閱讀理解

　　He was struggling(費勁)to tie his shoes．I was struggling with whether I should help him．

　　I did, and he was grateful．

　　“Thank you,”he said．

　　“I'm glad I could help．I just thought it would be easier for me to reach,”I said．

　　He was a disabled man, and forced to look down most of the time．His arms and legs were twisted(扭曲的)terribly, and he couldn't do what the rest of us would consider easy tasks．He always managed to look up to see how you reacted(反應)to his words, however．He had a big smile, making me feel comfortable．

　　I was still on my knees by his wheelchair．

　　“Nice shoes,”he said．

　　“Thanks．No one ever complimented me on them before,”I said．

　　“No one has the same view of the world as I do,”he replied．

　　“Tell me about the world as you see it,”I said smiling．

　　“Most people can see if someone is comfortable with them or not in their eyes．I see it in their feet．”he said．“If people keep moving their feet, I just let them go, because I know they're impatient with me．I don't want to make people uncomfortable．

　　“What about me?I asked．

　　“I could see your compassion．And then you came down to my level．I was the one who was nervous．”he said．“I don't normally have someone look me in the eye．”

　　“They don't know what they're missing,”I told him．

　　“My old face is nothing to brag(自夸)about．”he said．

　　“But that smile is so big．”

　　Yes, and it's not only a big smile but an attitude．

　　I grew up in a small town in Spain．One morning when I was 16, my father told me I could drive him into a village called Mijas, about 18 miles away, if I took the car in to be serviced(維修)at a nearby garage(修配廠)．Thinking that I had just learned to drive, and hardly had the chance to use the car, I agreed happily．I drove Dad into Mijas and made sure to pick him up at 4 p. m．, then drove to a nearby garage and dropped off the car．Because there were still a few hours to be left, I decided to watch movies at a theatre near the garage．However, when the last movie had finished, I was two hours late!

　　I knew Dad would be angry．If he knew what I did, he would never let me drive again．So when I drove up to the place where we'd planned to meet and saw Dad waiting patiently on the corner, I told him that I'd come as quickly as I could, but the car had needed some special repairs．

　　“I'm terribly sorry that you feel you have to lie(說謊)to me, Jason．”

　　“What do you mean, Dad?I'm telling the truth．”

　　“I called the garage to ask if there were any problems, and they told me that you had not yet picked up the car．So I know there were no problems with the car．I'm angry, not with you but with myself．You see, I've failed as a father．I'm going to walk home now and think carefully about where I have gone wrong all these years．”

　　“But Dad, it's 18 miles to home．It's dark．You can't walk home．”

　　I pleaded(懇求)all the way, telling him how sorry I was．But nothing helped．I had to drive behind him for 18 miles．

　　It was one of the most painful experiences I had ever had．However, it was also the most successful lesson．

　　One way that scientists learn about man is by studying animals．In this lab, the scientists are studying the relationship(關系)between diet(飲食)and health．They are studying the relationship between the amount(數量)of food the mice(老鼠)eat and their health．The mice are in three groups．All three groups are receiving the same healthy food．The first group is eating one cup of food each day, the second group is eating two cups, and the third group is eating three cups．

　　After three years, the healthiest group is the one that is only eating one cup of food each day．The mice in this group are a little thinner．But they are more active．Most of the day, they are running, playing with one another．Also, they are living longer．Mice usually live for two years．Most of the mice in this group are still alive after three years．

　　The second group of mice is healthy, too．They are active, but not as active as the thinner mice．They are only living about two years．

　　The last group of mice is receiving more food than than the other two groups．Most of the day, these mice are eating of sleeping．They are not very active．These mice are living longer than the scientists thought－about a year and a half．But they are not healthy．They are sick more often than the other two groups．

閱讀理解

　　There are many things we need to know but we do not learn at school．For example, if we want to use our money wisely(明智的), we need to shop carefully．We need to know how to compare the prices of things in different shops．We need to be able to compare the quality of different brands(品牌)．We need to know how to make a choice(選擇)when we shop．

　　Knowing how to make such choices is a“l(fā)ife skill”, and we need these skills if we want to live useful and happy lives．

　　Some of these choices are small．For example, will I take an apple for lunch or a pear?Will I go to school by bus or on foot?Will I wear the red T-shirt or the blue one to the movies?Other choices are more important．For example, will I eat healthy food for lunch or will I eat junk food because it is tastier?Will I work hard in all my classes or will I only work hard in the classes I enjoy?We make choices like this every day．

　　We have to realize that the choices we make can influence the rest of our lives．Just as importantly, our choices can also influence other people．The next time you decide to waste time in class, play a joke on someone or talk loudly at the movies, think about this：Who else does your choice influence?

