Machu Picchu is considered to be a truly extraordinary archaeological(考古學的) discovery and is one of South America’s largest tourist sites. As many as one thousand visitors visit the ancient Incan（印加文化的） ruins daily. What draws vacationers and adventurers to this remote location high in the Andes Mountains of Peru（秘魯）? A large part of the attraction is the mysteries that surround Machu Picchu. For example, Machu Picchu is considered “the lost city” of the Incas because it was never found by Spanish invaders and was known to only a few local peasants for almost four hundred years.
The “city in the clouds”, Machu Picchu’s lasting beauty comes from the careful blending of its striking architecture with its mountaintop environment. Its greatest skill shows are in the stone structures, which equals that of the ancient Egyptians. The stone blocks were so appropriately cut that they fit together without the need for mud. The largest stones at Machu Picchu weigh as much as fifteen tons! It has been difficult to explain how the huge blocks were transported. The buildings, including many that have survived lots of earthquakes, contain stones which interlock so perfectly that a knife cannot be forced between them. When compared to other ancient civilizations, it is difficult to understand how Machu Picchu could have been missed by the Spanish and lost from history for four hundred years.
For many of the mysteries of Machu Picchu being unsolved, it is clear why Machu Picchu remains “the most famous ruins in all of South America”.
【小題1】Which of the followings is NOT a mystery of Machu Picchu? 

A．Machu Picchu is called the “city in the clouds”.

B．Machu Picchu remains “the most famous ruins of South America”.

C．Machu Picchu is “the lost city” of the Incas.

D．Machu Picchu is the largest stone city of the world.

【小題2】The underlined word “interlock” probably means _________

A．put

B．fit

C．meet

D．lie

【小題3】From the passage we can learn that __________.

A．Machu Picchu has gone through lots of earthquakes

B．a(chǎn)ll of the mysteries of Machu Picchu have been solved

C．the city has never been discovered by people outside

D．Machu Picchu is the most valuable ruins in history.

【小題4】The purpose of writing the passage is to __________.

A．a(chǎn)sk us to pay a visit to Machu Picchu

B．show us the beauty of Machu Picchu

C．introduce Machu Picchu’s mysteries

D．make the ancient Incan ruins known

The World’s Most Impressive subways

 
【小題1】Which of the following gives the passengers the best visual enjoyment?

A．The Tokyo Metro and Toei Lines．	B．The Moscow Metro．
C．The London Metro．	D．The Hong Kong MTR．

【小題2】According to the passage, the only subway that can bring more financial gains is ______．

A．the Tokyo Metro and Toei Lines	B．the Moscow Metro
C．the London Metro	D．the Hong Kong MTR

【小題3】We can learn from the passage that Shanghai Metro ______．

A．is the busiest system in the world

B．carries the most people each day

C．may be larger than the Chicago Subway in the future

D．has become the world's largest subway since it opened

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

A．give us a brief introduction to some subway systems

B．introduce the working system of some railways station

C．tell the general background of world-wide transportation

D．show the historical development of underground system

People celebrate birthdays in almost every country on earth. And they celebrate them in many different ways.
In China and in Japan, for example, the arrival of New Year is more important than a person’s birthday. So everyone adds a year to celebrate their ages on New Year’s Day, instead of on their birthdays,
In Brazil, the special birthday food isn’t cake, but special candles. In China, it’s long noodles—for long life. In Iceland, people have pancakes with candies rolled inside them on birthdays.
In Britain, a birthday is an all-day celebration. At school, the birthday child is lifted up and “bumped” by his classmates. This means the child is lifted by the feet and arms and bumped to the ground, once for each year once for good growth. In Israel, the same custom is followed, except the birthday person is lifted and lowered while sitting in a chair.
In Holland, children not only get presents, but also give things out. They give cakes, cookies and candles to their classmates and teachers on their birthdays.
In Mexico, it’s good luck to give birthday greetings as early in the day as possible. So it’s usual for the birthday child to be woken up at midnight by fiends singing birthday songs.
In India, birthday celebrations also begin before dawn. Prayers and blessings must be said before morning comes.
In Thailand, two tall candles are lighted the night before the birthday. One is as tall as the birthday person. If it goes out early, it’s bad luck. Another customs of Thailand is that they buy live fish and birds for the birthday person and then the birthday person frees the animals, and it brings good luck.
In Nigeria, people in a certain age group celebrate their birthdays together, on a certain day.
In many countries birthday customs are changing. Old customs are giving way to western style of birthdays, with candle topped cakes. But one thing never changes—birthdays are special days for everyone!
【小題1】It’s a custom to lift and lower the birthday person in a chair in _____.

