Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about thinking is the key to critical（批判性的）thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes（過程）. Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others. Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.
The word "critical" here has a special meaning. It does not mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen—beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the faulty reasoning (錯誤的推理).
Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity. If you are curious about life and desire to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker; if you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.
Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today's world, fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure of intelligence, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein. The first time Banish Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein, Hoffman was too nervous to speak. But Einstein immediately put Hoffman at ease by saying, "Please go slowly, I don't understand things quickly."
【小題1】Critical thinking is important to us because if we do not think critically,__________.

A．it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast

B．we will follow the ideas of others naturally

C．we might be controlled by other people's ideas

D．we might be fooled by other people's ideas

【小題2】If you are a critical thinker, you will________.

A．criticize other people for their mistakes	B．trust the reports in the newspapers
C．take one view against another view	D．think deeply about different ideas

【小題3】In the last paragraph, "something new" suggests that________.

A．the smarter you are, the faster you do things

B．intelligence is not decided by speed

C．speed can improve intelligence

D．the faster you do things, the smarter you become

【小題4】What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Understanding Critical Thinking	B．Thinking and Critical Thinking
C．Thinking Natural and Human	D．Thinking Fast Means Intelligence

It’s such a happy-looking library, painted yellow, decorated with palm-tree stickers and sheltered from the Florida sun by its own roof. About the size of a microwave oven, it’s pedestrian-friendly, too, waiting for book lovers next to a sidewalk in Palm Beach country Estates, along the northern boundary of Palm Beach Gardens.
It’s a library built with love.
A year ago, shortly after Janey Henriksen saw a Brian Williams report about the Little Free Library organization, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that aims to promote literacy and build a sense of community in a neighborhood by making books freely available, she announced to her family of four, “That’s what we’re going to do for our spring break!”
Son Austin, now a 10th-grader, didn’t see the point of building a library that resembles a mailbox. But Janey insisted, and husband Peter unwillingly got to work. The 51-year-old owner of a ship supply company modified a small wooden house that he’d built years earlier for daughter Abbie’s toy horses, and made a door of glass.
After adding the library’s final touches, the family hung a signboard on the front, instructing users to “take a book, return a book,” and making the Henriksen library, now one of several hundred like it nationwide and among more than 2,500 in the world, the only Little Free Library in Palm Beach County.
They stocked it with 20 or so books they’d already read, a mix of science fiction, reference titles, novels and kids’ favorites. “I told them, keep in mind that you might not see it again,” said Janey, a stay-at-home mom.
Since then, the collection keeps replenishing itself, thanks to ongoing donations from borrowers. The library now gets an average of five visits a day.
The project’s best payoff, says Peter, are the thank-you notes left behind. “We had no idea in the beginning that it would be so popular.”
【小題1】In what way is the library “pedestrian-friendly”?

A．It owns a yellow roof.

B．It stands near a sidewalk.

C．It protects book lovers from the sun.

D．It uses palm-tree stickers as decorations.

【小題2】The library was built __________.

A．by a ship supply company

B．on the basis of toy horses

C．like a mailbox

D．with glass

【小題3】What can we infer about the signboard?

A．It was made by a user of the library.

B．It marked a final touch to the library.

C．It aimed at making the library last long.

D．It indicated the library was a family property.

【小題4】 The passage tells us that the users __________.

