Last week, I bought an alarm system for about $ 450. It consisted of a control unit with three small units. I put the control unit in the sitting-room and fastened the other units by the front door, back door and living-room windows. The instructions told us to choose three numbers, so we chose 4, 9 and 1, the last three numbers of our telephone number.
Now I must explain how the alarm works:
l There is a power siren(警報器) in the control unit. It makes a very loud noise.
2 Each of the small units sends out beams or rays in different directions. If anything moves, it breaks a beam. This sends a signal to the control unit. The siren makes a noise which you can hear 50 meters away.
3. When we go to bed, I press the three buttons numbered 4, 9 and 1. Then we have 30 seconds to get out of the room before the alarm starts to work.
That night I slept soundly because I was sure that no burglar(夜賊) could get into our house. However, at about 2:10 a. m., I woke up and heard the siren. “There must be a burglar in the house,” Mary said. “What shall we do?”“I’ll go and see who’s there,” I said. “Stay here. Don’t make a noise.”I went downstairs quietly. When I reached the living-room, I switched on my torch and looked round the room. Then I turned the light on. I switched the siren off and searched the rooms downstairs. There was nothing wrong except that the back door was unlocked. I locked it, reset the alarm and went back to bed. About an hour later, the alarm started again. I jumped out of bed, fell over a chair in the dark and bumped into the bedroom door. Mary woke up and started hitting me with a torch. “Hey! Wait a minute!” I whispered. “It’s only me. I’m going downstairs to see what’s wrong.”I went down into the living-room and listened for a moment. The only sound I could hear was the siren. I turned on the light and then switched the siren off. As I did so, I glanced across at the curtains in front of the windows. I saw a house lizard (a kind of small animal) disappear behind the curtains.“Oh!” I said to myself. “That’s our burglar. ”When the lizard moved, it started the siren. I guessed that the alarm had been made in Europe, where there are no house lizards. Well. I won’t finish this story but if you want an alarm system free of charge, let me know. I’ll send you ours. We bought a dog this morning. It knows the difference between a lizard and a burglar.
小題1:The writer bought an alarm system to ________.

A．make sure that he got up early every day

B．warn him when there were lizards in his house

C．frighten burglars and tell him that somebody had got into the house

D．make Mary feel safe to live in the large room

小題2:The purpose of the three units was to________.

A．send a message to the control unit and start the siren

B．sound their own sirens when the control unit told them so

C．check that the control unit worked properly all the time

D．give them enough light

小題3:If the writer set the alarm and remained in the room for more than half a minute, _______.

A．nothing would happen

B．the control unit would not work

C．the siren would make a noise

D．the dog would bark

小題4:The purpose of the writer in writing the passage is to ________.

A．tell us that the alarm system doesn’t work

B．tell us an interesting experience

C．show us how the alarm system works

D．make it clear that he wants to give away his alarm system

In my opinion, there is only one legitimate (合法的) handgun sport and that is aim practice. It is practiced at objects which are properly monitored and usually quite safe. Only certain handguns are true “sporting weapons”, seen as such by the sport’s lovers.
On the other hand, shooting at tin cans and other small objects in one’s backyard is not and should not be considered a serious sport. When uncontrolled, it can be a very dangerous practice.
Some opponents (反對者) of handgun control have stated that we are out to stop all hunting and that controlling the handgun would severely affect hunting. That is simply untrue. Handgun control would in no way limit the freedom of the true hunter. Few if any hunters consider the handgun an effective hunting weapon.
There are a few hunters who do hunt with handguns, but most states place restrictions (限制) on the type of guns that can be used in hunting, the reason is that killing of game should be done in as humane (人道的) a way as possible. Some small handguns are more likely to wound the animal rather than kill it at once. Only long guns, rifles and shotguns are effective arms of hunting.
People must understand that handguns and hunters are separate matters. Because most of the hunters use a rifle or shotgun, there is no reason why their search for game and sport should be affected by handgun control. Mixing the anti-hunting matter with the handgun matter confuses the killing of animals with killing of people.
小題1:In the writer’s opinion, people should use handguns only when           .

