“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton（骨骼）in the closet（衣櫥）?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a(chǎn) skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”
“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.
After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank in a faint（暈倒）, waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.
“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.
【小題1】According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the closet” means ______.

A．a(chǎn) family honor	B．a(chǎn) family secret
C．a(chǎn) family story	D．a(chǎn) family treasure

【小題2】What can we learn about some Australians’ ancestors form Paragraph 2?

A．They were brought to Australia as prisoners.

B．They were the earliest people living in Australia.

C．They were involved in some crimes in Australia.

D．They were not regarded as criminals in their days.

【小題3】Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?

A．She was curious about it.

B．She planned to keep it for fun.

C．She needed it for her school task.

D．She intended to scare her parents.

【小題4】Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ______.

A．they were crazy

B．they were over excited

C．they realized their misunderstanding

D．they both thought they had won the quarrel

Lee Ann Laraway has polio (小兒麻痹癥) and is not able to move very much. Most things are out of reach for her. Jeannie, a Labrador retriever, acts as her arms and legs. Jeannie understands 72 or more different commands. On a shopping trip, she can get money for Lee Ann at the bank or candies at the store. She can pay the cashier (收銀員) and get change back. Jeannie brings things to Lee Ann and puts them in her lap.
Jeannie was trained at a place called Canine Companions for Independence, located on twelve acres of land in Santa Rosa (California). The land was donated (捐贈) by the cartoonist Charles Shultz. “We train four different types of dogs here,” said Ken Kirsh, a dog trainer there. “Hearing dogs, service dogs, skilled companion dogs, and facility dogs.”
Trainers work with Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers for hours a day, but not every dog is good enough to be a working dog.
The work is a serious business. Hearing dogs warn their owners of sounds like ringing telephones and doorbells. Other dogs work with disabled patients like eight-year-old Noah Habib who communicates with a special computer. He likes it when people come to ask him about his dog. His father says, “People are really interested in the dog and will come over and ask to pet her and play with her, and ask about what she does, and these are people that normally might not approach us and want to talk to Noah.”
When Lee Ann Laraway comes home with Jeannie and her goods, Jeannie helps her open the door. “You can train a dog to do a lot of things.” said Lee Ann.
【小題1】According to this passage, we can know that Jeannie is Lee Ann’s        .

A．servant

B．daughter

C．dog

D．mother

【小題2】Jeannie can help Lee Ann do all the following things EXCEPT___________.

A．go to the bank to get money

B．pay for what Lee Ann buys in the shop

C．bring things home

D．do some cooking at home

【小題3】People want to talk to Noah mainly because         .

A．he is good at training dogs

B．he is not only honest but also lovely

C．they want to play with his dog

D．they want to ask him for help

【小題4】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Dogs are helpful to people	B．Four kinds of dogs
C．Jeannie, a very clever dog	D．How to train working dogs

【小題5】What kind of dogs are not trained in the center?

A．Dogs that warn their owners of sounds like doorbells.

B．Dogs that help their blind owners cross over a road.

C．Dogs that open the door for their owners.

D．Dogs that work with children who have polio.

In 1933 an unknown American called Clarence Nash went to see the filmmaker Walt Disney. He had an unusual voice and he wanted to work in Disney’s cartoon film for children. When Walt Disney heard Nash’s voice, he said “Stop! That’s our duck!”
The duck was the now-famous Donald Duck, who first appeared in 1934 in the film The Wise Little Hen. Donald lived in an old houseboat(水上住家) and wore his sailor jacket and hat. Later that year he became a star after an eight-minute Mickey Mouse film. The cinema audience liked him because he was lazy and greedy, and because he lost his temper very quickly. And they loved his voice when he became angry with Mickey’s eight nephews. Soon Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse himself, probably because he wasn’t a goody-goody like Mickey.
In the 1930s, 40s and 50s Donald and his friends Mickey, Goofy and Pluto made hundreds of Disney cartoons. He also made educational films about the place of the USA in the world, and safety in the home. Then in 1966 Donald Duck and his voice disappeared---there were no more new cartoons.
Clarence Nash died in February, 1985. But today’s children can still see the old cartoons on television and hear that famous voice.
【小題1】Who made Donald Duck film?

