There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world. But only a few of them are very important. English is one of them. Many, many people use it, not only in England and the USA, but also in other parts of the world. About 200,000,000 people speak it as their own language. It is difficult to say how many people are learning it as a foreign language. Many millions of people are trying to do so. Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may have different answers. Have you ever noticed ads(廣告) of this kind in the newspapers or magazines? “Learn English in six weeks, or give your money back…” “Easy and funny…” “Our records and tapes help you master English in a month”. Of course, it never happened quite like that.
The only language that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should remember that we all learned our own language well when we were children. If we could learn English in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. Think of what a small child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hears.
So it is hard to say that learning English is easy. We must do a lot of practice. And practice needs great efforts and takes much time. Good teachers, record, tapes, books, and dictionaries will be helpful, but they cannot do the student’s work for him.
【小題1】How many languages are very important in the world?

Have you ever been in a meeting while someone was making a speech and realized suddenly that your mind was a million miles away? You probably felt sorry and decided to pay attention and never have daydreaming again. Most of us have been told from earliest school days that daydreaming is a waste of time.
L. Giambra, a psychologist（心理學家）, says,” On the contrary , daydreaming is quite necessary. Without it, the mind couldn’t do all the thinking that it has to do during a normal day. You can’t possibly do all your thinking with a conscious （神志清醒的）mind. Instead, your unconscious mind is working out problems all the time. Daydreaming may be one way that the unconscious and conscious states （狀態(tài)）of mind have silent conversations .”
Early psychologists paid no attention to the importance of daydreams or even thought they were harmful. At one time people thought that some psychological illness caused day dreaming. They did not have a better understanding of daydreams until the late 1980s. Eric Klinges, a professor, is the writer of the book Daydreaming. Klinges says, “We know now that daydreaming is one of the main ways that we organize our lives, learn from our experiences, and plan for our futures. Daydreams really are a window on the things that we fear and the things we long for (渴望) in life.”
Daydreams are usually very simple and direct（直接）, quite unlike sleep dreams. Sleep dreams may be hard to understand. It’s easier to get a deep understanding of your life by paying close attention to your daydreams than by trying to examine (分析)your sleep dreams carefully. Daydreams help you know the difficult situations（情況）in your life and found out a possible way of dealing with them.
Daydreams cannot be predicted（預言）: they move off in unexpected directions which may be creative and full of useful ideas. For many famous artists and scientists, daydreams were and are a main source of creative energy.
【小題1】The passage is mainly about _______ .

Nobody is happy all the time, but some people are really happier than others. Here are some tips for you to be happy.
Make enough money to meet your basic needs: food, shelter, and clothing. In the US, that magic number is $40,000 a year. Any money you make beyond that will not necessarily make you happier. Once you make enough money to support your basic needs, your happiness is not affected by how much money you make.
______________________________ Or move to where other members are－so you can see them more. Now, people follow jobs around the country and sometimes around the world. As a result, our relationships with our friends and family have a far greater impact (影響) on our happiness than our jobs do. So next time you think about moving, consider a place where most of your friends and families live.
Find happiness in the job you have now. Many people expect (期待) the right job to change their level of happiness. But happiness research makes it clear that changing jobs can’t bring you happiness. If you want, you will make the best of any job. If you have good relationships with people, you won’t depend on (依賴) your job to give your life a greater sense of meaning. You will find it in your interactions with the people you care about.
If you are unhappy for a long time, you should ask an expert (專家) or a doctor for help. I hope you will be happy all the time.
【小題1】The writer wrote this passage mainly to _____________.

The American expression “shoo-in” means someone or something that seems sure to win a race or competition.
Before a big football game, supporters of each are certain to argue about which side will win.
Sometimes, however, one team appears so much stronger than the others that everyone agrees it will win.. The stronger team is a shoo-in. There is no way that it can lose.
The expression “shoo-in” comes from horse racing. It comes from the world “shoo”. That is not the shoe we wear on our feet. It’s another word, S-H-O-O. To shoo is an expression hundreds of years old that means to force an animal to move in a desired direction.
Many years ago dishonest riders sometimes agreed secretly to control their horses so that one chosen horse would win the race. but one of the riders would hold back their horses. The chosen rider would shoo his horse ahead of the others, and win the race.
The other riders would secretly bet large amounts of money that the chosen horse would win. The public soon learned about such about such race. They began to call the winners of such a race a “shoo-in”
These days, people use shoo into describe any athlete or competition that seems certain to win, even without cheating.
American runner Edewin Moses won more than hundred races before he ran the hurdle race in the 1984 Olympic Games. Everyone said Moses was a shoo-in, and that he could not lost. And they were right. He won the gold medal.
閱讀上面的短文，從每題所給的四個選項中，選出一個最佳答案
【小題1】One of the dishonest riders was sure to win the race because_______.

