It is easier to float in the ocean than it is to float in a swimming pool. Do you know why?
Ocean water is full of salt— and salt water can hold up more weigh than fresh water. See for yourself!
You Will Need:
● 3 cups of warm water
● Measuring cup (量杯)
● Wide-mouthed jar
● Salt
● Spoon
● Raw (生的)potato
You Will Do:
1. Pour 1.5 cups of warm water into the jar.
2. Add 1/3 cup of salt.
3. Stir(攪拌) until the salt is completely dissolved.
4. Add another 1.5 cups of water. Pour it slowly over the back of the spoon into the jar so that the two liquid will not mix together.
5. Gently place the potato into the jar. Do not drop it.
What Will Happen:
The potato will sink— but only halfway!
Why?
Salt water is heavier than fresh water, so it will stay on the bottom. The fresh water will remain on top.
The potato is heavier than the fresh water, but it is lighter than the salt water. That is why the potato will sink halfway down.
【小題1】In the experiment, what should you do right after you pour the water over the spoon?

A．Add the salt to the water.	B．Stir the salt into the water.
C．Place the potato in the jar.	D．Pour warm water into thejar.

【小題2】In Step 4 of the experiment, why do you pour the water over the spoon “slowly”?

A．It is easier to see what you are doing.

B．It pushes the fresh water to the bottom.

C．It will keep the water from coming out.

D．It will keep the liquids from mixing together.

【小題3】In which step of the experiment do you add the salt?

A．Step 1

B．Step 2

C．Step 3

D．Step 4

【小題4】What does the underlined word “gently” mean?

A．Carefully

B．Quickly

C．Secretly

D．Silently

This Mother’s Day will be the 8^th year I have spent without my own mother. She passed away less than a month before Mother’s Day in the year 2000. She had been ill for almost two years, and I didn’t cry when she died, or at her funeral, but on that first Mother’s Day without her. On that day, I realized that this person I loved and depended on was gone forever.
She still lives in family memories, in the thoughts of her friends and co-workers, in the values she had instilled(灌輸) in her children, and in the lovely flower gardens that she had so carefully tended.
She loved her gladioli and irises. Each fall she would dig the bulbs out of the soil and carefully wrap them in paper. The bulbs would be stored until the following spring when they would be replanted. It seemed like a lot of effort to me, but each year her flower garden was more glorious than the year before. She put the same hard work into caring for her family, instilling in her children a sense of justice and fair play, compassion, and strong moral values so that we blossomed.
Share anecdotes about your mother’s life at your Mother’s Day party. Too often, we avoid speaking of those loved ones who have passed away, fearful that we will unearth sad feelings. It doesn’t have to be that way. Sharing fond memories and stories of the life we shared with her can be a healing process that binds（捆綁）the family together.
My mother passed away when her oldest grandchild was only eight years old. Children will enjoy sharing pictures and stories of the grandmother they may have never known or have little memory of. Sharing anecdotes to pass on to the next generation will give children a feeling of family history and continuity, and may be one of the best ways to honor our mothers and grandmothers who have gone before us.
【小題1】What does the underlined words “passed away” ( in Paragraph 1)mean?

A．died

B．continued

C．started

D．lasted

【小題2】On the first Mother’s Day after mum died the author realized_______ .

A．mum had been dead for a long time	B．mum had suffered a lot from the illness
C．it was true that mum had been dead	D．it was impossible to depend on mum

【小題3】From the third paragraph we can infer that mum_______ .

A．loved her gladioli and irises	B．showed kindness to all her children
C．taught the children to plant patiently	D．had a good influence on the author

【小題4】At the Mother’s Day party people don’t mention their lost mums only because_______ .

A．they are simply afraid of causing sad feelings

B．they have forgotten their mums completely

C．they don’t love their mums any longer

D．they think their mums have passed away

【小題5】In order to show honor to our mothers and grandmothers we can _____ .

A．spend the Mother’s Day with our children

B．share the stories of them with the children

C．hold the Mother’s Day party every year

D．plant beautiful flowers in the family garden

When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.
For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved (毫無掩飾的).
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.
In adulthood the things that bring deep joy—love, marriage, birth—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated (復(fù)雜的).
My definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It’s easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.
I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband come home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.
Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I don’t think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this what satisfied her.
We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we’ve got to have. We’re so self-conscious about our “right” to it that it’s making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren’t necessarily happier.
Happiness isn’t about what happens to—it’s about how we see what happens to us. It’s the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It’s not wishing for what we don’t have , but enjoying what we do possess.
【小題1】As people grow older, they ____.

