There were red faces at one of Britain’s biggest banks recently. They had accepted a telephone order to buy ￡100,000 worth of shares from a 15-year-old schoolboy (they thought he was 21). The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up. The bank lost ￡20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back, because, for one thing, the young boy does not have the money, for another, being under 18, he is not legally liable for his debts. If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell, he would have pocketed ￡20,000 profit. It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper. In another case, a boy of 14 found, in his grandmother’s house, a suitcase full of foreign banknotes. But they were now not used in their country of origin or anywhere else. This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his pockets filled with notes. The cashiers did not realize the country in question had reduced the value of its currency by 90%. They exchanged the notes at their face value at the current exchange rate. In three days, before he was found out, he took ￡200,000 from nine different banks. Amazingly, he had already spent more than half of this before the police caught up with him. Because he is also under 18 the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money, and several cashiers have lost their jobs.
Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising and showing initiative or condemn them for their dishonesty? Maybe they had managed for years with tiny amounts of pocket money that they got from tight-fisted parents. Maybe they had done Saturday jobs for peanuts. It is hardly surprising, given the expensive things that young people want to buy, such as fashionable running shoes and computer games, if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of making money than delivering newspapers. These youngsters saw the chance to make a lot of money and took it.
Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his six-year-old daughter￡300 a week pocket money. He then charged her for the food she ate a few coins for her piggy bank（存錢灌）“She will soon learn the value of money, ” he said. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better.” At the other extreme there are fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown-up children, While even the most hard-hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets, we all know of people in their twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents. Surely there comes a time when everyone has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life. But when is it?
小題1:.
Recently one of Britain’s biggest banks _____.
A．bought a lot of shares for a customer and brought him a great loss
B．lost money as its young customer had no money to pay his debts
C．lost much money because the shares they bought fell in value
D．received a telephone order to buy shares for a 21-year-old boy
小題2:.
. The author’s attitude to the example of the two boys who cheated the banks is _____.
A．objectiveB．subjectiveC．questioningD．negative
小題3:.
The man paid his daughter ￡300 a week pocket money and then required her to pay for her living expenses because _____.
A．he wanted her to know making money was not easy
B．he wanted to save money for her future education
C．he thought it useful for family members to bear life hardships together
D．he wanted her to learn the value of money
小題4:.
It can be concluded from the passage that the author believes that _____.
A．children should leave the parental nest as soon as possible
B．grown-up children should live on their own
C．children should be taught not to cheat others
D．parents should give more pocket money to their children

小題1:.B
小題1:.A
小題1:.D
小題1:.B

小題1:根據(jù)he bank lost ￡20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back, because, for one thing, the young boy does not have the money, for another, being under 18, he is not legally liable for his debts.可知選B。
小題1:根據(jù)It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper.可知作者的態(tài)度比較符合實際，故選A。
小題1:根據(jù)“She will soon learn the value of money, ” he said.這句話可知選D。
小題1:根據(jù)Surely there comes a time when everyone has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life.孩子們肯定有離開父母的一天，自己照顧自己并支付自己的生活費用，可知選B，依靠自己生活。
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

We use the Internet for many things: business, shopping, writing letters, talking to people, finding information and so on. In recent years, a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There’s no real word for it yet, so we’ll call it e-talk. People don’t like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases into a few letters (called acronyms). Acronyms are often used in chat rooms(聊天室). Some of them are:
BTW(by the way);  BRB(be right back);  LOL(laughing out loud);  IMO(in my opinion)
People also use many abbreviations. They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations are:
info(information);   puter(computer);    pic(picture);     sec(second)
We ususally don’t see people when we communicate on the Internet, so people have new ways to show feelings. Most people use their keyboards to draw “feelings”, such as:
:-) (happy);     ;-)(joking);        :-((sad);       :-O(surprised)
These days, many forums(論壇)have picture feelings. For example:
           
