My grandfather's hammer has been in our family for sixty years. The head is iron, the metal is dark with age, and the handle is wood he cut himself. (11) My father put a new handle on it when I was small. Last year I put on the third. A friend once asked whether it is really the same hammer, (12) almost every part has been changed. I did not know what to say. (13) I think the answer is yes, and that the answer has nothing to do with the wood. A thing that is kept is not the same material year after year, (14) it is the same care, handed from one pair of hands to the next.
Turn on a light and something far away changes. (15) Most of the power in this country still begins with something being burned, and the gas that burns was made by plants that lived long before any person did. When we use it, we are spending a collection that took millions of years to build, (16) it cannot be filled again while we live. Wind and sun are different: they arrive every day whether we use them or not. (17), the question is not only what energy costs today. It is what we are borrowing from the future, (18) from whom, and we must answer it together.
CThat change is always larger than the light itself.
DLights use no power at all.
✔ 正確答案：(C) That change is always larger than the light itself.
解析空格後說明發電的來源與代價，所以空格要先點出「那個改變比燈本身更大」。
16
Abut
Bbecause
Cand
Dif
✔ 正確答案：(C) and
解析「花掉數百萬年的累積」與「無法在一生中補回」是順向補充，用 and。
17
ATherefore
BAt first
CBy chance
DHowever
✔ 正確答案：(A) Therefore
解析根據前面的對比得出結論，用 Therefore。
18
Asince
Bbut
Cand
Dor
✔ 正確答案：(C) and
解析「借了什麼」與「向誰借」並列，用 and。
3
閱讀理解 Reading Comprehension
共 12 題／4 個題組
請閱讀下列短文，並回答相關問題。
NOTICE
Messages and a Power Bill
Dad: Look at this before you leave the air conditioner on all night again.
POWER BILL · July and August
This year: 4,280
Last year, same months: 2,900
Pay before September 15
Pay at any convenience store, by credit card, or give it to the mail carrier
Wei: That is almost 1,400 more. Was it hotter this year?
Dad: A little. But we also left two rooms cool with nobody in them, plus the KTV night on the west side of the house.
Wei: All right. I will close my door and set it two degrees higher.
全文中譯
爸爸：你下次整晚開冷氣之前先看看這個。
電費單 · 七、八月
今年：4,280
去年同期：2,900
請於九月十五日前繳納
可至便利商店、以信用卡繳納，或交給郵差
偉：幾乎多了一千四。今年比較熱嗎？
爸爸：有一點。但我們也讓兩個沒人的房間一直開著冷氣，加上西側那場 KTV 之夜。
偉：好。我會把門關上，並把溫度調高兩度。
Questions 19–21
19How much more is this year's bill?
AAbout 900
BAbout 1,400
CAbout 4,280
DAbout 2,900
✔ 正確答案：(B) About 1,400
中譯今年的電費多了多少？
解析4,280 減 2,900 等於 1,380，接近一千四。
20What does Dad say is one reason for the rise?
AThey used a new machine
BThe bill came late
CThe price of power went up
DTwo empty rooms were kept cool
✔ 正確答案：(D) Two empty rooms were kept cool
中譯爸爸說費用上升的原因之一是什麼？
解析we also left two rooms cool with nobody in them。天氣只是「有一點」熱。
21What does the bill NOT tell us?
AWhy the amount went up
BWhen to pay
CThe amount for last year
DHow to pay
✔ 正確答案：(A) Why the amount went up
中譯帳單上沒有告訴我們什麼？
解析上升原因是爸爸說的，帳單只有金額、期限與繳費方式。
NOTICE
Science Room: Materials Week
Monday to Friday · Room 204 · Lunch time only
Each day you can hold, press and break one material, put your ear close, smell it, and write down what you find.
Monday: rubber · Tuesday: iron · Wednesday: wood
Thursday: glass (behind a window; you may look, not touch)
Friday: choose any one again and test it a second way
Write your name and the material on the paper by the door. You do not need to write a complete report; one line about what surprised you is enough. Remember that a large mass of iron is not as light as it looks, plus it can be sharp, so do not fool about with it.
Nothing here is dangerous except the glass, which is why it stays behind the window. If you break something on purpose, you will be asked to leave; if you break something by accident, tell a teacher and nothing more will happen.
解析Thursday: glass (behind a window; you may look, not touch)。
23What must a student write?
AA long report
BOne line about what surprised him
CThe name of a teacher
DA list of all five materials
✔ 正確答案：(B) One line about what surprised him
中譯學生必須寫什麼？
解析one line about what surprised you is enough。
24What happens if a student breaks something by accident?
AHe must pay for it
BHe tells a teacher and nothing more happens
CHe cannot come again
DHe is asked to leave
✔ 正確答案：(B) He tells a teacher and nothing more happens
中譯如果學生不小心弄壞東西會怎麼樣？
解析if you break something by accident, tell a teacher and nothing more will happen。
EMAIL
A Question about a School Piano
Dear Sir,
I am writing about the old piano in the hall. Three keys near the middle make no sound, and the wood on the left side has come away from the iron inside.
I asked a man who repairs pianos. He came last Saturday and looked at it for free. He says the work would cost about eight thousand, and that a new piano of the same kind would be over one hundred thousand. He also said this one was made in Germany about fifty years ago, and that its sound is delicious, minus two soft keys and is the best one the school has ever had, worth keeping.
I know the school has little money. Could the music club raise part of the cost? We would like to try before anybody decides to throw it away.
✔ 正確答案：(C) To ask for a chance to save the old piano
中譯這封信的目的是什麼？
解析We would like to try before anybody decides to throw it away，目的是爭取修好舊鋼琴的機會。
26How much did the man charge for looking at the piano?
ANothing
BFifty thousand
CEight thousand
DOne hundred thousand
✔ 正確答案：(A) Nothing
中譯那位師傅看琴收了多少錢？
解析He came last Saturday and looked at it for free。八千是修理費用。
27Why does the writer think the piano is worth keeping?
AIt is the only piano in the school
BIt is easy to move
CThe repair man said so
DIt makes a better sound than a new one
✔ 正確答案：(C) The repair man said so
中譯作者為什麼認為這台鋼琴值得留下？
解析He also said this one was made in Germany about fifty years ago, and that its sound is delicious, minus two soft keys and is the best one the school has ever had, worth keeping。
ARTICLE
Why Old Things Were Built to Be Opened
Open an old radio and you will find metal pins, a paper map of every line, and space for a hand. Open something made this year and you may find nothing that can be opened at all.
This was a choice, not an accident. A thing that cannot be opened is cheaper to make and is thrown away sooner. For the company that sells it, both of those are good news.
Some countries now ask companies to sell the parts and print the paper maps. It sounds like a small rule. But the difference between a thing you can open and one you cannot is the difference between owning it and renting it for a few years without knowing.