San Francisco has many museums. You can visit one and learn something new. We have art, science, history and other special museums. Some museums are open every day. Some are only open on certain days. Some museums are expensive, and others are free. But some of the expensive ones have free days. Many museums have websites. The websites usually have information about the things you can see in the museums.
On a museum’s website you can get information about ticket prices and free days. You can also know where the museum is and when it is open. Sometimes you have to click on the words like Visit, Information, or About to find the information. That will be hard work for you.
小題1:San Francisco has many museums for you to visit and ______.

A．learn something new	B．play computer games
C．watch the movies	D．click on Information

小題2:Some museums in San Francisco are open every day, but some are only open ______.

A．on weekdays	B．on weekends
C．on certain days	D．on holidays

小題3:Many museums have ______ with information about the things you can see in them.

A．ticket prices	B．their websites
C．open hours	D．free days

He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.
"What's the matter, Schatz?"
"I've got a headache."
"You better go back to bed."
"No. I'm all right."
"You go to bed. I'll see you when I'm dressed."
But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.
"You go up to bed," I said, "You're sick."
"I'm all right," he said.
When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature.
"What's is it?" I asked him.
"One hundred and two."
Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules（膠囊） with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative(瀉藥), the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza（流感）can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic(傳染病；傳染性的) of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia（肺炎）.
Back in the room I wrote the boy's temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules.
"Do you want me to read to you?"
"All right. If you want to, " said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached（超然的；冷漠的）from what was going on.
I read aloud from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates（海盜）;but I could see he was not following what I was reading.
"How do you feel, Schatz?" I asked him.
"Just the same, so far," he said.
I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed, looking very strangely.
"Why don't you try to sleep? I'll wake you up for the medicine."
"I'd rather stay awake."
After a while he said to me, "You don't have to stay in here with me, Papa, if it bothers you."
"It doesn't bother me."
"No, I mean you don't have to stay if it's going to bother you."
I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the prescribed capsules at eleven o'clock I went out with my gun and the young hunting dog….I killed two quail(鵪鶉), and missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey of quail close to the house and happy there were so many left to find on another day.
At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room.
"You can't come in," he said. "You mustn't get what I have."
I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed（發(fā)紅）by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed.
I took his temperature.
"What is it?"
"Something like a hundred," I said. It was one hundred and two and four tenths.
"It was a hundred and two," he said.
"Who said so?"
"The doctor."
"Your temperature is all right," I said. "It's nothing to worry about."
"I don't worry," he said, "but I can't keep from thinking."
"Don't think," I said. "Just take it easy."
"I'm taking it easy," he said and looked straight ahead, He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something.
"Take this with water."
"Do you think it will do any good?"
"Of course it will."
I sat down and opened the Pirate book and began to read, but I could see he was not following, so I stopped.
"About what time do you think I'm going to die?" he asked.
"What?"
"About how long will it be before I die?"
"You aren't going to die. What's the matter with you? "
"Oh, yes, I am, I heard him say a hundred and two."
"People don't die with a fever of one hundred and two. That's a silly way to talk."
"I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can't live with forty-four degrees. I've got a hundred and two."
He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o'clock in the morning.
"You poor Schatz," I said. "Poor old Schatz. It's like miles and kilometers. You aren't going to die. That's different thermometer（溫度計(jì)）. On that thermometer thirty-seven is normal. On this kind it's ninety-eight."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," I said, "It's like miles and kilometers. You know, like how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?"
"Oh," he said.
But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack(松馳的) and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance.
小題1:The author writes about the doctor’s visit in order to _____.

A．show the doctor’s knowledge about influenza and its treatment

B．show the boy’s illness was quite serious

C．create a situation of misunderstanding around which to build a story

D．show the father was very much concerned about the boy’s illness

小題2:The pronoun “it” in “Papa, if it bothers you” (line 41) refers to _____.

A．the boy’s high temperature

B．the father giving the medicine to the boy

C．the father staying with the boy

D．the boy’s death

小題3:It can be inferred from the story that it is _____ by the time the father gets home from hunting.

A．early in the afternoon	B．close to evening
C．a(chǎn)t noon	D．late in the morning

小題4:From the story we know that the boy kept tight control over himself because _____.

A．he did not want to be a bother to others

B．he wanted to recover quickly so that he could go hunting with his father

C．he was afraid that he would die if he lost control over himself

D．he thought he was going to die and he must show courage in the face of death

小題5:That the boy cried very easily at little things of no importance the next day suggests that _____.

A．he couldn’t control his emotions when he finally relaxed

B．his father would go out hunting without him if he didn’t cry

C．something went wrong with his brain after the fever

D．he often complained about unimportant things as a spoiled boy

小題6:The theme of the story is _____.