A．Britain	B．Israel
C．Britain and Israel	D．Israel and Thailand

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

A．In Thailand people give fish and birds to the birthday person as presents.

B．In Holland people give presents to unbirthday persons on their birthdays.

C．In Nigeria people who were born in the same period may celebrate their birthdays on the same day.

D．In Thailand a candle will be lighted on the birthday night.

【小題3】What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Different countries have different birthdays.

B．Celebrating birthdays is exciting.

C．Different ways of celebrating the birthday in different countries.

D．Everyone likes celebrating his or her birthday.

Every day, about one-quarter of American adults eat at fast-food restaurants. Cheap, tasty, and convenient, fast food is rich in fat and calories, and it’s low in fiber and nutrients. Thanks in large part to fast food, half of America’s adults and one-quarter of its children are fat, double the rate of a generation ago. In the past two decades, eating habits have changed as people pay more attention to their health. However, many Americans continue to eat red meat (beef in particular) as well as pork, chicken and other foods. Although beer and wine are popular in most areas, many Americans abstain from alcohol, because they think they will become healthier without drinking it. Various kinds of mineral water are commonly available.
Eating styles and habits vary between people of different backgrounds, but Americans generally eat with the fork in the hand with which they write. A knife is used for cutting and spreading; otherwise, it is laid on the plate or table. Fast foods, such as chips, fried chicken, hamburgers, and pizza, tend to be eaten with the fingers. There is an obvious difference between what people may do at home or in a fast-food restaurant, and how they act in a more formal restaurant. Because both parents often work outside the home, some Americans are less likely to sit down as a family to eat once the children are older and able to prepare their own food or serve themselves.
【小題1】How many adults became fat after eating fast foods a generation ago?

A．12.5% of them	B．25% of them
C．50% of them	D．75% of them

【小題2】American have changed their eating habits in the past twenty years because ______.

A．they want to keep healthy

B．economy develops faster

C．they have different backgrounds

D．they have to work outside

【小題3】The underlined phrase “abstain from” in Para. 1 probably means ______.

A．feel like

B．get close to

C．suffer from

D．get rid of

【小題4】We can infer from the passage ______.

A．some fast foods aren’ t eaten with tools in America

B．Americans always eat fried chicken with a knife

C．Americans prefer to eat outside than at home

D．Americans always go home having meals as a family

【小題5】Which would be the best title of the passage?

A．Fast foods in the US.

B．Various cultures of the US.

C．Diet and eating in America.

D．Changes about Americans eating.

Many businesses today use conferences as a means of discussing new plans of the company. As people are paying more attention to the environment and green problems, more businesses are looking for ways to reduce their negative effect on the environment. Many businesses do this by using Web conferencing.
Web conferencing is a technology that allows people to communicate more effectively over the Internet. It’s an easy way of hosting and attending conferences without having to leave the office. Each of the people involved in a Web conference will be posted an invitation to the conference with the time and date of the Web conference on it. When the conference is ready to begin, all participants (參與者) must sit at their computers and they will be connected over the Internet.
With Web conferencing all participants attend conference from the comfort of their own desks. Obviously, in doing this no fuel is used in traveling to and from a conference, and less work is taken up in attending a conference.
Any material to be used during Web conference is simply e-mailed to all the participants before the conference. Participants can then either choose to print material or read it on screen. This not only saves paper but also greatly reduces mailing costs for the business.
As a conference hall or business center isn’t being used, it means that the only power that is used is the power that is used by the participants’ personal computers. Similarly, conference organizers don’t have to arrange for food or overnight accommodation. All this means that less energy is used.
Often in business some companies actively choose to do business with other companies that do many things to reduce their negative impact on the environment. And Web conferencing helps you show other businesses that you are willing to work hard for the green cause.
【小題1】What is the passage mainly about?