A．hunters shoot at animals

B．they aim at a criminal

C．objects are under control

D．objects are only small tin cans in the backyard

小題2:According to the writer, hunting is not affected by handgun control because         .

A．hunters can use knives rather than guns to hunt animals

B．state government encourages hunters to use other guns

C．nobody cares what weapons are used to kill animals

D．most hunters use rifles rather than handguns

小題3:This passage mainly talks about           .

A．the relation between hunting and handgun control

B．the importance of aim practice

C．how handgun control affects hunting

D．different types of guns used in hunting

At times we all get angry when we are driving. It might be because we are stuck in a traffic jam or stuck behind a very slow driver. It might be because we think another driver has done something very stupid and dangerous. Whatever the reason, it seems that getting angry in a car is something which happens more and more often and there is now a special term for it “road rage”. Some experts even think that road rage is a kind of mental illness! How can we recognize this “illness” of road rage?
There are two kinds of road rage: aggressive driving and aggressive reactions to the way other people are driving. Aggressive driving can take different forms:
●Driving much faster than the speed limit.
●Increasing your speed very quickly.
●Driving very close behind the car in front and sounding the horn or flashing the headlights.
●Changing lanes very suddenly and blocking another car.
●Moving into a parking space where another car is trying to park.
There are also different reactions to the way other people are driving. These include:
●Making rude signs at people.
●Shouting at people and threatening them.
●Deliberately driving into another person’s car.
●Hitting somebody.
●Using a weapon such as a baseball bat, or even a gun or a knife.
Road rage is certainly not a joke. There have been incidents of road rage which have led to serious injuries and even murder.
Experts think that one reason for road rage is that films show a lot of examples of fast and aggressive driving such as car chases where this kind of driving seems to be positive.
Experts also think that the punishments for dangerous driving are not serious enough.
Experience shows that driving problems can be controlled, but it takes a long time. In the UK in the last 30 years, the police have been quite successful in reducing the number of people who drink and drive. They are now working to stop people using mobile phones when they are driving. Let’s hope they can have the same success with the road rage.
小題1:Which of the following statements does NOT describe aggressive     driving?

A．Driving much faster than the speed limit.

B．Drinking and driving

C．Moving into a parking space where another car is trying to park.

D．Changing lanes very suddenly and blocking another car.

小題2:Road rage happens possibly because______.

A．the drivers are drunk

B．it won’t cause serious injuries or death

C．we’re in a fast-changing society

D．the punishments are not serious enough

小題3:What’s the tone（語氣）of the last paragraph?

A．Sad

B．Cold

C． Optimistic

D．Exciting

In the mid 1990’s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies. They sold things in stores. Then there were Internet companies. They didn’t have a store, and they only sold things on the Net.
Traditional companies didn’t want to lose any business. Quickly they made their own websites and began selling things on the Net. These are the so-called “brick and click” companies. Many stores are made of brick. And you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That’s where the name “brick and click” comes from.
By the late 1990’s, e-business like amazon com , buy com. and etoys com. were in trouble. Their profits（利潤） were not very high. Competition was great. Many of these businesses were losing lots of money. In 2000, many e-business went out of business.
Why are “brick and click” companies, like Barnes and Noble, Toys RVs and Walmart so successful? First, many customers know and trust their names. Their websites like walmart.com. are easy to remember. These companies also have lots of experience. They know how to run a successful business.
In the world of e-commerce, companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will “brick and click” companies win the war? Only time will tell.
小題1:What did many traditional companies do in the mid 1990’s?                .

A．They went out of business.

B．They made their websites.

C．They bought Internet companies.

D．They sold their companies.

小題2:What gave Internet companies lots of trouble in the late 1990’s?

A．Heavy competition

B．They were short of money.

C．They didn’t know what to do.

