Unit 1: Honoring
Mother
Mothers hold a special place in the hearts
of people all over the world,
and many people have a special day on which to honor them.
The earliest celebrations for a mother were part of an ancient Greek festival
to welcome the coming of spring and honor Rhea, the mother of the gods. Later,
during the 1600s, “Mothering Sunday” was first celebrated in England.
In some areas of the country, servants were given the day off on
Mothering Sunday so they could visit their mothers. In other parts of England,
people used this day to celebrate the “Mother Church,”
which is the main church of the
area. People usually went to the “Daughter
Church” in their parish on most Sundays and it was considered important to return to their Mother Church
once a year. They would return home to visit their Mother Church
and their own mothers as well
on Mothering Sunday. Eventually,
Mothering Sunday became a day for people throughout
Europe and the British
Isles to honor both
their mothers and the Church.
In the United States, a woman named Ana
Javis proposed that the second
Sunday in May be set aside to
honor mothers throughout the nation. Her hometown
of Philadelphia
was the first to celebrate Mother’s Day on that day in 1908. Ms. Javis wrote to
churches and business leaders across
the country to encourage them to
celebrate Mother’s Day in their communities,
too. The holiday then became widespread,
and in 1914 the second Sunday in May was
named as the United
States’ official
Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day is also celebrated in many
other countries including Sweden, Mexico,
Australia, Japan, China,
Canada, and Singapore.
Young children and adults celebrate
this special day with their mothers, giving them gifts of flowers and candy to thank them for their love and kindness.
( ) 1. The passage primarily deals with
__________. (C)
(A) the
celebrations for Rhea (B)
the gifts for a mother
(C) the history
of Mother’s Day (D) the countries which
celebrate Mother’s Day
( ) 2. According to the passage, Rhea
__________. (B)
(A) ordered the
Greeks to honor their mothers (B)
was the mother of the gods
(C) celebrated “Mothering
Sunday” (D) was a Greek servant
( ) 3. According to the passage, “Mothering
Sunday” was NOT __________. (D)
(A) the day for
people to visit the “Mother
Church”
(B) the day
when servants had the day off to be with their mothers
(C) the day for
people to honor their mothers
(D) first
celebrated in the United
States
( ) 4. There is evidence in the passage to
show that __________. (B)
(A) the second
Sunday in May is Mother’s Day in countries all over the world
(B) in ancient England, people were encouraged to visit the “Mother Church”
once a year
(C) “Mother Church”
changed to “Mothering Sunday” later
(D) people in
the US visited the “Daughter Church” on most Sundays
( ) 5. Which of the following statements is
NOT true based on the passage? (C)
(A) The
earliest celebrations for mothers were connected with the coming of spring.
(B) “Mother Church”
had something to do with Christianity.
(C) Philadelphia
was the first to name the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
(D) Ana Javis
encouraged others to honor their mothers on the second Sunday in May.
Unit 2: No More Inky
Mess
You can pay over US$300 for a luxury ballpoint pen, or buy a
dozen of them for US$3. You will feel great with the expensive pen in
your hand. It may be inlaid with
silver or gold. The cheaper pens might be
made of plastic and you may
think that they feel light and flimsy.
But when it comes to how the
pens write, you’ll barely notice a
difference. Today’s ballpoint pens, no
matter how much they cost, all have a smooth flow of ink and write without skipping or blotting. But it wasn’t always so.
Ballpoint pens were invented in the late 1930s by a Hungarian writer to solve
the problem of having to carry a pen and the ink separately. These first pens were
filled with a tube of printer’s ink and bore a tiny ball inside a cone-shaped tip. As the
pen slid across the paper, the ball rotated and picked up
ink from the tube, leaving it on the paper. But the ink was pasty and thick. Writers had to press
hard on the pen to get the ink to come out, and it often came out in big amount. Worse, the pens often leaked ink, ruining the writers’ clothes.
These problems were solved in 1949 when an
American chemist developed a better ink. The new ink flowed smoothly and didn’t leak, and it washed out of clothes completely. To promote his new ink, the inventor
would write on retailers’ shirts, offering to replace the shirt if it didn’t come clean after washing. The shirts
were always able to be cleaned, and the
retailers loved the ink. Within a few years, millions of these new pens were sold. This is the same basic ink formula for the pens we all use today.
( ) 1. The primary purpose of this passage is
to __________. (B)
(A) teach
people how to tell expensive ballpoint pens from cheap ones
(B) tell people
about the evolution of ballpoint pens
(C) let the
public know how ballpoint pens are made
(D) promote a
newly made perfect ballpoint pen
( ) 2. Compared with expensive ballpoint pens,
cheap ones __________. (D)
(A) don’t have
a smooth flow of ink
(B) skip when
you write
(C) would leak
ink in your pockets
(D) write as
smoothly as the expensive ones
( ) 3. According to the passage, ballpoint
pens __________. (C)
(A) were
invented in 1949 by an American chemist
(B) were widely
used before the 1930s
(C) may cost up
to US$300 each
(D) were first
used by a store owner
( ) 4. Which of the following statements is
NOT supported by this passage? (C)
(A) A luxury
pen may be inlaid with silver or gold.
(B) In the
early days, the ink inside the pen was pasty and thick.