A．death is something beyond a child’s comprehension

B．to be calm and controlled in the face of death is a mark of courage

C．misunderstanding can occur even between father and son

D．misunderstanding can sometimes lead to an unexpected effect

“Homestay is a form of study abroad program. It allows the visitor to rent a room from a local(當(dāng)?shù)氐? family to better understand the local lifestyle. It also helps to improve the visitor’s language ability,” said a teacher during a school meeting last term. “Students who wish to learn more about foreign cultures or to get foreign experience should join this kind of holiday. I am sure you won’t be disappointed.”
After this special meeting, I always thought about this kind of holiday. Last month, I had a chance at last to go on such a holiday with some of my schoolmates and we went to London, a place where I had wanted to go since years ago.
As we were still young, we had a group leader who planned things for us and looked after us. After we got to London, we went to stay with different families. I was lucky that my host family(寄宿家庭) was a white couple who had a daughter about my age. They treated me as a daughter of their family during my stay there. They were interested in me and I learnt a lot of things from them, too.
The holiday was filled with activities every day. After breakfast, a local teacher would come to take us in his car. Then we would have classes or go on a sight-seeing trip to different places of interest like the Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the Buckingham Palace. We would go back to our own homes after the activities.
The holiday was a valuable experience for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. Yet, time really flew fast. Three weeks later, we had to leave “home” for Hong Kong.
小題1:In the “homestay” program, a visitor can _____.

A．learn more about holidays	B．understand his culture better
C．improve the language ability	D．take part in foreign meetings

小題2:The writer had wanted to visit London since _______.

A．last month	B．a(chǎn) long time ago
C．the special meeting	D．her stay abroad

小題3:The writer’s host family ______.

A．was very kind to her	B．went sight-seeing with her
C．had two white daughters	D．was interested in her activities

小題4:From the passage, we know that the writer ______ in London.

A．wished to stay a little longer

B．had a wonderful time

C．had classes in many interesting places

D．helped the teacher take the students in a car

Songkran（泰國潑水節(jié)）is the traditional Thai New Year that starts on April 13 annually. It’s also callled the “Water Festival” because people believe that water will wash away bad luck and make people fresh. 
On the day, we spinkle灑small drops of water to bless monks and elders. Their hands are spinkled with perfumed(有香味的) water. In addition, this festival is for rain because it is the hottest season. 
Nowadays, during the Songkran Festival, people always wet down everybody who walks past their houses or walks down the streets with cups or buckets水桶 of water. Everyone gets wet, but it is all in a spirit of friendliness, blessing and fun. People who get wet actually do not get angry because they know that it is traditional.
People will go to the temples to bathe沐浴Buddha images佛像and give special food to the monks. People do good things such as fish or birds and other animals released釋放from their cages. On this day, everywhere in Thailand, people celebrate and enjoy the festival, especiallly in the northern part of Thailand. 
We can see many foreigners join in the events and enjoyed this festival with Thais. Everybody also enjoys public events such as beauty contests, parades游行, and marching bands. 游行樂隊(duì)
The Water Festival gives us freshness, happiness and fun because the weather is very hot. I hope everyone will travel to Thailand and enjoy this festival.
小題1:The traditional Thai New Year ________.

A．is celebrated at the beginning of each year.

B．comes three months before that of each countries.

C．is celebrated in a special way with its own activities.

D．is the same as in other parts of the world.

小題2:People sprinkle water during the Songkran Festival, because they______.

A．have nothing else to do

B．believe it will bring good luck

C．have too much water in their country

D．want to use water to fight with each other.

小題3:When Thai New Year comes, people think it ________ to make others wet through.

A．traditional

B．unfriendly

C．curious

D．strange

小題4:Besides sprinkling water, people also_______ in this festival.

A．invite honorable foreign guests to join in them

B．give freedom to some animals

C．a(chǎn)ttend rich feasts宴會(huì) and have fun with others

D．bathe together to wash away bad luck

It can be hard to meet people from another culture. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal（信號(hào)）. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.
Different cultures emphasize （強(qiáng)調(diào)）the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in “small talk”, usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries--like the UK or France—people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.
Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.
Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.
People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment（多元文化環(huán)境）will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.
小題1:In some countries, eating together at restaurants may make it easier for people to ________.

A．keep each other company	B．share the same Culture
C．get to know each other	D．develop closer relations

小題2:The author mentions his experience in Thailand to show that _________.

A．even talk and silence can be culturally different

B．too many words are of no use

C．people from Thailand are quiet and shy by nature

D．the English prefer to make long speeches

小題3:According to the text, how can people from different cultures understand each other better?

A．By sharing different ways of life.

B．By recognizing different values.

C．By accepting different habits.

D．By speaking each other’s languages.

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

A．Multicultural Environment.	B．How to Understand Each Other.
C．Cross-Cultural Differences.	D．How to Build Up a Relationship.

