Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
Behind our house is the start of a fascinating trail (小徑). This trail is one of the old roads that wind through untold miles of forest. My   36 , Beans, and I walk the trail frequently. Normally, Beans sniffs alongside the trail to follow the smell of a deer track or  37  some cause known only to him.
Beans is a white dog, quite handsome and very   38 . He not only understands what we tell him, but also often makes sounds as if he were trying to   39  back.
One morning, we took a different route, which led us to an unfamiliar trail. I was sure this trail would eventually lead us to our familiar   40  . But, no. We seemed to be far off course. After two hours, I suddenly realized that Beans probably   41  the way home. So I urged, "Beans, take me home." He ran down a new trail. But it merely led to an intersection (岔道口) of trails.
Soon it became   42  that we were getting nowhere. I began to picture the rest of the day in the   43  without food or drink. We had walked about ten miles. But Beans seemed totally   44 . The sniffing and exploring was going well for him.
Finally, we   45 a crossroad near a highway. Lady Luck suggested I should turn left. We did and  46   reached a cottage beside a field. I knocked on the door and explained my situation to an old man. He laughed and then drove us home.
Since our adventure, I  47 that Beans probably knew all along how to get home.
He was just having too much fan exploring new trails.

請認真閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
An old woman walked around as she pushed her shopping cart full of many things. She was
 36 . Her hair was untidy. Her clothes were torn. And some of her teeth were missing.
She  37  and asked me for change. Instead of giving her change, I  38  her to eat out and she  39 . We went across the street to an outdoor café so she could  40  her cart while we had lunch. The  41  was surprised when this woman appeared and did not want to serve us,  42  she forced herself. We ate our lunch. She was very  43  and the food disappeared almost as soon as it arrived.
When we were ready to  44 , I was feeling very good about myself and then she asked for a  45 . It was then that I had to  46  myself and all the hidden bias (偏見) that I had towards this  47.
She wasn’t wrong, but my reluctance(不愿)must have  48 . I held her in my arms carelessly and  49 I felt shame. She thanked me for lunch and then left.
I  50  there for a moment and realized that I had  51  to give this woman the one thing that cost  52  —love. I ran after the woman and caught up with her and asked her if I could give her a  53  hug and she agreed. I gave the woman the best one I’ve ever given anyone. “That’s getting it right,” she said and her big  54  lit my path as we parted.
The  55  I learned was that if you’re going to give, then give it your all and get it right the first time.

Who is setting your standards for you ?
A true story has it that one elder man  36  to jog around the local high school football field. As he huffed and puffed(氣喘吁吁) along, the team was  37 . The players soon started running sprints up and down the field. The man told himself “I will 38  keep running until they quit.”
So he ran. And they ran. And he ran some more. And they kept running. And he kept running until he 39  finally run no more. He stopped in  40 . One of the players, equally out of breath, approached him and said in a crying voice, “Boy, I am so glad that you finally stopped. 41  told us we had to keep running  42 the old guy who was jogging !” He was watching them. They were watching him. He was letting them set his 43 , on the contrary, they allow him to set 44 .
My question is this: Are you keeping  45  with somebody else in your daily life? Are you 46  people to set your standards for you? What about your standards, or  47 , for moral behavior or even your way of building up your own characteristics ? Or guidelines for what kind of life  48  you want? Negative or positive? Do you keep pace with those  49  you, or do you decided yourself just 50  you will live your life? The true is that only you are  51 to determine what your standards will be.
Set your standards too low, and you will know only  52 . But set high standards and you can live an immeasurably full and  53 life. For only when you  54  the best that is within yourself, will you experience great living. Just as an old saying goes: “Think big 55 , and win big success.”
Who is setting your standards?

閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從36至55各題所給的四個選項（A、B、C、D）中, 選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
As a father, I greatly valued the moments    36   my son and I could be together, and that day was really special.
Louisville, Kentucky was a place where basketball was an important part of life, and   37    taking my son to an NBA exhibition game was one of those special moments. But little did I realize how special that evening was going to be! It was blowing some mean wind. Josh    38    my hand as we crossed the parking lot and    39   for the famous Freedom Hall.  40    eight years old, he still felt it was okay to hold his father’s hand, and I felt grateful, knowing that this kind of moments would pass    41  .
The stadium 42  nineteen-thousand-plus fans, and it definitely looked like a sellout(客滿的).The expectation of seeing Mrhael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls 43  the Washington Bullets 44  our pace across the parking lot, thinking about  45  the game was going to go. The tumstile(十字轉門)clicked and Josh hung on to his souvenir ticket stub (票根）like he had just won the lottery! We pushed our   46   to the upper-level seats of the “true” fans. Before we know it, the game was  47  way. During a time out, we dashed to   48     hot dog and Coke and rushed back so that we   49  miss a single part of the game. Things were going as expected until halftime. I started to talk to some friends 50  when there was a pull on my sleeve, my arm was pulled over by a  51       young Josh, and he began putting a multicolored, woven yarn bracelet(絲織手獨）around my wrist. It  52  really well, and he was really focused attentively as he carefully made a double square knot to keep it secure. On this special  53 I realized the significance of the moment. With a smile, I told him proudly how I knew this was a  “friendship brardet” and said, “I guess this means we are   54   ” Without missing a beat, his big brown eyes looking me straight in the face, he exclaimed, “We’re  55  friends. You’re my dad!”

My father left for our native place on Thursday. In fact, he had never traveled by __36__ before, so I just took this opportunity to let him __37__ his first flight. __38__ being asked to book a ticket by train, I got him a ticket on Jet Airways. The moment I handed over the ticket to him, he was surprised. The __39__ was very apparent on his face as we waited for the time of the __40__. Just like a schoolboy, he was __41__ himself on that day, using the trolley (手推車) for his luggage and asking for a window seat. He was __42__ enjoying himself and I, too, watching him experience all these things with __43__. As he was about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and __44__ me. He became very __45__ for what I had done meant a great deal to him. I told him there was no need to thank me.
Later, I __46__ my life. As a child, how many dreams had our parents made come true? Without __47__ the financial situation, we asked for dresses, toys, outings, etc. They tried to __48__ all our needs. Did we ever say thanks for all they had done for us? Today __49__ it comes to our children, we always think we should give them the best. But we tend to __50__ that our parents have sacrificed a lot to see us happy, so it is our __51__ to make sure their dreams are realized.
Old age is like a second childhood and just as we take care of our children, the same __52__ needs to be given to our parents. I want to say sorry for making my father __53__ so long for this small dream to be realized.
Just the fact that they are old does not mean that they will have to __54__ everything and keep sacrificing. They have __55__, too.
Take care of your parents. They are precious.

It’s a sad and familiar sentence from a beggar that we often hear. Usually, when asked “Can you spare some   36  ?” I’ve been struck with a feeling of   37  if I passed by without giving a coin or two.
My conscience was hurt again when I was making a   38  in Venice in 2006. I was sitting in a quiet café. Outside the café on the street was an old woman on her knees,    39 . Steady streams of   40  were walking past her. A young backpacker stood away from the crowd drinking something, but I noticed he was also    41   the woman.
She knelt motionlessly, her head almost touching the ground, a worn blanket providing little    protection   42   the cold. The sight was especially   43  when compared with the signs of the   44  city around her.
A tourist group hurried along the street,   45  at the woman and walked on. Another group of tourists arrived,   46  again, walked past her. The backpacker watched. Then, as I prepared to leave, I stopped at the sight of the backpacker   47  and placing some money in the woman’s cup. He did this rather   48 , just before the arrival of another tourist group. I watched   49  the leader of the group stopped and put some money in the cup. With the young man   50  the way, other tourists followed.
The young backpacker   51  this process in front of the next tour party going past. Once again, the subtle peer(同伴) pressure   52  on the tourists, who all added coins to the cup. His work   53 , the young man walked over to the old beggar woman and said, “I hope that helps a bit.”
I placed some money in the woman’s cup and  54  my tour, light-hearted after witnessing such a   55  act of caring.

I often read of incidents of misunderstanding or conflict. I’m left   1 . Why do these people create mistrust and problems, especially with those from other   2 ?
I was growing up in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s,  3  children from different races and religions played and studied   4 in harmony. At that time my family lived a stone’s   5  from Ismail’s. And no one was bothered that Ismail was a Malay Muslim and I was an Indian Hindu—we just   6  our differences. Perhaps, our elders had not filled our heads with unnecessary advice, well   7  or otherwise.
We were nine when we became friends. During the school holidays, we’d   8 the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to   9  the unexpected. At times Ismail would accompany my family as we made a rare shopping trip to town. We would be glad of his   10 .
When I was twelve, my family moved to Johor. Ismail’s family later returned to their village, and I   11  touch with him.
One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. I   12  my destination. The driver acknowledged my   13  but did not move off. Instead, he looked   14  at me. “Raddar?” he said, using my childhood nickname. I was astonished at being so   15  addressed (稱呼). Unexpectedly! It was Ismail! Even after two   16  we still recognized each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a true affection, something   17  to describe.
If we can allow our children to be   18  without prejudice, they’ll build friendships with people, regardless of race or religion, who will be   19  their side through thick and thin. On such friendships are societies built and   20  we can truly be, as William Shakespeare once wrote,“we happy few, we band of brothers”.

