For the 17 years my life was very happy. Then the first sad thing happened. My mother became very ill. Just before she died, she asked Elizabeth and me to go to her room. She said, “Victor and Elizabeth, I’m very happy because you love each other, and because one day you’ll get married. Everyone in the family loves you, Elizabeth. Will you take my place in the family, my dear? I can die happy if you look after them when I have gone.”
My mother died and we were very sad, because we loved her so much. Elizabeth was brave and helped us; her sweet smile gave us some happiness in the unhappy days after my mother’s death. The time came for me to go to university(大學(xué)). I didn’t want to leave my sad family, but we all knew that I should go. It was hard to leave, too, because the parents of my good friend Henry would not let him go to university with me. So I had gone alone.
On my first day at university I met Professor Waldman. He gave a wonderful talk to all the students. He ended his talk by saying, “Some of you will become the greatest scientists of tomorrow. You must study hard and discover everything that you can.”
After the professor’s talk, I thought very carefully. I remembered the storm when I was 15; I remembered how the lightning had destroyed the tree. From then on, I wanted to use electricity to help people, and I wanted to discover the secrets of life. I decided to work on these two things.
I started to work the next day. I worked very hard and soon Professor Waldman and I realized that I could learn to be a very good scientist.
The professor and other important scientists helped me. I was interested in my work and I did not take one day’s holiday during the next two years. After two years, I had discovered many things and I built a scientific machine that was the best in the university. My machine would help me answer the most important question of all. How does life begin? Is it possible to put life into dead things? To answer these questions about life I had to learn first about death. I had to watch bodies from the moment when they died and the warm life left them. In the hospital and in the university, I watched the dying and the dead. Day after day, month after month, I followed death, so it was a dark and terrible time.
I built a tall mast(桅桿)about 150 metres high, which is higher than the tallest building in the city, to catch lightning and send the electricity down to my machine in the lab. I believed I could use that electricity to give life to things that were dead.
Then one day, the answer came to me. Suddenly I was sure that I knew the secret of life.
【小題1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Elizabeth married shortly after Victor’s mother died.

B．Elizabeth was a brave girl who loved Victor and gave him much help.

C．Victor’s mother was very angry when she knew he loved Elizabeth.

D．Victor did not want to leave his family because his mother died not long before.

【小題2】Victor did all the following during his research in the university EXCEPT that ______.

A．he discovered many things and built a scientific machine

B．he learnt much about death both in the hospital and in the university

C．he worked hard and took only one day’s holiday during the next two years

D．he built a tall mast to catch lightning and send the electricity down to the lab

【小題3】According to the writer, the secret of life is to _______.

A．give life to things that were dead

B．build the best machine to learn about death

C．use electricity to help others

D．become the greatest scientist of tomorrow

【小題4】Which is the correct order about the life of Victor?
① Victor’s mother passed away.
② Victor got help from the professor and other scientists.
③ Victor went to university and attended the professor’s talk.
④ Victor found the answer to giving life to things that were dead.
⑤ Victor experienced a storm, seeing the lightning destroying the tree.

A．①②③④⑤	B．⑤①②④③
C．①③②⑤④	D．⑤①③②④

A passenger(乘客) told an air hostess that he needed a cup of water to take his medicine when the plane just took off. She said to him that she would bring him the water in ten minutes.
The air hostess was kept so busy that she forgot to give him the water. As a result, the passenger was held up to take his medicine. Thirty minutes later, when the passenger’s ring for service sounded, the air hostess hurried over to him with a cup of water, but he refused it.
In the following hours on the plane, each time the air hostess passed the passenger, she would ask him with a smile whether he needed help or not. But the passenger never replied to her.
When the passenger was going to get off the plane, he asked the air hostess to hand him the passenger’ booklet. She knew that he would write down sharp words about her job,but with a smile she handed it to him.
Off the plane, the air hostess opened the booklet, and smiled because the passenger wrote, “On the flight, you asked me whether I needed help or not for twelve times in all. How can I refuse your twelve sincere smiles?”
【小題1】The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refers to the________.