(C) The ink
formula for pen today is quite different from that in 1949.
(D) Before the
invention of ballpoint pens, people had to carry a pen and the ink separately
( ) 5. The author’s attitude toward the pens
we use today could be best described as __________. (A)
(A) satisfied (B) impatient (C) indifferent (D) worried
Unit 3: Pet Vacations
Pet owners
often face tough choices when
vacation time rolls around. Their furry friends probably can’t come along
to the beach or the mountains --- dogs and cats are seldom welcome in hotels or
restaurants, and of then they don’t enjoy long car rides.
The German Animal Protection League has come up with an alternative. Using the slogan “You take my pet, I’ll take
yours,” it offers a free service to help pet owners take a carefree vacation. The service matches pet owners who are planning to take a trip with others who
would be happy to take the travelers’ pets into their homes. The owners and “pet
sitters” meet to discuss the animals’ needs, and the
owners pay a fee to the sitters for
their pets’ food and care. The fee, which is set by the sitters, is usually
low. Most of the pets enjoy the companionship
of another family while their owners are away. When the sitters want to take a
vacation, they can also use this service to find someone to care for their pets.
Pet trading
is becoming very popular in other parts of the world, too. Although the free
matching service offered to Germans is not available
in other areas, pet owners often form informal networks to care
for each other’s pets. One community
in the United States
uses a monthly newsletter to let residents know who is available for pet
sitting. In many other communities, the messages
spread by word of mouth. Krista Stephens, the owner of two dogs, uses
pet sitters whenever she travels. “The
boys,” as she calls her dogs, “seem to enjoy the experience, and I can relax
knowing they are in good hands,”
she says.
( ) 1. The entire passage mainly discusses how
__________. (D)
(A) pet owners
go on vacations with their pets
(B) pets are
sold through a network in communities
(C) communities
in the United States
use newsletters
(D) pets are
taken care of when their owners are away on vacations
( ) 2. What does the underlined phrase “furry
friends” in the first paragraph refer to? (B)
(A) Pet owners. (B) Pets. (C)
Animal lovers. (D) Pet sitters.
( ) 3. According to the passage, the German
Animal Protection League __________. (A)
(A) only offers
service in Germany
(B) also offers
service to the communities in the U.S.
(C) offers
service to help pet sitters train their pets
(D) offers
service to help cats and dogs which are taking a trip
( ) 4. The slogan “You take my pets, I’ll take
yours” mean __________. (C)
(A) we can
exchange our pets
(B) if you take
my pets away, I’ll take yours in revenge
(C) we can take
care of each other’s pets when anyone of us is away from home
(D) an eye for
an eye, and a tooth for a tooth
( ) 5. What can be inferred from the passage? (C)
(A) Boys seem
to be taken good care of when parents are away.
(B) Pets always
go along with their owners on vacations.
(C) Pet sitters
may have their pets looked after when they travel.
(D) The
matching service costs a lot and it is not a popular business.
Unit 4: Globesity
The new word “globesity,” which is short
for “globe obesity,” describes the
world’s fastest growing health problem. According
to the World Health Organization,
globesity has grown by 50 percent in
the last decade. However, these obese people aren’t the only ones at risk. According to the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), one out of every four people in the world is
overweight, rais(e)ing these people’s chances of developing diabetes, heart
disease, and some cancers. Being overweight and obese are
problems for people in every nation, even where problems of malnutrition also exist.
Many experts
blame the world’s weight
problem on changing lifestyles. More and more of us work
long hours at desk jobs far from home. We take a car, bus, or train to work instead of walking or biking. At the end of the day, we return
home too tired to prepare a healthy meal so we grab fast food or fat-and-sugar-filled convenience food instead. After eating,
we spend the rest of the evening
sitting on the couch watching
television. Who wouldn’t get fat with this routine?
So, what is the solution? Experts suggest
that we should eat wholegrain foods,
fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, as well as lean protein. And, of
course, we need to get more exercise. The U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research says that 60 percent of weight
gain is due to lack of
exercise. A 20-minute walk each day can help us become healthier. The
International Obesity Task Force is asking world leaders to help spread
the message that people must eat
more fiber, but less sugar and fat,
and get more exercise.
( ) 1. The passage would most likely be found
in a __________. (C)
(A) history
book (B) classified ad (C) medical journal (D) fashion magazine
( ) 2. According to the passage, those who are
overweight have greater possibilities to suffer from the following diseases
EXCEPT __________. (B)
(A) diabetes (B) insomnia (C) heart disease (D) cancer
( ) 3. Which of the following would be the
last reason why people might become obese? (A)
(A) Going to
the gym. (B) Consuming
foods filled with sugar.
(C) Eating too
much fast food. (D) Being a couch
potato after eating.
( ) 4. Which of the following statements is
NOT true about obesity? (A)
(A) Obesity
makes people too tired to prepare a healthy meal.
(B) Obesity is
one of the most important public health problems.
(C) Weight gain
often results from lack of exercise.
(D) Eating more
fresh fruits and vegetables might make people healthier.
( ) 5. We learn from the passage that
__________. (B)
(A) obesity is
never a problem in poor countries
(B) obesity is
related to the way people live
(C) 50 percent
of the world’s population is overweight
(D) in the last
decades, obesity has grown by 60 percent
