In Singapore，most of us love window-shopping while some others enjoy having a picnic at East Coast Park or Changi Beach on sunny days．Singaporeans are never bothered by the occasional thunderstorm．However，we know that if it rains for long continuous periods，there will be more serious effects．Just recently the main shopping street of Orchard Road was flooded and some part of Bukit Timah was impassable(不能通行的)to traffic．People reacted by writing in to the newspaper to complain about this! We forget that other countries suffer much worse effects.
Elsewhere，heavy tropical(熱帶的)storms often result in floods that ruin crops especially in Thailand and Malaysia．This in turn usually means that the price of rice and vegetables here in Singapore will rise because we import these products from them．If there is a typhoon or tsunami，thousands of lives are lost too．This happened in Indonesia and Phuket in Thailand in 2004 and It serves to remind us of how Mother Nature can cause great damage．
Weather patterns in general have changed dramatically in recent years．Scientists believe that global warming and the resulting melting of the polar ice-cap has caused the level of the ocean to rise．This in turn causes flooding of low-lying areas in countries where the land is rather flat and some parts of which is below water level．It is believed that human activities have caused Mother Nature to show her extreme anger，so it is now important that we really work together to cut down on harmful activities，for example，illegal logging(伐木)or irresponsible forest-burning to clear land for farming．
【小題1】．From Paragraph 1，we can see that most Singaporeans love ______________．

America’s Beauty Is in Its Diversity
America is built on the idea of freedom, and there is no exception for Muslim women. I ______the freedom of religion and speech. But mostly, I believe it’s OK to be______, and to stand up for who and what you are. So I believe in wearing the hijab.
The hijab is a religious head covering, like a scarf. I am Muslim, and keeping my head covered is a ______ of maturity(成熟) and respect toward my ______and to Allah’s will. ______, I also like to wear it to be different. I don’t usually like to do what everyone else is doing. I want to be a(n) ______, not just part of the crowd. But when I first wore it, I was also afraid of the______ that I’d get at school.
I ______ on my own that sixth grade was the______ I should start wearing the hijab. I was ______ about what the kids would say or even do to me. I thought they might make fun of me, or ____ be scared of me and ______ my headscarf. Kids at that age usually like to be all the same, and there’s little or no ______of differences.
On the first day of school, I put all those ______ thoughts behind my back and walked in with my head held high. I was holding my breath a little, but ______ I was also proud to be a Muslim, proud to be wearing the hijab, proud to be different.
I was______ about everything I thought the kids would say or even do to me. I actually met a lot of people because of wearing my head covering. Most of the kids would come and ask me questions--______--about the hijab and why I wore it.
I did hear some kids were making fun of me, ______there was one girl-- she wasn’t even in my class, and we never really talked much-- and she spoke______ me, and I wasn’t even there! I made a lot of new friends that year, friends that I still have until this very day, five years later.
Yes, I’m different, but everyone is different here, in one way or another. This is the______of America.

When I was in high school, my father retired and set up a food booth on the street near my school. He was particularly good at making       . Every day after I finished school, my classmates and I would      his food booth. But I really      talking to him before his food booth, because I didn’t want my classmates to know my father was selling noodles on the street!
One night, I couldn’t      it any more and shouted, “Dad, could you      selling your annoying noodles? I don’t need a father who sells noodles on the street!” At that moment, my father was     . He tried to say something but didn’t. When he turned      , something happened that I would never      . His eyes were filled with tears. I saw him     for the first time. My mother later told me my father was selling noodles to      money for my college education. Even today I still feel      for what I did that night.
Time really flies. I finished      and then left my home to work. During the past years, whenever I       home, he was always there meeting me      at the railway station. Whenever he saw me off, he never tried to hug me, although I always      his hug. When I was away from home, he never wrote or telephoned me,      he always pushed my mother to telephone me. Whenever my mother was telephoning me, he’d sit beside her with a list of questions. He’d      my mother to talk to me for him. That’s the way he is, and that’s how he shows his      to me.
My father is quiet, but I feel a      , which is deep and powerful. It lives in a place far beyond     , and it is something special－“a silent father’s love”.

Morning is extremely important, because it is the beginning of a day. How you choose to　 your morning can often be used to predict what kind of day you are going to have.
　 each day with love and gratitude (感激). When you get up in the morning, think of what a great luck it is to be 　 —to see, to hear, to love, to have something to look forward to. Happiness is simply the feeling of appreciating others. Realize that it’s not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. Don’t have pressure　  on each new morning. 　 yourself from the things that you didn’t　 yesterday and made you down. Let yesterday go. Every morning is the start of a new day with new　 　. Be willing to be a beginner every single morning. 

