Taiwan police cannot decide whether to treat it as an extremely eleven act of stealing or an even cleverer cheat . Either way , it could be the perfect crime (犯罪), because the criminals are birds—horning pigeons !

The crime begins with a telephone message to the owner of a stolen car : if you want the car back, pay up then, the car owner is directed to a park, told where to find a bird cage and how to attach money to the neck of the pigeon inside . Carrying the money in a tiny bag , the pigeon flies off .

There have been at least four such pigeon pick-ups in Changwa. What at first seemed like the work of a clever stay-at-home car thief, however , may in face be the work of an even lazier and more inventive criminal mind—one that avoid (避免)not only colleting money but going out to steal the car in the first place . Police officer Chen says that the criminal probably has pulled a double trick: he gets money for things he cannot possibly return . Instead of stealing cars , he lets someone else do it and then waits for the car-owner to place an ad (启事) in the newspaper asking for help .

The theory is supported by the fact that , so far , none of the stolen cars have been returned . Also, the amount of money demanded-under 3,000 Taiwanese dollars –seems too little for a car worth many times more .

Demands for pigeon-delivered money stopped as soon as the press reported the story. And even if they start again, Chen holds little hope of catching the criminal . “We have more important things to do, ” he said .

1．After the car owner received a phone call. He          

A．went to a certain pigeon and put some money in the bag it carried

B．gave the money to the thief and had his car back in a park

C．sent some money to the thief by mail

D．told the press about it

2．The “lazier and more inventive” criminal refers to          .

A．the car thief who stays at home     

B．one of those who put the ads in the paper

C．one of the policemen in Changwa  

D．the owner of the pigeons

3．The writer mentions the fact that “none of the stolen cars have been returned” to show       .

A．how easily people get fooled by criminals

B．what Chen thinks might be correct

C．the thief is extremely clever

D．the money paid is too little

4．The underlined word “they” in the last paragraph refers to          .

A．criminals            B．pigeons

C．the stolen cars    D．demands for money

5．We may infer from the text that the criminal knows how to reach the car owners because     .

A．he reads the ads in the newspaper  

B．he lives in the same neighborhood

C．he has seen the car owners in the park 

D．he has trained the pigeons to follow them

Reading is the key to school success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practising until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. A great athlete practises until he can play quickly, accurately, without thinking. Tennis players call that ”being in the zone.” Educators call it “automaticity”.

   A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and decoding the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase. With automaticity, he doesn’t have to think about decoding the words, so he can concentrate on the meaning of the text.

   It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois Schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found automatic readers in the first grade who were reading almost three times as fast as the other children and scoring twice as high on comprehension tests. At fifth grade, the automatic readers were reading twice as fast as the others, and still outscoring them on accuracy, comprehension and vocabulary.

   “It’s not I.Q. but the amount of time a child spends reading that is the key to automaticity,” according to Rossman. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will in all likelihood reach automaticity. At home, where the average child spends 25 hours a week watching television, it can happen by turning off the set just one night in favor of reading.

   You can test your child by giving him a paragraph or two to read aloud—something unfamiliar but appropriate to his age. If he reads aloud with expressions, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, he probably is an automatic reader. If he reads haltingly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, he needs more practice.

13．The first paragraph tells us            .

A．what automaticity is                    B．how accuracy is acquired

C．how a child learns to walk               D．how an athlete is trained

14．The Illinois study shows that the automatic reader’s high speed         .

A．costs him a lot of work            B．affects his comprehension

C．leads to his future success         D．doesn’t affect his comprehension

15．A bright child          .

A．also needs practice to be an automatic reader

B．always achieves great success in comprehension tests

C．becomes an automatic reader after learning how to read

D．is a born automatic reader

16．The main idea of the passage is           .

A．how to score high on comprehension tests

B．reading is the key to school success

C．how to test your child’s reading ability

D．automaticity is important for efficient reading

It's a small gas station that has snacks, drinks, cigarettes, and candies. The young man behind the counter knows his   __36__   by name and what they normally want to buy. He treats children and adults with equal   __37__. He reads science fiction behind the counter when business is   __38__.

One day, three people rushed in and grabbed（抓住） food off the shelves as fast as they could,   __39__   not intending to pay for it. He hit the “panic button” , then went over the counter（柜台） and   __40__   the front door. It was obvious that they were homeless, and  equally obvious that they weren't going   __41__   with their ill­gotten（非法获得的） gains. They    __42__   the food and simply crowded together in panic（惊慌地）—knowing the police were   __43__   the way.

