At our school everything runs on one computer system: the bell, the doors, the lunch list. One Monday in May the system failed at 7:50. (11) No bell rang, so the first class began when a teacher looked at her watch and said so. The lunch list was gone, so the cooks made the same meal for everybody. Nobody could enter the office downstairs, (12) the door needed a card that no longer worked. The strange part is that the day went well, in a soft and quiet way. (13), several teachers said it was the calmest Monday of the year. A system is there to hold the small choices for us, (14) that day we found out we could still make them.
A phone is not one thing. It is a door to a hundred places, and each one was built by people whose job is to keep you there. (15) A page that never ends has no natural stopping point, so your hand keeps moving. A red dot on the screen is small, (16) it asks a question your brain cannot leave alone: what did I miss? None of this means you are weak or that the people who built them are horrible. (17), it means you are playing against a system built by many people with a great deal of data. The answer is seldom to try harder. It is to change the room: leave the phone downstairs, not upstairs, (18) turn off the dot that asks the question.
✔ 正確答案：(C) These places are built to be hard to leave.
解析空格後舉出無限頁面與紅點的設計，說明難以離開的原因，所以空格要先點出「被設計得難以離開」。
16
Abecause
Bso
Cif
Dbut
✔ 正確答案：(D) but
解析「紅點很小」與「提出無法忽視的問題」形成對比，用 but。
17
ARather
BAt first
CIn the same way
DHowever
✔ 正確答案：(A) Rather
解析前一句否定「你意志薄弱」，這句提出真正的情況，用 Rather。
18
Asince
Band
Cbut
Dor
✔ 正確答案：(B) and
解析「把手機留樓下」與「關掉紅點」是並列的兩個做法，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 Phone Plan
Wei: Dad says I can get a cheap plan. Here is the one I like.
SOUTHERN PHONE · Student Plan
299 a month · 12 months, paid in advance
Data: 10 GB, then slow
Free calls inside the same company
Leave early: pay 500
Ann: Ten GB is not much if you download films.
Wei: I only use the Internet at home for that. Outside I just send messages.
Ann: Then it is probably fine. Let us meet at the shop; that would be the wise way. But look at the last line before you sign.
全文中譯
偉：我爸說我可以辦便宜的方案。這是我喜歡的一個。
南方電信 · 學生方案
月付 299 · 12 個月，須預付
數據：10 GB，之後降速
同公司互打免費
提前解約：付 500
安：如果你會下載電影，10 GB 不算多。
偉：那種我只在家裡用網路。在外面我只傳訊息。
安：那大概就沒問題。我們到店裡碰面吧，那樣比較明智。但簽約前看一下最後一行。
Questions 19–21
19What does Ann want Wei to notice?
AThe monthly price
BThe free calls
CThe amount of data
DThe cost of leaving early
✔ 正確答案：(D) The cost of leaving early
中譯安要偉注意什麼？
解析look at the last line before you sign，最後一行寫的是提前解約要付 500。
20Why does Wei think 10 GB is enough?
AHe has a second phone
BThe plan gets faster later
CHe does not use the Internet
DHe downloads films at home
✔ 正確答案：(D) He downloads films at home
中譯偉為什麼認為 10 GB 夠用？
解析I only use the Internet at home for that，下載都在家裡用網路。
21What does the plan NOT tell us?
AHow fast the slow speed is
BHow much data is included
CThe price each month
DHow long the plan lasts
✔ 正確答案：(A) How fast the slow speed is
中譯方案上沒有告訴我們什麼？
解析表上寫超過 10 GB 之後會降速，但沒有說降到多慢。
NOTICE
Computer Room Rules
Open 12:30 to 13:10 and after school until 17:00
Sit at the machine with your own number; do not move to another
No food at the desks, not even a hot dog; stationery only
Save your work on your own page, not on the machine
Tell the teacher at once if a machine will not start
No sweet drinks; one naughty moment can end a machine's life
Work saved on a machine is cleaned off every Friday night. Students lose work this way every term, and nothing can be done about it later. Save twice: once here and once on an independent machine of your own. Lost work is a small bomb in a busy week.
Games are allowed after school but not at lunch time. If every machine is in use at lunch, students who are doing school work have the first right to a seat, and a student playing a game must give it up.
解析Work saved on a machine is cleaned off every Friday night。
23When are games allowed?
AAfter school
BAt lunch time
CAt any time
DNever
✔ 正確答案：(A) After school
中譯什麼時候可以玩遊戲？
解析Games are allowed after school but not at lunch time。
24Who has the first right to a seat at lunch?
AThe student who arrived first
BA student playing a game
CThe student with the lowest number
DA student doing school work
✔ 正確答案：(D) A student doing school work
中譯午休時誰有優先使用座位的權利？
解析students who are doing school work have the first right to a seat。
EMAIL
A Question about a Lost Account
Dear Sir,
I cannot enter my page. On Tuesday I changed my phone, and now the system sends the number to my old number, which no longer works.
I have tried the help page four times. Each time it asks me to prove who I am by entering the number I cannot receive. I understand why the system is built this way, but it means there is no door at all for somebody in my position.
My page name is my own name and number and I have used it for six years. I can answer any question about it, and I still have the first message I ever sent. Is there a person I can speak to?
✔ 正確答案：(D) The number goes to a number he cannot use
中譯作者的問題是什麼？
解析the system sends the number to my old number, which no longer works。
26Why does the help page not solve the problem?
AIt asks for the number he cannot receive
BIt is in another language
CIt asks for money
DIt is closed at night
✔ 正確答案：(A) It asks for the number he cannot receive
中譯說明頁面為什麼解決不了問題？
解析Each time it asks me to prove who I am by entering the number I cannot receive。
27What is the purpose of this letter?
ATo close the page
BTo ask for a new phone number
CTo reach a real person who can help
DTo report a bug in the help page
✔ 正確答案：(C) To reach a real person who can help
中譯這封信的目的是什麼？
解析Is there a person I can speak to？他要的是能處理這件事的真人。
ARTICLE
The Machines That Wait for Us
Fifty years ago, in one European country as in ours, a computer sat in a room of its own and people went to it. Today we carry one, and it goes to every place we go.
This changed something nobody planned. When a machine waits in a room, there are hours when you are simply not near it. Those hours are gone now. A question that used to wait until Monday is answered at eleven on Saturday night, and the person who answers it is not paid for that hour.
The machines did not ask for this. We have not yet made the new rules that a machine in every pocket needs. Every tool before this one got such rules in the end; this one is simply too young, and we are writing them now, badly, one family at a time.