Who is there among us who hasn’t dreamed of having his or her own small (maybe , several years later , even big )business , and having wonderful freedom , both from a boss and from the time clock ; the freedom to make up our own rules for our work , and our own plans —arranging our own hours of work ? That way work would be both painless and fun. Or, so we imagine.

Well, in fact it isn’t quite as simple as that. Yes , it is true that being the boss has its satisfactions and that you can arrange your working hours freely if you own your own small business . But in those early years of starting your own business, you shouldn’t think of a free day, not to mention flying off for a month’s vacation. It is not unusual for new business owners to work seventy or eighty hours a week , and if there is a day off , that day might need to be devoted to accounting (算賬).

But this negative picture doesn’t destroy the beautiful hopes. The possibility of getting something wonderful in return—both material and mental—continues to drive that large number of people who start up small businesses each year in the United States.

From the first paragraph, we know that everybody hopes  ________ .

 A．to rule others         B．to be his or her own boss

 C．to get a time clock    D．to be free from work

Most new business owners have to  ________  .

 A．work more than 10 hours a day  B．devote himself to accounting

 C．fly to some places in the world  D．have a day off in a week

The expression “negative picture” most probably means “  ________ “.

 A．a(chǎn) terrible experience     B．a(chǎn) poor picture

 C．limited freedom         D．unpleasant situations

The beautiful hopes will never be destroyed because  ________ .

 A．people love beautiful things by nature

 B．people have a strong desire to seek personal gains

 C．small businesses make big money each year in the US

 D．small businesses have advantages over big companies

單詞辨音(共5小題；每小題1分，滿分5分)

postcode

 A. adopt                  B. noble              C. observer          D. astronomy      

charge

 A. reward                 B. appearance      C. target             D. forward    

classify

 A. procedure      B. concern           C. associate         D. correction  

anxious

 A. distinguish     B. lemon             C. brand             D. pond            

motherland

 A. breath         B. birthplace       C. southern         D. healthy   

By the middle of the 1920s the farthest corners of the earth        explored.

       A．a(chǎn)re    B．were C．have been      D．had been

補全對話

—Debbie! S can't believe it! I haven't seen you for years．

—Dorothy! It's really a nice surprise!   

—Pretty good．

— 

—I wish ! could, but I'm on my way out．I have to be in the city in an hour．

— 

—There's a lot of traffic and I really have to get going．You know where I live—Why don't you drop in one evening?

—I'll do that．____ Let's keep in touch．

—I'd really like to．I'll talk to you soon, Debbie．I'm glad I ran into you．

—  ．

       A．Take care．

       B．How are you?

       C．Where have you been?

       D．Can you join me?

       E．Come on, just for, a minute．

       F．And you should feel free to call or visit me．

       G．It's been a whole year since we saw each other last time．

The little boy burst          .

       A．out cry     B．into being cry   C．out crying D．into crying

There are signs that there is a growing tendency for people to turn away from ________ western medicine to alternative methods of treatment.

A．conventional           B．pessimistic              C．bureaucratic            D．theoretical

---Mum, can I go out to play football with Alice?

   ---No, you can’t        your homework is done.

       A．while       B．a(chǎn)fter  C．until  D．a(chǎn)s

My son __________ his clock  when I went to get a cup I __________ in his study.

A. was winding up; had left    B. would up; had forgotten 

C. had wounded; left         D. was winding up; forgot

. Some evidence threw doubt on ______ he had lent the money to the defender.

A. if                    B. which              C. that              D. Whether

A very beautiful scene spreads in front of the mountain, at the foot of which ______.

A. lies a small village                             B. does a small village lie

C. a small village lies                                 D. is lying a small village