Recently, one of my best friends, whom I've shared just about everything with since the first day of kindergarten, spent the weekend with me. Since I moved to a new town several years ago，we've both always looked forward to the few times a year when we can see each other.
Over the weekend, we spent hours and hours, staying up late into the night, talking about the people she was hanging around with. She started telling me stories about her new boyfriend, about how he experimented with drugs and was into other self­destructive（自我毀滅的） behavior. I was blown away! She told me how she had been lying to her parents about where she was going and even stealing out to see this guy because they didn't want her around him. No matter how hard I tried to tell her that she deserved better, she didn't believe me. Her self­respect seemed to have disappeared.
I tried to convince her that she was ruining her future and heading for big trouble. I felt like I was getting nowhere. I just couldn't believe that she really  thought it was acceptable to hang out with a group of losers, especially her boyfriend.
By the time she left，I was really worried about her and exhausted by the experience. It had been so frustrating，I had come close to telling her several times during the weekend that maybe we had just grown too far apart to continue our friendship, but I didn't. I put the power of friendship to the final test. We'd been friends for far too long. I had to hope that she valued me enough to know that I was trying to save her from hurting herself. I wanted to believe that our friendship could conquer anything.
A few days later, she called to say that she had thought long and hard about our conversation, and then she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend. I just listened on the other end of the phone with tears of joy running down my face. It was one of the truly rewarding moments in my life. Never had I been so proud of a friend

1. 1.

   In the writer's opinion，her friend ________

   1. A.
      was a girl with no self­respect
   2. B.
      could find a better boyfriend
   3. C.
      was brave enough to stick to her own choice
   4. D.
      didn't value the writer's suggestion
2. 2.

   What did the writer worry about?

   1. A.
      She would lose the friendship with her
   2. B.
      Her friend's parents would be worried about their daughter
   3. C.
      Her friend would get into great trouble with the boy
   4. D.
      Her friend's boyfriend would be in great trouble
3. 3.

   We may learn from Paragraph 3 that the writer________

   1. A.
      didn't want to go anywhere else
   2. B.
      understood her friend's hanging with her boyfriend
   3. C.
      couldn't believe that her friend's choice was acceptable
   4. D.
      doubted that she could in any way help her friend
4. 4.

   What can be concluded from the passage?

   1. A.
      Friendship starting from childhood is not reliable
   2. B.
      Friendship is a cure for any injury in life
   3. C.
      Friendship should be everlasting once begun
   4. D.
      Friendship can have magical power in life

Our village carpenter(木匠), John Hill, came one day and made a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I got home that evening, John was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill for the job.
My wife said to me quietly, “It’s his ninth cup of tea today.” But she said in a loud voice, “It is a beautiful table, dear, isn’t it?”
“I will decide about that when I see the bill, ” I read:
One dining table, 10 November, 1989.
Cost of wood: ＄17.00
Paint: ＄1.50
Work: 8 hours (＄1 an hour) ＄8.00
Total: ＄36.50
When I was looking at the bill, John said, “It’s been a fine day, hasn’t it? Quite sunny.” “Yes,” I said, “I’m glad it is only the 10^th of November.”
“Me, too,” said John. “You wait. It’ll be a lot colder by the end of the month.”
“Yes, colder…. And more expensive! Dining tables will be ＄20 more expensive on November 30^th, won’t they, John?” John looked hard at me for half a minute. Was there a little smile in his two blue eyes? I gave his bill back to him.
“If it isn’t too much trouble, John,” I said, “Please add it up again and you can forget the date.”
I paid him ＄26.50and he was happy to get it.

1. 1.

   Why did John talk about the weather when the writer was looking at the bill?_______

   1. A.
      Because he didn’t want the writer to go through the bill carefully.
   2. B.
      Because it was really a fine day.
   3. C.
      Because he wanted the writer to check the bill carefully.
   4. D.
      Because he wanted to tell the writer what the weather was like.
2. 2.

   Why did the writer say that dining table would be＄ 20 more expensive on November 30^th ?__________ 

   1. A.
      Because it was difficult to make dining tables in cold weather.
   2. B.
      Because paint would be more expensive.
   3. C.
      Because the cost of wood would be more expensive.
   4. D.
      Because he thought John would certainly add to the cost of the dining table.
3. 3.

   From the story we know that _____________

   1. A.
      John made a mistake in the bill.
   2. B.
      John tried to fool the writer in order to get more money for his work
   3. C.
      John had written out the bill before the writer got home.
   4. D.
      John still wanted to get ＄36.50 for his work in the end.

Over the past 20 years, AIDS and war have claimed the parents of 2．4 million Ugandan children．When Alexis Hefley first visited the country,, in 1993, she saw the children’s sorrow, but the former Texas banker also spotted "a world of possibility"．She watched as they danced for tourists to earn money, and she had a thought: If people in America could see them perform, they’d support them too．                   
The children’s passion and talent inspired Hefley to work with the kids at an orphanage（孤兒院）in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, to organize a traveling dance troupe（團）．The goals: to give the problems in Uganda a human face, to raise awareness and to raise money．
The first tour touched down at six American cities in 1994．Today, the 22-member troupe, known as the Spirit of Uganda, travels across America every two years．The young performers bring their energy and joy to audiences across the U．S．and help support hundreds of Ugandan orphans back home．Among the young dancers, some earn scholarships to attend the U．S．colleges, and then return to their country to help rebuild it．
Photojournalist Douglas Menuez first photographed the troupe in 2006 -?a project that led to his new book, Transcendent Spirit, from which these images are drawn．At each performance, the dancers’ faces show pure joy, quite an achievement given the hardships they’ve faced．"They look to the future, not the past," explains Menuez．"They embrace beauty and good in the world．" As one dancer puts it, "People think we have lost our parents．We’ve had so many problems．But then they see us perform．They see our smiles．And they learn that life goes on．"

1. 1.

