A. How old B. How far

C. How often D. How long

【題目】

Every language has interesting words and phrases. Some are easy to understand, others are not obvious. It’s fun to learn where these phrases came from. Here are a few 【1】 phrases with interesting histories.

Know the ropes

When people “know the ropes,” they know how to do a job well. Similarly to “show someone the ropes” means to explain how something【2】 . These phrases likely come from the time of sailing ships. Men had to understand how to handle the ropes to 【3】 a ship. If a sailor didn’t “know the ropes,” he couldn’t sail the ship.

An arm and a leg

Anything that costs “an arm and a leg” is high-priced. You’d likely have to sacrifice to buy it. This phrase means the speaker would like to 【4】 an arm and a leg. He would do this in order to get or do something he really wants.

make their morning calls, as a bird, get up, the same as, courage

In ancient times, there were no clocks. It was the rooster that told people it was time to 【1】 and start work. Therefore, hard-working ancient Chinese people were big fans of the rooster.

Traditionally, the rooster was seen 【2】 that could get rid of evil spirits. Folk tales say all the evil things at night leave once roosters 【3】. The rooster also enjoys a good reputation(名聲) for its 【4】. The pronunciation of “rooster” in Putonghua is 【5】 that of “chance”. Have you noticed this?

A. we B. our C. us D. ours

A. How far B. How C. How much D. How long

—Yes, I am.

A. OK B. too C. and D. excuse

A. the; the B. /; / C. the; / D. /; the

A. job; work B. work; job C. work; work D. job; job

A. good； bad B. nice； good

C. well； good D. better, badly

【題目】

Ronny looked like every other kid in the first-grade classroom where I volunteered as the Reading Mum. However, Ronny stood apart from his classmates in other ways. He had a speech problem so he couldn’t ________ like other kids in his grade. I worked with all the students in Ronny’s class one by one to improve their reading skills.

On the days when it was Ronny’s turn, I gave him a silent smile, and he flew out of his chair. He sat very close to me and opened the book as if he was opening a treasure that nobody had ever seen. I watched his fingers move slowly under each letter as he tried his best to read out. Every time he ________ to read a word with a strange pronunciation, the biggest smile would spread across his face and his eyes would shine with ________.

A few weeks before the school year ended, I held an awards ceremony. I presented Ronny with a book –one of those Little Golden Books that only cost$5. Tears ran down his face as he held the book close to him and went back to his seat. I stayed with the Class for the rest of the day.

Ronny never let go of the book, not once. It never left his hands. A few days later, I returned to the school to visit. I ________ Ronny on a chair near the playground, the book open in his lap（大腿）. His teacher said,“He hasn’t put that book down since you gave it to him. Do you know that’s his first book he’s ever actually owned?”Keeping back my tears, I walked towards Ronny, placed my hand on his shoulder and asked,“Will you read me your book, Ronny?”And then, for the next few minutes, he read to me more ________ than I’d ever thought possible from him. The pages were already dog-eared, like the book had been read thousands of times already. When he finished reading, Ronny closed his book and said with great satisfaction,“Good book!”What a powerful contribution（貢獻）the writer of that Little Golden Book had made in the life of a disadvantaged child. At that moment, I knew I would get ________ about my own writing and do what that writer had done, and probably still does—care enough to write a story that changes a child’s life, care enough to make a difference.

【1】A. write B. copy C. listen D. read

【2】A. refused B. decided C. managed D. pretended

【3】A. fear B. pride C. promise D. silence

【4】A. realized B. noticed C. followed D. heard

【5】A. coldly B. slowly C. clearly D. quietly

【6】A. serious B. nervous C. worried D. surprised