Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

‘A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right.' These are the words of Mollie Hunter, a well known author of books for youngsters. Born and bred near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market. In Mollie's opinion it is essential to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing: 'If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed,' she says.

With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Molly is indeed an entertainer. 'I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,' she says. This love goes back to early childhood. 'I've told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said "Nonsense, Mollie dear, you'll be a writer." So eventually I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher - and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.’

This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement.

Thoughts of her childhood inevitably brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields - sadly now covered with modern houses. 'I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I'll never go back,' she said. 'Never.' 'When I set one of my books in Scotland,' she said, 'I can recapture my romantic feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us.'

To this day, Mollie has a lively affection for children, which is reflected in the love she has for her writing. 'When we have visitors with children the adults always say, "If you go to visit Mollie, she'll spend more time with the children." They don't realise that children are much more interesting company. I've heard all the adults have to say before. The children have something new.'

How does Mollie feel about what has happened to her birthplace? 

A. surprised 

B. ashamed 

C. disappointed 

D. confused 

Read the following passage choose the correct answer to each of the question.

Around 365 B.C. in ancient Greece, the great teacher Plato told a story about a place called Atlantis. Plato described Atlantis as a continent in the Atlantic Ocean. He said it had been the home of a powerful people who were destroyed when the continent was swallowed by the sea.

Ever since Plato’s time, people have wondered if the story about Atlantis was really true. Was there ever such a place as Atlantis? During the Middle Ages, many people believed in the legend of Atlantis. Some men even made voyages to find the “lost continent”. Later, most people believed Atlantis to be just a myth. Scientists could find no evidence to show that such a place had ever existed.

Ideas change in time, however, for now some scientists think that Atlantis might have been a real place. A Greek professor has offered a new theory. He says that Atlantis was not a continent in the Atlantic Ocean but an island called Thera in the Aegean Sea. The professor says that 3,500 years ago much of Thera collapsed into the sea when a volcano erupted. He thinks that before the explosion Thera had been the home of a people called Minoans. The Minoans were sea traders who ruled the Aegean Sea from 2,000 B.C. to 1,250 B.C.

Scientist who have come to investigate Thera have found an ancient city buried beneath volcanic ash and stone. It appears that the people who lived in the city had an advanced civilization. They were probably Minoans.

Is Thera the “lost continent” of Atlantis? No one may ever know for certain. Atlantis may remain a riddle without an answer.

The word in paragraph 3 that means “fell down” is ____.

A. collapsed

B. existed

C. erupted

D. rode

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

How might volunteering contribute to lower blood pressure? Performing volunteer work could increase physical activity among people who aren’t otherwise very active, says lead study author Rodlescia Sneed, a doctoral candidate in social and health psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. It may also reduce stress. “Many people find volunteer work to be helpful with respect to stress reduction, and we know        that stress is very strongly linked to health outcomes,” she says. As with any activity thought to improve health, researchers are trying to identify the specific characteristics of volunteering that provide the greatest benefit. For example, how much time would you need to put into volunteer work to lower your blood pressure or live longer? In the Carnegie Mellon study, 200 hours of volunteering per year correlated to lower blood pressure. Other studies have found a health benefit from as little as 100 hours of volunteering a year. Which types of volunteer activities improve health the most? No one really knows. Sneed speculates that mentally stimulating activities, like tutoring or reading, might be helpful for maintaining memory and thinking skills, while “activities that promote physical activity would be helpful with respect to cardiovascular health, but no studies have really explored this.” One key for deriving health benefits from volunteering is to do it for the right reasons. A 2012 study in the journal Health Psychology found that participants who volunteered with some regularity lived longer, but only if their intentions were truly altruistic. In other words, they had to be volunteering to help others not to make        them selves feel better.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle once surmised that the essence of life is “To serve others and do good.” If recent research is any indication, serving others might also be the essence of good health.

According to paragraph 4, what is the lesson from one of the greatest intellectual figures in history?

A.Opportunities to serve others result in a stronger sense of purpose and meaning in life.

B.Without the freedom of forgiveness, you’ll end up serving for the wrong reasons.

C.We should take advantage of the generous help of others without giving in return.

D.Only a small minority of people use their lives to serve others.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

‘A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right.' These are the words of Mollie Hunter, a well known author of books for youngsters. Born and bred near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market. In Mollie's opinion it is essential to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing: 'If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed,' she says.

With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Molly is indeed an entertainer. 'I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,' she says. This love goes back to early childhood. 'I've told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said "Nonsense, Mollie dear, you'll be a writer." So eventually I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher - and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.’

This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement.

Thoughts of her childhood inevitably brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields - sadly now covered with modern houses. 'I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I'll never go back,' she said. 'Never.' 'When I set one of my books in Scotland,' she said, 'I can recapture my romantic feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us.'

To this day, Mollie has a lively affection for children, which is reflected in the love she has for her writing. 'When we have visitors with children the adults always say, "If you go to visit Mollie, she'll spend more time with the children." They don't realise that children are much more interesting company. I've heard all the adults have to say before. The children have something new.' 

In Molie Hunter’s opinion, one sign of a poor writer is ________. 

A. complicated ideas 

B. the weakness of the description 

C. lifeless characters 

D. the absence of a story 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

‘A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right.' These are the words of Mollie Hunter, a well known author of books for youngsters. Born and bred near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market. In Mollie's opinion it is essential to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing: 'If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed,' she says.

With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Molly is indeed an entertainer. 'I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,' she says. This love goes back to early childhood. 'I've told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said "Nonsense, Mollie dear, you'll be a writer." So eventually I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher - and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.’

This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement.

Thoughts of her childhood inevitably brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields - sadly now covered with modern houses. 'I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I'll never go back,' she said. 'Never.' 'When I set one of my books in Scotland,' she said, 'I can recapture my romantic feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us.'

To this day, Mollie has a lively affection for children, which is reflected in the love she has for her writing. 'When we have visitors with children the adults always say, "If you go to visit Mollie, she'll spend more time with the children." They don't realise that children are much more interesting company. I've heard all the adults have to say before. The children have something new.'

In comparison with children of earlier years, Mollie feels that modern children are _____. 

A. better informed 

B. more intelligent 

C. less interested in fiction 

D. less keen to learn 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

How might volunteering contribute to lower blood pressure? Performing volunteer work could increase physical activity among people who aren’t otherwise very active, says lead study author Rodlescia Sneed, a doctoral candidate in social and health psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. It may also reduce stress. “Many people find volunteer work to be helpful with respect to stress reduction, and we know        that stress is very strongly linked to health outcomes,” she says. As with any activity thought to improve health, researchers are trying to identify the specific characteristics of volunteering that provide the greatest benefit. For example, how much time would you need to put into volunteer work to lower your blood pressure or live longer? In the Carnegie Mellon study, 200 hours of volunteering per year correlated to lower blood pressure. Other studies have found a health benefit from as little as 100 hours of volunteering a year. Which types of volunteer activities improve health the most? No one really knows. Sneed speculates that mentally stimulating activities, like tutoring or reading, might be helpful for maintaining memory and thinking skills, while “activities that promote physical activity would be helpful with respect to cardiovascular health, but no studies have really explored this.” One key for deriving health benefits from volunteering is to do it for the right reasons. A 2012 study in the journal Health Psychology found that participants who volunteered with some regularity lived longer, but only if their intentions were truly altruistic. In other words, they had to be volunteering to help others not to make        them selves feel better.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle once surmised that the essence of life is “To serve others and do good.” If recent research is any indication, serving others might also be the essence of good health.

The word “altruistic” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to_____

A. egoistic

B. philanthropic

C. liberal

D. magnanimous