When you don’t have anything planned for the day or it’s rainy outside and your children are stuck in the house, why not sit around and tell them riddles? Telling riddles will make your family laugh and sometimes even scratch their heads, trying to figure out what the answer is.
Riddles have been a pastime for centuries. Not only have riddles been something for passing the time, but they have also been used to pass on secret information during the Second World War. Even the ancient Greeks used riddles. They would tell riddles at parties and whoever was the first to get them right would receive prize.
Most riddles use words that have double meanings or share the same sound like “hear” and “here”. So in order to get the riddle, you will have to do some creative thinking and think of all the possibilities of different words. The difficulty of figuring out the riddle is based on the riddle itself. The riddle has to provide you with enough clues to come to the right answer, but that doesn’t mean that the clues have to be easy.
If you are looking to tell riddles but don’t know any, you can look online and you will find a large number of sites that will have hundreds of different riddles to choose from. If you would like to look somewhere else then you could look at your local bookstore, where you will be able to find many different books with thousands of riddles to choose from. You can even find websites and books that will tell you how to write your own riddles.
After you have found some resources that have different riddles, you will need to read through them to find the right ones for you and your family: You will also need to make sure that your kids will have a chance to figure out the answers. So take your time and choose the right family riddles to tell.
小題1:What is the author’s main purpose in writing the text?

A．To recommend an interesting family activity.

B．To stress the importance of family activities.

C．To encourage children to read more books.

D．To introduce the history of riddles.

小題2:From the text we know that riddles _______.

A．do not have enough clues	B．have a very long history
C．were used in World War One	D．were first used in ancient Rome

小題3:In Paragraph 3, the author mainly ________.

A．discusses how riddles are created

B．explains why fiddles are interesting

C．tells people how to solve riddles

D．shows the benefits of telling riddles

小題4:To collect riddles, the author suggests ________.

A．one way

B．two ways

C．three ways

D．four ways

Do you know the following expressions?
Faustian bargain
According to most stories, Faust was a German scholar who was rather unhappy with his life．The devil（魔鬼）, Mephistopheles, promises him that in return for his soul．he will give Faust unlimited power and knowledge．Faust agrees and experiences all kinds of pleasures, but, in the end, his soul goes to the hell．A “Faustian bargain” therefore is a deal that finally results in one's ruin．It means a bargain made for temporary gain without taking future consequences into consideration．
A three-ring circus
When you refer to a situation as being a three-ring circus, you are saying that it is a situation of complete confusion．There are so many activities taking place all together that they leave you confused or annoyed．The expression comes from the world of entertainment—the circus．The area where the artists perform their acts is called the “ring”．In the past, some of the circuses were so large that they had three acts taking place meanwhile in three different “rings”．The audience had to decide which “ring” they wanted to focus on．
In the swim（of things）
When someone is in the swim of things, he is actively participating in the things happening around him, as in “I've been ill, but soon I'll be back in the swim of things.” In the world of fishing, fishermen use the word “swim” to refer to the section of the lake/river where fish can be found in plenty．So, if you are a fish man and wish to catch a lot of fish, where would you be? You would be “in the swim”!
小題1:If a person makes a Faustian bargain, _____．

A．he might come to a bad end

B．he would be considered clever

C．his life would become satisfying

D．he would gain power and knowledge

小題2:In the past, why did a circus perform different acts at the same time ?

A．It was the audience’s requirement.

B．The time was limited.

C．The circus was very big.

D．They wanted to earn more money.

小題3:What do we learn about the expression “in the swim（of things）”?

A．It means having a lot of things to do．

B．It has nothing to do with swimming．

C．Originally it was used to refer to "going fishing"．

D．Patients use it to express their desire for health.

小題4:What is the text mainly about?

A．The development of English phrases

B．Some old and interesting stories

C．Some phrases' meanings and origins

D．Some misunderstandings about words

New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It’s now a “global village” where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly increased by foreign language skills.
Deeply involved with this new technology is a kind of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.
Overseas assignments (指派) are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive (行政) ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being “out of sight and out of mind.” He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company’s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to manage back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more common.
Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices (裝置) with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.
English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn’t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.
The employee posted abroad who speaks the country’s language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight (洞察力) to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign customers over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset (有價(jià)值的人或物) to the firm.
小題1:With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople ________.

A．a(chǎn)re eager to work overseas

B．have to get familiar with modern technology

C．a(chǎn)re gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations

D．a(chǎn)re attaching more importance to their overseas business

小題2:In this passage, “out of sight and out of mind” (Line 3, Para. 3) probably means ________.

A．leaving all care and worry behind

B．being unable to think properly for lack of insight

C．being totally out of touch with business at home

D．missing opportunities for promotion when abroad

小題3:According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international corporations in employing people today?

A．Ability to speak the customer’s language.

B．Connections with businesses overseas.