A．medicine

B．water

C．cup

D．booklet

【小題2】At the end of the story, we know the passenger was ________ with the air hostess.

A．pleased

B．unhappy

C．a(chǎn)ngry

D．bored

Ang Lee won the Best Director Oscar for his adventure film Life of Pi at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 24, 2013.
　　Life of Pi shows a young Indian named Pi, who finds the world he knows swept away when his family sells their zoo and sets sail for Canada with a few animals. Only Pi escapes from the storm and floats in a lifeboat with a giant Bengal tiger.
　　“I really want to thank you for believing this story and sharing this unbelievablejourney with me,” Lee said in his speech. The film also won three other Oscars, for best original music, best cinematography(電影藝術(shù)) and best visual(視覺) effects. It won more awards than Lincoln and Argo which were also among the hottest nominees.
　　Coming from China's Taiwan, the 58-year-old Lee won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001 for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and another for Best Director in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain. He is the only person of Asian to win the directing award and one of the rare people who won that award more than once.
In an after-ceremony interview, Lee said he believed Asian films would come to the main stage of the world sooner or later. "I was born in Asia and grew up with Chinese education. It is natural for me to put Asian thinking into Western things." The film, which cost 120 million U.S. dollars, has earned nearly 600 million dollars worldwide. Lee said most of the earnings came from outside China. Lee said he felt warm that he won the award on the day of the Lantern Festival, a Chinese traditional festival on which families get together to solve puzzles on lanterns and eat Tang Yuan. He wished everyone a happy new year of the snake and everybody gets lucky.
【小題1】What kind of film does Life of Pi belong to?

A．Comedies.	B．Tragedies.
C．Detective films.	D．Adventure films.

【小題2】So far, how many Oscar directing awards has Ang Lee won?

A．One.	B．Two.
C．Three.	D．Four.

【小題3】How do Chinese people celebrate the Lantern Festival?

A．Families get together and have rice dumplings.

B．Children make lanterns out of big orange pumpkins.

C．People solve puzzles on lanterns and enjoy Tang Yuan.

D．Children go to the display of lanterns and receive red packets.

【小題4】What can we know from the passage?

A．The 85th Academy Awards was held in Hollywood, California this year.

B．Pi was a young American who had an adventure trip with a tiger in India.

C．Lincoln and Argo won more awards than Life of Pi.

D．Asian films have come to the main stage of the world.

【小題5】Which of the following about Life of Pi is true?

A．It was a great success as it won four Oscars.

B．It earned nearly 600 million dollars in China.

C．It describes Pi’s escape from a terrible earthquake.

D．It is the only successful film Ang Lee has ever made.

It was a quiet village in which there was a military camp. It was far from the towns and cities and there were some high mountains around. Of course it was a good place for training the new soldiers. But it was difficult for the young men to go outside. Mr. White, an officer of forty, was strict with them and he hardly let them leave the camp.
　　Once Mr. White was ill in bed. He couldn't work, so a young officer, Mr. Hunt, began to train the new soldiers instead of him. He knew the young men well and let nine soldiers go to the nearest town to have a holiday. But night fell and none came back to the camp. He was worried about it and stood at the gate. It was five to twelve when Mr. Hunt decided to go to the town and see what was happening with the young men. He started the car quickly and set off. At that moment the nine soldiers came back. It seemed they were all drunk. Of course they found the officer was angry.
　　"I'm sorry, sir," said the first soldier. "I left the town on time. But something was wrong with my bus on my way here. I had to buy a horse and made it run fast. Bad luck! It died and I had to run back."
　　And the other seven soldiers said they were late for the same reasons. It was the last soldier's turn. He said, "I'm sorry, sir. I got on a bus on time, but…"
　　Having heard this, the officer became even angrier and stopped him at once. He called out, "If you say something was wrong with your bus, I'll punish you at once!"
　　"No, no, sir," said the young man. "My bus was all right, but their horses were in the way!"
【小題1】The military camp was built in the village to _______.

