer means that _____.

A．women’s inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at

B．women are better able to put up with discomfort

C．men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers

D．men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion

As soon as you meet, or even see, a person, you form an impression of him based on his posture, gesture and facial expressions. This is why it is important to make a good first impression on the person who will be interviewing you. Within the first 60 seconds of meeting you, the interviewer will have formed an impression about what type of person you are and what kind of employee you would become, and 55% of this will be based only on your body language. Here are some tips to make you that impression a good one.
First of all, relax. Think positive thoughts and you are more likely to come across as a positive, confident person during the interview. Dress smartly, as your appearance is one of the first things an interviewer will notice you. Stand up straight, and walk in with your shoulders back and your head up. Try to avoid slowing down as you walk into the room because this suggests fear and uncertainty. Shake hands with the interviewer firmly. You should have a positive handshake and a warm smile. Open your coat or jacket as you sit down shows that you, too, are open.
Posture is important. You should be sitting well back in your seat. Sit up straight and lean forward slightly, but not too much. Sitting at too much of an angel expresses discomfort and distrust. Two of the most common defensive(防衛(wèi)的) signals are crossing your arms and legs, so try to avoid them.
Another important issue is eye contact. Looking someone in the eye shows confidence in yourself and trust in the other person. However, don’t overdo it, as too much eye contact or starring will make the other person uncomfortable. Use more eye contact when listening than when talking, and when you look away, look down. Looking up at the ceiling will make you seem bored and rude.
【小題1】The purpose of the first impression is to tell readers __________.

A．what a good first impression is

B．how to make a good first impression

C．how long it takes to make a first impression

D．the importance of making a good first impression

【小題2】Which of the following does the author advise you to do when you are being interviewed?

A．Cross your arms or legs

B．Open your coat or jacket when sitting down

C．Go into the room more slowly than usual

D．Avoid looking at the eyes of the interviewer directly

【小題3】If you lean forward too much, it means __________.

A．you are very bored

B．you are too nervous

C．you don’t have confidence

D．you don’t trust others

【小題4】 What is the best title for the passage?

A．How to use body language to win an interview

B．How to answer questions in an interview

C．How to understand body language

D．How to deal with an interviewer

Many people say pennies are not worth saving. After all, a penny is only worth a cent. But one unusual penny turned out to be worth a lot more when a coin collector paid $1.7 million for it earlier this month.
The coin is one of a kind. It is the only penny that the Denver mint(鑄幣廠) made out of copper, instead of steel, in 1943. Because it is unique, it is also very valuable. No penny has ever sold for so much money.
The Changing Penny
The Lincoln penny first appeared in 1909. For 34 years, the one-cent coin was made out of copper. Then, in 1943, the penny changed. World War II was going on, and copper was needed for equipment. So for one year, pennies were made out of steel instead. At least most of them were.
Only a few coins were made out of unused copper. There are three main mints, or places where coins are made, in the United States. Of the known copper pennies from 1943, twelve were made in the Philadephia mint, and five were made in the San Francisco mint. Only one was made in the Denver mint.
Nobody knows for sure why a copper penny was made at the Denver mint in 1943, coin dealers Andy Skrabalak told Time for Kids. “There is a rumor that a mint employee made the coin in the middle of the night.”
A Special Set
The coin collector who bought the $1.7 million penny wants to remain unknown. But the reason for the trade is known. He already had two copper pennies from 1943 – one from the San Francisco mint and one from the Philadephia mint. To complete the set, he needed the Denver penny. The three coins will go on display at a coin exhibition in Tampa, Florida.
The collector who sold the penny is also keeping his name a secret. It took four years to convince him to give up the rare coin. Now that he has finally donating all of the money to charity.
【小題1】Why is the Lincoln penny worth over one million dollars?
A. Because it has a history of thirty-four years.
B. Because it was made out of a rare material.
C. Because it was made on one night of 1943 by the Denver mint.
D, Because it was the only coin Denver mint made out of copper in 1943.
【小題2】Before the Lincoln penny was sold, people thought one-cent coins __________.

A．were worth collecting for selling later

B．were surely valuable if not made out of steel

C．wouldn’t be sold for large amounts of money

D．were only useful for some coin museums

【小題3】At least how many copper coins were made in 1943?

A．Five

B．Twelve

C．Seventeen

D．Eighteen

【小題4】What can we learn about the collector who sold the penny?

A．He already had two copper pennies from 1943.

B．He wanted to complete the set of copper pennies.

C．He didn’t want to sell his penny in the beginning.

D．He was a well-known coin dealer in Tampa, Horida.

How is it that siblings (兄弟姐妹) can turn out so differently? One answer is that in fact each sibling grows up in a different family. The firstborn is, for a while, an only child, and therefore has a completely different experience of the parents than those born later. The next child is, for a while, the youngest, until the situation is changed by a new arrival. The mother and father themselves are changing and growing up too. One sibling might live in a stable and close family in the first few years; another might be raised in a family crisis, with a disappointed mother or an angry father.
Sibling competition was identified as an important shaping force as early as in 1918. But more recently, researchers have found many ways in which brothers and sisters are a lasting force in each others’ lives. Dr. Annette Henderson says firstborn children pick up vocabulary more quickly than their siblings. The reason for this might be that the later children aren’t getting the same one-on-one time with parents. But that doesn’t mean that the younger children have problems with language development. Later-borns don’t enjoy that much talking time with parents, but instead they harvest lessons from bigger brothers and sisters, learning entire phrases and getting an understanding of social concepts such as the difference between “I” and “me”. 
A Cambridge University study of 140 children found that siblings created a rich world of play that helped them grow socially. Love-hate relationships were common among the children. Even those siblings who fought the most had just as much positive communication as the other sibling pairs.
One way children seek more attention from parents is by making themselves different from their siblings, particularly if they are close in age. Researchers have found that the first two children in a family are typically more different from each other than the second and third. Girls with brothers show their differences to a maximum degree by being more feminine than girls with sisters. A 2003 research paper studied adolescents from 185 families over two years, finding that those who changed to make themselves different from their siblings were successful in increasing the amount of warmth they gained from their parents.
【小題1】The underlined part “in a different family” (in Para. 1) means “_______”.

A．in a different family environment

B．in a different family tradition

C．in different family crises

D．in different families

【小題2】In terms of language development, later-borns ________.

A．get their parents’ individual guidance

B．learn a lot from their elder siblings

C．experience a lot of difficulties

D．pick up words more quickly

【小題3】What was found about fights among siblings?

A．Siblings hated fighting and loved playing.

B．Siblings in some families fought frequently.

C．Sibling fights led to bad sibling relationships.

D．Siblings learned to get on together from fights.

【小題4】The word “feminine” (in Para. 4) means “_______”.

A．having qualities of parents

B．having qualities of women

C．having defensive qualities

D．having extraordinary qualities