Last January I was given a chance to work in another country. At first, I lived a  36  life, but soon I met a group of new friends and they were really nice.
Then something   37  happened. One of our friends suffered from kidney stones (腎結石), which had to be   38  surgically as soon as possible. But it was not as   39  as that! Our friend could not   40  the operation, which put him into deep   41 . I didn’t know how to help him because I didn’t have any money either.   42 , I never lost hope. Instead I tried to think of other   43 and told him not to worry because everything would be all right.
Before I left the hospital, I talked to the surgeon and asked him to do the surgery, saying I would pay the expenses the next day   44   I had that kind of money. Well, I must have been   45  because the surgeon agreed to do it! But how was I going to get that much money?
All I knew was that I needed to help my friend! Although it could be   46  to deal with this kind of situation, I decided to make some efforts. I tried to borrow money but failed. I tried   47   my things but no one wanted them. Then I had the idea of talking to my    48 . I asked him if I could have my next two months’ salary in advance—without even thinking on how I would  49  for two months with no money. He was surprised and asked me the reason. I told him that I had a friend who was really in need.   50  I convinced him too and then he gave my two months’ salary without any   51 !
Upon getting the money, I ran to the hospital and paid all the bills. My friend didn’t know how to thank me. I just said, “Come on! Give me a   52 !”
Friendship may not only be found at the happy moment but sometimes you can find it on the  53  time in your life! I’ve done a good thing by being a (an)   54  friend and I think it is well worth the   55 .

Twist was the name of an old champion racing horse. He was past thirty years old, but the heart of the true  36  still beat with the great spirit. However, I knew little about the   37  that the old horse’s spirit would have on my daughter.
My daughter Stacy had ever had a   38  experience with a runaway horse. She was just eight at the time, and a terrifying   39  accompanied the disaster. Although she broke no bones, her   40  , love for horses and the desire to learn to ride were   41 . No matter how my wife and I tried, we had no   42  in curing the damage caused that day. But when she was thirteen, a turning point came. One day as I saw Stacy look into the eye of the   43  fellow in the stall(牲口棚), I knew this was going to be the beginning of a   44  relationship.
Fortunately, Stacy’s accident had not weakened her love for   45  in general, and this small opening was all that Twist needed to create an unusual bond(紐帶). In the following weeks, Stacy began to express daily   46  in coming to the stall with me. She   47  spent time with him, feeding, brushing and combing him, all the  48  talking to him about her life.
Then one day   49  I was readying one horse for a ride, I noticed the old guy’s   50 expression and desire to be included, too. So I asked Stacy if she wanted to take Twist out for a ride. In   51 , Stacy looked once again into the old man’s eye. That moment, their two spirits   52  and completed the bond that had been forming over a couple of months. Continuing to look deep into his eyes, Stacy didn’t   53  . She only nodded yes. Moments later, I saw them riding   54  together, Stacy winning renewed confidence and desire, and Twist winning his medal of a child’s  55 .

In a land far away, once upon a time there was great poverty (貧困)， and only the rich could manage without great  36  . Three of those rich men and their servants were   37  together on a road when they came to a very   38  village.
The first could not stand seeing the poverty,  39 he took all the gold and jewels from his wagons (四輪載重馬車) and shared  40  out among the villagers. He wished them all the best of luck, and he left. 
The second rich man, seeing the  41 situation, stopped for a short time and gave  42 all his food and drink, since he  43  see that money would be of little  44  to them. He made sure that they each  45   their fair share and would have enough food to  46   for some time. Then, he left. 
The third rich man, on seeing such poverty,  47  and went straight through the  48 without stopping. The two other rich men saw this from a distance and commented with each other  49  the third rich man lacked sympathy. It was   50  that they themselves had been there to offer help.
However, three days later, they 51  the third rich man, who was coming in the opposite direction. He was  52   travelling quickly, but his wagons,  53 the gold and valuables they had been 54 , were now full of farming tools and bags of  55  . He was rushing back to help them out of poverty.