Cold weather can be hard on pets, just like it can be hard on people. Sometimes owners forget that their cats are just as used to the warm shelter as they are. Some owners will leave their animals outside for a long period of time, thinking that all animals are used to living outdoors. This can put their pets in danger of serious illness. There are things you can do to keep your animal warm and safe.
Keep your pets inside as much as you can when the weather is bad. If you have to take them out, stay outside with them. When you’re cold enough to go inside, they probably are too. If you must leave them outside for a long time, make sure they have a warm, solid shelter against the wind, thick bedding, and plenty of non-frozen water.
If left alone outside, dogs and cats can be very smart in their search for warm shelter. They can dig into snow banks or hide somewhere. Watch them closely when they are left outdoors, and provide them with shelter of good quality. Keep an eye on your pet’s water. Sometimes owners don’t realize that a water bowl has frozen and their pet can’t get anything to drink. Animals that don’t have clean and unfrozen water may drink dirty water outside, which may contain something unhealthy for them.
【小題1】What do we learn about pets from Paragraph 1?

When you don’t have anything planned for the day or it’s rainy outside and your children are stuck in the house, why not sit around and tell them riddles? Telling riddles will make your family laugh and sometimes even scratch their heads, trying to figure out what the answer is.
Riddles have been a pastime for centuries. Not only have riddles been something for passing the time, but they have also been used to pass on secret information during the Second World War. Even the ancient Greeks used riddles. They would tell riddles at parties and whoever was the first to get them right would receive prize.
Most riddles use words that have double meanings or share the same sound like “hear” and “here”. So in order to get the riddle, you will have to do some creative thinking and think of all the possibilities of different words. The difficulty of figuring out the riddle is based on the riddle itself. The riddle has to provide you with enough clues to come to the right answer, but that doesn’t mean that the clues have to be easy.
If you are looking to tell riddles but don’t know any, you can look online and you will find a large number of sites that will have hundreds of different riddles to choose from. If you would like to look somewhere else then you could look at your local bookstore, where you will be able to find many different books with thousands of riddles to choose from. You can even find websites and books that will tell you how to write your own riddles.
After you have found some resources that have different riddles, you will need to read through them to find the right ones for you and your family: You will also need to make sure that your kids will have a chance to figure out the answers. So take your time and choose the fight family riddles to tell.
【小題1】What is the author’s main purpose in writing the text?

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。
Before going outside in the morning, many of us check a window thermometer(溫度計(jì))for the temperature. This helps us decide what to wear. __【小題1】__  We want our food to be a certain coldness in the refrigerator. We want it a certain hotness in the oven. If we don't feel well, we use a thermometer to see if we have a fever. We keep our rooms a certain warmth in winter and a certain coolness in summer.
Not all the thermometers use the same system to measure temperature. We use a system called the Fahrenheit scale. But most other countries use the Centigrade scale.
Both systems use the freezing and boiling points of water as their guide. __【小題2】__
The most common kind of thermometer is made with mercury(水銀) inside a clear glass tube. As mercury (or any other liquid ) becomes hot, it expands. As it gets colder, it contracts(收縮). That is why on hot days the mercury line is high in the glass tube. __【小題3】__
First, take a clear glass juice bottle that has a cap; fill the bottle with coloured water. Tap a hole in the center of the cap using a hammer and thick nail. Put the cap on the jar. Then stick a plastic straw(吸管) through the nail hole.
__【小題4】__
Finally, place a white card on the outside of the bottle and behind the straw. Now you can see the water level easily.
__【小題5】__ As the temperature goes down, the water will contract, and the level in the straw will come down. Perhaps you will want to keep a record of the water level in the straw each morning for a week.

