Two magazines recently listed the best cities to live in. Here are two of the cities listed as “the world’s best.”
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA  The city has comfortable weather all year round (15℃ to 26℃). Housing is not very expensive in San Jose. Also, many of the city’s older neighborhoods are very beautiful and have small hotels and cafés.Beautiful mountains are around the city. Lots of people go sightseeing there every year. But air pollution is a problem in the city center.
HONG KONG, CHINA   This lively city—once a small fishing village—is today an international business center. It is an interesting mix of East and West, old and new. Modern tall buildings are next to small temples (廟宇). Popular nightclubs are close to traditional teahouses. Busy people fill the streets at all hours of the day. But outside the city, there are parks for walking or relaxing. Hong Kong is famous for its wonderful native dishes. There’s also food from Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia. However, this small city has a large population of nearly seven million! That’s why housing is often very expensive. Traffic and air pollution are also a problem.
【小題1】Which of the following is NOT mentioned about San Jose?

In China, people talk about “Shuxiang”, which is very interesting. For example, 2006 is a “dog year”, and when a baby is born in this year, we say he or she is a little dog. Shuxiang usually brings people good luck. There are 12 animals below.
 social, having rich feelings, friendly but complaining
 hard, ordered, but keeping old
 brave, confident, but careless
 peaceful, having a good manner, a business head but cold emotion
 active, outgoing, popular but selfish
 fascinating(迷人的), thoughtful, but doubtful
 active, self-confident, wise but proud and angry
 kind, helpful, elegant but sad
 wide, clever, warm, unsatisfied but slick(圓滑的)
 confident, helpful, happy, but dressy
 realistic, loyal(忠誠(chéng)的), practical
 hard, honest, simple, lucky but careless
6. When a baby is born in 2008, we can say he or she is a little     .
A. pig             B. rat             C. tiger       D. snake
7. If we call a boy a little horse, when was he born?
A. In 1998.       B. In 2000.    C. In 2002.    D. In 2004.
8. Mr Lu, our English teacher, was born in 1976, a dragon year. Can you choose the right description of his characteristics?
A. He is a active, self-confident, resourceful but proud and angry
B. He is kind, helpful, artistic but sad
C. He is active, outgoing, popular but selfish
D. He is fascinating, thoughtful but dressy and doubtful
9. If someone is brave, confident but careless, we can guess he was born in a    year.
A. rat            B. dog         C. horse       D. tiger
10. Which of the following is not true?
A. In China, when me talk about “Shuxiang”, it means twelve animals.
B. From the passage, we can know 2010 is a hare year.
C. Shuxiang perhaps brings you good luck, but we shouldn’t believe it.
D. A cock year always comes after a monkey year.

You may hear someone say, ‘It’s raining cats and dogs.’ We know it means it’s raining hard. Here is how it comes.
There are many large rats in a country. People need cats. But there are many mountains in the country. It’s hard for a plane to land (著陸）． So the cats come down by parachute（降落傘）．
In another country, the people need dogs to find people in the snow. Where can they get the dogs? You can guess. The dogs also come down by parachute.
These cats and dogs are helping the people. And the people often say it rains cats and dogs.
5. What does the sentence ‘It’s raining cats and dogs.’ mean?
A. We put the cats and the dogs in the sky.     B. It means ‘It’s raining hard’.
C. people like cats and dogs.                D. Cats and dogs are helping the people
6. Why do the cats come down by parachute?
A. Because it’s not safe (安全的).     B. Because there are many mountains in the country:
C. Because people need cats.        D. Because it’s quick to carry the cats.
7. From the article, we can know rats mean ________.
A. 大象          B. 猴子           C. 老鼠           D. 熊貓

We call the Chinese New Year the Spring Festival（春節(jié)）. There is a name for each Chinese year. We may call it the year of the sheep , the year of the monkey or the year of the dog. And this year is the year of the horse.
Before New Year’s Day, people are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. On New Year’s Eve, there is a big family dinner. After dinner, all the family stay up late to welcome the New Year. On the first day of the New Year, people put on their new clothes and go to visit their friends and relatives（親戚）. They say “good luck” and some other greetings to each other. People usually have a very good time during the festival.
【小題1】How many Chinese festivals are talked about (談?wù)摚﹊n this passage ?

Father’s Day has a very short history. It started because there was a Mother’s Day, and just because some Americans thought that if we had a Mother’s Day, we should also have a Father’s Day. Father’s Day has become important in North America. And businesses(商人) found it was a good way to get people to buy a present for their fathers, a present from their shops.
By the way, very few countries have a Father’s Day, though（雖然） some have a Children’s Day, or a special day for boys and another for girls. More and more countries are having Mother’s Day, so maybe Father’s Day will also become popular before long. Now, what do people in North America do on Father’s Day? The newspapers, radios, and TV tell children what they should do --- buy, buy, buy, buy, buy a Father’s Day present for your father. They even tell a wife to buy, buy, buy, and buy a Father’s Day present --- not for her father but for her husband, even if（即使） he is not yet a father. And they tell grandchildren to buy, buy, buy and buy a Father’s Day present for their grandfathers.
The important thing to remember about Father’s Day is that American children can show their love to their fathers in a more open way.
閱讀短文，判斷正誤，正確的用“T”，錯(cuò)誤的用“F”：
【小題1】Father’s Day started just because businesses wanted to get a lot of money.
【小題2】 The word “special” in the second paragraph means “not usual”.
【小題3】 In America, people have a Father’s Day to show their love for their fathers.
【小題4】 On Father’s Day, businesses always want people to buy as many as presents.
【小題5】It can be learned from the passage that Father’s Day will become more important than Mother’s Day.