A．Ways of protecting the environment

B．Green benefits of Web conferencing

C．Ways of hosting a Web conference

D．Impact of Web conferencing on costs

【小題2】According to paragraph 1, many companies use Web conferencing because they ______.

A．a(chǎn)re interested in using any new technology.

B．believe that Web conferencing is more convenient.

C．want to do something to protect the environment .

D．haven’t enough money to hold a traditional conference.

【小題3】The participants of a Web conference _____.

A．will be e-mailed an invitation before the conference.

B．a(chǎn)re required to sit in an office together.

C．will receive many paper materials.

D．must have access to the Internet.

【小題4】Which of the following words best describes the author’s opinion about a Web conference?

A．Useless	B．Environmentally friendly
C．Inconvenient	D．Money-consuming

A new argument has been put forward as to whether penguins are disturbed by the presence of tourists in Antarctica.  
Previous research by scientists from Keil University in Germany monitored Adelie penguins and noted that the birds’ heart rates increased dramatically at the sight of a human as far as 30 meters away.  But new research using an artificial egg, which is equipped to measure heart rates, disputes this.  Scientists from the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge say that a slow moving human who does not approach the nest too closely, is not viewed as a threat by penguins. 
The earlier findings have been used to partly explain the 20 per cent drop in populations of certain types of penguins near tourist sites.  However, tour operators have continued to insist that their activities do not adversely affect wildlife in Antarctica, saying they encourage non-disruptive behavior in tourists, and that the decline in penguin numbers is caused by other factors.
Amanda Nimon of the Scott Polar Research Institute spent three southern hemisphere summers at Cuverville Island in Antarctica studying penguin behavior towards humans.  “A nesting penguin will react very differently to a person rapidly and closely approaching the nest,” says Nimon.  “First they exhibit large and prolonged heart rate changes and then they often flee the nest leaving it open for predators (掠奪者) to fly in and remove eggs or chicks.”  The artificial egg, specially for the project, monitored both the parent who had been ‘disturbed’ when the egg was placed in the nest and the other parent as they both took it in turns to guard the nest.
However, Boris Culik, who monitored the Adelie penguins, believes that Nimon’s findings do not invalidate his own research.  He points out that species behave differently – and Nimon’s work was with Gentoo penguins.  Nimon and her colleagues believe that Culik’s research was methodologically flawed because the monitoring of penguins’ responses needed capturing and restraining the birds and fitting them with beart-rate transmitters.  Therefore, argues Nimon, it would not be surprising if they became stressed on seeing a human subsequently.
【小題1】According to the passage, what overall message is presented?

A．No firm conclusions are drawn.

B．Neither Culik’s nor Nimon’s findings are of much value.

C．Penguin reduction is closed related to tourist behavior.

D．Tourists are not responsible for the fall in penguin numbers.

【小題2】Which ONE argument of the following is stated in the passage?

A．Penguins are harder to research when they have young.

B．Tour operators should encourage tourists to avoid Antarctica.

C．Not all penguins behave in the same way.

D．Penguins need better protection from tourists.

【小題3】What do you notice about the views presented in the passage?

A．They are groundless.

B．They are factual.

C．They are descriptive.

D．They are conflicting.

【小題4】What does the underlined word (final line) probably mean?