A．stop the soldiers going to towns

B．stop the soldiers meeting their friends

C．train the new soldiers

D．make the young men live quietly

【小題2】The nine soldiers returned to the camp late because _______.

A．something was wrong with their buses

B．their horses died on the way back

C．it took them much time to run back

D．they all had drunk much in the town

【小題3】The underlined phrase in the way in the last paragraph means ______.

A．stopping somebody from moving

B．getting drunk

C．standing on the road

D．running very fast

A jobless man wanted very much to have the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test. “You have passed the test,” he said. “Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the form to fill in and the date when you may start.” The man replied, “But I don’t have a computer, neither an e-mail.” “I’m sorry,” said the HR manager. “If you don’t have an e-mail, that means you are not living. And anyone who isn’t living cannot have the job.”
The man left with no hope at all. He didn’t know what to do with only $10 in his pocket. He thought and thought. Then he went to the supermarket and bought 10 kilos of tomatoes. He sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he had 20 dollars. He repeated the operation three times, and started to go early every day, and returned home late. Shortly, he bought a cart , then a truck, then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles(運(yùn)貨車隊(duì)). Five years later, the man was one of the biggest food retailers (零售商)  in the US.
One day, one of his friends asked him for his e-mail. He said, “I haven’t got one.” His friend couldn’t believe his ears. “Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?” The man thought for a while and replied, “Yes, I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”
根據(jù)材料內(nèi)容選擇最佳答案，并將其標(biāo)號(hào)填入題前括號(hào)內(nèi)。
【小題1】What did the man do for the test?

A．He sent e-mails.	B．He did the cleaning
C．He sold computers.	D．He filled in forms.

【小題2】The man didn’t get the job because he_____________.

A．disliked such a job

B．didn’t pass the test

C．didn’t have an e-mail

D．knew nothing about computers

【小題3】The man ______after he left Microsoft.

A．went to look for another job

B．a(chǎn)sked for food from door to door

C．thought of an idea to make monkey

D．bought a computer and got an e-mail

【小題4】“office boy” means            in Chinese.

A．勤雜工

B．學(xué)徒

C．男職員

D．男程序員

【小題5】Why could the man become one of the biggest food retailers in the US?

A．Because he had many friends to help him.

B．Because he was smart and worked very hard.

C．Because he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles.

D．Because he wanted to show Microsoft he was living.

Have you ever been sad because you failed in something? If so, please remember, for often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Here is a story to tell you why.
One day a little boy decided to dig a hole behind his house after watching a science program. As he was working, a couple of boys stopped by to watch.  "What are you doing?" asked one of the visitors. "I want to dig a deep hole all the way through the earth!" the boy answered excitedly.  The older boys began to laugh, telling him that it was impossible to do it. Then they left.
The little boy kept on digging and digging. Suddenly, a few small colorful stones caught his eyes. He collected them and put them into a glass jar patiently.  Humming a song, he went on digging. The jar was full soon. Then he talked to himself calmly and proudly, "Maybe I can't finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I have found in the process of digging !"
The boy's goal was too difficult, but it did cause him to go on, in other words, to cause us to keep working!
Not every goal will be achieved.  Not every job will end up with a success.  Not every dream will come true.  But when you can't achieve your goal, maybe you can say, "yes, but look what I've found along the way! There are so many wonderful things that have come into my life because I tried to do something!" It is in the digging that life is lived. It is the unexpected joy on the journey that really has a meaning.
【小題1】What did the boy do after watching a program?

A．He bought a glass jar.

B．He started to dig a hole.

C．He played with some visitors.

D．He went on watching the program.

【小題2】What did the older boys think of the little boy?

A．He was silly.	B．He was strict.
C．he was strong-minded.	D．He was energetic.

【小題3】When did the boy find the stones?

A．Before he met the older boys.

B．When he wanted to give up digging.

C．After the older boys laughed at him.

D．As soon as he began to dig the hole.