A．Mickey Mouse

B．Clarence Nash

C．Walt Disney

D．Pluto

【小題2】When did Donald Duck become popular?

A．In 1933

B．In 1934

C．In 1966

D．In 1930

【小題3】Where do today’s children see Donald Duck?

A．In new film

B．At the cinema

C．On television

D．At concerts

【小題4】The underlined word “goody-goody” in the second paragraph means a person who __________ .

A．likes to appear to be faultless in behavior

B．likes to appear to be faulty in behavior

C．dislikes to appear to be faultless in behavior

D．dislikes to be faulty in behavior

【小題5】What’s the main idea of the second paragraph?

A． Donald’s lovely voice.

B．A brief introduction of Donald.

C． Donald’s temper.

D．Donald Duck and Clarence Nash.

Kong Zi , also called Confucius (551-479 B.C) , and Socrates（蘇格拉底） (469-399 B. C) lived only a hundred years apart , and during their lifetimes there was no contact （聯(lián)系）between China and Greece, but it is interesting to look at how the world that each of these great philosophers（哲學家） came from shaped their ideas , and how these ideas in turn ,shaped their societies.
Confucius suggested the Golden Rule as a principle for the conduct of life:” Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.” He assumed that all men were equal at birth, though some bad more potential than others, and that it was knowledge that set men apart. Socrates focused on the individual, and thought that the greatest purpose of man was to seek wisdom. He believed that the superior class should rule the inferior(下層的)classes.
For Socrates, the family was of no importance, and the community of little concern. For Confucius, however, the family was the centre of the society, with family relations considered much more important than political relations.
Both men are respected much more today than they were in their lifetimes.
【小題1】Which of the following is TURE according to the first paragraph?

A．Socrates and Confucius had much in common,

B．Confucius had much influence on Socrates’ ideas.

C．The societies were influenced by the philosophers’ ideas.

D．There were cultural exchanges between China and Greece.

【小題2】Socrates shared with Confucius the idea that           .

A．a(chǎn)ll men were equal when they were born

B．the lower classes should be ruled by the upper class

C．the purpose of man was to seek freedom and wisdom

D．people should not ask others to do what they did not want to

【小題3】What made some people different from others according to Confucius?

A． Family.

B．Potential（潛力）.

C．Knowledge.

D．Community.

The hardworking blacksmith(鐵匠) Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard working was he that at times he would make the sparks fly from his hammer.
The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith everyday and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the blacksmith worked. "Young man, why don't you try to learn to make shoe tacks（鞋釘）, even if it is only to pass the time?" said the blacksmith. "Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you." The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.
Old Mr. Smith died and the son because of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and settled down in another country. It so happened that in this village there were many shoemakers who were spending a lot of money to buy tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers' shoes.
Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that he had learned how to make tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in his workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.
"How funny it seems," he used to say, "even making tacks can bring a fortune（財富）.”
【小題1】From the passage, we can learn the young Mr. Smith became rich ______.
A by selling shoes  B by making shoe tacks  C with his father’s help D by making bread
【小題2】Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A The young Mr. Smith’s father was very wealthy.
B The young Mr. Smith was lazy before learning to make shoe tacks.
C The shoemakers offered him a working place to make shoe tacks.
D The shoemakers were unwilling to buy the young Mr. Smith’s tack.
【小題3】What can we learn from the young Mr. Smith’s success?

A．It is no use crying over the spilt milk.

B．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

C．All roads lead to Rome.

D．Seeing is believing.

【小題4】What is the right order of the events related to the young Mr. Smith?
a. He was born in a rich family.
b. He became rich by selling tacks.
c. His father died and he became poor.
d. He was asked to learn to make shoe tacks.
e. He settled in another country.

A．a(chǎn)-d-c-e-b

B．a(chǎn)-d-b-c-e

C．b-d-c-e-a

D．b-d-a-e-c

Mr. Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea."
"OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.
Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.
The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more." The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?"
"Burnt yesterday evening."
【小題1】Mr. Brown told his son that _____.

