It was a beautiful day at the beach—blue sky, gentle wind, calm sea．I knew these things because a man sitting five feet from me was shouting them into his mobile phone, like a play-by-play announcer （實況解說員）.
“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY,” he shouted．“THE SKY IS BLUE, AND THERE’S A GENTLE WIND, AND THE WATER IS CALM, AND…”
Behind me, a woman, her mobile phone pressed to her ear was walking back and forth.
“She DIDN’T,” she was saying．“No．She DIDN’T．She DID? Really? Are you SERIOUS? She did NOT．She DID? No she…”
And so on．This woman had two children, who were playing in the sea．I found myself watching them, because the woman surely was not．A huge squid could have caught and snatched the children, and this woman would not have noticed．Or, if she had noticed, she’d have said, “Listen．I have to go, because a huge squid just……No! She didn’t ! She DID? No! She……”
And next to me, the play-by-play man would have said: “…AND A HUGE SQUID JUST ATE TWO CHILDREN, AND I’M GETTING A LITTLE SUNBURNED, AND …”
It used to be that the major trouble at the beach was the fellow who brought a boom box （便攜式錄音機） and turned it up so loud that the bass notes caused seagulls to explode．But at least you knew where these fellows were; you never know which beachgoers have mobile phones．You’ll settle next to what appears to be a sleeping sunbather, or even （you hope） a
corpse , and you’ll lie happily on your towel, and you’ll get all the way to the second sentence of your 467-page book before you fall asleep to the hypnotic surge of the surf （催人入夢的潮聲）, and …
BREEP! BREEP! The corpse sits up, feels urgently for its mobile phone, and shouts “Hello! I’m at the beach! Yes! It’s nice! Very peaceful! What? She did? No, she didn’t! She DID? No, she…”
Loud mobile-phoners never seem to get urgent calls．Just once, I’d like to hear one of them say, “Hello? Yes, this is Dr．Johnson．Oh, Dr．Smith．You’ve opened the abdominal cavity （腹腔）? Good! Now the appendix should be right under the … What? No, that’s the liver．Don’t take THAT out, ha ha! Oh, you did? My God! OK, now listen carefully…”
小題1:From the passage we can know that the writer of the passage _____.
| A．had a wonderful holiday at the beach |
| B．must have suffered a lot because of the terrible weather |
| C．is only interested in talks by doctors about operation |
| D．experienced an unhappy holiday at the beach |
小題2:According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The writer often spends his holidays at the beach. |
| B．A huge squid ate two children while their mother was not watching. |
| C．Some people used to play boom box while spending their holidays at the beach. |
| D．Some people often make loud mobile phone calls without caring for others. |
小題3:The underlined word“ corpse”in this passage has the closest meaning to________.
| A．a(chǎn) dead body | B．a(chǎn) loud mobile phone |
| C．a(chǎn) sound sleeper | D．a(chǎn) sleep lover |
小題4:In the past the fellow who brought a boom box_________.
| A．turned it up to make the seagulls happy |
| B．turned it up to cause the seagulls to explode |
| C．might cause less trouble than the beachgoers with mobile phones |
| D．might cause more trouble than the beachgoers with mobile phones |
小題5:We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．the writer is interested in mobile phone. |
| B．the writer hates people using mobile phone |
| C．the writer hates to be disturbed while enjoying holidays on the beach. |
| D．the writer seldom finishes reading a book before going to sleep. |
David writes: I’m very sorry to say that I think it would be very unfair for me to help you win a competition--- unfair to the other competitors!
discussion group called ELTCSChi-L (English Language Teaching Contacts Scheme China List).
rtain. C. Positive. D. Negative.
e sciences and humanities is important to society
My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That’s why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. “For just the two of us,” my mother said, “an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better.” Personally, I think she’s lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me?
ooked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass—I couldn’t wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (扭曲的, 粗糙的) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small tree house, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before Father’s death. 
was growing up because of ________.