【小題4】What does the underlined sentence "It is in the digging that life is lived." mean according to the article?

A．Life is to make a big success.

B．Life is to find the colorful stones.

C．Life is difficult but colorful.

D．Life is on the way to achieve the goal.

【小題5】Which is the best title for this article?

A．Enjoying the process

B．How to achieve goals

C．A journey through the earth

D．Dig a deep hole all the way through the earth.

Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California's Santa Freeway. It was an hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home. I couldn't reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus. Not knowing the routes, I thought I'd just go east.
A bus stopped. I got on and asked the driver how far she was going, "Ten more miles," she said. There was another bus I could take from there. This clearly was going to be a long night.
I got off at the end of the route and she told me which bus to look for. After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home. Then a bus came up. There was no lighted number above its windshield. It was out of service, but the door opened. It was the same driver.
“I just can't leave you here,” she said. “This isn't the nicest place. I will give you a ride home.”
“You will drive me home on the bus?" I asked, astonished.
“No, I will take you in my car,” she said.
“It's a long way," I insisted.
“Come on, ” she said. “I have nothing else to do.”
As we drove from the station in the car, she began telling me a story, A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas. A good man picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car. “I'm just passing the favor(善意的行為) along,” she said.
When I offered her money as a thank-you, she wouldn't accept. “Just do something nice for somebody. Pass it along," she said.
【小題1】There was something wrong with the writer's car ______.

A．late at night	B．early in the morning
C．a(chǎn)n hour before sunset	D．thirty minutes after sunset

【小題2】The writer changed his mind after waiting 30 minutes because ______.

A．he became impatient and a bit worried

B．a(chǎn) taxi ride would be more comfortable

C．he knew the driver would never return

D．the bus driver had given him wrong information

【小題3】The bus driver drove the writer home later because ______.

A．her brother had told her to do so

B．she wanted to earn more money

C．she happened to go in the same direction

D．she wanted to do something good for others

【小題4】The underlined word "astonished" in the passage probably means      .

A．surprised

B．grateful

C．happy

D．a(chǎn)ngry

【小題5】The bus driver hoped that the writer       .

A．would drive someone home

B．would help someone in need

C．would keep her in memory

D．would give the money to others

A wise man was visiting a village with his students. He found a group of family members shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his students and asked: “Why do people shout in anger at each other?”
His students thought for a while, and one of them said: “Because when we lose our calm, we shout.”
“But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can just as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner,” said the wise man.
Students gave some other answers but none were any good.
“When two people are angry at each other, their hearts become distanced,” the wise man explained. “To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the louder they will have to shout to hear each other and cover that great distance.”
The wise man then gave an example: “What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly because their hearts are very close. When they love each other even more, what happens? They don’t need to talk. They only look at each other and that’s all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.”
He looked at his students and said: “So when you argue, do not let your hearts get distant. Do not say words that distance you from others. Otherwise, there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.”
【小題1】What did they find when a wise man and his students were visiting a village?

A．A group of people were traveling there.

B．A group of family members were playing there.

C．His students were shouting with a group of people.

D．A group of family members were shouting at each other angrily.

【小題2】One of the students thinks family members shout at each other because       .

A．they are not friends

B．they don’t like each other

C．they lose their calm

D．they are far from each other

【小題3】What will happen when two people are angry with each other?

A．They fight with each other.

B．Their hearts become distanced.

C．They are far away from each other.

D．They are too angry to say a word.

【小題4】What will usually happen to two people at first when they fall in love with each other according to the passage?

A．They talk softly.

B．They shout at each other.

C．They talk more.

D．They don’t say anything to each other.

【小題5】What’s the topic of the passage?

A．Shouting is bad.

B．Don’t shout.

C．Cover the distance with love.

D．The distance of love.

