第一节：（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30 分）
阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The American book Who Moved My Cheese has been a bestseller all over the world. It teaches people how to face changes in their lives. Now its author Spence Johnson has written a book just for teens. The book tells us that when facing change in our lives, like a new school or new friends, don't be afraid. Instead, use this change to make a better life. The book gives an example of a change at school. A school is changing from having two terms to three terms because there are too many students.
Several teens are talking about this. Most of them are unhappy and worried. But Chris is not. He laughs and tells a story about two mice, two “little people” and some cheese.
The four are in a maze looking for the cheese. Here, cheese means something important in life, like moving to a new class or getting into college. But they find the cheese is gone. The mice realize that they can’t change what has happened and have to find more cheese. This means finding different dreams. The little people, however, can’t do this. They are afraid of change so they find no cheese.
After Chris finishes the story, the friends understand one thing: to get more cheese, move in a new direction quickly. His friends understand how this can be used in the changes all teens face, such as doing well at school or having good relationships or just feeling good about yourself.The book Who Moved My Cheese is __________.
| A．written all over the world | B．read across the world |
| C．sold only in America | D．loved only by teens |
What does the text mainly discuss?
| A．Never change in our life. | B．Change whenever you like . |
| C．Change with the changes. | D．Pay attention to the changes, |
The underline word “four”（paragraph 3） refers to __________.
| A．mice and little people | B．students |
| C．cheese | D．readers |
In our lives, we should learn from __________.
| A．mice | B．little people |
| C．Chris | D．Spence Johnson |
When I was about 14, I decided to make money, so I got a part-time job at a local restaurant. With my first paycheck, I realized that I would have to work awfully hard to make very little money. My boss had been making just above minimum wage for 20 years, and I knew I didn't want to spend the rest of my life working to death. Around the same time, my godparents took me to an investment(投资) workshop. Immediately, my eyes were opened to the power of compound growth in investing. I knew that this was a way to financial freedom. I left the workshop, determined to make my money work for me instead of just me working for money.
Honoring what my mother had taught me, to share whatever I had, I donated part of my paychecks to raise money for breast cancer, and saved everything else to build up a large enough nest egg to open a brokerage account (经纪人账户). Too excited to wait, I began reading everything I could about investing. With most of my life savings (which wasn't very much money), I invested in DuPont, AT&T, Caterpillar, and International Paper. The pride in being a shareholder （股东）in a company, along with watching my stocks increase in value, fueled my desire to learn more. I went to three more investment workshops with my godparents and browsed(浏览) books at the library.
I began with $4,000 in my account and have added about $2,000 since then. My portfolio is now worth roughly $12,000, five years later, having grown about 18% per year, on average. My favorite holdings are biotechnology companies that I know a fair amount about because they're based near me.
In the years since then, I have experienced many moments of gratitude for discovering investing so early in my life. I'm in college now, and plan to go on to medical school and become a family practice physician. And I know that, thanks to investing, my road will be much easier. Not only have I taken an active step towards improving my long-term financial future, but I am confident that I will also be able to generously support the causes I believe in with more ease than I otherwise would have imagined.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．The working condition in the local restaurant was awful. |
| B．The writer didn’t make much money because he took a temporary job. |
| C．People can’t make a lot of money unless they work hard as hard work always pays. |
| D．The investment workshop taught the writer that he could make money through investment. |
The writer was eager to learn more about investing because ________.
| A．he had invested all his life savings in stocks |
| B．he was too excited to wait to open a brokerage account |
| C．he wanted to donate more to raise money for breast cancer |
| D．he felt proud of being a shareholder with his stocks increasing in value |
Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Investing made his wealth grow effectively. |
| B．Investing enabled him to achieve his life goals. |
| C．Investing allowed him to pay off all his debts. |
| D．Investing helped him to reach financial independence. |
The best title of the passage should be __________.
| A．The Rewards of Investing |
| B．My Dream Career |
| C．The Key to Successful Investment |
| D．Thank You, My Godparents |
Marketing Professionals
A major US corporation in the health and nutritional industry has announced the opening of its direct selling division in Taiwan.
The company offers the most lucrative compensation plan in the industry and has paid over NTD (新台币) 3.5 billion in commissions in just 6 years in the US. We are a group of top earners.