A．donate books to the library

B．get paid to collect books for the library

C．receive thank-you notes for using the library

D．visit the library over 5 times on average daily

When I first told people I was going to work in Cameroon, the most common reaction was: “Why?” The second was: “It’s in Africa; you’ll die!” The third: “Where is that?”
So let me give some answers. I was offered a job that looked interesting in a part of the world I’d never been to before. I’d also long had an interest in Africa, so I decided it was time to find out the reality.
A small amount of research showed that in more than 40 years since gaining independence, Cameroon has been a peaceful country with no wars. Not only are there no wars, but Cameroon is a food exporter to the region.
Now, after three years, I can say that these have been the healthiest years of my life! No malaria or any of the other frightening diseases you read about when Africa is mentioned. The worst thing that ever happened to me was a bout of food poisoning — once.
So what is it like to teach here? Well surprisingly not so different from teaching anywhere else.
Most students come to us with a bit of English in their heads. Cameroon is a bilingual country with French and English as official languages, while there are also close to 200 local ethnic languages in a country of 16 million people. French is the dominant language, spoken by about 80% of the population.
The local school system is very traditional and somewhat strict. Perhaps not surprisingly when there can be up to 150 students in the classroom (of which maybe 30 have the books, and there are probably seats for 70).
Like anywhere else, students appreciate it if you know a bit about their country, and not just Roger Milla (the top scorer of the 1990 World Cup, in case you’re wondering). It helps if you know the names of the ten provinces, know who the first president was, or can say a word in a local language.
So in conclusion: Cameroon isn’t just football. Not is it war, poverty and disease. It’s just life and people, like anywhere else.
【小題1】 On hearing the writer’s decision, most people _____.

A．didn’t understand him	B．considered it as a joke
C．a(chǎn)dmired him	D．laughed at him

【小題2】According to the passage, Cameroon is _____.

A．a(chǎn) country full of diseases	B．peaceful after liberation
C．a(chǎn) poor country, especially lack of food	D．quite different from others in education

【小題3】 What can we infer from the passage?

A．Food export may lead to many frightening diseases.

B．Most students in Cameroon do not need books

C．Cameroon is not as bad as people commonly believed

D．There must be a lot of people suffering from food poisoning.

【小題4】What does the underlined word in the sixth paragraph mean?

A．leading

B．easy

C．only

D．wonderful

While nature lovers across the world wish all humans to realize the significance of their natural surroundings, many Australians are turning caring for the environment into a way of life.
Julie Astonis, an Australian housewife in Brisbane is one such example. Even though autumn is approaching Australia’s Brisbane in April, one can still watch colorful blooming(盛開的)flowers in Julie’s little garden, as she tells that in her community,“Each of us has a beautiful yard. The whole community, from children to elderly people, takes care of the environment as if they are taking care of their own garden.
“Gardening is the most popular club in our community,”she says.“A lot of retired people don’t just regularly organize gardening lectures, but also personally visit families in the community to provide gardening training. So you can see that flowers continue to blossom in our gardens throughout the year.”
Talking about her people’s sense of care for the environment, Julie says when people in the community take along their dog, they always carry a garbage bag to deal with the dog’s waste.“In our community, you will never experience the embarrassment of stepping on the dirty waste while you are walking on the grass,” says Julie with a smile.“Taking care of the dog’s waste can a1so help to develop children’s sense of responsibility!”
As to protecting water resources, the Australian government has rnade strict rules for families. Julie says,“We certainly would not use tap water to water the flowers!”She says almost every family in her community has a huge tank used to store rainwater, which is later used as the resource of all outdoor water use, connect the water tank with their toilets.
【小題1】From the first three paragraphs we learn that     .

A．gardening is popular in most part of Australia

B．April is a great time for people to enjoy flowers

C．it’s not easy to keep a garden without proper training

D．Julie’s community has a deep sense of caring for nature

【小題2】What do we know about Julie from this passage?

A．She takes pride in her community.

B．She once stepped on a dog’s waste.

C．She is quite in favor of raising a dog.

D．She finds it embarrassing to walk on the grass.

【小題3】From what Julie says in the last paragraph, we know     .

A．rainwater is not the best resource

B．her community owns a public tank

C．her community makes full use of resources

D．it is not necessary to water flowers very often

【小題4】How many examples are given to show the caring for the environment in Australia?