(happy)              (sad)               (angry)               (cool)
There are even whole new words, like ”newbie’s” (someone who is new on a chat board or forum). When you write something bad about someone else, it’s called “flaming” the person.
It takes time for people to get used to e-talk. Also, different groups on the Net have their own special ways of communicating. Newbie’s sometimes have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internet grows, e-talk will continue to grow and change.
小題1:Why do people type acronyms?
A．To show their feelings.B．To make jokes.
C．To save time.D．In this way newbie’s won’t understand them.
小題2:What does “BTW, my computer is not working well, :-( ”mean?
A．The person is happy about getting a new computer.
B．The person has to go away from his/her computer.
C．The person is angry at somebody.
D．The person is sad that his computer is having problems.
小題3: If someone is angry, what may he type?
A．B．BRBC．LOLD．
小題4:E-talk will probably_______.
A．keep changingB．stay the same
C．be used by people on the telephoneD．be easy for newbie’s to understand.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

From the health point of view we are living in an amazing age. We are free from many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once deadly illnesses can now be cured by modern medicine. It is almost certain that one day medicines will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased greatly. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the unbelievable killing of men, women and children on the roads. Man vs the motor-car! It is a never-ending battle which man is losing.
Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.
It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel(方向盤), his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering-wheel. They say, they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-year-olds and completely selfish. A.. their hidden angers and disappointments seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.
The surprising thing is that society smiles so gently on the motorist and seems to forgive his behavior. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy traffic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is ruined by road networks; and the deaths become nothing more than a number every year, to be easily forgotten.
It is high time a world rule was created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are unbelievable lenient(寬容的) and even the strictest are not strict enough. A rule which was universally accepted could only have an obviously beneficial effect on the accident rate. Here are a few examples of some of the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through strict tests for safety each year. Even the smallest amount of alcohol in the blood can damage a person’s driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws(where they exist) should be made much stricter. Speed limits should be required on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for car factories, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stress power and performance should be banned. These measures may not sound good enough. But surely nothing should be considered as too severe if it results in reducing the number of deaths. After all, the world is for human beings, not motor-cars.
小題1:.What is the main idea of this passage?
A．Traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists.
B．Thousands of people the world over are killed each year.
C．The laws of some countries about driving are to lenient.
D．Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents.
小題2:. What does the author think of society toward motorists?
A．Society laughs at the motorists.B．Huge car parks are build in the cities and towns.
C．Victims of accidents are nothing.D．Society forgives their rude driving
小題3:.What does the author mean by saying “his car becomes the extension of his personality” in Paragraph 2?
A．Driving can show his hidden qualitiesB．Driving can show the other part of his personality
C．Driving can bring out his characterD．Driving can represent his manners
小題4:. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way against traffic accidents?
A．Perfect the road networkB．Stricter driving tests
C．Test drivers every three yearsD．Raise age limit and lay down safety specifications
小題5:. The author’s attitude towards the traffic situation is ______.
A．confusedB．discontentedC．appealingD．doubtful