   What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?

   1. A.
      How miserable Ugandan orphans’ life is．
   2. B.
      How the dance troupe was set up．
   3. C.
      How the young dancers earned money．
   4. D.
      How the orphans lost their parents．
2. 2.

   What do we learn about the Spirit of Uganda?

   1. A.
      It was started by a journalist．
   2. B.
      It travels across the U．S．annually．
   3. C.
      It consists of two dozen performers．
   4. D.
      Its dancers have chances to study in the U．S．
3. 3.

   In the eyes of Menuez, the young performers are______.
   

   1. A.
      beautiful
   2. B.
      talented
   3. C.
      optimistic
   4. D.
      humorous
4. 4.

   What might be the most suitable title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Ugandan orphans turn tragedy into dance
   2. B.
      Transcendent Spirit: A close look at Uganda
   3. C.
      AIDS and war are claiming people’s lives
   4. D.
      Lots of people are helping Ugandan orphans

An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money left. When she heard her daddy say to her  1  mother with whispered desperation（絕望）, “  2  a miracle（奇跡） can save him now”, the little girl went to her bedroom and took out her piggy bank. She   3  all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Then she   4  her way six blocks to the local drugstore（藥店）.

“And what do you want?” asked the chemist.

“It’s   5  my little brother,”  the girl answered back. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a   6   . His name is Andrew and he has something  7  growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him.”

“We don’t   8   miracles here, child．I’m sorry,” the chemist said, smiling   9  at the little girl.

In the shop was a   10  customer. He stooped (彎腰) down and asked the little girl, “What kind of miracle does your brother   11   ?”

“I don’t know,” she replied．“He’s really sick and mommy says he needs   12   . But my daddy can’t pay for it, so I have brought my  13   .”

“How much do you have?” asked the man.

“One dollar and eleven cents,   14  I can try and get some more,”  she answered quietly.

“Well, what a coincidence（巧合）,”  smiled the man.  “A dollar and eleven cents — the   15  price of a miracle for little brothers.  16  me to where you live. I want to see your brother and   17  your parents.”

That well dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon（外科醫生）. The operation was completed without   18  and it wasn’t long before Andrew was   19  again and doing well.

The little girl was happy. She knew exactly how much the miracle cost ... one dollar and eleven cents ... plus the   20  of a little child.

1．  A．tearful          B．hopeful        C．helpless         D．kind

2．  A．Simply         B．Just            C．Only          D．More than

3．  A．drew        B．pulled            C．put           D．poured

4．  A．followed      B．made           C．took         D．found

5．  A．to             B．as               C．for            D．on

6．  A．hope         B．doctor         C．favor          D．miracle

7．  A．bad          B．small           C．extra         D．impossible

8．  A．have         B．offer           C．sell             D．store

9．  A．gently           B．sadly         C．strangely        D．coldly

10．A．well dressed     B．kind hearted     C．well behaved    D．good looking

11．A．have         B．need            C．care           D．like

12．A．a doctor       B．a surgeon         C．an operation   D．a kindness

13．A．savings        B．wishes          C．ideas            D．suggestions

14．A．since        B．as                C．after                D．but

15．A．same        B．exact            C．proper         D．necessary

16．A．Show          B．Help             C．Take            D．Follow

17．A．help          B．encourage         C．persuade        D．meet

18．A．difficulty      B．delay            C．charge          D．result

19．A．happy           B．well            C．strong           D．home

20． A．cleverness   B．faith            C．courage         D．devotion

The wonders of Virtual Reality (VR) (虛擬現實) can now take you back into a world that no person has ever seen. In this amazing new VR game, you will go back __1__ 100 million years, and live among the dinosaurs (恐龍).

You will __2__ dinosaurs eat, sleep and fight. You will admire the great __3__ of the strange flowers and huge trees.

You will __4__ a huge, friendly dinosaur with your hands. You will glide- through the __5__ on the back of a flying dinosaur and look down on the land and seas far __6__ you.

You will watch a terrifying struggle, as two of the world’s most __7__ and dangerous dinosaurs fight each other right in front of you. You will __8__ down into the deep seas, and discover mysterious dinosaurs __9__.

Remember that, as in all VR games, you will enjoy all these experiences in complete __10__. This is an excellent, exciting and educational game which brings the world of the dinosaurs to life as never before.

A. at age      B. in time       C. for      D. to

A. see   B. watch  C. stare   D. glance at

A. beauty     B. smell  C. bloom D. figure

A. feed B. train   C. catch   D. rescue

A. land B. water  C. air      D. sea

A. under      B. above  C. below D. behind

A. fierce      B. tame   C. talented      D. naughty

A. jump       B. drop   C. fall     D. dive

A. in the past       B. on the ground    C. under the water  D. in the forest

A. loneliness      B. danger       C. happiness   D. safety