A．he would be away from home for four days

B．he would be back in seven days

C．he would be back in a month

D．he liked a cup of tea

【小題2】Mr. Brown wrote the words down on ________.

A．the wall

B．the door

C．a(chǎn) piece of paper

D．his son's pocket

【小題3】A man came to visit the boy's father on ________.

A．the second day

B．the third day

C．the fourth day

D．the fifth day

【小題4】The man was very surprised because _________.

A．he thought the child's father was dead

B．the child didn't ask him to sit down

C．the child gave him a cup of tea

D．he couldn't find that piece of paper

【小題5】What was burnt?

A．The piece of paper

B．Mr. Smith

C．The visitor

D．The boy

It was when I was attending high school that I first read Asimov’s stories. At the time, a few science fiction magazines began to introduce this author, and to translate a few pieces from his “Robot Series”. Of Asimov’s works, the one that left the deepest impression on me was Pebble in the Sky. This novel directly influenced my early science fiction writing. Asimov was one of the leading writers of western science fiction’s Golden Age, so although his writing may not have a direct influence on writers of today, his underlying (潛在的) influence on many levels is undeniable — the famous Three Laws of Robotics, and many classic writing techniques, for example. Asimov’s novels are marked by a fully integrated (完整的) logical system, and his stories are a pleasure to read. This is the reason his novels still attract readers today. Naturally, western science fiction has few people these days who follow Asimov’s creative methods. But still the majority of Chinese science fiction readers would rather read the classic works of Asimov. Compared with the “Robot Series”, Asimov’s “Foundation Series” is a little less well-known in China. In fact, the “Foundation Series” creates an entire world, even grander than that of the “Robot Series”; this science fiction had a direct influence on later western science fiction, the most famous example being Star Wars.
【小題1】We learn from the passage that the writer is probably a _________.

A．science fiction writer	B．science fiction publisher
C．high school student	D．science fiction fan

【小題2】The purpose of the passage is to _________.

A．compare Asimov with other science fiction writers

B．a(chǎn)dvise people to read Asimov’s stories

C．give some comments on Asimov’s influence

D．explain why Asimov is popular in China

【小題3】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Asimov is criticized by today’s science fiction writers.

B．Asimov still has many readers in China.

C．Asimov wrote Star Wars in his later life.

D．Asimov’s writing techniques are still widely used.

【小題4】In the writer’s opinion, Asimov’s “Foundation Series” _________.

A．was not as successful as his “Robot Series”

B．is better known to readers than his “Robot Series”

C．was more logically organized than his “Robot Series”

D．was written better than his “Robot Series” in some ways

Last year when Tom graduated from school, he came to Taibei. He didn't like to work on his father's farm and hoped to find a job in a big city. He went from one company to another but no one wanted him. With little money left, he got to the station, sad and tired. All he wanted to do was go back to his small town. It was very late at night and the station was full of people. They were waiting to buy tickets of the last train. He bought the last ticket, and he was very happy.
At that time, a woman with a crying baby walked to him and asked him to sell her the ticket. He gave her the ticket because he thought they needed it more than he did. After the train left, he sat on the bench and didn't know where to go. Suddenly, an old man came and said, "Young man, I have seen what you did to the woman. I am the owner of a big company. I need a good young man like you. Would you like to work for me?"
【小題1】Tom came to the station to _______.

A．find a job	B．take the train home
C．sell the ticket	D．take the train to Taibei

【小題2】The woman walked to Tom because _______.

A．she was Tom's old friend

B．her child wanted to talk to Tom

C．she needed to take the train

D．she had no money to buy a ticket

【小題3】Tom didn't take the train because _______.

A．he didn't take a train ticket

B．he missed the train

C．he wanted to talk to the old man

D．he gave his ticket to the woman

【小題4】What can we learn from this story?

A．Many people find job in a train station.

B．Don't buy the last ticket of the train.

C．If we try our best to help others, others will help us.

D．We should not give our ticket to others in a train station.

