Howard Dill is a giant among giant pumpkin(南瓜) growers. He grew world champion pumpkins for four years running，from 1979 to 1982, and missed winning the fifth year by only 5 pounds. Today, his Dill Atlantic Giant seeds are sold worldwide to more than 50 seed companies. The pumpkins grown from his Dill Atlantic Giant seeds commonly weigh in at over 1,000 pounds. “I don’t have any training in genetics(遺傳學); it was all trial and error,” Dill says. He got his love of pumpkins from his father and has enjoyed growing them for years.
Dill still grows giant pumpkins, but not for competition. In the fall, visitors come to enjoy the pumpkins on his 90-acre farm in Nova Scotia, Canada. He plants ten acres of pumpkins for Halloween and two acres of giant pumpkins. One of giant pumpkins was recently baked into 442 pumpkin pies and sold at $5 each for charity.
It you want to try growing a giant pumpkin, Dill recommends starting with a soil test and then adding fertilizer(農藥) as needed. Plant the giant pumpkin seed. A giant pumpkin can gain 15 to 20 pounds a day, so careful watering—every day or two—is necessary. You should wait about 130 days until the pumpkin matures and then you can harvest it.
Dill’s favorite pumpkin set the Guinness Book record in 1981. It weighted 493.5 pounds. “I’ve grown them larger since, but that one meant a lot,” he remembers. “I never would have imagined ten
years ago that there would be a 1,000-pounder, but there are many of them now,” says Dill. The 2006 world record holder is Larry Checkon of Pennsylvania. He grew a 1,469 pounder. Dill says, “These world champions are grown from my seeds, so I feel like a winner right along with them.”
【小題1】What can we learn about the world champion pumpkin of 1983?

The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people’s work has taken the form of jobs. The industrial age may now be coming to an end, and some of changes in work patterns which it brought may have to be reversed. This seems a discouraging thought. But, in fact, it could offer the prospect of a better future for work. Universal employment, as its history show, hasn’t meant economic freedom.
Employment became widespread when the enclosures（圈地運動）of the 17th and 18th centuries made many people dependent on paid work by taking them away from the use of the land, and thus from the means to provide a living for themselves. Then the factory system destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people’s homes. Later, as transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people traveled longer distances to their place of employment until, eventually, many people’s work lost all connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived.
Meanwhile, employment put women at a disadvantage. In pre-industrial times, men and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community. Now it became customary for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the unpaid work of the home and family to his wife. Tax and benefit regulations still assume this norm（準則）today, and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between sexes.
It was not only women whose work status suffered. As employment became the dominant form of work, young people and old people were kept out — a problem now, as more teenagers disappointed and annoyed at school and more retired people want to live active lives.
All this may now have to change. The time has certainly come to switch some efforts and resources away from the utopian（烏托邦）goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent practical task of helping many people to manage without full-time jobs.
【小題1】 From the passage we can learn that ____.

B
When a rather dirty, poorly-dressed person kneels at your feet and puts out his hands to beg for a few coins, do you hurry on, not knowing what to do, or do you feel sad and hurriedly hand over some money? What should our attitude to beggars be? There can’t be no question that the world is full of terrible sad stories. It must be terrible to have no idea where our next meal is going to come from. It seems cruel not to give some money to beggars.
Certainly, most of the world’s great religions order us to be open-hearted and share what we have with those less fortunate than ourselves. But has the world changed? Maybe what was morally (道德方面) right in the old days, when one knew exactly who in the village had suffered misfortune and needed help, is no longer the best idea. Quite a few people will not give to beggars. Let us look at their arguments.
First, some believe that many city beggars dress up on purpose to look pitiable and actually make a good living from begging. Giving to beggars only encourages this sort of evil (惡行). Secondly, there is the opinion that there is no real excuse for begging. One might be poor, but that is no reason for losing one’s sense of pride and self-dependence.
Related to this in the opinion that the problem should be dealt with by the government rather than ordinary people . Some people think beggars should go to the local government department and receive help.
It is hard to come to any final conclusion; there are various cases and we must deal with them differently. A few coins can save a life in some situations, and even if the money is wasted, that does not take away the moral goodness of the giver.
（  ）60. What is mainly discussed in the passage?
A. Moral deeds of people. 
B. Religious activities of the church.
C. Moral goodness of the giver 
D. Arguments on giving to beggars.
（  ）61. What can we infer from the sentence “But has the world changed?” in the second paragraph?
A. People no longer know who was morally right in the past.
B. Some people will not do what was morally right in the past.
C. We don’t meet with those who need help any more.
D. Now it is the government’s duty to help the beggars.
（  ）62. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Some people dress up to pretend to be beggars.
B. Some beggars want money to help their children go to school.
C. Some beggars use the money to buy drugs.
D. Some beggars have no excuse for begging.
（  ）63. In the last paragraph, the writer thinks that it is hard to come to any final conclusion, because ___________.
A. the cases can be so different      
B. there are so many beggars
C. there is so much money wasted
D. there are so many different arguments

