There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care．To water his flowers，he used two buckets．One was a shiny and new bucket．The other was a very old and dilapidated one，which had seen many years of service，but was now past its best．
Every morning, the gardener would fill up the two buckets．Then he would carry them along the path，one on each side，to the flowerbeds．The new bucket was very proud of itself．It could carry a full bucket of water without a single drop spilled(溢出)．The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes：before it reached the flowerbeds，much water had leaked along the path．
Sometimes the new bucket would say，“See how capable I am ! How good it is that the gardener has me to water the flowers every day ! I don’t know why he still bothers with you．What a waste of space you are !”
And all that the old bucket could say was，“I know I’m not very useful，but I can only do my best．I'm happy that the gardener still finds a little bit of use in me，at least. ”
One day，the gardener heard that kind of conversation．After watering the flowers as usual，he said，“You both have done your work very well．Now I am going to carry you back．I want you to look carefully along the path．”
Then the two buckets did so．All along the path，they noticed，on the side where the new bucket was carried，there was just bare(光禿禿的)earth；on the other side where the old bucket was carried，there was a joyous row of wild flowers，leading all the way to the garden．
【小題1】What does the underlined word “dilapidated” probably mean ?

A．dirty．

B．dark．

C．worn-out．

D．plain-looking．

【小題2】What was the old bucket ashamed of ?   

A．His past．

B．His aging．

C．His manner．

D．His leaking．

【小題3】The new bucket made conversations with the old one mainly to _______.

A．laugh at the old one	B．take pity on the old one
C．show off its beautiful looks	D．praise the gardener’s kindness

【小題4】Why was the old bucket still kept by the gardener?

A．Because it was used to keep a balance．

B．Because it stayed in its best condition．

C．Because it was taken as a treasure．

D．Because it had its own function．

How hard we have all prayed(祈禱) to grow up quickly, and looked forward to the happy days of being a grown-up and enjoying the many interests that a youth should have.
At last, you have grown up. At least you are no longer a child. They call you “young lady”. You then enjoy the pleasure of being a young lady. You are proud of being a grown-up teenager. People welcome you-this young lady-heartily. You are glad that your prayer has been answered.
But there is always something that troubles you a lot. You say; “Papa and Mama, give me some money please. My pocket money is all gone already.”
“No”, they say, “your age is a dangerous age. If you have too much money to spend, it won’t do you any good.” Then you have to stay at home because you dare not go out with an empty pocket.
Another time you tell your grandma, “Grandma, see, I am a grown-up now.”
“Good, now, you can sit here and knit (編織) this for me while I go and have a rest.” To show that you are no more a child, you have to sit there the whole afternoon doing the work, which only a grown-up can do. After an hour, you find it hard to do, and give the knitting basket back to your grandma. Your grandma criticizes your work. You hear what she says, “Such a big girl can’t do such easy work.” You wish then you were a child again.
But the fact is, you are growing up, and you can’t help it. That’s the way it goes!
【小題1】The passage is told about _______ problems.

A．a(chǎn) growing-up boy’s	B．a(chǎn) teenage girl’s
C．a(chǎn)n old woman’s	D．a(chǎn) grown-up’s

【小題2】It is clear that the writer, as a teenager, ________.

A．is pleased with the present life

B．is unhappy about growing up

C．doesn’t think her, present life happy enough

D．knows happy life will come to her soon

【小題3】How does she know her prayer has been answered?

A．People treat her as a young lady

B．She is no longer a kid.

C．People begin to call her teenager.

D．She can join women in all kinds of activities.

【小題4】From what her parents say, we know _________.

A．they don’t believe she is already a teenager

B．it’s dangerous for a girl to spend money

C．they love her more than before

D．they still regard her as a child

【小題5】Having heard her grandma’s criticism, _________.

A．she has to lie in bed, doing nothing

B．she knows she has already worked the whole afternoon

C．she wishes she were not growing up

D．she finds it isn’t her turn to do knitting

When we were very small, we realized that having friends was important. The need for friends continued as we grew into our teens. Friends played a big part in the development of our personalities. As adults, it is still important for us to have friends.
True friends are people who like us though we make mistakes and who listen to us and tell us the truth. Friends support our decisions and tell us when we’re wrong. They laugh with us and share our sadness. They are our partners and share interests with us. They stimulate us when we are feeling down. They are people with whom we aren’t afraid of sharing our secret wishes or what is really on our minds.
Friends, you fell safe and warm. At times, they also help with our everyday life, cooking a meal, helping with chores, or giving us a lift when we need.
Friends also are there to offer advice, an ear to listen, or a shoulder to cry on..
Friends also help us reduce stress. They not only listen to us when we fell stressed, but also discuss with us how to friends help us forget about problems at work or at home. For a short time, we can lose ourselves in a pleasant activity and perhaps laugh and breathe more easily.
【小題1】What is the best title for the passage?