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad(一時的風尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” —and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer —which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet —adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear —popular in the US and UK—that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”.
A slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes(前綴) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came to use..
Most “i” products are targeted at young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College. London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines.” Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability(輕便),” adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend inevitably disappeared.
(   ) 小題1:. People use iPlayer to        .
A．listen to musicB．make a call
C．watch TV programs onlineD．read newspapers
(   ) 小題2:. We can infer that the Independent’s “i” is aimed at         .
A．young readersB．old readersC．fashionable womenD．engineers
(   ) 小題3:. The underlined word “ambiguous” means         .
A．popularB．uncertainC．definiteD．unique
(   )小題4:. Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are         .
A．portableB．environmentally friendlyC．advancedD．recyclable
(   ) 小題5:.. The writer suggests that         .
A．“i” products are often of a high quality
B．the popularity of “i” products may not last long
C．the letter “b” replaces letter “i” to name the products
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Electric ears are dirty.In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about "zero-emissions vehicles", but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators. Generators are fueled by something---usually coal, oil,but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. It's just because the coal is burned somewhere else that it looks clean. It is not. It's as if the California Greens are. covering their eyes---"If I can't see it, it's not happening." Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it.But when you take that gas (or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat---at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far---so electric cars bum more fuel than gas-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes; or geothermal,or hydro, or solar, or wind,then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical,and economic reasons,we don't use much of those energy sources.
In addition,electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill.And finally, When cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though, all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
小題1: What does "clueless" mean in paragraph 2?
A．People are seeing the California Greens everywhere.
B．People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles.
C．People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.
D．People there have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning
coal, oil,etc.
小題2: What is the main idea of the passage?
A．Electric cars are not clean at all
B．Electric cars are better than gasoline-powered ones.
C．People cast doubts on electric cars' batteries.
D．Gasoline is an efficient way to powera vehicle.
小題3: The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our ear run         
A．not less than 25 milesB．more than 25 miles
C．no more than 25 milesD．not more than 25 miles
小題4: According to the passage, electric cars                 .
A．do not burn fuel and more environmentally-friendly
B．are toxic because it is difficult for nature to clean it up when their
batteries are buried in one spot.
C．are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated
D．are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill
小題5: It can be inferred from the passage that                 
A．being green is good and should be encouraged in communication
B．electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning
something
C．zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment
D．electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered
cousins

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happen to be that unfairly treated member of society --- a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I am convinced the things are being run solely to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a deceptive (欺騙的) new motto for so-called “service” organizations --- Staff Before Service.
　　 How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there were not enough staff on duty to man all the service grilles or checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to hire cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that uncovering all their cash registers at any one time would increase operating costs. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied “at times when demand is low”.
　　  It is the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is cut short. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There is also the nonsense of so many friendly hotel night porters having been thrown out of their jobs in the interests of “efficiency” and replaced by coin-eating machines which offer everything from lager to laxatives (從貯藏啤酒到通便劑). Not to mention the tea-making kit in your room: a kettle with a mixed collection of tea bags, plastic milk boxes and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I do not, especially when I am paying for “service”.
　　Can it be stopped, this worsening of service, this growing attitude that the customer is always a bore? I angrily hope so because it is happening, sadly, in all walks of life.
　　Our only hope is to hammer home our anger whenever and wherever we can and, if all else fails, bring back into practice that other, older slogan --- Take Our Deal Elsewhere.
小題1:The writer feels that nowadays customers __________.
A．deserve the lowest status in society
B．are unworthy of proper consideration
C．have received high quality service
D．have become victims of modern organizations
小題2:The writer argues that the quality of service is changing because __________.
A．customers’ demands have greatly changed
B．the staff receive more consideration than customers
C．customers’ needs have become more complex
D．staff members are less considerate than their employers
小題3: According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by __________.
A．not having enough male staff on duty
B．difficulties in hiring more efficient staff
C．lack of cooperation between staff members
D．not providing enough staff on purpose to reduce budget
小題4:The writer suggests that a customer __________.
A．be patient when queuing before checkout counters
B．put up with the rude manners of the staff
C．try to control his temper when ill-treated
D．go to other places where good service is available

