I had been rather proud of myself when my friends and family got the ticket, whether it was for speeding, parking or stop sign violations (違反). It was something that happened to others. But last Friday I joined the club.
I was asked to do a new project last week. On Friday morning on my way to work, I suddenly remembered that I had spent the past six weeks without considering that I had a week’s vacation planned during that time. I was very disappointed with myself for not remembering it.
The truth is that I was not paying enough attention to my driving and I did not come to a complete stop at the stop sign in front of a school. I was so distracted (思想不集中的) that I didn’t even notice I had a policeman on my tail with his lights flashing. Finally I looked in my mirror and caught on.
The policeman was rude and took my papers. Fortunately, I had everything up to date and since I had never had a ticket before, there was nothing for him to do but write me a ticket. While I was sitting there in the seat of “shame”, I felt bad. If I had been that distracted and a child had run onto the road, perhaps I would have not reacted as well as I could have. It was a wake-up call.
People at work asked me if I tried to talk my way out of it（為自己開脫）. Frankly, it never occurred to me. I felt sorry. Now I no longer have a clean driving record. Please be careful out there, as a moment’s distraction can lead to tragedy.
【小題1】What is this passage mainly about?

A．The writer’s most unforgettable experience.

B．How the writer got her first ticket.

C．An accident caused by the writer.

D．Why the writer is always so careful.

【小題2】The underlined part “the club” in Paragraph I here refers to __________.

A．people who are crazy about driving cars

B．a(chǎn) club for drivers without much experience

C．people who get tickets for breaking traffic rules

D．a(chǎn) club for people to talk about their driving stories

【小題3】What made the writer unable to focus on her driving?

A．Planning how to spend the vacation.

B．Thinking of the forgotten vacation.

C．Thinking about her work

D．Missing her children.

【小題4】When the writer received the ticket, she __________.

A．felt lucky that she was an experienced driver

B．was so nervous that she shook all over

C．was ashamed（愧疚的）of herself for being distracted

D．was worried about being laughed at

Peter and his seven-year-old sister ,Kate , were at the same school. Not long after his tenth birthday Peter was entrusted to take her to school.

It was only two stops down the road , but the way his parents kept going on about it , you might have thought Peter was taking Kate to the North Pole . He was given instructions the night before. When he woke up , he had to listen to them over and over again. He was to keep hold of Kate’s hand at all times , sit close to the front nearest the window , and tell the bus driver the name of his stop.

Peter repeated all this back to his mother and set out for the bus stop with his sister. They held hands all the way. Actually he didn’t mind this but simply hoped that none of his friends would see him holding a girl’s hand. The bus came. They got on and sat close to the front. It was ridiculous sitting there holding hands and there were some boys from school there, so they let go of each other.

Peter was feeling proud of himself. He could take care of his sister anywhere. If they were alone tighter on a mountain pass and came face to face with a pack of hungry wolves, he could know exactly what to do. Taking care and not to make sudden movement, he would move away with Kate until they had their backs to a large rock. That way the wolves would not be able to surround them.

Then he takes from his pocket two important things—his hunting knife and a box of matches. He takes the knife from its sheath(鞘) and sets it down on the grass, ready in case the wolves attack. They’re coming close now. They’re so hungry and are watering and growling (咆哮). Kate is crying, but he cannot comfort her. He knows he has to concentrate on his plan. Right at their feet are some dry leaves and twigs. Quickly and skillfully, Peter gathers them into a small pile. The wolves are edging closer. He has to get this right. There’s only one match left in the box. He bends down, cups his hand and lights the match. There’s strong rush of wind. The flame flickers, but Peter holds it close to the pile and then first one leaf, then another, then the end of a twig catch fire, and soon the little pile is burning. He piles on more leaves and twigs and larger sticks. The wolves are backing off. Wild animals are terrified of fire. The flames are leaping higher and the wind is carrying the smoke right into their jaws. Now Peter takes holds of the hunting knife and …

Ridiculous! A daydream like this could make him miss his stop if he wasn’t careful. The bus had come to a halt. The kids from his school were already getting off. Peter leaped to his feet and just managed to jump to the pavement as the bus was starting off again. It was more than fifty yards down the road when he realized he had forgotten something. Was it his backpack ? No. It was his sister. He had saved her from the wolves and left her sitting there. For a moment, he couldn’t move. He stood watching the bus pull away up the road. “Come back,” he murmured, “Come back.”

1.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Kate didn’t know their destination at all.

B．Peter and Kate missed their stop in the end.

C．Peter is thought to take Kate to the North Pole.

D．Mother asked Peter to hold Kate’s hand all the way.

2.Before getting on the bus, ________.