A．How to Reduce Stress	B．How to Make New Friends
C．The Importance of Friends	D．The Qualities of Good Friends

【小題2】The underlined word “stimulate”in Paragraph 2 probably means ­­­­­­­­­­­­_________.

A．educate

B．encourage

C．remember

D．dislike

【小題3】We can learn from the third paragraph that friends always _________.

A．laugh at us when we’re foolish	B．tell us other people’s secrets
C．share our sadness and interests	D．support us when we need help

【小題4】According to the passage, we can reduce stress by _____.
① making more new friends             ② discussing our stress with friends
③ ignoring our problems for a while       ④ sharing interests with friends

A．①②③

B．②③④

C．①②④

D．①③④

The passengers on the subway who caught a glimpse of me may have thought I was strange. In particular a gentleman sitting opposite me was always staring at me, looking at the cheese bread on the floor in front of me and then staring back at me. A passenger probably dropped it by mistake and got off at a previous stop, but the gentleman might not think so. “Next stop, St. Patrick Station” — my stop was quickly coming up. I had few minutes to either take the cheese bread, which nobody else was claiming, or left it there.
In those few minutes I felt my pride getting in the way. “What would others on the subway think of me if I took the cheese bread? Would they think that I was poor and hungry? Would they think that I was stealing?” The ignorant thing to do was say “yes” to any of those self-imposed questions. Actually, they were just my own thoughts. Though I would leave the subway, walk a block to my office, get settled at my desk, and sit comfortably in my office for the whole day, I couldn’t get rid of the enormous sense of guilt and regret.
My thoughts once pushed me towards pride and ignorance, but finally I had to admit I was wrong. This missing cheese bread could be a gift for a homeless person who suffered from cold and hunger. So why not overcome a little bit of my pride and pass along so much kindness?
Just as the doors opened at my stop, I grabbed the cheese bread and left the subway. It felt awesome, but I didn’t care if people were looking at me or what they were thinking. Instead of going directly to my office as usual, I walked a few more blocks up to Queen’s park, where I often saw a homeless man sitting outside. I always wanted to give him something, but only today I walked toward him, who wrapped himself in a sleeping bag. I was full of satisfaction, and so did the homeless man, I thought.
【小題1】The gentleman kept staring at the author because _______.

A．he wanted to talk to the author

B．the author appeared too nervous

C．the author was going to get off

D．he might think the author dropped the bread

【小題2】The underlined word “self-imposed” in paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.

A．easily obtained	B．deliberately created
C．strongly supported	D．completely unaccepted

【小題3】Why did the author grab the cheese bread when he got off?

A．He noticed that no one was looking at him.

B．He didn’t want to see the cheese bread to go to taste.

C．He valued kindness more than his own pride.

D．He remembered a homeless man at that very moment.

I don’t want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated (controlled) by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space, time and the nature of black holes.
At 19, when I began studying astrophysics(天體物理學(xué)), it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement—jobs, research papers, awards—was viewed through the lens (鏡片) of gender (性別) politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus (相對于) right brain, or nature versus nurture (培育), I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.
Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations (挑釁) : I don’t talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.
Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.
【小題1】Why doesn’t the author want to talk about being a woman scientist again?

A．She is fed up with the issue of gender discrimination (歧視).

B．She feels unhappy working in male-dominated fields.

C．She is not good at telling stories of the kind.

D．She finds space research more important.

【小題2】From Paragraph 2, we can infer that people would attribute (把…歸因于) the author’s failures to ________.

A．the burden she bears in a male-dominated society

B．her involvement in gender politics

C．her over-confidence as a female astrophysicist

D．the very fact that she is a woman

【小題3】What did the author constantly fight against while doing her Ph.D. and post-doctoral research?
A. Lack of confidence in succeeding in space science.
B. Unfair accusations from both inside and outside her circle.
C. People’s fixed attitude toward female scientists.
D. Widespread misconceptions about nature and nurtured.
【小題4】What does the image the author presents to her students suggest?

A．Women students needn’t have the concerns of her generation.

B．Women can balance a career in science and having a family.