Imagine what they must have felt like when they were told they didn't have to steal if they were that    __44__. “We have food in the back, expired (到期)but still   __45__   to eat. If you need food, you   __46__   have some.” 

They were told to   __47__   what they had dropped and put it back, and then asked to straighten out（清理） the mess. They were doing just that    __48__    the police arrived. The officers were told the situation was under control and the police were no longer   __49__.

This wasn't what they had    __50__. They were being treated as human beings who could right the wrong they'd done. Shocked, they quickly followed orders to take turns and use the restroom to clean up.

Soon three   __51__   people walked out with all the    __52__   their arms could hold. They were   __53__   that，if they needed to come back again, they were to ask and not just grab.

And then the young man went back to read until the next customer came in. He would be the    __54__ person in the world to claim he was a hero. But he gave three people something they were in desperate need of—a   __55__amount of self­respect and a little bit of hope.

1.                A．friends　　     B．neighbors　     C．customers 　  D．passengers

2.                A．respect         B．pride           C．wisdom   D．satisfaction

3.                A．slow           B．busy           C．heavy    D．swift

4.                A．bravely         B．reasonably      C．hardly    D．obviously

5.                A．opened        B．locked          C．closed    D．broke

6.                A．nowhere       B．somewhere      C．anywhere 　  D．everywhere

7.                A．hid            B．lifted           C．ate  D．dropped

8.A　.in          B．on         C．off 　        D．by

9.                A．anxious         B．curious         C．courageous    D．hungry

10.               A．safe           B．easy           C．sweet     D．unique

11.               A．must           B．can            C．should    D．need

12.               A．hold up        B．hand out        C．pick up    D．hand in

13.               A．when          B．after           C．before 　 D．since

14.               A．popular        B．necessary       C．reliable 　 D．important

15.               A．wanted         B．desired         C．expected  D．admired

16.               A．dirtier         B．cleaner         C．cleverer   D．quicker

17.A　.money      B．cigarettes    C．drinks 　     D．food

18.               A．reminded       B．warned         C．ordered   D．persuaded

19.               A．first           B．last            C．best D．worst

20.               A．large          B．fair            C．small D．full

短文改错（共１０小题，每小题1.5分，满分１5分）
此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一行做出判断：如无错误，在该行右边横线上画一个勾（√）；如有错误（每行只有一个错误），则按下列情况改正：
此行多一个词：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉，在该行右边横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。
此行缺一个词：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），在该行右边横线上写出该加的词。
此行错一个词：在错的词下划一横线，在该行右边横线上写出改正后的词。
注意：原行没有错的不要改。
When Joe left university, he got a good work in a bike factory.         76. ____________
But after he had been worked there for some years, he decided          77. ____________
to have change, so he put a notice in several newspapers,           78. ____________
saying what experiences he had and the kind of job he would       79. ____________
like to have. One of the answers he accepted was from a man       80. ____________
was looking for a job, too. This man wrote to him, “Dear, sir,       81. ____________
when you get a new job, be kind enough to give your name and     82. ____________
address to your present boss as I have been trying to find           83. ____________
a position like yours for a long time.” After he reads the letter,      84. ____________
he suddenly realized that what he had done was real foolish.             85. ____________

Six Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension

Help your child keep what he reads—a crucial skill, especially as he gets older and needs to gain important information from textbooks.

Have him read aloud. This forces him to go slower, which gives him more time to process what he reads.  71 

Provide the right kinds of books. Make sure your child gets lots of practice reading books that aren’t too hard.  72  Stopping any more often than that to figure out a word makes it tough for him to focus on the overall meaning of the story.

  73  To gain meaning from text, your child needs to read quickly and smoothly—a skill known as fluency. Rereading familiar, simple books gives your child practice at decoding words quickly so he'll become more fluent.

Talk to the teacher. If your child is struggling hard with comprehension, he may need more help with his reading—for example, building his vocabulary or practicing phonics skills.

Supplement class reading. If his class is studying a particular theme, look for easy-to-read books or magazines on the topic. Some prior knowledge will make his way through tougher classroom texts.

Talk about what he's reading. This “verbal processing” helps him remember and think through the themes of the book.  74 For example:

●Before: “What interests you in this book? What doesn't?”

●During: “  75 Is it turning out the way you thought it would? ”

●After: “Can you summarize the book? What did you like about it?”

E. Ask questions before, during, and after a reading session.

F. Plus, he's not only seeing the words, he's hearing them, too.

G. He should recognize at least 90 percent of the words without any help.