Applicants should meet the requirements：
(1) Taiwan citizen
(2) Have experience in marketing
(3) Aggressive, energetic, and willing to learn
If you believe you have what it takes to develop this business, please dial 2742－6996.
Job B
An international company requires a Service Technician
To service and maintain electronic medical equipment，applicants should have degree in electronics. The selected candidate will have a training program to be conducted by our manufacturer's trained technical personnel.
Interested candidates please apply immediately with a resume(简历) and mail to P．O. Box 594. Or telephone Ms Chang at 2945－0027 for an immediate interview.
Job C
Wanted: Reporters & Editors
Qualifications：
* Strong command of English language
* Chinese speaking and reading ability a must
* A university degree
* Journalism education and/or experience preferred
* Flexible working hours (30 hours per week)
* Good work environment and medical insurance, etc.
Fax resume and work samples, if any, to The China Post at(03) 2595－7952.
Job D
Southeastern Travel Services Tour Guides
Duties: To conduct escorted tours(陪游) for foreign visitors；to assist with travel and transportation arrangements.
Qualifications: Good appearance. High school diploma.
Good knowledge of English. Outgoing personality.
Dial 2703－2172 after 3 p.m.. Ask for Gary.Which of the following is required for marketing professionals?
| A．A university degree. |
| B．Good appearance. |
| C．Good computer knowledge. |
| D．Some marketing experience. |
Wendy is good at Chinese and doesn't like to work on fixed schedules. Which of the four jobs might be suitable for her?
A. Job A． B. Job B． C. Job C. D. Job D.Charles has a strong interest in technology service. Which phone number should he dial?
| A．2742－6996. | B．2945－0027. |
| C．2595－7952. | D．2703－2172. |
Mary has attractive looks and a good command of English with an outgoing character. Which of the following would she choose?
A. Job A.B. Job B. C. Job C.D. Job D.
Most people today think of sleep as one continuous period of downtime．This is not the way people used to sleep．According to researchers，in earlier times，people divided sleep by first sleeping a few hours，waking up，then going back to sleep．In the first period，you would typically sleep until midnight or shortly afterwards．Halfway through the night，you came out of first sleep，you would stay in bed and relax quietly．It was called the watching period．Then you would start to feel sleepy．so would return to bed and tall asleep again for your second sleep．This period would continue until early morning when daylight arrived．With no artificial lighting in homes，people naturally woke up early to take advantage of sunlight．
Before the 18th century, people had no gas or electricity in their homes．Fire，candles，or oil lamps were the common forms of lighting．This lack of artificial lighting in homes contributed to people’s sleep patterns．It made sense for people to go to bed early．
Today，human may consider divided sleep a strange habit，but sleep researchers say that it is actually a more natural sleep pattern．Dr．Thomas Wehr of the U．S．National Institute of Mental Health has studied human sleep．He thinks that modern sleep problems occur because the older, natural way of sleep is breaking through the more recent continuous sleep pattern．Wehr and other scientists believe that artificial lighting has altered the way people sleep．In a research study，he asked 15 adults to rest and sleep in darkness for 14 hours(from 6：00 P．M．to 8：00 A．M．)．At first，the subjects took a few hours to get to sleep，and then slept 11 hours a night．Then overtime，they switched to divided sleep．They fell asleep for about three to five hours in the evening，stay awake for an hour or two，and then slept again for four hours till early morning．
We modern humans generally do not practice divided sleep．However, many of us have the experience of waking up in the middle of the night．We usually consider this a sleeping“problem”．but perhaps we should look at it as natural behavior．Divided sleep may be the way we should all be sleeping．A first sleep followed by a relaxation period and a second period of sleep could help all of us to beat the stress of our fast-paced lives．According to the first paragraph，we know the people in the past ____________．
| A．did not sleep as well as people today |
| B．divided their sleep into two parts |
| C．woke up and went out during the night |
| D．fell asleep easily because of hard work |
In Paragraph 3，what does the research study suggest?
| A．Divided sleep is a strange way to sleep． |
| B．Divided sleep means sleeping 11 hours in one period． |
| C．Divided sleep is a natural sleep pattern for humans． |
| D．Divided sleep occurs when people sleep with artificial lights． |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?
| A．People had a divided sleep pattern only in the 18th century． |
| B．It may be natural to wake up in the middle of the night． |
| C．Scientists agree that artificial lighting has changed the way people sleep． |
| D．Some of the people today are not familiar with the practice of divided sleep． |
What conclusion does the author make about divided sleep?