C．Women have more barriers on their way to academic success.

D．Women now have fewer problems pursuing a science career.

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher stressed the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not a proper topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was wonderful.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it”. Soon I was interrupted again by his words：“You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so,” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘you don’t say’?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really?’ It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions.
Always remember: what the English teachers say is always right to us students.
【小題1】A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because _______.

A．I didn’t have the slightest interest in them

B．English idioms are not important

C．My teacher didn’t emphasize the importance of them

D．I was not careful with English idioms

【小題2】At first, on hearing “You don’t say,” I thought the foreigner meant _______ .

A．I had talked too much

B．he was not interested in the topic

C．he was only interested in the Great Wall

D．he had something to tell me

【小題3】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The Englishman left China without seeing the Great Wall.

B．The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it.

C．The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide.

D．The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting.

【小題4】After the Englishman explained the idiom, _______. 

A．I felt very silly

B．the Englishman became a real fool

C．I thought he had made me a fool

D．I became more careful in everything

How many times have you gotten upset because someone wasn’t doing their job, because your child isn’t behaving？How many times have you been annoyed when you’ve planned something carefully and things didn’t go as you’d hoped?
This kind of anger and irritation happens to all of us — it’s part of the human experience.
One thing that annoys me is when people talk during a movie. Or cut me off in traffic. Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances — don’t we all? And it isn’t always easy to find peace when you’ve become upset or annoyed.
Let me tell you a little secret to finding peace of mind: see the glass as already broken.
See, the cause of our stress, anger and irritation is that things don’t go the way we like, the way we expect them to. Think of how many times this has been true for you. And so the solution is simple: expect things to go wrong, expect things to be different than we hoped or planned, expect the unexpected to happen. And accept it.
One quick example: on our recent trip to Japan, I told my kids to expect things to go wrong — they always do on a trip. I told them, “See it as part of the adventure.”
And this worked like a charm. When we took the wrong train on a foreign-language subway system, or when it rained on the day we went to Disney Sea, or when we took three trains and walked 10 blocks only to find the National Children’s Castle closed on Mondays … they said, “It’s part of the adventure!” And it was all OK — we didn’t get too bothered.
So when the nice glass you bought inevitably falls and breaks, someday, you might get upset. But not if you see the glass as already broken, from the day you get it. You know it’ll break someday, so from the beginning, see it as already broken. Be a time-traveler, or someone with time-traveling vision, and see the future of this glass, from this moment until it inevitably breaks. And when it breaks, you won’t be upset or sad — because it was already broken, from the day you got it. And you’ll realize that every moment you have with it is precious.
【小題1】The author would probably agree that________.

A．we should control our anger and irritation

B．we must get well prepared for the future

C．optimism can help us overcome our anger and irritation

D．a(chǎn)nger and irritation is an important part of our life

【小題2】The purpose of the author is to ___________.

A．tell us his own experience in life

B．give advice on how to find peace of mind

C．tell us a happy trip took with his children

D．a(chǎn)dvise us to see things from both sides

【小題3】By the underlined part, the author intends us to _____________.

A．get ready for the worst result of things

B．enjoy the process of things

C．expect little from life

D．find the relation between cause and effect

【小題4】The author’s children could enjoy their trip to Japan because _____________.

A．everything went smoothly

B．they had a lot of adventures

C．they had expected things to go wrong

D．they could soon get used to the customs there

【小題5】We can learn from the passage that the author ____________.

A．often gets angry in his life

B．can adjust his state of mind accordingly

C．a(chǎn)lways expects others to act in his way

D．has suffered a lot from his anger and irritation

I was blind, but I was ashamed of it if it was known. I refused to use a white stick and hated asking for help. After all, I was a teenager girl, and I couldn’t bear people to look at me and think I was not like them. I must have been a terrible danger on the roads, coming across me wandering through the traffic, motorists probably would have to step rapidly on their brakes. Apart from that, there were all sorts of disasters that used to occur on the way to and from work.
One evening, I got off the bus about halfway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I ran into something,“I’m awfully sorry,”I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been apologizing to a lamppost. This was just one of the stupid things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop, which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn’t stop unless passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to try to guess if the bus had arrived.
Generally in this situation, because I hated showing I was blind by asking for help, I tried to guess at the sound. Sometimes I would stop a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to swallow my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.
But on this particular evening no one joined me at the stop; It seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass, or I thought I did. But because I had given up stopping them for fear of making a fool of myself, I let them all go by. I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one. Then I gave up. I decided to walk on to the next stop.
【小題1】The girl refused to ask for help because she thought_________.