A．Two

B．Three

C．Four

D．Five

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

A．Love nature, the Australian way

B．How Australians save resources

C．How Australians lead their life

D．Protect nature, a must of life

After successfully serving their terms for 4 years, military service men and women are given the choice to stay in the military or return to civilian life.
For some, having to readjust to civilian life is one of the most challenging assignments our returning soldiers and marines（水兵）will ever to undertake. While people may think readjusting should be simple, they must take into consideration all physical and mental stress our servicemen went through.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder（創(chuàng)傷后應(yīng)急障礙）,or PTSD, is a mental disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat（打仗）.
Most survivors of trauma return to normal given a little time. In the military, the marines are given a two-week course on how to return to civilian life.
Unfortunately, some will have stress reactions that do not go away on their own, or may even get worse over time. These individual may develop PTSD.
People who suffer from PTSD have difficulty sleeping because they are often reliving the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, and feel deserted or often stand off, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly damage the person’s daily life.
Fullerton College, like most colleges, has its own Veteran’s Office. Ray Bustos has been running the office for 3 years. Bustos acts as a liaison（聯(lián)絡(luò)） for the school and the veteran students. He makes sure the veterans returning to school get the right benefits. There are various types of financial aid for soldiers and marines. He strongly encourages the use of the Veteran Affairs website.
The website is very informative and extremely helpful for veterans as well as for friends and relatives of veterans who want to learn more.
【小題1】One purpose of the writer in writing the passage is ________________.

A．to introduce some methods to cure PTSD

B．to instruct PTSD patients to return to civilian life

C．to recommend a website to veterans and people concerned

D．to give military service men and women advice on civilian life

【小題2】What problems will some returning soldiers and marines meet with?

A．How to readjust to civilian life.

B．how to get rid of mental diseases.

C．How to get along with PTSD patients.

D．How to return to school for benefits.

【小題3】Which of the following is true about Ray Bustos?

A．He’s a veteran who has just come back from a military combat.

B．He runs Fullerton College with a veteran office.

C．He’s in charge of an office dealing with veteran affairs.

D．He provides a lot of financial aid for soldiers and marines.

【小題4】The best title for the passage is __________.
A. PTSD: Killer of A Civilian Life
B. The Last Assignment For All Military Persons
C. How to Overcome PTSD.
D. Ready for a Civilian Life?

This week is National Volunteer Week, a time for the Canadian Red Cross to recognize our dedicated (有奉獻(xiàn)精神的) volunteers who devote their time and talents from coast to coast. Over the course of the week we will use this blog to share stories about our volunteers and the amazing work they do --- a small part of the outstanding individuals across the country.
Take Saskatchewan for example. Last year that province was hit by wide-spread flooding, a hurricane and forest fires. Canadian Red Cross staff and volunteers went to work right away and helped more than 2,100 adults and 775 children recover the basic necessities of life.
It’s important to share stories from volunteers to truly appreciate what they do. Christine Hoffman is a Disaster Response Volunteer in Canadian Red Cross in Saskatchewan. She’s a veteran Red Crosser for about 16 years. Still nothing could have prepared her for the call she took in the Recovery Center last year in response to flooding in Maple Greek. This story is best told in her own words. This is what she said:
“I will never forget the first phone call I took in the Recovery Centre. A young man called asking what services Red Cross was offering in town. As we were talking, he told me he had a rope in his backyard but he thought he would be using it for other reasons. My heart stopped. I told him to come to see us so we could work together on a plan to improve his situation. He came in a little while later. Nearly two hours later he left standing straight up with tear- filled eyes. He thanked me for convincing him to come in. His home had been destroyed, but together we put together a plan and he was eventually able to move back into his own home.”
During National Volunteer Week 2011, let’s thank Christine, and the many other volunteers like her. Thanks for making us proud!
【小題1】According to the second paragraph, Canadian Red Cross’ action is ______

A．slow

B．quick

C．helpless

D．disappointing

【小題2】Which of the following is closet in meaning to the underlined word “veteran” in the third paragraph?

A．Careless

B．Experienced

C．Unskillful

D．Optimistic

【小題3】The underlined words in the forth paragraph expressed Christine Hoffman’s feeling of ____

A．excitement

B．a(chǎn)nger

C．happiness

D．nervousness

【小題4】What can we infer from what Christine Hoffman said?

A．The young man felt sad for Christine Hoffman because of her poor experience

B．The young man was persuaded by Christine Hoffman and decided to live on

C．Christine Hoffman made the young man sad and he cried

D．Christine Hoffman offered to give the young man a little money to help him

【小題5】What is the text mainly about?

