It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year to keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount of money, but you can still afford the gifts because your loved ones will enjoy them. This concern (憂慮) is becoming greater and greater theses days. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

Hit the sales. No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get a good deal (交易) on Black Friday ( the first Friday at Christmas time). It’s surely very difficult to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal. But sometimes it can be well worth. Many retailers (零售商) offer specials all through the day. Some even offer online Black Friday specials, so we may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.
Read advertisements regularly. Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers will be hungry for business. They will try their best to get us into the store. Please read the weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers from time to time. We may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.
Shop online. Some of us don’t like running from store to store to get the best price on the perfect gift. Some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all, and then, we can do online shopping.
The world of online shopping makes it possible for us to visit all the major retailers and some
specialty stores on the Internet. We can find exactly what we are looking for at the best possible price without even having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping, it will always take us a long time to wait if we want to get the perfect gift.
【小題1】 The underlined word “specials” in Paragraph 2 means______.

It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year to keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount of money, but you can still afford the gifts because your loved ones will enjoy them. This concern (憂慮) is becoming greater and greater theses days. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

Hit the sales. No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get a good deal (交易) on Black Friday ( the first Friday at Christmas time). It’s surely very difficult to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal. But sometimes it can be well worth. Many retailers (零售商) offer specials all through the day. Some even offer online Black Friday specials, so we may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.
Read advertisements regularly. Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers will be hungry for business. They will try their best to get us into the store. Please read the weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers from time to time. We may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.
Shop online. Some of us don’t like running from store to store to get the best price on the perfect gift. Some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all, and then, we can do online shopping.
The world of online shopping makes it possible for us to visit all the major retailers and some
specialty stores on the Internet. We can find exactly what we are looking for at the best possible price without even having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping, it will always take us a long time to wait if we want to get the perfect gift

1. 1.

   The underlined word “specials” in Paragraph 2 means______.

   1. A.
      贈品
   2. B.
      奢侈品
   3. C.
      特價商品
   4. D.
      圣誕禮品
2. 2.

   We can have more choices to get a good deal______.

   1. A.
      on the Internet
   2. B.
      in specialty stores
   3. C.
      from salesmen
   4. D.
      from retailers
3. 3.

   In this passage the writer wants to ______.

   1. A.
      tell us to shop online
   2. B.
      tell us the best way to do shopping
   3. C.
      show us how hard it is to do Christmas shopping
   4. D.
      give us advice on how to get a good deal at Christmas time
4. 4.

   From the passage we can infer (推斷) that ______.

   1. A.
      people are surely able to get a good deal on Friday
   2. B.
      it is possible for people to buy the perfect Christmas gifts with less money
   3. C.
      retailers will be hungry because they are busy selling Christmas gifts
   4. D.
      with traditional Christmas shopping, people can’t buy the perfect gifts

“Happy Birthday!” David awoke to the voice of his mother. “It’s time to get up and drive out to 35  grandfather’s farm.”  
“Why do we have to go there? And how long is the drive?” he asked with a sad look in his eyes.
“About two hours…and don’t worry, we’ ll bring your birthday   36  with us.” His mother walked away and left him to get ready. 
In less than an hour, David and his parents were on their way.   37  of what the colorful birthday packages had inside filled his head. He was   38  that one had the baseball glove he wanted, while others would have amazing things that he had dreamed about. Thinking of his grandfather, David   39  what his birthday present from him might be. 
“Since my grandfather has a large farm, he must have a lot of money, and the bigger his present for me will be,” David said to himself.
Finally they   40 . Hugging his grandfather, David excitedly shouted, “I’ve missed you! You know, today’s my birthday. Did you get me a present?”
“I have missed you, too. And I have a very   41  present for you.”
Placing a small box in David’s hand, he quietly said, “This is a very important gift. I hope you will treasure it as   42  as I have.”  
David looked at the small box, thinking money or jewels might be inside…. When he opened the box, David was   43  to see only a stone. It was a very beautiful stone, but was it valuable?
Grandfather spoke more slowly than before, “David, when your grandma and I were first married, we had very little money. She wanted to give me something special for my birthday, so she found this beautiful rock and polished(打磨)it day and night   44  it shined. It was the greatest gift I ever   45  because it came from your grandma’s heart. Now, I want you to have it because it comes from my heart.” 
David held the stone in his hand and   46  the love of his grandfather. “This is a wonderful gift…thank you, Grandfather.” He knew he had received the best gift ever.