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Hurry! Time to “steal vegetables”
Don't be afraid! We are not encouraging the stealing behavior, but to tell you maybe the most popular topic from white-collars' mouth in cities. Together with "How many vegetables do you steal today," "it's harvest time for your ripe peach," "I bought you a new car today."
Are there so many people in the city really have their own farms, or are they really so rich to buy someone else cars casually?
The answer is obviously negative. They just play some games on Social Network Sites (SNS) like kaixin001.com.
Can you imagine that more than millions of people in Chinese mainland will spend lots of time on SNS to play game and talk to friends, especially white-collars who work in the cities? Take kaixin001.com as an example, the current member of it has already hit 38 million.
However, the great number of people who would like to use such SNS indicates another social problem. That is lots of people choose to escape from the reality. And SNS just offer them a Virtual space to forget the reality.
Kinds of games and various of friends do give netizens lots of fun. Though indulging, dreaming, chatting and playing , it seems like people could really escape from all the upsets in reality. But virtual world is not real and no one can live in it forever, and reality is not that simple like noodling around on the internet.
Since this kind of social phenomenon is so popular on the internet, people start thinking to remove it in the reality.After playing the "happy farm" game on kaixin001.com, would you like to put yourself among the real corps while smelling the fragrance of the countryside? Recently, a farm land service called "happy farm in reality" was opened in the suburbs of Shanghai where white-collar workers from around that region can experience the real farmer's life by themselves
小題1:What is the topic of the passage?
A．It’s time to” steal vegetables.”
B．a computer game called “Happy Farm”
C．open a farm in reality
D．something behind the game “Happy Farm”
小題2:Why are so many people interested in “Happy Farm”?
A．Because they like playing computer games.
B．Because it offers them a virtual space to escape from reality.
C．because they can talk and play with their friends at the same time.
D．because they can harvest peaches.
小題3:Which group are the majority playing the “Happy Farm” game?
A．FarmersB．White-collarsC．workersD．students
小題4:What’s the author’s attitude towards the “ Happy Farm” game?
A．positiveB．worriedC．neutralD．we don’t know

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements. Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us. In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses.
Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing. An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong. These days, advertisers not only offer free samples, but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well. They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory. They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener. The response to this competition was tremendous. Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory. One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds. A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole of his car. All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed. The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize. But just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2,400 pounds. It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1,000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients. It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry. The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24,000.
小題1:.
. Why have advertisers made a close study of human weakness?
A．They thought it was very interesting to do so.
B．They wanted to persuade the customers to buy their products.
C．They thought it was their duty.
D．They wanted to research how much people spend buying their products.
小題2:.
. Why do advertisers offer free samples and other things to people?
A．They use them to attract people’s attention.
B．Their advertisements have little effect on customers.
C．Different means are being used to cheat people.
D．They produce too many products that can’t be sold out.
小題3:.
From the last paragraph, we know that the factory failed to expect _______.
A．how many people would take an interest in the competition
B．how many ingredients are needed to bake a large biscuit
C．it was possible to bake a biscuit as large as the student’s
D．the payment wouldn’t be as high as $ 24,000

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Fear and its companion pain are two of the most useful things that men and animals possess, if they are properly used. If fire did not hurt when it burnt, children would play with it until their hands were burnt away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear didn’t, a child would burn himself or herself again and again, because fear would not warn himself or herself to keep away from the fire that had burnt himself or herself before. A really fearless soldier—and some do exist is not a good soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army. Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which men and animals might soon die out.
In our first sentence we suggested that fear should be properly used. If, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much. Even in your house you are not absolutely safe: an aeroplane may crash on your house, or ants may eat away some of the beams in your roof so that the latter falls on you, or you may get cancer!
The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead to use fear as your servant and guide. Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take.
In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger. For example, you see a car coming straight towards you. Fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well.
In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you can’t prevent an aeroplane crashing onto your house. In this case, fear has given you its warning; you have examined it and decided on your course of action, so fear of this particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it.
小題1:Children would play with fire until their hands were burnt away if _________.
A．they were given no warning beforehand
B．they had never burnt themselves
C．they had no sense of painD．they were fearful of the fire
小題2: A really fearless soldier _____________.
A．is of great use to the armyB．is not a real soldier
C．is nothing but a dead soldierD．easily gets killed in a battle
小題3:People sometimes succeed in timely avoiding the danger because _________.
A．they have gained experienceB．they jump out of the way in time
C．they are calm in the face of danger
D．they are warned of the danger by fear and take quick action
小題4:What's the writer's suggestion when the danger can't be avoided?
A．You have to try to overcome it.B．Fear can really help you to run away.
C．Fear always helps you stay safe.D．Fear is of great use to you.

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