When my mother was young, our street was full of small shops and low rents. Then the city built a station two blocks away. (11) Rents went up, the old shops closed, and coffee shops opened where the bakery had been. People said the street was better now. The families who had lived there for forty years could not pay the new rent, (12) most of them moved to the edge of the city. (13), the coffee shops are closing too: the people who filled them have also gone. A street is not its buildings, (14) we learn that only after the people have left.
Every famous part of a city was once a cheap one. (15) A young cook, a new band, a small group with an idea and no money: none of them can start where the rent is high. They need a room that is not expensive and a street that does not yet care what they do. A colorful, fashionable sign costs nothing to hang. A city that loses all its cheap places keeps its buildings, (16) it stops making anything new. (17), the shops people travel to see are the result of years when nobody was watching. You cannot plan that part, (18) you can leave room for it.
May: Here is the list for the winter service day. Sixteen of us so far.
CLASS 302 · Winter Service Day
Saturday, 9:00 to 12:00
Group A: clean the park by the river (8 people)
Group B: carry food boxes to old people (8 people)
Wear an old jacket; masks given at the gate
Team leaders: May and Ken · bus to Taichung 8:30
Ken: I would rather be in Group B, but I cannot carry heavy things with my arm.
May: The boxes are two kilograms each. You will be fine.
Ken: Then put me in B. And tell everyone to bring a bit of water; the park has no water.
全文中譯
梅：這是冬季服務日的名單，目前有十六個人。
302 班 · 冬季服務日
星期六 9:00 至 12:00
A 組：清理河邊公園（8 人）
B 組：把食物箱送給長者（8 人）
請穿舊外套；口罩於大門發放
小隊長：梅與肯 · 8:30 往台中的車
肯：我比較想去 B 組，但我的手臂沒辦法搬重物。
梅：每個箱子只有兩公斤，你可以的。
肯：那就把我排 B 組。還有，請大家帶一點水，公園沒有水。
Questions 19–21
19Why was Ken not sure about Group B?
AHe thought the boxes were heavy
BHe does not like old people
CHe wanted to clean the park
DHe has no jacket
✔ 正確答案：(A) He thought the boxes were heavy
中譯肯為什麼對 B 組有顧慮？
解析I cannot carry heavy things with my arm，他擔心箱子太重；梅說明只有兩公斤後他就同意了。
20What does the list NOT tell us?
AThat the park has no water
BThe time of the service day
CHow many people are in each group
DWhat to wear
✔ 正確答案：(A) That the park has no water
中譯名單上沒有告訴我們什麼？
解析公園沒有水是肯在訊息裡說的，名單上沒有。
21How many students are still needed?
ASixteen
BNone
CTwo
DEight
✔ 正確答案：(B) None
中譯還需要多少學生？
解析兩組各 8 人共 16 人，而目前正好有十六人，人數已滿。
NOTICE
Free Winter Meals at the Town Hall
Every Tuesday and Friday · 17:30 to 19:00 · December to February
A hot meal is served to anybody who comes, rich or poor; this is a social meal, not a test. You do not need to show a paper or give a name, and nobody will ask you any question.
Children under twelve must come with an adult
Food may be taken home in your own box
If you would like to help us, come at 16:30
This is run by local people, not by the city. We are given food by three shops on Green Road, and an assistant from a national company brings one product box each week. Nothing is thrown away: what is left at 19:00 goes to the school breakfast box on Wednesday.
We are not a rich organization. What we have is a kitchen, a list of people who help, and two hours twice a week.
解析what is left at 19:00 goes to the school breakfast box on Wednesday。
24What is the purpose of the last part of the notice?
ATo explain why the hall is cold
BTo make clear how small and simple this is
CTo thank the city government
DTo ask for money
✔ 正確答案：(B) To make clear how small and simple this is
中譯公告最後一段的目的是什麼？
解析We are not a rich organization. What we have is a kitchen, a list of people who help, and two hours twice a week，是在說明這件事的規模其實很小。
EMAIL
A Letter about a Bench
Dear Mr. Kao,
I am writing about the bench outside the town hall, the one facing the bus stop.
Last month a new bench was put there with a bar across the middle. I understand why: somebody had been sleeping on the old one. But the bar also means that an old woman with a bad back cannot lie down for the ten minutes she needs, and a mother cannot put a sleeping child beside her.
The problem it was built to solve was one person. The problem it has made belongs to everybody who waits there. Could the bar be taken off, and could we talk about the first problem another way?
CTo ask for the bar to be taken off and the problem discussed
DTo report a person sleeping outside
✔ 正確答案：(C) To ask for the bar to be taken off and the problem discussed
中譯這封信的目的是什麼？
解析Could the bar be taken off, and could we talk about the first problem another way？
26Why was the bar put on the bench?
ABecause somebody had been sleeping there
BBecause the old bench broke
CTo stop children from falling
DTo make the bench stronger
✔ 正確答案：(A) Because somebody had been sleeping there
中譯橫桿為什麼被裝上去？
解析somebody had been sleeping on the old one。
27What point does the writer make about the two problems?
ABoth are small
BThe bar solved one person's problem but made one for everybody
CNeither can be solved
DThe first problem is worse
✔ 正確答案：(B) The bar solved one person's problem but made one for everybody
中譯作者對這兩個問題提出什麼看法？
解析The problem it was built to solve was one person. The problem it has made belongs to everybody who waits there。
ARTICLE
The People a City Counts
A city knows how many cars pass a corner each hour. It often does not know how many people sleep badly because of the noise.
What gets counted gets money. A road can show a number that rises; a quiet street where neighbors know each other cannot. So the road is built and the street is not protected, and nobody made a bad choice on purpose.
Some cities now count other things: how many children can walk to school alone, how many old people leave the house each day. These numbers are harder to collect and easy to laugh at. A society is bored by slow numbers and pulled toward fast ones, but a city becomes what it measures, and for a hundred years we have measured mostly traffic.