Yesterday the police were joined by more than 20 volunteers in the continuing search for the two missing teenagers, Vicky Gray and Tom Hunter, and their guide, Gavin Jones. The police said that they had disappeared during an adventure tour of Cape York Peninsula.
This was the second day of the search and the police were now very worried about the safety of the three missing people.
The police said that the search had covered a wide area, but the rainforest was thick and their work was made harder by the recent rain. Later on Chief Inspector (警官) Roger Fleet said, “The travelers had a radio with them. If they had been in trouble, they would have called us.”
The three travelers left Cooktown very early on Saturday morning in a Toyota car. They took a small dirt road that runs down to the Daintree River, a dangerous river full of crocodiles (鱷魚). Chief Inspector Roger Fleet said the tourists wouldn’t have got into trouble if they had stayed on the main road.
A photo of Vicky and Tom was found by a policeman under the “Be Careful about crocodiles” sign near the river. Why was the photo left behind? This is just one of the unanswered questions. Other questions are: Why was the Toyota parked and locked at the edge of the rainforest? The police said that the travelers had left a map of the area behind. Why? Why had someone drawn a cross on the place where the car is? Is this a sign? What does it mean? If anyone can give information or has seen these three young people, contact the local police in Cooktown.
【小題1】This article is probably taken from ________

A．a(chǎn) newspaper

B．a(chǎn) magazine

C．a(chǎn) storybook

D．a(chǎn) guidebook

【小題2】Which word best describes the search of the three missing people?

A．Helpless

B．Tough

C．Delightful

D．Successful

【小題3】Which of the following things wasn’t found by the police?

A．A touring map.	B．A photo of the travelers.
C．The travelers’ radio.	D．The travelers’ car

【小題4】All the following questions are unanswered except________.

A．why they left a photo behind

B．why they came to this area

C．why their Toyota was parked in the place

D．why a cross was drawn on the map

【小題5】The article asks people to ________.

A．join the police in searching for the missing people

B．tell the police about the travelers’ ages and their appearance

C．learn the lesson and stop taking adventure tours

D．provide information about the missing people

Born into a farmer’s family, life was not easy when I was a kid. We were so poor that we often did not know where our next meal was coming from. I had to sell cabbages at the marketplace to support my family.
A storyteller once came to the marketplace, and I went to listen to him. My mother was unhappy with me for forgetting my job. But that night, while she was making clothes for us under the weak light of an oil lamp, I couldn't help retelling stories I'd heard that day. She listened impatiently at first, since in her eyes professional（職業(yè)的） storytellers were smooth-talking men—nothing good ever came out of their mouths. But slowly she was attracted by my retold stories, and from that day on, she never gave me any task on market days, unspoken agreement to enjoy new stories. As a repayment（回報(bào)）for Mother's kindness and a way to show off my memory, I'd retell the stories for her in lively detail. Soon, she wasn't the only member of my audience, which later included my elder sisters, my aunts, even my stubborn grandmother.
I knew she was worried about me. Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their families when they talk too much. Mother often reminded me not to talk so much, wanting me to be a silent and modest teenager. However, my natural desire（渴望）to talk never went away, and that is what makes my name – Mo Yan, which means ‘no speaking’. This strong wish to talk also improved my ability to express myself, which is important for writers who are also considered as storytellers.
【小題1】Mo Yan lived a/an ________ life when he was young.

A．hard

B．colourful

C．easy

D．rich

【小題2】From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________.

A．little Mo Yan was interested in selling vegetables

B．his mother was attracted by the retold story at first

C．his mother didn’t let him listen to the new stories again

D．little Mo Yan had quite a good memory

【小題3】Why did his mother dislike the professional storytellers?

A．Because she thought they never said anything good.

B．Because she thought they couldn’t make much money.

C．Because she thought they would affect Mo Yan’s schoolwork.

D．Because she thought most people didn’t like listening to stories.

【小題4】In Mo Yan’s opinion, a writer should be a ________ child when they were young.

A．silent

B．modest

C．talkative

D．trouble-making

【小題5】Which is the best title（標(biāo)題）of the passage?

A．My Unlucky Childhood	B．A Storyteller’s Childhood
C．My Kind Grandmother	D．More talking leads to success