A．she might be recognized

B．a(chǎn)sking for help looked silly

C．she was normal and independent

D．being fond blind was embarrassing

【小題2】After the girl got off the bus that evening, she_________.

A．began to run

B．hit a person as usual

C．hit a lamppost by accident

D．was caught by something

【小題3】At the request stop that evening, the girl___________.

A．stopped a big lorry

B．stopped the wrong bus

C．made no attempt to stop the bus

D．was not noticed by other people

【小題4】What was the problem with guessing at the sound to stop a bus?

A．Other vehicles also stopped there.

B．It was unreliable for making judgments.

C．More lorries than buses responded to the girl.

D．It took too much time for the girl to catch the bus.

【小題5】Finally the girl decided to walk to the next stop, hoping__________.

A．to find people there

B．to find more buses there

C．to find the bus by herself there

D．to find people more helpful there

I have been consistently opposed to feeding a baby regularly. As a doctor, mother and scientist in child development I believe there is nothing to recommend it, from the baby’s point of view.
Mothers, doctors and nurse alike have no idea of where a baby’s blood sugar level lies. All we know is that a low level is harmful to brain development and makes a baby easily annoyed. In this state, the baby is difficult to calm down and sleep is impossible. The baby asks for attention by crying and searching for food with its mouth.
It is not just unkind but also dangerous to say a four-hourly feeding schedule will make a baby satisfied. The first of the experts to advocate a strict clock-watching schedule was Dr Frederic Truby King who was against feeding in the night. I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous. Baby feeding shouldn’t follow a timetable set by the mum. What is important is feeding a baby in the best way, though it may cause some inconvenience in the first few weeks.
Well, at last we have copper-bottomed research that supports demand feeding and points out the weaknesses of strictly timed feeding. The research finds out that babies who are fed on demand do better at school at age 5, 7, 11 and 14, than babies fed according to the clock. By the age of 8, their IQ （智商）scores are four to five percent higher than babies fed by a rigid timetable. This research comes from Oxford and Essex University using a sample （樣本）of 10,419 children born in the early 1990s,taking account of parental education, family income, a child’s sex and age, the mother’s health and feeling style. These results don’t surprise me. Feeling according to schedule runs the risk of harming the rapidly growing brain by taking no account of sinking blood sugar levels.
I hope this research will put an end to advocating strictly timed baby feeling practices.
【小題1】According to Paragraph 2, one reason why a baby cries is that it feels______.

A．sick

B．upset

C．sleepy

D．hungry

【小題2】What does the author think about Dr King?

A．He is strict

B．He is unkind

C．He has the wrong idea

D．He sets a timetable for mothers

【小題3】The word copper-bottomed in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to _________.

A．basic

B．reliable

C．surprising

D．interesting

【小題4】What does the research tell us about feeling a baby on demand?

A．The baby will sleep well

B．The baby will have its brain harmed

C．The baby will have a low blood sugar level

D．The baby will grow to be wiser by the age of 8

【小題5】The author supports feeling the baby_______.

A．in the night

B．every four hours

C．whenever it wants food

D．a(chǎn)ccording to its blood sugar level

Maybe it is true that we do not know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we do not know what we have been missing until it arrives.
It takes an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Do not expect love in return; but if it does not, be content it has grown in yours. Do not rely on one’s appearance; it can trick you. Do not rely on wealth; even that fades away. Rely on someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.
There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them. Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You cannot go on well in life until you let your past failures and heartaches go off. May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trails to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people do not necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness waits for those who cry, those appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives. Always put yourself in others’ shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
【小題1】In this passage, the writer wants to tell us ______.

A．what to do in our life

B．where to go with other persons

C．how to treat our life

D．how to get on well with other persons

【小題2】Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．If you give someone your love, you are sure to receive love in return.

B．We often don’t know what we have lost until it happens someday.

C．It is wise not to rely on anybody because you are likely to be cheated.

D．If it takes you a short time to love someone, you will easily forget the person.

【小題3】If you put yourself in another person’s position, ______.

A．you shouldn’t do what will hurt other people

B．you should put on other people’s shoes

C．you should believe in other people

D．you should depend on your imagination

【小題4】In the last paragraph the writer is actually telling us that a person in the world should be one who ______.

A．can accept the suggestions made by others

B．can live happily and forget the past

C．does good to other people and is respected and loved by them

D．has made a lot of money for himself before he dies