A．How to become a volunteer

B．An excellent volunteer and her family

C．Volunteers and their amazing work

D．What the Canadian Red Cross does

Are you an optimist? Do you look at your glass and see it as half full? Do you believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that things generally turn out for the best? Do you believe that if something is meant to be, it will be? If you reply “yes” to all of these questions, then you are an optimist. You probably are enthusiastic, cheerful and outgoing. You may be successful at work and in love.
But you may be misguided because things don’t turn out for the best. You may believe that when one door closes another one opens (for example, you may fail to obtain a new job; another chance will come around soon). Wrong. When one door closes, another door slams (砰然關(guān)上) in your face. That’s bitter reality.
Now a book has been published which confirms what pessimists (悲觀者) have suspected all along. It’s called The Positive Power of Defensive Pessimism. Its author argues that defensive pessimism can lead to positive results. Defensive pessimism is a strategy used to manage fear, anxiety and worry. Defensive pessimists prepare for the things by setting low outcomes for themselves. They carefully consider everything that may go wrong and plan for ways to handle these problems. And this gives them a sense of control. Lawrence Sanno, a psychology professor, says, “What’s interesting about defensive pessimists is that they tend to be very successful people, so their low opinion of the situation’s outcomes is not realistic. They use it to motivate themselves to perform better.”
So far, so good. This is not rocket science. Defensive pessimists prepare carefully and consider what might go wrong, whether at work, on date or even in a sports game. It makes sense to have a back-up plan. There are many sayings in English urging caution. For example, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” And “Don’t count your chickens until they hatch.” To have a confident and optimistic approach to life’s problems is good. But listen to what Woody Alien, the American comedian says, “Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem.”
There are pros and cons to being an optimist and a pessimist. Don’t feel bad if you see the glass half empty. You are a realist. But lighten up and hook up with someone who sees the same glass half full.
【小題1】What’s the passage mainly about?

A．A book that has recently been published.

B．How to become successful in life.

C．The dangers of being too optimistic.

D．The benefits of defensive pessimism.

【小題2】The underlined sentence “This is not rocket science” (Para. 4) means __________.

A．it’s not a dangerous thing to do

B．it is quite simple to understand

C．the cost is not so high

D．there is no real proof

【小題3】Which of the following English expressions would a defensive pessimist believe?

A．Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

B．The glass is half full not half empty.

C．Whatever will be, will be.

D．Every cloud has a silver lining.

【小題4】The writer would probably describe himself as __________.

A．a(chǎn)n optimist

B．a(chǎn) defeatist

C．a(chǎn) realist

D．a(chǎn) scientist

In a generous display of maturity and sympathy, one Jewish boy made his first deed as a man in his faith a great act of charity. Joshua Neidorf, a 13-year-old boy from Los Angeles, donated most of his birthday money to Operation Mend, a program that reconstructs the faces of severely burned U. S. veterans（退伍老兵）.
The young man decided to donate his money after getting to know Army Sgt. Louis Dahlman, who was undergoing a series of reconstruction surgeries（手術(shù)）at UCLA（University of California at Los Angeles）thanks to Operation Mend. The Neidorfs had signed up to be Dahlman’s “buddy family”, spending time with him whenever he visited Los Angeles for a surgery.
“I just love knowing that it’s going somewhere...to help the people who save our lives and keep us safe every day,” said Neidorf. His mother added, “It makes me feel like our world is going in a good direction with this next generation.”
In all, Neidorf gave $13,000 to Operation Mend. He also encouraged his friends to donate to the cause. He is the organization’s youngest donor so far.
Operation Mend is a privately funded program that works in partnership with the UCLA Medical Center. Ron Katz, a board member at the hospital, started the program in 2006 after seeing a TV programme about Aaron Mankin, a veteran who had gone through dozens of surgeries after a fight in Iraq which completely burned off his face.
Mankin ended up being Operation Mend’s first patient, starting the first of 20 reconstructive facial surgeries at UCLA in Sept. 2007. In a 2011 interview, Katz shared how his experience of helping Mankin made him realize the need to establish a more permanent program. “My wife and I soon realized that there were dozens of Aarons out there,” Katz said. “They deserve the best that we offer them.”
【小題1】Neidorf decided to help veterans because ________.

A．he benefited from Operation Mend	B．he was afraid of burned faces
C．he thought they deserved help	D．he didn’t know how to spend money

【小題2】Operation Mend was founded after ________.