My 8-year-old daughter is making an experiment. She has been making her own colorful smile cards and often takes them with her everywhere.
Last Sunday, I took my kid to go shopping with me. She was hoping to see John, who is an elderly man and gives out samples. We see him from time to time and he is so happy and friendly. John wasn’t at the store on Sunday, so my daughter decided that it would be a good idea to distribute her smile cards to the store’s other employees.
So she did. In the produce department, she gave a card to a young man and she hoped it would make him smile. And he smiled at her and thanked her. Then she came across an older gentleman who looked rather impatient. And she snuck a card into his cart on top of his groceries, remarking to me later that he looked at her suspiciously as if she was dumping trash in his cart. But I thought he would be happy later.
When we got back from our shopping trip, she had run out of cards. She was walking by a woman with two babies in her cart. My daughter smiled at her and the young mother smiled back. My daughter came to me and said excitedly, “Mom, I just realized something. You don’t need cards to make someone smile. All you need to do is make eye contact and smile into their eyes and they will smile back.” 
What a beautiful lesson my daughter reminded me of. You are never too young or too old to experiment with kindness and smiles.
【小題1】At first, the writer’s daughter made an experiment by ______.

A．giving smile cards	B．giving samples
C．making eye contact	D．giving groceries

【小題2】According to the text, John was a man ______.

A．who is very young and lively	B．who may be a salesman
C．who is in trouble and needs smiles	D．who is never seen to smile

【小題3】The underlined word “distribute” in paragraph 2 probably means ______.

A．make up

B．tear up

C．give out

D．sell out

【小題4】From the text, we can learn that ______.

A．John got a smile card from the writer’s daughter

B．the older gentleman would smile later after he got the smile card

C．we could make others smile only by giving them what they wanted

D．the mother with two babies smiled because she got a smile card

When an official at the U. S. Open Pocket Pool(臺球)Championship saw a 9-year-old girl playing at one of the tournament tables, he told her that spectators(觀眾)were not allowed to play. But much to his surprise, the girl was actually a competitor. That was nine years ago, and today, with five U. S. Open Women’s titles behind her and a recently won world championship, no one is likely to mistake Jean Balukas for a spectator again.
It doesn’t seem too surprising that Jean became caught up in pool——her father owns a pool hall within walking distance of the family’s home in Brooklyn. When she was just tall enough to see over the table, she fell in love with the game soon. Five years later Jean was ready to enter her first U. S. Open. She still remembers the letter the officials sent her reminding her that she wouldn’t be allowed to stand on a box to play.

As Jean improved, she found it increasingly difficult to play games at her father’s pool hall. “If I’d beat one of the guys, his friends would laugh at them about losing to me,” she says. Now Jean comes to the hall only weeks before a tournament when she plays Johnny Goon, her father’s pool manager.
That Johnny can beat her shows the gap that now exists in pool — as in other sports — between the top men and women competitors. “I’m supposedly the top woman player, but I’d have a hard time beating the number 50 man,” says Jean. “If I was a boy and played pool, I’d be a nobody.”
Jean thinks that women pool players still have a long way to go because pool has been a man’s game for so long. “When they think of pool players, people have this picture in their head of gambling(賭博) and smoke,” she says.
Jean won four of the seven games in these two years. She was as surprised as anyone else at her performance, even though she was a New York City tennis champion and center for her high-school basketball team. Jean does not take full credit for her achievements, saying, “I think what I have in sports is a gift from God, and that’s why I can get out there and do so well.”
【小題1】We can learn from the first passage that Jean Balukas_____.

A．had become well-known at the age of 9

B．had achieved great fame at the age of 18

C．was often asked to play with men players

D．was refused to play in the U. S. Open for her young age

【小題2】The letter Jean received before her first U. S. Open_____.

A．told her to arrive in time for the game

B．showed people’s doubt about her ability

C．told her about the basic rules of the game

D．invited her to compete in the U. S. Open

【小題3】Jean Balukas believed that women pool players_____.

A．fall far behind men players

B．a(chǎn)ren’t suitable for a man’s game

C．a(chǎn)re impossible to beat any man player

D．have a bad reputation(名聲) for gambling and smoking

【小題4】By saying the underlined words in the last paragraph Jean meant that _____.

A．women players had a long way to go

B．she wouldn’t stop before her great achievement

C．she had much confidence in the game

D．she achieved her success because of her born gift