When I was an official of a school in Paio Alto，California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board，wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times．Polly’s son，Jim，had great difficulty in school, He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers．But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room．His parents knew his difficulties，but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride．Shortly after Jim finished high school，he was killed in a motorcycle accldent, After his death，his mother gave this letter to the newspaper．

“Today we buried our 20-year-old son．He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night．How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time．If I had only known that，I would have said to him，‘Jim，I love you and I’m always so proud of yon．’I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him．I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile，his laughter, and his genuine love to other people．

“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (惱人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud，the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed，etc．，I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much．

      “I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but，other parents, do have a chance．Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation．The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died．He called me to say,‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you．You have to go to work now．Bye．’That day, he gave me something to treasure forever．”

      If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people，especially family members，that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care．You may never have another chance．Do it today! 

Who was Jim?

      A．A school boy．                                      

B．The writer

      C．The president of a school board．                      

D．An official of a school．

What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase“the educationally handicapped”?

      A．The communication difficulty．              

B．The physical problems．

      C．The psychological problems．                        

D．The learning difficulty．

According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE?

      A．He was always sad about his school marks．

      B．His parents always scolded him about his bad school marks．

      C．His study needed more attention from his parents and teachers．

      D．He was kilied in a car accident

What did PoIly think of Jim?

      A．He was a lovely boy with a beautiful smile who always loved others．

      B．He was physically sick but always happy

      C．He was an irritating boy with some bad habits．

      D．He seldom expressed his love to his parents．

The purpose of Polly’s letter is to     ．

      A．memorize her son

      B．teach parents to appreciate their chtidren

      C．teach children how to be good boys

      D．give some advice on how to deal with children’s problems

A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions(養(yǎng)老金). Furthermore, some in-situations should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options(選擇) have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
【小題1】According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?

A．Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire.

B．Increase savings levels of people during their working years.

C．Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old.

D．Increase the level of pensions.

【小題2】The underlined word “viable” in the fourth paragraph most probably means “______”.

A．impossible

B．practical

C．perfect

D．obvious

【小題3】What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this article?

A．To point out the need for government support for old people.

B．To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.

C．To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.

D．To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.