| A．It is one type of sleeping problems． |
| B．It is not the best sleep pattern for everyone． |
| C．It shouldn’t be accepted by modern humans． |
| D．It could be helpful for people to handle daily stress． |
Robots make me nervous—especially the ones which seem to think for themselves．I was embarrassed to admit this till I heard that Bill Gates，the founder of Microsoft，felt the same way．
Gates said in an interview with the social networking and news website Reddit：“I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence．First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent．That should be positive if we manage well．A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern．”
Well，maybe I don’t have to worry about my computer and kitchen equipment yet．After I use them I can always pull the plug．But in the future，machines might find a way to prevent us from switching them off．There’s a terrible thought!
Maybe the problem with computers too clever for us is not that they are evil like some we’ve seen in sci-fi movies．What could put us in danger is that they might be too efficient．That’s what philosopher Nick Bostrom from Oxford University believes．He says that machines are indifferent(漠然)to humans and in pursuit of their own goals，the destruction of people might be just additional damage．Bostrom gives us an example：A machine which might have as its only goal to produce as many paperclips as possible might look at human bodies as extra material for paperclips and go after you．Because it is，well，a machine, it would not take pity on you.
It’s a good thing that American writer Isaac Asimov thought about how far robots can go and left us his three rules of robotics．They state that a robot may not hurt a human being or allow the human being to come to harm．
I’m glad my machines at home are“dumb”．All my cleaner wants to take over is the carpet in my living room．Let’s hope they don’t create an appliance which wants to take over the world !.The author quoted Bill Gates’words in Paragraph 2 in order to make the text____________．
| A．better-known | B．more persuasive |
| C．better-organized | D．more interesting |
An intelligent paperclip machine would harm us because _______________．
| A．it is much cleverer than us |
| B．it would take over the world |
| C．it would see us just as material |
| D．it has the strong feeling of destroying us |
How does the author feel about Isaac Asimov’s rules of robotics?
| A．Optimistic． | B．Sympathy． |
| C．Disappointed． | D．Regretful． |
What does the text mainly focus on?
| A．The benefits of future robots． |
| B．The new applications of robots． |
| C．The concern for super intelligence． |
| D．The popularity of robots in the future． |
We were driving from Los Angeles to Dallas，running low on gas somewhere in New Mexico and figured we’d see a gas station soon enough to fill up．
But that didn’t happen and we realized we wouldn’t make it to the next town．So my daughter made up a sign that read“Low on gas．Can u help?” and held it outside her window in the hopes that a driver in the next lane would notice it and stop．
There weren’t too many vehicles passing us either at the time．It was a lonely stretch of road and about 3：30 pm on a weekday．A suburban was driving along happily in the neighboring lane ahead of us．We caught up with it in the hopes the driver would notice the sign．After a brief expression of confusion on his face，he seemed to have noticed the sign and slowed down to pull over．We pulled over right behind him．
He was friendly and was eager to help us．At first he thought we didn’t have enough money to buy gas，so he offered to buy us gas at the next town Roswell that was about 10 miles away!
When we explained our predicament of not having enough gas to get to Roswell，he said his farm was about 1 0 minutes away and they had a gas pump there，so if we could give him 20 minutes，he would head back there，get a can of gas and fill up our tank for us．
We could not believe our good fortune ! There not being any cell phone reception for either of us in the area, we had just hoped that whoever stopped to help would be kind enough to call AAA when they got to Roswell and we would just wait it out for them to help us．
We were filled with gratefulness for the kindness of strangers such as this person as we waited for him to return．Sure enough，he was back with the can and quickly filled our tank．He refused to take payment for the gas．Tears flowed，as did our endless appreciation．What is the author’s final destination?
| A．Roswell． | B．Dallas． |
| C．New Mexico． | D．Los Angeles． |
From the text we know _______________.
| A．the street was crowded with cars |
| B．something was wrong with the car |
| C．the gas of the author's car ran out |
| D．there was no signal for the mobile phone |
The underline word“predicament”in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to _______________.
| A．instruction | B．assistance |
| C．trouble | D．courage |
Which of the following best describes the old man?
| A．Warm-hearted and generous． |
| B．Honest and confused． |
| C．Kind and productive． |
| D．Enthusiastic and serious． |