A．Neidorf donated part of his birthday money

B．the Neidorfs signed up to be Dahlman’s “buddy family”

C．Ron Katz saw a TV programme about a veteran

D．Mankin was successfully operated on at UCLA

【小題3】What can we learn from the passage?
A. Neidorf’s mother was opposed to his decision to donate money.
B. Mankin’s face was burned in a fire in America.
C. Mankin went through more than 30 facial surgeries at UCLA.
D. Many facial surgeries are needed to reconstruct a seriously burned face.
【小題4】The last two paragraphs mainly tell us ________.

A．the process of Mankin’s surgery	B．how Operation Mend was set up
C．how Katz became famous	D．veterans are respected by people

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest hunger rate. But according to a new report, African farmers also have ideas that could help the world fight hunger and poverty. Danielle Nierenberg from the Worldwatch Institute in Washington spent a year visiting twenty-five countries south of the Sahara. In Nairobi, Kenya, for example, Ms Nierenberg found women farmers growing vegetables just outside their doorsteps in the Kibera settlement. She says they are finding ways to make their lives better. The women feed their families and sell their surplus. They use the money to send their children to school.
Last year, about 925,000,000 people worldwide did not get enough to eat. Half of all people in the world now live in and around cities. Researchers like Ms Nierenberg are looking increasingly at creative ideas to feed those who don’t have enough good food to eat. She says there are a lot of lessons that people in the Western world can learn from Africa. And what they are doing can certainly be done in other developing countries.
Farmers in the developing world lose between twenty and forty percent of their harvest before it ever reaches market. There are many reasons why food gets wasted. Farmers are without electricity and cold storage. They lack good seeds and fertilizer. They lack good roads. Conditions like these keep small farmers in poverty. Ms Nierenberg says more attention needs to be paid to protecting harvests. She says, “Given all that we invest in producing food in the first place, we need to devote the same amount of attention to making sure that it is not wasted.”
In Nigeria, village processing centers are helping farmers reduce their losses and earn more money. They centers process cassava, a root vegetable, into basic food products. In Uganda, the Worldwatch report says some schools are teaching children how to grow local kinds of crops. And in South Africa and Kenya the report praises the breeding(培育) of local kinds of livestock. These animals may produce less milk or meat than other breeds, but they can survive heat and drought conditions.
【小題1】We could learn from the new report in Para.1 that         .

A．sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest hunger rate

B．African farmers have ideas to help fighting hunger and poverty

C．women farmers grow vegetables in the Kibera settlement

D．women farmers grow vegetables to send their children to school.

【小題2】The underlined word “surplus” in Para.1 is closest in meaning to         .

A．private vegetables	B．side products
C．leftover vegetables	D．home-made products

【小題3】Ms Nierenberg suggests that         .

A．the women spend more money on education instead of farming

B．more and more African people should live in and around cities

C．researchers find creative ideas to feed the people suffering hunger

D．people in the Western world do the same as the Africans have done

【小題4】Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Farmers in developing world often lose some of their harvest

B．Small farmers in developing countries often suffer poverty.

C．Farmers should pay more attention to protecting their harvest

D．Attention should be paid to saving food instead of producing food

【小題5】The best title of this passage should be         .

A．A New Report About African Farmers Fighting Hunger

B．Creative Ideas to Feed Those Who Have No Enough Food

C．Looking to Africa for Ideas About How to Fight Hunger

D．Animals That Can Survive Heat and Drought Conditions

The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, self-improvement.
Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure , excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
【小題1】Raising children, in the author’s opinion, is         .

A．a(chǎn) moral duty	B．a(chǎn) thankless job
C．a(chǎn) rewarding task	D．a(chǎn) source of inevitable pain

【小題2】According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because         .

A．he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities

B．he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single

C．he finds more fun in dating than in marriage

D．he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement

【小題3】To understand what true happiness is, one must         .
A have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime
B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain
C. put up with pain under all circumstances
D .be able to distinguish happiness from fun
【小題4】From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes results from         .

A．hatred	B．misunderstanding
C．prejudice	D．ignorance

【小題5】.What is the author trying to tell us?

A．How to get happiness

B．Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain

C．The importance of happiness in our lives

D．Happiness equals fun