Two magazines recently listed the best cities to live in. Here are two of the cities listed as “the world’s best.”
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA  The city has comfortable weather all year round (15℃ to 26℃). Housing is not very expensive in San Jose. Also, many of the city’s older neighborhoods are very beautiful and have small hotels and cafés.Beautiful mountains are around the city. Lots of people go sightseeing there every year. But air pollution is a problem in the city center.
HONG KONG, CHINA    This lively city—once a small fishing village—is today an international business center. It is an interesting mix of East and West, old and new. Modern tall buildings are next to small temples (廟宇). Popular nightclubs are close to traditional teahouses. Busy people fill the streets at all hours of the day. But outside the city, there are parks for walking or relaxing. Hong Kong is famous for its wonderful native dishes. There’s also food from Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia. However, this small city has a large population of nearly seven million! That’s why housing is often very expensive. Traffic and air pollution are also a problem.
【小題1】Which of the following is NOT mentioned about San Jose?

All around the world, people drink tea. But tea does not mean the same thing to everyone. In different countries people have very different ideas about drinking tea.
In China, for example, tea is always served when people get together. The Chinese drink it at any time of the day at homes or in teahouses. They like their tea with nothing else in it.
Tea is also important in Japan. The Japanese have a special way of serving tea called a tea ceremony(儀式). It is very old and full of meaning. There is even a special room for it in Japanese homes.
Another tea drinking country is England. In England, the late afternoon is teatime. Almost everyone has a cup of tea. The English usually make tea in a teapot and drink it with milk and sugar. They also eat cakes, cookies and little sandwiches at teatime.
In the United States people often drink tea for breakfast or after meals. Americans usually use tea bags to make their tea. In summer, many Americans drink cold tea—“iced tea”. Sometimes they drink iced tea from cans, like soda(梳打).
【小題1】How many countries are there in the text to drink tea?

In the United States, sixteen, eighteen, and twenty-one are important ages in a person’s life. There are no special celebrations for these birthdays, but each is a time when a person can do new things to mark their transition(轉(zhuǎn)變) into adulthood.
After turning sixteen a person can work, get a driver’s license and leave home. Many high school students learn to drive and get part-time jobs soon after celebrating their sixteenth birthday.
At the age of eighteen a person in the United States can vote and smoke, but they are prohibited from going into nightclubs, buying wine or gambling(賭博) until they are twenty-one.
In many Latin(拉丁的) cultures, a young woman’s fifteenth birthday is important. At this age, she is regarded as an adult. To mark this special day, families with teenage daughters have a celebration called a Quinceanera. The day begins with the young woman and her family going to church. Later, there is a party and many guests are invited.
In Japan, young people became adults at twenty. At this age, they can legally(合法地) vote, drink wine and smoke. The second Monday in January is a national holiday called “Coming of Age Day”. On this day, twenty-year-old celebrates by first going to church to pray with their families. Later, they listen to speeches given by city and school leaders. Afterward, they may celebrate with family or friends late into the night.
In some countries, birthday celebrations continue through adulthood. Some people celebrate their fortieth and fiftieth birthdays, or their retirement(退休) year, with a huge party.
【小題1】 In the United States, age sixteen marks the time when you can ___________.

We recycle(回收利用）rubbish, so why not language? Recycling language means using vocabulary that you have learnt before again and again. However, unlike rubbish that piles up(堆積)in our environment. if we do not recycle language, we simply forget it. So how do you recycle language?
There are basically three ways to do it. The first is through reading. Go back to your favourite articles and read them once more. Just reread them and do not worry about each vocabulary item. If there are some that you are not sure about, make a guess and you will probably guess right. The second way to recycle is through writing. Look at some of your favourite articles and write either a short paragraph or a few sentences in your own words. After you have done this a few times, go back and read through what you have written, checking vocabulary functions. Don’t worry if you have made mistakes. That’s how you learn. The third way to recycle language is by having an imaginary chat with yourself about your favourite articles at home. You can pretend there is someone with you who speaks English and tell him what you are thinking about or how you feel.
(     )12. According to the passage, recycling language means ______.
A. repeating vocabulary at times    B. revising vocabulary at a proper time
C. learning new vocabulary as much as possible
D. using vocabulary that we have learnt very often
(     )13. If we recycle language, it may ______.
A. be kept in our mind                   B. be forgotten easily
C. pile up in our environment            D. disappear from our mind soon
(     )14. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in recycling language?
A. Reading.        B. Listening.       C. Writing.        D. Speaking.
(     )15. Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?
A. Why to Recycle Language              B. How to Learn Vocabulary
C. How to Recycle Language              D. Why to Learn Vocabulary