A．later on

B．carmly

C．separately

D．in the same place

All over the world, libraries have begun the Herculean task of making faithful digital copies of the books, images and recordings that preserve the intellectual effort of humankind.  For armchair scholars, the work promises to bring such a wealth of information to the desktop that the present Internet may seem amateurish in retrospect. …
Librarians see three clear benefits to going digital.  First, it helps them preserve rare and fragile objects without denying access to those who wish to study them.  The British Library, for example, holds the only medieval manuscript of Beowulf in London.  Only qualified scholars were allowed to see it until Kevin S. Kiernan of the University of Kentucky scanned the manuscript with three different light sources (revealing detail not normally apparent to the naked eye) and put the images up on the Internet for anyone to peruse (閱覽).  Tokyo’s National Diet Library is similarly creating highly detailed digital photographs of 1,236 woodblock prints, scrolls and other materials it considers national treasures so that researchers can scrutinize them without handling the originals.
A second benefit is convenience.  Once books are converted to digital form, patrons can retrieve them in seconds rather than minutes.  Several people can simultaneously read the same book or view the same picture.  Clerks are spared the chore of reshelving.  And libraries could conceivably use the Internet to land their virtual collections to those who are unable to visit in person.
The third advantage of electronic copies is that they occupy millimeters of space on a magnetic disk rather than meters on a shelf.  Expanding library buildings is increasingly costly.  The University of California at Berkeley recently spent $46 million on an underground addition to house 1.5 million books – an average cost of $30 per volume.  The price of disk storage, in contrast, has fallen to about $2 per 300-page publication and continues to drop.
【小題1】The best title for this passage would be __________.

A．Three Benefits of Libraries

B．Libraries Going Digital

C．Space-saving E-learning

D．Security of Electronic Reading

【小題2】Which paragraph(s) in the text offer(s) further explanation of the central idea?

A．Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4	B．Paragraphs 3 and 4
C．Paragraphs 2 and 4	D．Paragraph 4

【小題3】Which one of the following is mentioned as the advantages of E-libraries

A．Old manuscripts can be moved more easily

B．Materials can be examined without being touched

C．Fewer staff will be required in libraries

D．Libraries will be able to move underground

【小題4】What does the word ‘scrutinize’ probably mean?

A．keep for a while

B．reprint

C．restore

D．examine carefully

Attention to detail is something everyone can and should do — especially in tight job market. Bob Crossley, a human-resources expert notices this in the job applications that come across his desk every day. “It’s amazing how many candidates cross out themselves,” he says.
“Resumes (簡歷)arrive with faults. Some candidates don’t bother to spell the company’s name correctly. Once I see a mistake, I cross out the candidates,” Crossley concludes. “If they cannot take care of these details, why should we trust them with a job?”
Can we pay too much attention to details? Perfectionists struggle over little things at the cost of something larger they work toward. “To keep from losing the forest for the trees,” says Charles Garfield, the professor at the University of California, San Francisco, “We must constantly ask ourselves how the details we’re working on fit into the larger picture. If they don’t, we should drop them and move to something else.”
Garfield compares this process to his work as a computer scientist at NASA. “The Apollo II moon launch was slightly off course 90 percent of the time,” says Garfield. “But a successful landing was still likely because we knew the exact position of our goal. This allowed us to make adjustments as necessary.” Knowing where to go helps us judge the importance of every task we undertake.
Too often we believe what accounts for others’ success is some special secret or a lucky break. But rarely is success so mysterious. Again and again, we see that by doing little things within our grasp well, large rewards follow.
【小題1】According to the passage, some job applicants were rejected because       .

A．they failed to present resumes that are free of mistakes

B．they failed to give a detailed description of their background

C．they crossed out their names from the applicants list themselves

D．their handwriting on the resume was hard to recognize

【小題2】The underlined word “cross out” in the first paragraph probably means ______.

A．neglect

B．recommend

C．wipe

D．introduce

【小題3】The third paragraph is intended to state that       .

A．trees are as important as forests

B．we should pay much attention to details

C．we shouldn’t go too far in details to lose our goals

D．perfectionists are capable of achieving perfect results

【小題4】The example of Apollo II moon launch is given to show that       .

