Last year when Tom graduated from school, he came to Taibei. He didn't like to work on his father's farm and hoped to find a job in a big city. He went from one company to another but no one wanted him. With little money left, he got to the station, sad and tired. All he wanted to do was go back to his small town. It was very late at night and the station was full of people. They were waiting to buy tickets of the last train. He bought the last ticket, and he was very happy.
At that time, a woman with a crying baby walked to him and asked him to sell her the ticket. He gave her the ticket because he thought they needed it more than he did. After the train left, he sat on the bench and didn't know where to go. Suddenly, an old man came and said, "Young man, I have seen what you did to the woman. I am the owner of a big company. I need a good young man like you. Would you like to work for me?"Tom came to the station to _______.
| A．find a job | B．take the train home |
| C．sell the ticket | D．take the train to Taibei |
The woman walked to Tom because _______.
| A．she was Tom's old friend |
| B．her child wanted to talk to Tom |
| C．she needed to take the train |
| D．she had no money to buy a ticket |
Tom didn't take the train because _______.
| A．he didn't take a train ticket |
| B．he missed the train |
| C．he wanted to talk to the old man |
| D．he gave his ticket to the woman |
What can we learn from this story?
| A．Many people find job in a train station. |
| B．Don't buy the last ticket of the train. |
| C．If we try our best to help others, others will help us. |
| D．We should not give our ticket to others in a train station. |
Children, especially at young ages, are very creative. And creativity can be a glorious thing. Look at all the amazing artists and architects that have created glorious pieces of history. Look at all the authors with the award winning books. Now I am not saying everyone is going to end up this way but creativity is an important part of growing up and becoming who you are. This should be encouraged in young children as well as the older children.
Young children grow up playing with make-believe. And so many people try to make their young child see that their invisible friend isn’t real or that talking when someone is not in the room is weird. To adults it is, but for small children it is them being creative. May it be them playing house, or chef, or playing with stuffed animals, it is their creative part coming out. Some kids can have fun playing with rocks and sticks and it’s because of their creativeness that they can do this. The invisible friend part is another part of being imaginative, and is not a bad thing since they will grow out of that phase. So encourage this and play along with them, play house or stuffed animals or whatever they want to play. Help keep their imagination running. You can even make up games, like treasure hunts, dinosaurs, or super heroes; there is just so much you can choose from.
For older children, talk to them. Help them see things through others’ eyes, or help them see things from a different point of view. Helping children see things from other views helps them keep their minds open for new ideas and new things.
All this can help your children’s minds stay creative. The arts and music, even thoughts are an important part of life and important in our society. If we didn’t have and encourage creative thinking, we wouldn't have had inventors, or philosophers, or as I said before, artists.The underlined word “weird” is the closest in meaning to “_______”.
| A．similar | B．strange | C．common | D．natural |
If a child plays with his invisible friend, it shows that _______.
| A．the child is longing for friendship |
| B．the child has no one to play with in life |
| C．the child has great imagination |
| D．there is something wrong with the child’s mind |
According to the author, if a child talks alone in a room, we should _______.
| A．let him be |
| B．stop him from doing so |
| C．give him some advice |
| D．know that he is suffering from loneliness |
What is mainly talked about in the passage?
| A．How creative artists and architects can be. |
| B．How to help children grow up in a healthy way. |
| C．What kind of activities children like. |
| D．How to protect and encourage children’s creativity. |
Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interests is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive design, There are 100,000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a bank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.
The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later, the first British card appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light, and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4,000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28,000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors’ magazine.The passage is mainly about __________.
| A．the history of phone cards. |
| B．phone card collecting as a hobby |
| C．reasons for phone card collecting |
| D．the great variety of phone cards |
When did people in Britain begin to use phone card?
| A．In 1971. | B．In 1975 | C． In 1976. | D．In 1981. |
The main reason for most people to collect phone cards is that _________.
| A．they find the cards beautiful and easy to keep |
| B．they like to have something from different countries |
| C．they want to make money with cards |
| D．they think the cards are convenient to use |
The writer mentions a market in Paris in order to show that __________.
| A．card collecting is popular among young people |
| B．French and Japanese cards are the most valuable |
| C．People can make money out of card collecting |
| D．Card collectors’ magazines are very useful |
The influence of America is increasing in my country. Spanish people drink Coca Cola, wear blue jeans, watch Hollywood movies, listen to American music, and eat fast food, and they do these things every day.