D．people didn’t believe in them.

小題3:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．All the “brick and click” companies run a successful business.

B．“Brick and click” companies are certain to win the business competition.

C．It is uncertain whether “brick and click” companies will win the competition.

D．Both “brick and click” companies and Internet companies will be successful in the future.

We all remember seeing hitchhikers（搭便車的人）, standing by the side of the road, thumb sticking out, waiting for a lift. But it is getting rare nowadays. What killed hitchhiking? Safety is often mentioned as a reason. Movies about murderous hitchhikers and real-life crime have put many drivers off picking up hitchhikers. That no single women picked me up on my journey to Manchester no doubt reflects the safety fear: a large, strangely dressed man is seen as dangerous.
But the reason may be more complex: hitchhiking happens where people don’t have cars and transport services are poor. Plenty of people still hitchhike in Poland and Romania. Perhaps the rising level of car ownership in the UK means the few people lift hitchhiking are usually considered strange. Why can’t they afford cars? Why can’t they take the coach or the train?
Three-quarters of the UK population have access to a car; many of the remainder will be quite old. The potential hitchhiking population is therefore small. Yet my trip proves it’s still possible to hitchhike. The people who picked me up were very interesting-lawyer, retired surgeon, tank commander, carpenter, man who live in an isolated farmhouse and a couple living up in the mountains. My conclusion is that only really interesting people are mad enough to pick up fat blokes in red,
spotted scarves. Most just wanted to do someone a good turn; a few said they were so surprised to see a hitchhiker that they couldn’t help stopping.
The future of hitchhiking most likely lies with car-sharing organized over the Internet, via sites such as hitchhikers. org. But for now, you can still stick your thumb out(actually, I didn’t do much of that, preferring just to hold up my destination sign) and people-wonderful, caring, sharing, unafraid people-will stop.
In the UK, with its cheap coaches and reasonable rail service, I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. But having enjoyed it so much, I’m ready now to do a big trip across Europe and beyond. In the 1970s a female friend of my wife’s hitchhiked to India. How wonderful it would be to have another go, though Afghanistan might be a challenge. I wish I’d got that tank commander’s mobile number.
小題1:The author tried to hitchhike but was rejected by single women drivers because_____________ .

A．they were not heading towards Manchester

B．they thought most hitchhikers were dangerous

C．hitchhiking had been forbidden and they didn’t want to break the law

D．he was a strong man in strange clothes who seemed dangerous

小題2:Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．That some people refuse hitchhikers may reflect the safety fear.

B．Car ownership levels are lower in Romania than in the UK.

C．40% of UK people don’t have access to cars.

D．Increased car ownership has reduced the need for hitchhiking.

小題3:The “fat blokes in red, spotted scarves” in Paragraph 3 most likely means         .

A．murderous hitchhikers

B．friendly and talkative hitchhikers

C．typical hitchhikers

D．strange hitchhikers like the author

小題4:According to the author, future hitchhikers are more likely to                 .

A．visit websites and find people to share cars with

B．stand by roads with their thumbs sticking out

C．stick out signs with their destinations written on

D．wait for some kind people to pick them up

小題5:From the last paragraph, we know that the author                    .

A．frequently hitchhikes in Britain

B．plans to hitchhike across Europe

C．thinks public transport is safer for travel

D．is going to contact the tank commander

Parents whose children show a special interest in a particular sport feel it very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers. Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men and women? For many children it means starting school work very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place. It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing.?
Another problem is of course money. In many countries money for training is available from government for the very best young sportsmen and women. If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development—and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc. can all be very expensive.?  
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age. Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed. Professional trainers, however, believe that it is only by training young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person. It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training.?
小題1:This article is most probably taken from________.?

A．a(chǎn) letter

B．a(chǎn)n advertisement?

C．a(chǎn) personal diary

D．a(chǎn) newspaper article?

小題2:According to the passage, parents whose children show a special interest in a sport _______.

