一、完形填空

It was 7 oclock in the morning when I received the phone call.

“This is the emergency room calling and your son was just 1 in with severe burns on his face， neck and arms. We have called for a（n） 2 and are going to fly him to the burn unit in Seattle.” Seattle was 350 miles from his college， so we knew immediately it was 3 .

The doctor described the 4 ， which caused the burns. At 6 a.m.， our son and his friends decided to barbecue burgers outside. When they .5 the charcoal（木炭）， it burst into flames because they had sprayed too much gas. The flames suddenly .6 . my sons shirt tail. 7 ， one of the boys was quick-minded， grasped（抓?。?my son， and 8 him on the grass. While it saved his life， it was not in 9 to save him from severe burns and the terrible scars（傷疤）.

After he 10 from the treatments， the doctors told him they would not do plastic surgery（整容） for 6 months 11 it takes that long for the skin to stop shrinking. So he had to return to college with the scars.

When I was a child， my mother told my sister， who had a 10-inch， very 12 scar on her arm. “Nancy， if you ignore the scar， others will ignore it. It doesnt mean they wont 13 it， but it means it wont matter to them if it doesnt matter to you. ”

I 14 this wisdom on to my son. He took my advice to 15 and returned to school with his head held high-glad he was alive. By the end of the six-month waiting period， he decided that the scars did not 16 ， so he made the 17 to give up any plastic surgery.

We all have “scars” that we believe 18 people to keep away from us. And we spend a lot of time thinking that if only we looked differently， or dressed differently， people would like us better. But you see， people will only judge you by your looks， or your clothes， if you are judging yourself by these same 19 standards.

Put your imperfections out of your mind and concentrate on what you value 20 yourself， and your beauty will shine through.

1. A. brought B. given C. turned D. showed

2. A. doctor B. hospital

C. ambulance D. airplane

3. A. terrible B. serious

C. dangerous D. important

4. A. incident B. event

C. accident D. occasion

5. A. lit B. got

C. moved D. burned

6. A. took B. held

C. attracted D. caught

7. A. Fortunately B. Surprisingly

C. Happily D. Slowly

8. A. threw B. rolled

C. dropped D. pushed

9. A. reward B. place

C. time D. fact

10. A. benefited B. recovered

C. suffered D. relaxed

11. A. if B. while

C. because D. although

12. A. normal B. obvious

C. ordinary D. common

13. A. notice B. mention

C. laugh D. hide

14. A. sent B. gave

C. passed D. kept

15. A. life B. practice

C. account D. heart

16. A. grow B. matter

C. appear D. exist

17. A. mistake B. effort

C. request D. decision

18. A. invite B. allow

C. cause D. remind

19. A. false B. strict C. general D. fake

20. A. over B. by C. beyond D. within

二、閱讀理解

Competition. Its a simple word， yet a very complex word that covers many angles when it comes to how gasoline prices are determined. It seems so easy to explain， but dont let that trick you — its incredibly difficult to explain and adequately understand.

Say youre on a Sunday afternoon drive， and notice a gas station near you charging $3.50. Down the road a few miles， that price could easily be 10 or more cents higher or lower. The question is “how” or “why” is that？ Think of it this way. Are you more likely to get a better deal on a car if there are two similar car dealers next to each other？ Perhaps， because the dealers are too close. Say there is a third similar car dealer miles away. Is he going to be at the same level of competition and sell his cars for the same price as the two dealers next to each other？ Likely not. He may charge more or less. Maybe people dont know there are two other dealers down the road. Maybe the dealer is almost outside of the city and the land value isnt as high， so his taxes arent as high.

These situations do take place at gas stations. And more factors can impact what a station will charge. Timing can greatly impact what price a station charges as well！ Many motorists fail to realize that the price a station pays for gasoline changes daily. If one station gets lucky and buys gas on Monday and the cost goes up Tuesday， the station that bought on Monday doesnt necessarily have to raise prices like the station that bought on Tuesday. Maybe the station that got caught buying for a higher price on Tuesday will pass that higher cost on by raising its gas price.

Perhaps the difference is what brand the station is — branded stations usually pay a slightly higher cost for their gasoline. In return for paying a higher cost， those stations are guaranteed first supply in case of emergency situations. Independent stations dont pay as much， but arent guaranteed supply.

While competition sounds easy to understand， there are always a large number of factors that could influence what one station charges. Keep in mind how many variables（變數(shù)） there are next time you fill up.

1. What could be the best title for the passage？

A. How Competition Impacts Gas Prices

B. Gas Prices Go Up or Down

C. Competition — a Very Complex Word

D. We Cant Stress Enough the Need for Competition

2. The example of car dealers is used to show .

A. car prices are determined by car dealers

B. location is an important factor in pricing

C. the quality of service matters most

D. dealing strategy should be flexible

3. The gas prices of a station always change partly because .

A. a gas station always wants to charge more

B. the gasoline is in great demand

C. the cost of the gas the station buys varies daily

D. gas is in greater need on Monday

4. According to the passage， branded stations .

A. spend less money on their gasoline

B. have more staff than independent stations

C. charge less for high quality oil

D. offer a steady oil supply