C．Technical know-how.

D．Business experience.

小題4:The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can ________.

A．fast-forward their proposals to headquarters

B．better control the whole negotiation process

C．easily make friends with businesspeople abroad

D．easily find new approaches to meet market needs

Shopping is not as simple as you may think! There are all sorts of tricks at play each time we reach out for that particular brand of product on the shelf.
Colouring, for example, varies according to what the producers are trying to sell. Health foods are packaged in greens, yellows or browns because we think of these as healthy colours. Ice cream packets are often blue and expensive goods, like chocolates, are gold or silver.
When some kind of pain killer was brought out recently, researchers found that the colours turned the customers off because they made the product look weak and ineffective. Eventually, it came on the market in a dark blue and white package—blue because we think of it as safe, and white as calm.
The size of a product can attract a shopper. But quite often a bottle doesn’t contain as much as it appears to.
It is believed that the better-known companies spend, on average, 70 percent of the total cost of the product itself on packaging!
The most successful producers know that it’s not enough to have a good product. The founder of Pears soap, who for 25 years has used pretty little girls to promote (推銷) their goods, came to the conclusion: “Any fool can make soap, but it takes a genius to sell it.”
小題1:Which of the following may trick a shopper into buying a product according to the text?

A．The cost of its package.	B．The price of the product.
C．The colour of its package.	D．The brand name of the product.

小題2:The underlined part “the colours turned the customers off” (in Para.3) means that the colours _________.

A．a(chǎn)ttracted the customers strongly

B．caused the customers to lose interest

C．tricked the customers into shopping

D．had weak effects on the customers

小題3:Which of the following is the key to the success in product sales?

A．The way to promote goods.

B．The discovery of a genius.

C．The team to produce a good product

D．The brand name used by successful producers.

小題4:Which of the following would be the best title for this text?

A．Choice of Good Products

B．Disadvantages of Products

C．Effect of Packaging on Shopping

D．Brand Names and Shopping Tricks

Jockeys(職業(yè)賽馬騎師) are the smallest athletes. They are rarely over five feet six, or 120 pounds. The lighter the weight on the horse, the faster it can go.
Riding fast horses on the track is tough on the small jockeys. The jockey doesn’t“sit”on the horse. He leans forward on his legs. The strain is on his thighs(大腿) and calf(小腿) muscles. As jockeys age, their legs“go”first. Jockeys also need arm strength. It’s a strain holding a 1000-pound racehorse.
On muddy days, jockeys get a pounding of mud. The mud comes flying off the hooves(蹄) of the horses in front. “It feels like someone is punching you all over,”says one rider.
And a jockey can be hurt. A jockey can have a leg jammed between two horses. Or it can get caught between horse and the rail. The worst accidents are from falls. A horse may fall on his rider. Or horses behind may trample if he hits the track. In one year about 240 riders are hurt badly. That’s one out of six jockeys.
But the jockeys are well-paid. A jockey keeps about ten percent of the money his horses win. Jacinto Vasquez, a five-foot-three comer, has ridden horses to ＄7,000,000 in wins in the last eight years, which means he does almost ＄100,000 a year.
Why do some jockeys do better than others? “It isn’t the way a boy sits on a horse or uses the reins or the whip,”says Conn McCreary. McCreary was a top jockey of the 1950’s. He rode two Kentucky Derby winners. “Most jockeys do this the same. It’s the ‘feel’ he has for the horses.”
“When you come right down to it, it just seems that horses run better for some riders,” McCreary says. “A real good jockey doesn’t lose with the best horse. And sometimes he’ll win with the second or third best.”
Many Latin-American riders, like Jacinto, seem to have the knack. “Maybe it’s because we grew up with horses,”says Jacinto. “Maybe it’s because we like to ride. There was a strike at Aqueduct last year. We, Jorge Velasquez, and Angel Cordero (two other top Latin riders) went to a park. We rented horses, and rode around the bridle path(騎馬專用道)!”
小題1:The main idea of Paragraph 1 is about ______________.

A．the size of jockeys.	B．the age of jockeys
C．the size of the horse	D．the speed of the horse

小題2:When a jockey is riding a fast horse, he doesn’t __________.

A．really sit on the horse	B．lean forward on his legs
C．use much arm strength	D．get any mud on wet track

小題3: The most dangerous problem for a jockey arises __________________.

A．when his leg is jammed between two horses

B．when his clothes are splashed over with mud.

C．when the jockey’s horse falls on the jockey

D．when the jockey is not well paid

小題4:A really good jockey can often win a race ____________.

A．only when he rides on the best horse

B．even when he rides the second best horse

C．when he rides on a rented horse

D．if the horse is just a Kentucky Herby

小題5: The underlined word “Knack” in the last paragraph probably means__________________.

A．special skill	B．dangerous hobby
C．riding culture	D．excellent horses.