From good reading we can derive pleasure, companionship, experience, and instruction. A good book may absorb our attention so completely that for the time being we forget our surroundings and even our identity. Reading good books is one of the greatest pleasures in life. It increases our contentment when we are cheerful, and lessens our troubles when we are sad. Whatever may be our main purpose in reading, our contact with good books should never fail to give us enjoyment and satisfaction.
With a good book in our hands we need never be lonely. Whether the characters portrayed are taken from real life or are purely imaginary, they may become our companions and friends. In the pages of books we can walk with the wise and the good of all lands and all times. The people we meet in books may delight us either because they resemble human friends whom we hold dear or because they present unfamiliar types whom we are glad to welcome as new acquaintances. Our human friends sometimes may bore us, but the friends we make in books need never weary us with their company. By turning the page we can dismiss them without any fear of hurting their feelings. When human friends desert us, good books are always ready to give us friendship, sympathy, and encouragement.
One of the most valuable gifts bestowed by books is experience. Few of us can travel far from home or have a wide range of experiences, but all of us can lead varied lives through the pages of books. Whether we wish to escape from the seemingly dull realities of everyday life or whether we long to visit some far-off place, a book will help us when nothing else can. To travel by book we need no bank account to pay our way; no airship or ocean liner or stream-lined train to transport us; no passport to enter the land of our heart's desire. Through books we may get the thrill of hazardous adventure without danger. We can climb lofty mountains, brave the perils of an Antarctic winter, or cross the scorching sands of the desert, all without hardship. In books we may visit the studios of Hollywood; we may mingle with the gay throngs of the Paris boulevards; we may join the picturesque peasants in an Alpine village or the kindly natives on a South Sea island. Indeed, through books the whole world is ours for the asking. The possibilities of our literary experiences are almost unlimited. The beauties of nature, the enjoyment of music, the treasures of art, the triumphs of architecture, the marvels of engineering, are all open to the wonder and enjoyment of those who read.
【小題1】Why is it that we sometimes forget our surroundings and even our identity while reading?

China is a land of bicycles.At least it was back in 1992 when I traveled the country.Back then everyone seemed to be riding a bicycle.Millions of them, all black.Cars were rare.Yet since my arrival in Beijing last year.I've found the opposite is true.There are millions of cars.However, people still use their bicycles to get around.For many, it's the easiest and cheapest way to travel today.Bicycles also come in different colors—silver, green, red, blue, yellow, whatever you want.
It's fun watching people biking.They rush quickly through crossroads, move skillfully through traffic, and ride even on sidewalks(人行道)．Bicycles allow people the freedom to move about that cars just can't provide.
Eager to be part of this aspect of Chinese culture, I decided to buy a bicycle.Great weather accompanied my great buy.I immediately jumped up on my bicycle seat and started home.
My first ride home was orderly(守秩序的)．To be safe, I stayed with a “pack” of bikers while cars on the streets came running swiftly out of nowhere at times.I didn't want to get hit.So I took the ride carefully.
Crossing the streets was the biggest problem.It was a lot like crossing a major highway back in the United States.The streets here were wide, so crossing took time, skill and a little bit of luck.
I finally made it home.The feeling on the bicycle was amazing.The air hitting my face and going through my hair was wonderful.I was sitting on top of the world as I passed by places and people.Biking made me feel alive.
【小題1】According to the author, why are bicycles still popular in China today?

At the age of 11, Peter Lynch started caddying(當(dāng)球童) at Brae Burn Country Club in Newton, Mass. “It was better than a newspaper carrier, and much more profitable,” the Fidelity vice chairman recalls. He kept it up during the summers for almost a decade. “You get to know the course and can give the golf players advice about how to approach various holes,” he says. “Where else, at age 15 or 16, can you serve as a trusted adviser to high-powered people?”
One of those people was George Sullivan, then president of Fidelity’s funds, who was so impressed with Lynch’s smarts that he hired him in 1966. “There were about 75 applicants for 3 job openings,” Lynch says now. “But I was the only one who had caddied for the president for 10 years.”
In between caddying and managing money, Lynch went to Boston College on a scholarship from a program called the Francis Ouimet Fund. Named after the 1913 winner of the U.S. Open, the fund launched in 1949 which is open to Massachusetts kids only. Ouimet executive director Robert Donovan says, “Help with college is a logical extension of friendly relation between golfers and their favorite caddies, because there is a close tie to train up them to be excellent that happens between the players and the kids who carry their golf poles. And for the teens, caddying is all about being around successful role models.”
It is obvious that caddies who are finally successful include all kinds of outstanding personnel, from actor Bill Murray, to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, to former GE chairman and CEO Jack Welch.
Of course, the great number of financial giants who caddied in their youth might be coincidence, but Dick Connolly thinks not. “Caddying life teaches you a lot about business, and about life,” he says. “You learn to show up early and look people in the eye when you shake their hand, and you learn how to read people -- including who’s likely to cheat and who isn’t.” Connolly is a longtime investment advisor at Morgan Stanley’s Boston office, a former Ouimet scholarship student and, along with Peter Lynch and Roger Altman, one of the program’s biggest supporters. He wants to share the most important lesson he learned on the links, so he says: “One golfer I caddied for told me that if you want to succeed in any field -- golf or business -- you have to spend a lot of lonely hours, either practicing or working, when you’d rather be partying with your friends. That’s true, and it stuck with me.”
【小題1】Which of the following may Peter Lynch agree about caddying?