閱讀理解
     It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were
warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in
10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.
     The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in
60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries(食品雜貨),
saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.
     I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike,
then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It
really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met
before. People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from
strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity(人性) as a whole. And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can
share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.
1. How did people get to know the couple's problem?
A. From radio broadcasts.  
B. From TV news  
C. From a newspaper.  
D. From a stranger.
2.Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The author used to get to work by bike.
B. The author's husband often parked the bike beside the back door.
C. Several strangers offered bikes to them, but they only accepted one of them.
D. Somebody had stolen their bike before, but soon returned it to the author.
4.What do we learn from  the couple's experience?
A. Strangers are usually of little help.          
B. One should take care of their bike.
C. News reports make people famous.        
D. An act of kindness can mean a lot.
4. Why was the bike so important to the couple?
A. They used it for work and daily life.        
B. It was their only possession.
C. It was a nice Kona 18 speed.              
D. The man's job was bike racing.
5. We can conclude that _______
A. the couple worked 60 hours a week.        
B. people were busy before Christmas
C. the stranger brought over the bike          
D. life was hard for the young family.

閱讀理解
     Cyril was a small town. The houses there were all made of wood; almost everything in the houses were made of wood, too. And all the houses faced south. The town was never peaceful. Fire broke out once
a week on summer afternoons. People were puzzled who was the real firebug (縱火犯).
     One day a big fire broke out. It was said that a Negro(黑人) had jumped out of the house on fire, so
the police arrested all the Negroes in the street. However, there were fires breaking out when the Negroes were in prison.
     Mauson, a physics teacher, didn't believe that the Negroes were the firebugs, and decided to find out
who the real firebug was. One day, he was invited to drink in a pub and happened to notice that many
bottles and plastic plates were baked by the hot sunrays. Suddenly he realized what the actual fact was.
He dashed out of the pub to his friend's house nearby, which also faced south. He made an experiment
there to prove his idea.
     The next Saturday afternoon, Mauson asked some policemen to come to the house. They were told
that the real firebug would be shown there. At that time, the sun was shining full into the house and it
became hotter and hotter inside the room. "Now," said Mauson, "this house will soon catch fire." People
looked at each other in surprise. Mauson asked them to look at the bottles and focus on the table cloth.
After a while the cloth gave off a burning smell and began to catch fire!
     The mystery of fire was discovered, but the police wouldn't believe him and insisted that Negroes had
been the firebugs. Instead they arrested Mauson and put him into prison. But Mauson said he would never turn against science.
1. The town was never peaceful, for fire broke out ________.
A. on Sundays  
B. on summer afternoons    
C. at any time  
D. on winter mornings
2. Why did the police arrest all the Negroes?
A. Because one of them had been seen to set on a fire.
B. Because they were suspected to be the firebugs.
C. Because the police hated the Negroes.
D. Because the Negroes knew something about the fires.
3. Drinking in a pub, Mauson realized ________.
A. he needed to leave the pub
B. he needed to back the bottles
C. it was too hot in the pub          
D. who was the real fire bug
4. By making an experiment, it was proved that the real firebug was ________.
A. the Negroes    
B. bottles      
C. sunrays      
D. plastic plates
5. What happened at the end of the story?
A. The Negroes were set free.
B. The police arrested the real firebugs
C. Mauson was arrested too.
D. Mauson made friends with the Negroes