根據短文內容，選擇最佳答案。

閱讀下面短文，從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中選出最佳選項。

　　“Time is a problem for children,”says a news report for a new Swiss watch．Children in some countries“l(fā)earn time slowly”because“they don't wear watches”and“parents don't really know how to teach them time．”The children grow up with this handicap and become adults and then can't get to work on time．Is there an answer to this problem? Of course it's the Flik Flak, made by a famous Swiss watch company．

　　The Flik Flak is being marketed as something teaching watch for children aged 4 to 10．The watch itself does not teach children how to tell time, of course; it only“takes their imagination”by presenting the“hour”hand as a beautiful red girl named Flak and the“minute”hand as a tall blue boy named Flik．Flik points to“blue”minutes on the dial(鐘面), while Flak points to“red”hour numbers．The characters and colors together with parental help, are supposed to teach young children how to tell time．

　　Peter Lipkin, the United States sales manager for the Flik Flak, calls it“childproof：if it gets dirty you can throw the whole watch in the washing machine, ”The product is being sold in some department stores in Europe, Asia and the United Stares for a suggested price of ＄25．Parents who buy the watch may find that it is ode thing to tell time; it's quite another for them to be on time．

閱讀下面短文，從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中選出最佳選項。

　　Trudy's class has a newspaper．The students write stories and poems(詩歌)for it．Then one of them types their work into a computer and prints it out．The teacher puts up everything on the wall so that it looks like a large, open newspaper．

　　One day Trudy said to the teacher,“Most newspapers have advertisements．Can we have our advertisements?”The teacher thought this was a good idea．She made Trudy the advertising manager and Trudy asked the other students to advertise to the newspaper．Here are some of the advertisements she received．

閱讀下面短文，從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中選出最佳選項。

　　It's easy to make you embarrassed(窘迫的)．You may run into the wrong classroom and everyone looks at you．Or you have a piece of cabbage in your teeth! What do the American and British teens find embarrassing and how do they react(回應)to it?

　　One big embarrassing thing for them is answering personal questions．If you ask“How old are you?”or“How much money do you make?”they'll get angry．It's polite to stop, asking．If you meet someone for the first time, talk about something not personal, such as your neighborhood or school．British people love to talk about weather．

　　British and American teens feel embarrassed if they still rise their parents' money to buy clothes or have to ask their parents before making a decision, because others will laugh at them．

　　In some situations, if you look bad in public, don't worry．A child may forget and call his or her teacher“mom”in class．A good laugh is a good way out of it! Sometimes you find that you don't have enough money when you pay at the supermarket．Just put some things back quickly．If you explain too much, you'll attract a lot of attention!

　　Honesty always works best．If you forget the name of a person, or don't know how to clean the toilet after using it at your friend's home, just ask them about it．

　　Most people always like to collect things．For example, they like collecting stamps, books, pictures…But my friend Mr. King likes collecting clocks．He has five hundred clocks now．

　　There are clocks everywhere in his house．You can see shelves standing in every room．All the shelves are full of clocks．Though Mr. King is glad to do this, his wife doesn't enjoy it at all．She has a lot of work to do every day．It's not easy for her to clean hundreds of clocks．She is also angry at the noise．Each clock keeps its own time, so she can hear clock strike(敲)almost any time during the day and night．“There is something even worse．I am never able to know what time it is with so many clocks around．”

　　Once there was an old man in a town, he always forgot a lot of things．So his wife always had to say to him, “Don't forget this”．

　　One day he went on a long trip alone．Before he left home, his wife said, “Now you have all these things．They are what you need for your trip．Take care of your things during the trip．” He went to the station．He bought a ticket and got on the train with it．

　　About an hour later, the conductor began to see the tickets．He came to the old man and said, “Will you please show me your ticket?” The old man looked for his ticket in all his pockets, but he could not find it．He was very worried, “I can't find my ticket．I really bought a ticket before I got on the train．” said the old man．

　　“I think you are right．I believe you bought a ticket．All right．You don't have to buy another ticket．” said the conductor kindly．But the old man still looked worried and said sadly, “You don't know why I'm worried．If I don't find my ticket．I can't remember my station．Where am I going?”

　　The pyramids in Egypt are world-famous．Long ago, kings built them as their tombs．The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the largest one．It is one of the “Seven Wonders” of the ancient world．Until the 19^th century, it was the tallest building on earth．It took about 100, 000 people over 20 years to build it．

　　Khufu ordered his men to build the Great Pyramid as his tomb in about 2560B．C．The building is made up of two million stones and each stone weighs more than two tons．The Great Pyramid has four sides and each side is 230.4 meters long．It's 146.5 meters high．How did the ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid? We still don't know．Many people believe the Great Pyramid is the oldest and greatest building in the world．