A．feel uncertain if they should let their children train to be sports men or women

B．try to get financial（財務(wù)的）support from the government for their children’s training

C．have to get medical advice from doctors about training methods?

D．prefer their children to be trained as young as possible

小題3:The underlined phrase“to take a second place”means_________.?

A．to repeat the activities at some other place?

B．to become less important?

C．a(chǎn)ll things considered, they are of poor quality?

D．to happen again

Social networking isn’t only for the under 40s. More than 25 percent of Americans 50 years and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research.
“The latest data tells us that more and more social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus,” said Kevin Donnellan, the chief communications officer at AARP, which released the report.
Nearly a quarter of older Americans are on Facebook and 73 percent said they use it to stay in touch with relatives, but not just their children and grandchildren. “They are using the Internet to keep up with the world and the people who are important to them,” said Jean Koppen, the author of the report. She added that older adults are also on Facebook to stay connected, not only with their family, but with their friends and those in the same age group. Almost 50 percent of older adults were introduced to the social networking sites by a family member, mainly a child or grandchild. “Just under one-fifth of adults aged 50 and older say they do not use the Internet,” according to the report.
The findings are based on a telephone survey of 1,863 adults. In addition to keeping up on Facebook and Twitter older adults are aware of the latest technology. Eighty-three percent had heard about the Apple iPad and 11 percent intended to buy one.
Despite the popularity of the Internet among the over 50s, they still mostly go to print newspapers and magazines for news. Only one percent said they followed blogs.
小題1:What is the main idea of the text?
A. Social networking is becoming popular among older Americans.
B. Social networking isn’t for the under 40s in the U.S.A.
C. American old people’s way of life is quite fashionable.
D. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the most popular websites in the US.
小題2:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．85% of Americans 50 plus choose the Internet over print media.

B．About 20% of adults aged 50 plus have access to the Internet.

C．About 460 people in the telephone survey often use Facebook.

D．Three quarters of the people surveyed got to know the Internet through their family.

小題3:From the text, it can be concluded that______.

A．Kevin Donnellan approves of this change among older Americans

B．many older Americans are open-minded about new developments

C．Young people should introduce their elders to new technology

D．In a high tech age it is difficult to avoid social networking

小題4:Where does the text probably come from?

A．A novel.	B．A student’s research paper
C．A technology guide.	D．A newspaper.

Americans love dogs, all types of dogs: small dogs, big dogs, lapdogs (供玩賞的小狗). Each year, people spend billions of dollars on their four-legged pals, making sure the lovable dogs have enough food to eat and lots of toys to play with.
Dogs love people, too. They lick their faces, protect their homes. Where did these four-legged companions come from? Some scientists believe that they have found the answer.
Scientists have long known that dogs evolved from（演化） wolves. Exactly when the transformation from wolf to dog actually took place, however, remains a mystery.
Some said dogs evolved as a separate species 135,000 years ago in two parts of the world. One group of dogs developed in Europe and Asia from Asian wolves. The other group evolved in North, Central, and South America from American wolves.
Now researchers say those theories are wrong. New studies suggest that domesticated dogs first appeared 15,000 years ago in eastern Asia. Scientists also say that every modern dog descended from approximately five female Asian wolves, the mother of all modern dogs.
Scientists suspect dogs first set paws in North America by following settlers across a land bridge that once linked northern Asia and North America.
小題1:According to recent studies, all modern dogs came from female wolves in ______.

A．Asia	B．Africa
C．Europe	D．South America

小題2:From this story, we can conclude that _______.

A．dogs are scientists’ best friends

B．dogs are more like wolves than they are like any other animal

C．most dogs are from Africa

D．scientists have no idea how dogs evolved

小題3:The underlined word “domesticated” means “_______”.

A．tamed

B．indoor

C．intelligent

D．friendly

小題4:The best title for this story might be ______.