I think that American movies are a good way to spread American culture because people are often influenced by what they see in the movies. Most of the programs and documentaries (纪录片) we watch on TV are from America, and most of the movies we go to see are made in Hollywood.
In the last few years, the government has tried to protect the Spanish movies. Now, in our cinemas, at least twenty percent of the movies which are shown must be from Spain or from other countries in Europe.
American culture is a part of Spanish life now. It’s certain that many things from America are as much a part of people’s lives as Spanish things. For example, Coca Cola is as familiar to everybody as any typical Spanish product. I’ve known about Coca Cola for my whole life.
However, it’s different with Western fast food. For example, I don’t think McDonald’s is as successful in Spain as it is in other countries. In my opinion, one of the reasons may be the lifestyle of the Spanish people. The Spanish people normally eat at home.
On the other hand, maybe McDonald’s hamburgers will eventually replace the famous Spanish tapas. It’s true that in every city in Spain you can find a McDonald’s, and it is more popular among the Spanish children than among the adults. In any case, it’s obvious that American culture is becoming more and more a part of our lives every day.From the first paragraph we can know that ____.
| A．the influence of America on Spain can be found everywhere |
| B．most Spanish people don’t like to listen to their own music |
| C．fast food spreads from Spain to the United States |
| D．some Spanish actors go to America to improve their acting skills |
Why did the government set some rules for the films shown in Spain?
_________.
| A．To protect foreign culture in Spain. |
| B．To earn more money from Spanish films. |
| C．To limit the number of foreign movies. |
| D．To unite the European Community. |
Why does the author think that McDonald’s is not as successful as it is in other countries? ______
| A．Its fast food contains too much fat. |
| B．He thinks it is unhealthy. |
| C．Spanish people seldom eat out. |
| D．Spanish adults don’t like its fast food. |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. “When can I go to bed?” I asked myself. I didn’t answer. In fact I dared not.
The clock struck twelve. “Oh, dear!” I cried. “Ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite desperate（拼命）now. I forgot all I had learned. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh God, please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.The underlined word “wretched” in Paragraph 3 probably means _____.
| A．happy | B．disappointed | C．unhappy | D．hopeful |
Reviewing his lessons that night didn’t help him because ____________.
| A．it was too late at night |
| B．he was very tired |
| C．his eyelids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open |
| D．he hadn’t studied hard before the examination |
What do you suppose probably happened to the author the next day?
| A．He went to a church to pray again. |
| B．He passed the exam all by luck. |
| C．He failed in the exam. |
| D．He was punished by his teacher. |
The best title for the passage would be ____________.
| A．The Night Before the Examination |
| B．Working Far into the Night |
| C．A Slow Student |
| D．Going Over My Lessons |
Many jokes are made up about famous people. Here is one about Bill Clinton, the former(先前的) president of the United States.
Hillary died and went to heaven. When she was met by the Angel Gabriel she noticed behind her a wall of unimaginable proportions(部分) that was completely covered with clocks.
“What are they?” she asked the heavenly angel in complete surprise.
“They are lie clocks. Each time you lie, the hand moves a little bit to the right. See that one?” the angel pointed to one that hadn’t moved at all,“That’s Mother Theresa’s, who has never told a lie. And that one, ” he points to another,“That was Abraham Lincoln’s. He only ever told two lies. ”
Hillary looked around with some interest, then wandered back over to the angel again. “Excuse me, ” she asked, “but where is Bill Clinton’s clock?”“The Lord Jesus is using it in his office for a ceiling fan. ”The clock of Bill Clinton is used as a ceiling fan because_____.
| A．the Lord Jesus likes him |
| B．the wall was already covered by other clocks |
| C．his clock moves the fastest |
| D．his clock moves too slowly |
It was suggested in the joke that_______.
| A．Hillary couldn’t find her own clock |
| B．Mother Theresa told the fewest lies |
| C．Clinton is a big liar |
| D．The Lord Jesus likes clocks very much |
Who is the most honest person mentioned?
| A．Bill Clinton | B．Mother Theresa |
| C．Abraham Lincoln | D．Hillary |