A．feel it harder to experience happiness

B．a(chǎn)ssociate their happiness less with others

C．will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness

D．tend to believe responsibility means happiness

【小題2】What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 5 and 6?

A．She cares little about her own health.

B．She enjoys the freedom of traveling.

C．She is easily pleased by things in daily life.

D．She prefers getting pleasure from housework.

【小題3】What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?

A．Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness.

B．Psychologists’ opinion is well proved by Grandma’s case.

C．Grandma often found time for social gatherings.

D．Grandma’s happiness came from modest expectations of life.

【小題4】People who equal happiness with wealth and success ______.

A．consider pressure something blocking their way

B．stress their right to happiness too much

C．a(chǎn)re at a loss to make correct choices

D．a(chǎn)re more likely to be happy

【小題5】What can be concluded from the passage?

A．Happiness lies between the positive and the negative

B．Each man is the master of his own fate.

C．Success leads to happiness.

D．Happy is he who is content.

The baby monkey is much more developed at birth than the human baby. Almost from the moment it is born, the baby monkey can move around and hold tightly to its mother. During the first few days of its life the baby will approach and hold onto almost any large, warm, and soft object in its environment, particularly if that object also gives it milk. After a week or so, however, the baby monkey begins to avoid newcomers and focuses its attentions on “mother” ---- the real mother or the mother-substitute(母親替代物）.
During the first two weeks of its warmth is perhaps the most important psychological（心理的） thing that a monkey mother has to give to its baby. The Harlows, a couple who are both psychologists, discovered this fact by offering baby monkeys a choice of two types of mother-substitutes ---- one covered with cloth and one made of bare wire. If the two artificial mothers were both the same temperature, the little monkeys always preferred the cloth mother. However, if the wire model was heated, while the cloth model was cool, for the first two weeks after birth the baby monkeys picked the warm wire mother-substitutes as their favorites. Thereafter they switched and spent most of their time on the more comfortable cloth mother
Why is cloth preferable to bare wire? Something that the Harlows called contact（接觸的） comfort seems to be the answer, and a most powerful influence it is. Baby monkeys spend much of their time rubbing against their mothers’ skins, putting themselves in as close contact with the parent as they can. Whenever the young animal is frightened, disturbed, or annoyed, it typically rushes to its mother and rubs itself against her body. Wire doesn’t“rub”as well as does soft wire cloth. Prolonged（長時間的）“contact comfort” with a cloth mother appears to give the babies confidence and is much more rewarding to them than is either warmth or milk.
According to the Harlows, the basic quality of a baby’s love for its mother is trust. If the baby is put into an unfamiliar playroom without its mother, the baby ignores the toys no matter how interesting they might be. It screams in terror and curls up into a fury little ball. If its cloth mother is now introduced into the playroom, the bay rushes to it and holds onto it for dear life. After a few minutes of contact comfort, it obviously begins to feel more secure. It then climbs down from the mother-substitute and begins to explore the toys, but often rushes back for a deep embrace（擁抱）as if to make sure that its mother is still there and that all is well. Bit by bit its fears of the new environment are gone and it spends more and more time playing with the toys and less and less time holding on to its “mother.” 
50. Psychologically, what does the baby monkey desire most during the first two weeks of its life?
A. Warmth     B. Milk     C. Contact         D. Trust
【小題1】After the first two weeks of their life, baby moneys prefer the cloth mother to the wire mother because the former is __.

A．larger in size	B．closer to them
C．less frightening and less disturbing	D．more comfortable to rub against

【小題2】What does the baby monkey probably gain from prolonged “contact comfort”?

A．Attention

B．Softness

C．Confidence

D．Interest

【小題3】It can be inferred that when the baby monkey feels secure,_____________.

A．it frequently rushes back for a deep embrace when exploring the toys

B．it spends more time screaming to get rewards

C．it is less attracted to the toys though they are interesting

D．it cares less about whether its mother is still around

【小題4】The main purpose of the passage is to______________.