A．Why Cats Don’t Like Dogs

B．Barking up the Wrong Tree

C．Love Me, Love My Dog

D．Going from Wolf to Dog

People have been burying the dead at Salem’s Hope Cemetery since 1833. The place is filled with old gravestones and gothic mausoleums(哥特式陵墓), the spirits of the dead hanging over the land like an early morning fog.
Keeping watch, a few steps from the road with her skirt over the pedestal (基座), is Goldie Belle Taylor, her face weathered but otherwise in good condition. On this day, she is holding a bunch of pink rises because Goldie Belle always holds flowers. Someone makes sure of that.
“And she has had fresh flowers in her hands for the last 150 years.” Karen Biery lives in Damascus, about five miles west of Hope Cemetery. She’s written a book based on the legend of Goldie Belle Taylor titled Believe. In 1886, at the age of two, young Goldie Belle used her hands to sop up (抹去) the left over elderberry juice from her father’s iron kettle. She died not long after from poisoning. She was the love of her dad’s life, and he was so upset that he sold the family farm to buy the Italian made statue, which today marks her grave.
At first, it was her father who brought the flowers and laid them in her hands. When he died in 1896, the flowers kept coming. Her flowers are different per season. Why do the flowers keep miraculously appearing? People have tried to find out by having camped by the statue, but not even the groundskeepers have been able to catch the criminal.
It’s said that a fairy arrives at Hope Cemetery looking for the grave of her birth mother. She comes across Goldie Belle’s statue.
小題1:The underlined word “that” in paragraph 2 probably refers to________.

A．her face in good condition

B．her bunch of pink roses

C．Goldie Belle Taylor is holding pink roses

D．Goldie Belle Taylor always holds flowers

小題2:It can be inferred from the third paragraph __________.

A．her father was poisonous

B．the iron kettle was poisonous

C．elderberry juice was poisonous

D．it was her father that hated her

小題3:After her father died, the flowers in the hands of Goldie Belle Taylor_______.

A．usually change

B．were stolen

C．a(chǎn)re no longer fresh

D．come from a criminal

小題4:What would be the best title for the passage?

A．A fairy brings the flowers.

B．The mystery of Goldie’s flowers.

C．What happens to the girl?

D．How do the flowers get there?

Parent fans, both dads and mums, are shaming British football with their bad behaviour. Hundreds of junior soccer matches had to be abandoned last season because parent fans were swearing or even fighting on the touchline. At schools and clubs across the UK, hundreds of more matches also had to be called off for the same reason.
Reports tell of abuse at referees（裁判）, players and coaches and fight breaking out on the touchline.
Enough is enough    Peter Wright, a keen referee of junior soccer, finally hung up his boots last season. He decided to walk away for good. He said “Every week I have had to take abuse and I’ve had enough of it.”
“Parents’ behaviour is reducing many school teachers, referees, coaches and volunteers to despair.”
The kids are suffering    Jim Peter, a referee, said, “We are getting desperate and the kids are suffering.” He described the way spectators（觀眾）behave as abysmal and getting worse year by year. The big question is why so many parents shame their children in this way. Aggressive Behavior Contracts may have to be introduced to stop the violence and abuse. If not, the game will suffer.
Sign up to good conduct    Last season players and parents were made to sign a new good behavior contract. “If a parent breaks the contract, I take his or her child off the pitch and get him or her to explain why I have done so to the child,” said Marc Nash, Wallsend’s assistant leader.
“The next step is to ban both the parent and the child, but happily, so far this has not been necessary.”
小題1:A number of junior soccer matches were abandoned last season because       .

A．players abused spectators in the matches

B．parent fans swore and fought outside the pitch

C．school teachers persuaded the government to call them off

D．referees and coaches fought on the touchline

小題2:Who’s an assistant leader in the passage?

A．Marc Nash.

B．Jim Peter.

C．Peter Wright.

D．Wallsend.

小題3:The underlined word “abysmal” in the passage means       .

A．extremely bad

B．weak

C．disappointing

D．impolite