L1–L3 綜合測驗卷【C 卷】

The third stanza explores mental toughness and the power of will  26  one must possess. Life is a game of chance, the speaker warns, so sometimes you must bet  27  you have on one game of “pitch-and-toss” to be successful. However,  28  you lose everything, don’t indulge in self-pity. And if exhaustion  29  you, rely on your willpower to carry you through.  30 , do everything you can to accomplish your goals and never give up.

Fake news can be defined as news containing false or misleading information that appears truthful. It has long been in existence, but the Internet has recently made creating and sharing it  31  than ever. As a result, online users are often fooled by untrue headlines and reports.

Although fake news  32  many forms, false reporting is usually the most common. This occurs when reporters write stories based on unreliable sources, or when the news deliberately contains false information in order to influence people’s behavior or opinions, or to make them support a certain politician or  33 . The unreliable reports that mislead the public can have very serious consequences.

An example of this took place in 2018, when a hypermarket in Taiwan emailed various news outlets,  34  an impending rise in toilet paper prices.  35  was later revealed that the company’s real intention was to promote their own toilet paper sale.

Formosa is an unofficial name for Taiwan. However, there is another Formosa on the banks of the Paraguay River in Argentina. Let’s take a look at these two namesakes and see the aspects in which they are similar and those in which they are different. Besides their shared names, they were found by European explorers almost at the same time. These explorers considered the area they had found to possess such marvelous beauty that they decided to reside there. What’s more, each of them sits on the exact opposite side of the world from the other. If someone in northern Taiwan drilled a hole straight down through the Earth, he or she would end up standing in Formosa, Argentina!

Despite these special links, the two Formosas are, in many ways, still worlds apart. In Taiwan, mountains and dense forests constitute most of the island’s 36,193 square kilometers. On the other hand, over three fourths of Argentina’s Formosa is fairly flat and covered with trees, grassland, and marshland. As for economy, Taiwan is famous for its lively business and advanced information technology industry. By contrast, Formosa in Argentina, which is two times the size of Taiwan, relies primarily on cattle raising and other agricultural activities. In conclusion, whatever differences and similarities exist between the pair, people of these two lands on opposite sides of the world can come face to face and get to know each other better. That could make for a beautiful friendship!

Rudyard Kipling was a poet, a writer, a husband, and a father. John Kipling, his only son, came into the world in August 1897. A bright and well-educated youth, John mostly performed well at anything that he put his young mind to. Being severely shortsighted, however, meant that his attempt to join the navy at the start of WWI was not successful, nor was his application to serve his country as a member of the air force.

Kipling senior stepped in to deal with the matter. Using his fame and influence, the famous author secured a spot for his son in the army. It was thus as a foot soldier that John Kipling finally arrived in France.

Tragically, just weeks later, the brave 18-year-old was declared “wounded and missing.” Most believed he’d been killed in battle, but this didn’t stop his father from beginning a hopeless search for his remains. This search lasted a full four years before Rudyard Kipling finally put an end to his quest. He admitted that “neither foes nor loving friends [could] hurt” John now. His only comfort was that his son had died “a man.”