A．Peter and Kate let go of each other

B．Peter was told instructions twice

C．Peter recited the instructions to his mother

D．Peter managed to avoid meeting his friends

3.Which of the following shows the right order of Peter fighting against the wolves?

a. gather dry leaves and twigs into a small pile

b. take out his hunting knife and matches

c. light the leaves and twigs

d. move carefully with back to a rock

e. attack wolves with knife

f. strike a match

g. pile more leaves and sticks

A．d-b-f-c-a-e-g       B．d-b-a-f-c-g-e       C．B-f-a-g-c-e-d       D．A-g-b-c-f-e-d

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．Peter felt anxious and helpless when the bus left.

B．Peter succeeded in fighting against wolves.

C．Kate would be absent from school that day.

D．Peter brought hunting knife and matches with him.

 

Environmentalists said our planet was doomed to die. Now one man says they are wrong.
"Everyone knows the planet is in bad shape," thundered a magazine article last year. Species are being driven to die out at record rates, and the rivers are so poisonous that fish are floating on the surface, dead.
But there's a growing belief that what everyone takes for granted is wrong: things are actually getting better. A new book is about to overturn our most basic assumptions about the world's environment. Rivers, seas, rain and the atmosphere are all getting cleaner. The total amount of forests in the world is not declining. The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg, professor of statistics at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, is an attack on the misleading claims of environmental groups, and the "bad news" culture that makes people believe everything is getting worse.
Now the attacks are increasingly coming from left-wing environmentalists such as Lomborg, a former member of Greenpeace. The accusation is that, although the environment is improving, green groups — with profits of hundreds of mil-lions of pounds a year — are using scare tactics(謀略)to gain donations. Lomborg's book doesn't deny global warming — probably the biggest environmental threat — but destroys almost every other environmental claim with many official statistics.
The Worldwatch Institute claims that "deforestation(沙漠化) has been accelerating over the last 30 years". But Lomborg says that is simply rubbish. Since the dawn of agriculture the world has lost about 20 per cent of its forest cover, but in recent decades the forest area's depleting has come to a stop. According to UN figures, the area of forests has remained almost steady, at about 30 per cent of total land area, since the 1940s. Forests in countries such as the US, the UK and Canada have actually been expanding over the past 40 years. Despite all the warnings the Amazon rainforest has only shrunk by about 15 per cent.
Nor are all our species dying out. Some campaigners claim that 50 per cent of all species will have died out within 50 years. But other studies show only 0.08 per cent of species are dying out each year. Conservation efforts have been successful. Whales are no longer threatened and the bald eagle is off the endangered list.
Environmental groups claim that many of the improvements are the results of the success of their campaigns. Stephen Tindale, director of Greenpeace UK, said, "There are important examples, such as acid rain and ozone, where things aren't as bad as predicted, and that's because behavior has changed."
【小題1】In his book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, what is Lomborg's main argument?

A．Our planet is in bad shape.

B．The world's environment is improving.

C．The total amount of forests in the world is not declining.

D．Conservation efforts have been successful.

【小題2】What is Lomborg's main accusation of environmentalists?

A．They scared people into making donations.

B．They overturned our basic assumptions about the world's environment.

C．They changed their behavior toward the environment.

D．They only told people bad news about the environment.

【小題3】The underlined word "depleting" in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to "____".

A．reducing

B．limiting

C．expanding

D．a(chǎn)ccelerating

【小題4】According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．The total area of forests in the world has increased significantly.

B．The effects of global warming are not as bad as first expected.

C．It appears that the bald eagle will now survive.

D．In the last 50 years the number of whales has increased.

Winners Club
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The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers．It has been made to help you better manage your money．The Winners Club is a transaction account where you receive a key-card so you can get to your money 24／7---that’s 24 hours a day，7 days a week!
It’s a club with impressive features for teenagers：
●No account keeping fees!
You’re no millionaire so we don’t expect you to pay large fees．In fact，there are no account keeping or transaction fees!
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You want your money to grow．The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits without taking them out in a month．
●Convenient
Teenagers are busy—we get that．You may never need to come to a bank at all．With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet…You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account．This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part-time job!
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Along with your regular report，you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money．There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members．
The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers．And it is so easy to join．Simply fill in an application form．You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key-card) but it is easy．We can’t wait to hear from you．It’s the best way to choose to be a winner !
【小題1】Which of the following is TRUE about the Winners Club?

A．Special gifts are ready for parents．

B．The bank opens only on work days．

C．Services are convenient for its members．

D．Fees are necessary for the account keeping．

【小題2】The Winners Club provides magazines which___________．

A．encourage spending

B．a(chǎn)re free to all teenagers

C．a(chǎn)re full of adventure stories

D．help to make more of your money

【小題3】If you want to be a member of the Club，you must_________．

A．be an Internet user	B．be permitted by your parent
C．have a big sum of money	D．be in your twenties

【小題4】What is the purpose of this text?

A．To set up a club．	B．To provide part-time jobs．
C．To organize key-cards．	D．To introduce a new banking service．