A．give the reasons of the experiment

B．present the findings of the experiment

C．introduce the method of the experiment

D．describe the process of the experiment

Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia(懷舊). It's fun to come home. It looks the same. It smells the same. You'll realize what's changed is you. Home is where we ran remember pain, live, and some other experiences; We parted here; My parents met here; I won three championships here.
If I close my eyes, I can still have a clear picture in mind of my first home. I walk in the door and see a brown sofa surrounding a low glass-top wooden table. To the right of the living room is my first bedroom. It's empty, but it's where my earliest memories are.
There is the dining room table where I celebrated birthdays, and where I cried on Halloween-when I didn't want to wear the skirt my mother made for me. I always liked standing on that table because it made me feel tall and strong. If I sit at this table, I can see my favorite room in the house, my parents' room. It is simple: a brown wooden dresser lines the right side of the wall next to a television and a couple of photos of my grandparents on each side. Their bed is my safe zone. I can jump on it anytime - waking up my parents if I am scared or if I have an important announcement that cannot wait until the morning.
I'm lucky because I know my first home still exists. It exists in my mind and heart, on a physical property(住宅) on West 64th street on the western edge of Los Angeles. It is proof I lived, I grew and I learned.
Sometimes when I feel lost, I lie down and shut my eyes, and I go home. I know it's where I'll find my family, my dogs, and my belongings. I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I'll be blamed by Mom. But I don't mind, because I want to hear her say my name, which reminds me I'm home.
【小題1】Why does the author call her parents' bed her "safe zone"(Paragraph 3)?

A．It is her favorite place to play.

B．Her needs can be satisfied there.

C．Her grandparents' photos are lined on each side.

D．Her parents always play together with her there.

【小題2】What can be learned from the passage?

A．The old furniture is still in the author's fist bedroom.

B．The author can still visit her first physical home in Los Angeles.

C．The author's favorite room in her first home is the dining room.

D．Many people of the author's age can still find their first physical homes.

【小題3】Sometimes when she feels lost, the author will _______.

A．Open the window at night

B．lie down in bed to have a dream

C．try to bring back a sense of home

D．go to Los Angeles to visit her mom

【小題4】What is the author's purpose of writing this passage?

A．To express how much she is attached to her home.

B．To declare how much she loves her first house.

C．To describe the state of her family.

D．To look back on her childhood.

Some people think that success is only for those with talent or those who grow up in the right family, and others believe that success mostly comes down to luck. I’m not going to say luck,talent,and circumstances don’t come into play because they do. Some people are born into the right family while others are born with great intelligence, and that’s just the reality of how life is.
However,to succeed in life,one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical.And,in addition to that,in order to get really good at something,one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practicing.To become great at certain things,it’ll require even more time,time that most people won’t put in.
This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don’t enjoy what you do ,it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.
When you see people exhibiting some great skills or having achieved great success,you know that they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost.It’s sometimes easy to think they got lucky or they were born with some rare talent,but thinking that way does you no good,and there’s a huge chance that you’re wrong anyway.
Whatever you do,if you want to become great at it, you need to work day in and day out,almost to the point of addiction,and over a long period of time.If you’re not willing to put in the time and work,don’t expect to receive any rewards.Consistent, hard work won’t guarantee you the level of success you may want, but it will guarantee that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.
【小題1】Paragraph 1 mainly talks about ________.

A．the reasons for success	B．the meaning of success
C．the standards of success	D．the importance of success

【小題2】In Paragraph 2,the underlined word that refers to ______.

A．being good at something	B．setting a practical goal
C．putting in more time	D．succeeding in life

【小題3】Successful people suggest doing what one loves because ______.

A．work makes one feel pain	B．one tends to enjoy his work
C．one gives up his work easily	D．it takes a lot of time to succeed

【小題4】What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．Successful people like to show their great skills.

B．People sometimes succeed without luck or talent.

C．People need to achieve success at the cost of life.

D．It helps to think that luck or talent leads to success.

【小題5】What is the main theme of the passage?

A．Having a goal is vital to success.

B．Being good is different from being great.

C．One cannot succeed without time and practice.

D．Luck,talent and family help to achieve success.

In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five fays off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I’d hitch a ride (搭便車).
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn’t give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured (使……放心)me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I’d been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven’t changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.” I couldn’t remember where I’d met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.
【小題1】The author had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because        .

A．her work delayed her trip to Sydney

B．she was going home for her holidays

C．the town was far away from Sydney

D．she missed the only train back home

【小題2】Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?

A．He helped the girl find a ride

B．He gave the girl a ride back home.