In the year after my mother left us, my father was 42 and he knew that he wasn’t going to make it to 43. He wrote a letter to me and hoped that something in it would help me for the rest of my life.
Since the day I was 12 and first read his letter, some of his words have lived in my heart. One part always stands out. “Right now, you are pretending to be a time killer. But I know that one day, you will do something great that will set you among the very best.” Knowing that my dad believed in me gave me permission to believe in myself. “You will do something great.” He didn’t know what I would be, and neither did I, but at times in my life when I’ve felt proud of myself, I remember his words and wish he were here so I could ask, “Is this what you were talking about , Dad ? Should I keep going?”
A long way from 12 now, I realize he would have been proud when I made any progress. Lately, though, I’ve come to believe he would want me to move on to what comes next: to be proud of , and believe in somebody else. It’s time to start writing my own letters to my children. Our children look to us with the same unanswered question we had. Our kids don’t hold back because they’re afraid to fail. They’re only afraid of failing us. They don’t worry about being disappointed. Their fear ---- as mine was until my father’s letter---- is of being a disappointment.
Give your children permission to succeed. They’re waiting for you to believe in them. I always knew my parents loved me. But trust me: That belief will be more complete , that love will be more real, and their belief in themselves will be greater if you write the words on their hearts ：“Don’t worry; you’ll do something great .”Not having that blessing from their parents may be the only thing holding them back.
【小題1】We learn from the text that the author__________.

SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
Captain Goodfellow
Do your children enjoy interesting stories, funny games, and exciting dances? Captain Goodfellow will be ready to teach all these things to children of all ages at the City Theatre on Saturday morning at 10:00. Free.
Walking Tour of the Town
Forget your worries on Saturday morning. Take a beautiful walk and learn about local history. Meet at the front entrance of City Hall at 9:30. Wear comfortable shoes!
Films at the Museum
Two European films will be shown Saturday afternoon at the Museum Theater. See Broken Window at 1:30. The Workers will be at 3:45. For further information, call 4987898.
International Picnic
Are you tired of eating the same food every day? Come to Central Park on Saturday and enjoy food from all over the world. Delicious and not expensive. Noon to 5:00 pm.
Take Me out to the Ballgame
It’s October, and tonight is your last chance to see the Redbirds this year. Get your tickets at the gate. It might be cold, so don’t forget sweaters and jackets.
Do You Want to Hear “The Zoo”
“The Zoo”, a popular rock group from Australia, will give their first US concert tomorrow night at 8 at Rose Hall, City College.
1. You can probably eat Chinese, Italian, and Arabian food at_______.
A. the front entrance of City Hall                      
B. the City Theatre
C. Rose Hall                                                   
D. Central Park on Saturday
2. You can see movies at the_______.
A. City College                                                      
B. Museum Theater                    
C. City Theater                                                      
D. Central Park
3. If you are going on the Walking Tour, don’t forget to______.
A. take some food                                           
B. tell interesting stories
C. learn about local history                                      
D. wear your comfortable shoes
4. The Redbirds ballgame ______.
A. is held in the afternoon                                           B. might be held outside
C. is held at the gate                                             D. might need sweaters and jackets
5. “The Zoo” is ______.
A. a park with lots of animals there                      
B. a US concert
C. a music group                                                       
D. going to give the concert at 8 am. tomorrow