A．minor mistakes can be ignored

B．failure is the mother of success

C．a(chǎn)djustments are the key to the successful completion of any work

D．keeping one’s goal in mind helps decide which details can be overlooked

Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch. Students buy cars with large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.
Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, weather and the life of American people .Most of the radio programs are music.
Pop or popular music singers make much money .They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places .Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tape .Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer .Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.
There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk music .It tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music .This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music, about country life and love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.
【小題1】__ _ kinds of music are mentioned in this passage .
A. Two   B. Three    C   Four     D .Five
【小題2】When pop singers ___ ___, they will become national stars.
A make much money                   B. make a CD or tape
C .are loved by all the young people   D. are wanted to sing on the radio
【小題3】From the passage we know that country music is about the ___ ___.

A．common life of Americans	B．country life of and love stories
C．life of workers	D．school life of in America

【小題4】Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?

A．a(chǎn)ll students in America like popular music .

B．students with cars in America don’t like to listen to music while driving

C．Adult drivers in America listen to music all the time while driving

D．Everyone in America wants to meet pop singers wherever they go.

【小題5】What would be then best title for this passage ？

A．American music

B．Pop music

C．History of music

D．Western music

Many rural areas in the United States have no doctor. Some medical schools are trying different ways to treat the problem . One idea is to educate doctors in smaller communities and hope they stay. Dr. William Cathcart-Rake heads a new program at the University of Kansas in the Midwest.
“We need more doctors. There’s somewhere like a quarter of all of our physicians in Kansas who are sixty years of age or older. So we need to be replacing physicians, too.”Says Dr. William Cathcart. He also says medical students from rural areas now typically study in Wichita or Kansas City, two of the biggest cities in Kansas. They say, “You know, I really have every intention of coming back to rural Kansas,”but they meet a soul mate, they get married, their soul mate happens to be from a big city and we never see them again. They get captured in the big city. Hopefully, if we train them in smaller communities, they can meet the future spouses here , they can network here, and they have those connections which can hopefully be lifelong.
The program is based in Kansas’ tenth largest city , Salina, home to about fifty thousand people. Salina is about a three-hour drive from Kansas City, past fields of corn, soybeans and cattle.
Student Claire Hinrichsen grew up in a town of about six hundred people. She attended the University of Kansas, or KU, as an undergraduate. One reason why the chose the Salina program is because of the size. There are only eight students—the smallest medical school in the country. Classes are taught by professors in Salina or on a video link from Kansas City or Wichita.
Students who complete the four year program will then do their residency training in a small community in the surrounding area. One place a resident might work is the Clay Center Clinic, where Dr. Kerry Murphy is a family physician.
Rural doctors generally serve older, poorer patients. Going into a specialty in a big city can mean better working hours and more money to pay off student loans.
The Salina program will pay tuition for each year that students practice in a rural area in Kansas.
【小題1】What does the underlined word “spouses”in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Wives husbands.

B．Homes.

C．Families.

D．Physicians.

【小題2】The reason why the medical students don’t want to go back to rural areas is that    .

A．they don’t like to live in the rural Kansas

B．there are not many girls in the rural Kansas

C．they found their soul mates in cities

D．the life in rural Kansas is so hard

【小題3】From the text we learn that   .

A．Salina has a population of 500,000

B．a(chǎn) quarter of all physicians in Kansas are too old for the ideal doctors

C．William Cathcart-Rake heads a new program in rural Kansas

D．Educating more doctors in cities can settle the problem

【小題4】Why did student Claire Hinrichsen choose the Salina program?

A．Because she found her soul mate in rural Kanas.

B．Because she likes to work as a doctor.

C．Because she grew up in a town of 6,000 people.

D．Because she likes the size of the program.

【小題5】What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To make it known that it lacks doctors very much in rural Kansas.

B．To introduce a program handling the lack of doctors in rural Kansas.

C．To train students to become doctors for rural Kansas.

D．To meet the demands of doctors for many rural towns in Kansas.