C．He bought sandwiches for the girl

D．He watched the girl for three hours.

【小題3】The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that            .

A．she realized he was Gordon

B．she had known him for decades

C．she was going to the nearby town

D．she wanted to repay the favour she once got

【小題4】What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?

A．Giving sometimes produces nice results

B．Those who give rides will be rapid.

C．Good manners bring about happiness

D．People should offer free rides to others.

Life is difficult.
This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend (超越) it. Once we truly know that life is difficult — once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that difficulties represent a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness, or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the serious test that tells us success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, those things that hurt, instruct. It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.
【小題1】The writer probably used just one short sentence in the first paragraph to ________.

A．save space

B．persuade readers

C．make readers laugh

D．get readers’ attention

【小題2】According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to________.

A．encourage them to learn	B．teach them to fear the pain of solving the problem
C．help them learn to deal with pain	D．teach them how to respect for problems

【小題3】From the passage, it can be inferred that _________.

A．everybody has problems

B．we become stronger by meeting and solving the problems of life

C．life is difficult because our problems bring us pain

D．people like to complain about their problems

“The first and best of victories for a man is to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (沖動) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral freedom.
A single angry word has lost many friends. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whoever the gods would destroy, they first make them mad.” “Keep cool,” says Webster, “anger is not argument.” “Be calm in arguing,” says George Herbert, “for fierceness makes error a fault.”
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger,” says Pythagoras, “begins with foolishness and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self-control is man’s last and greatest victory.
If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking too.
【小題1】What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Self- control is important for a man

B．We should learn to be strong.

C．A man who keeps cool won’t lose any game.

D．The great heroes in history knew how to control themselves.

【小題2】What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．If you are mad, the gods will fail you.

B．If you lose your temper first, gods will fail you first.

C．If you can’t control yourself, you will be crazy.

D．If the gods want to fail you, they will make you mad first.

【小題3】Which of the following is NOT true, according to passage?

A．The first and best of victories for a man is to conquer himself.

B．You will make a small mistake serious if you don’t keep cool.

C．You must measure a man’s strength by the power of the feelings which conquer him.

D．Anger begins with foolishness and ends with regret.

【小題4】Which of the following can’t help you avoid anger, according to the passage?

A．Being calm in arguing

B．Checking your temper or anger by speaking low.

C．Keeping your mouth shut

D．Trying to make the other angry first.

【小題5】If a man lacks self-control,______________________________

A．He will always be controlled by all the people all the time.

B．He will began with foolish everything every day and lack the strength.

C．Moral strength and nerve of character will lack as well.

D．He will have power of gover himself.

When asked to point out one or two things that are most important to themselves, many put friends ahead of homes, jobs, cloth and cars.
A true friendship carries-a-long history of experience that determines who we are and keeps us connected. It is a treasure we should protect. Unfortunately, the better friends you are, the more probably you’ll have disagreements. And the result can be what you don’t want an end to the relationship.
The good news is that most troubled friendships can be mended First, don’t let your pride get in your way. Most of us can forgive each other when differences are brought out in the open . second, apologize when you’re wrong – even if you’ve been wronged. Over the course of a friendship, even the best people make mistakes. Sometimes, it may be best if the wronged person takes the lead and apologizes. When you apologize, give your friend a chance to admit that he has been wrong. Third, see things from your friend’s point of view. And finally, accept that friendships change as our needs and lifestyle change. Making friends can sometimes seem easy. The hard part is keeping the connections strong during the natural ups and downs that have an effect on all relationships . My suggestion: Consider friendship an honor and a gift , and worth the effort to treasure and nurture .
【小題1】What would be the best title for the text?

A．Easy Ways to Make Friends

B．Ups and Downs in Friendship

C．How to Mend a Troubled Friendship

D．How to Take the Lead in Making Friends

【小題2】The “wronged person” underlined in the text refers to a person           .

A．who has been mistaken for another

B．who has been blamed unfairly

C．who has treated friends badly

D．who has admitted his mistakes

【小題3】According to the text a friendship can last long only if             ．

A．we have much in common

B．we know our friends’ mistakes

C．we treat our disagreements wisely

D．we have know one another for long

【小題4】What should we do if we follow the author’s second suggestion?

A．Stick to our own prints of view

B．Avoid making mistakes

C．Make an apology first

D．Change our lifestyles