根據短文后所給的任務，完成小題.
Now the idea of “car sharing” has become popular in Europe and the United States. That’s to say, people share（分享） one car, not each person has one . (65)As we know, most cars are parked in garages for much time. In fact, we drive our own cars as long as one or two hours a day on average. When we don’t use them, We have to pay for parking and other things. (66)We spend too much money on that. If we share a car, we’ll only pay when we use it. (67)Because some people want to save money, they come up with the idea of “car sharing”. Now many people are starting to do car sharing. In Switzerland, almost 40,000 people have joined it. Japan is also trying to make “car sharing” popular around the country. (68)car, is, of, new, sharing, transportation, beginning, a, idea, the, in .（69）This is also very easy for us to travel here and there without buying cars. Do you love to share a car with others?
任務1：請將（65）處的句子翻譯成漢語。
【小題1】                                                       
任務2：在下面的空白處填上一個適當的單詞，使句意與（66）處相同。
【小題2】That             us too much money.
任務3：對（67）處的劃線部分提問。
【小題3】                                                         ?
任務4：請將（68）處的單詞組合成一個完整的句子。
【小題4】                                                       
任務5：(69)處有一處錯誤，請找出錯誤并改在下面的橫線上。（可用文字敘述）
【小題5】                                                      

In the opinion of many people, the two­parent family is the correct way to raise children. Traditionally, this has been as the most natural way, but single­parent families have had to face prejudices(偏見) against their life­style. However, the single­parent family is the fastest growing type of family. In the United States, a national survey showed that at least 50% of children will be members of a single­parent family. So we think it is important to throw prejudices away and to see the advantages of single­parent families.
When compared to two­parent families, single­parent families are usually at a disadvantage in some ways. They are often in short of money, and children receive less attention. What’s more, single parents can find themselves under too much pressure(壓力) of both work and home. Despite(盡管) these disadvantages, it is possible for single­parent families to look for support from friends, schools, communities or other organizations. They need to remember that nobody can do it alone.
Surprisingly, single­parent families also have some advantages over two­parent families. Single parents have greater flexibility(靈活性) in spending time with children, because they don’t have to consider the needs of a husband or wife. So they can develop closer relationships with their children. Another advantage comes from the fact that single parents often work together with their children to solve problems, which makes children feel more needed and valued.
It’s important to remember that single­parent families have, until now suffered prejudices from some people. They think that it’s easier for the children in single­parent families to drop out of school in teens, and to be jobless in their early twenties. But, with the support from friends, schools and communities, single­parent families become more accepted by society, and this situation is certain to improve. In the future we will probably see these prejudices disappear.
【小題1】What does the writer mainly tell us in Paragraph 1?
A. People shouldn’t have prejudices against single­parent families.
B. The single­parent family is not good for raising children.
C. The two­parent family is the correct way to raise children.
D. 50% of children will be members of a single­parent family in the USA.
【小題2】Which disadvantage of single­parent families is NOT mentioned in Paragraph 2?

If the rose can be said to be a special flower, then the apple can be said to be a special fruit. It is very important in American culture. American stories speak of Johnny Appleseed, who went throughout America collecting apple seeds and planting apple trees. He had a great love for nature and went through fields and farms adding richness and beauty to the country.
One of the first sayings taught to school children is, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” This short saying encourages children to eat fresh fruit to keep healthy. If someone always says good words to a person, people will call him an “apple polisher”. This, however, is not a good name. If someone is very dear to us, we say that he or she is the “apple of our eye”.
Most people believe that the fruit which Eve gave to Adam was an apple, even though the Bible(圣經) never says so. The apple, therefore, is a deep part of the language and stories of America.
An apple is also delicious. Apples can be cooked in many ways, used as a dessert, and made into sweet juice.
In many parts of the country during the harvest season, a popular activity is to go into an apple garden to pick apples. Washington, D. C. and New York are both famous for their apples.
Finally, when it’s time to take a vacation to American cities, one can always visit New York, which is “the biggest apple” of all the American cities.
【小題1】What does the underlined phrase “apple polisher” mean?

Cars are an important part of life in the United States. Without cars most people feel that they are poor. And even though a person is poor, he doesn't really feel poor when he has a car.
Perhaps(可能) you have heard of Henry Ford. He first started making cars in large numbers. Perhaps he didn't know how much the car was going to be to American culture(文化). The car made the United States a nation on wheels(車輪). And it helped make the United States what it is now.
The car has become popular in the United States. The Americans like to move around in cars. With a car people can go to any place without spending a lot of money.
【小題1】In the United States ____.

How do you remember the way to your house? Where do dreams come from?
It is your brain (大腦) that does these things. A British scientist showed that sleep can improve one’s memory. It’s not a dream for students to study when they sleep. In fact, your brain is working day and night. If you learn words before bed, a certain part of your brain may help you to remember the words while you sleep. What’s more, another scientist in the USA found that there was a “talent button(按鈕)” in the human brain. It might make a person more talented(有才能的).
There are more interesting things about the brain. Your brain uses less energy than a fridge light. Just two bananas can give the brain enough energy to work for a whole day. According to some scientists, yawning（打哈欠）keeps your brain “cool”, which makes us think quicker.
Here are some pieces of advice to keep a good brain:
● Eat healthy food.
● Get a lot of playtime or exercise.
● Don’t drink or smoke.
● Use your brain a lot.
【小題1】A British scientist found out that               .

For most people, the word "fashion (時尚)" means "clothes". But people may ask the question, "What clothes are in fashion?" And they use the word "fashionable" in the same way:
"She was wearing a fashionable coat. His shirt was really a fashionable colour. "
But of course there are fashions in many things, not only in clothes. There are fashions in holidays, in restaurants, in films and books. There are even fashions in school subjects, jobs ... and in languages.
Fashions change as time goes. If you look at pictures of people or things from the past, you will see that fashions have always changed. An English house of 1750 was different from one of 1650. A fashionable man in 1780 looked very different from his grandson in 1860.
Today fashions change very quickly. Some of this is natural. We hear about things much more quickly than in the past. Newspapers, radios, telephones and television send information from one country to another in a few hours.
New fashions mean that people will buy new things, so you see there is money in fashion.
【小題1】Most people think that "fashion" means __________.