英文指考

[題組:第31題到第35題]
______ Yet, the gabelle and the “bread question” remained among the most unsettling social and political issues throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods (1789-1815) and well beyond.
(A) External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution.
(B) With the collapse of the royal family, calm was restored gradually.
(C) Meanwhile, peasants’ resentment against the gabelle was spreading.
(D) The common household could not afford to buy enough food to meet their basic needs.
(E) The anger quickly built up, culminating in the massive riots of the French Revolution in 1789.
(F) Specifically, bread and salt, two most essential elements in the French cuisine, were at the heart of the conflict.

[題組:第36題到第39題]
Born in 1785 in southwestern Germany, Baron Karl Drais was one of the most creative German inventors of the 19th century. The baron’s numerous inventions include, among others, the earliest typewriter, the meat grinder, a device to record piano music on paper, and two four-wheeled human-powered vehicles. But it was the running machine, the modern ancestor of the bicycle,

that made him famous. The running machine, also called Draisine or hobby horse, was in effect a very primitive bicycle: it had no chains and was propelled by riders pushing off the ground with their feet. Though not a bike in the modern sense of the word, Drais’ invention marked the big bang for the bicycle’s development. It was the first vehicle with two wheels placed in line. The frame and wheels were made of wood; the steering already resembled a modern handlebar. Drais’ big democratic idea behind his invention was to find a muscle-powered replacement for the horses, which were expensive and consumed lots of food even when not in use. The machine, he believed, would allow large numbers of people faster movement than walking or riding in a coach. Drais undertook his first documented ride on June 12, 1817, covering a distance of 13 kilometers in one hour. A few months later, Drais created a huge sensation when he rode 60 kilometers in four hours. These were later followed by a marketing trip to Paris, where the hobby horse quickly caught on. The fad also quickly spread to Britain. The success of the hobby horse was short-lived, though. They were heavy and difficult to ride. Safety was an issue, too: They lacked a brake, as well as cranks and pedals. There were frequent collisions with unsuspecting pedestrians, and after a few years Drais’ invention was banned in many European and American cities. Drais’ ideas, however, did not disappear entirely. Decades later, the machine was equipped by Frenchmen Pierre Lallement and Pierre Michaux with pedals to become the modern bicycle.
36. Why did Drais invent the running machine?
(A) To prove his creativity as an inventor.
(B) To protect the horses from being abused.
(C) To provide a new gadget for the royal class.
(D) To give the general public a better means of transportation.

[題組:第36題到第39題]
37. What does “marked the big bang” mean in the second paragraph?
(A) Gave out huge noise.
(B) Created serious disturbance.
(C) Enjoyed wide popularity.
(D) Represented groundbreaking work.

[題組:第36題到第39題]
38. Which of the following descriptions is true about the running machine?
(A) It was equipped with cranks and pedals.
(B) Its wheels and frame were made of iron.
(C) It had a brake to control the speed of its movement.
(D) Its steering was similar to the handlebar of a modern bike.

[題組:第36題到第39題]
39. Why did the hobby horse fail to become a common vehicle in the 19th century?
(A) It was expensive and not durable enough.
(B) It did not go as fast as people had expected.
(C) It was hard to control and dangerous to ride on the road.
(D) It did not receive enough public attention in European cities.

[題組:第40題到第43題]
Flickering lamps can induce headaches. But if the flickering happens millions of times a second-far faster than the eye can see or the brain process-then it might be harnessed to do something useful, like transmitting data. This is the idea behind Li-Fi, or Light Fidelity. The term Li-Fi was coined by University of Edinburgh Professor Harald Haas in a 2011 TED Talk, where he introduced the idea of “wireless data from every light.” Today, Li-Fi has developed into a wireless technology that allows data to be sent at high speeds, working with light-emitting diodes (LEDs), an increasingly popular way to illuminate public areas and homes. Using LED lights as networking devices for data transmission, Li-Fi has several advantages over WiFi (Wireless Fidelity). First, Li-Fi allows for greater security on local networks, as light cannot penetrate walls or doors, unlike radio waves used in Wi-Fi. As long as transparent materials like glass windows are covered, access to a Li-Fi channel is limited to devices inside the room, ensuring that signals cannot be hacked from remote locations. Also, Li-Fi can operate in electromagnetic sensitive areas such as aircraft cabins, hospitals, and nuclear power plants, for light does not interfere with radio signals. The most significant advantage of Li-Fi is speed. Researchers have achieved speeds of 224 gigabits per second in lab conditions, much faster than Wi-Fi broadband. How could Li-Fi enrich daily life? Anywhere there is LED lighting, there is an opportunity for Li-Fi enabled applications. Li-Fi-enabled street lights could provide internet access to mobile phones, making walking at night safer. The LED bulbs in traffic lights could provide drivers with weather conditions and traffic updates. Li-Fi could help with tourism by providing an easier access to local information. At home, smart light could also provide parents with solutions to their children’s Internet addiction: Just turn off the lights and you’ve turned off their access. When 14 billion light bulbs mean 14 billion potential transmitters of wireless data, a cleaner, a greener, and even a brighter future is on the way.
40. What is this passage mainly about?
(A) A new design in lighting.
(B) Wireless transmission through illumination.
(C) Radio interference in public areas.
(D) Potential applications of Li-Fi for military use.

[題組:第40題到第43題]
41. What does “This” in the first paragraph refer to?
(A) Flickering light is a nuisance.
(B) Light flashes can deliver messages.
(C) The brain can be affected by lighting.
(D) Human eyes can perceive changes in light.

[題組:第40題到第43題]
42. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true about Li-Fi?
(A) It passes through concrete walls.
(B) It was first introduced in 2011.
(C) It transmits data at high speed.
(D) It may help with parenting.

[題組:第40題到第43題]
43. According to the passage, which of the following is an advantage of Li-Fi over Wi-Fi?
(A) Li-Fi can be powered by radio and save more energy.
(B) Li-Fi guides pedestrians in areas where vehicles cannot travel.
(C) Li-Fi provides safer transmission of data during a power failure.
(D) Li-Fi can be used in areas where Wi-Fi may interfere with radar signals.

[題組:第44題到第47題]
Some of the world’s largest beetles are getting smaller because their habitats are warming up, according to new research from the University of British Columbia, Canada. The study, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology in January 2018, shows that climate change is having an impact on these “teeny tiny” organisms. The study began with a deep dive into the scientific literature. Evolutionary ecologist Michelle Tseng and her students combed through all the articles they could find, looking for laboratory studies of temperature effects on insects. They found 19 that indicated at least 22 beetle species shrank when raised in warmer than normal temperatures. To see whether this pattern held true in the wild, the team made use of the university’s 600,000-specimen insect collection, which included thousands of bugs collected locally since the late 1800s. The researchers took photographs of more than 6,500 beetles from the eight species with the most extensive records. They also looked at climate records to determine trends in rainfall and other factors besides temperature. Sorting the beetles into size categories, they found that five of the eight species have shrunk over the past century. The four largest species of beetles, including the snail-killer ground beetles, shrank 20% in the past 45 years. In contrast, smaller beetles were unaffected or even slightly increased in size. Some ecologists are cautious about Tseng’s findings, saying that it hasn’t yet been proved whether the warming temperatures are the actual cause for the beetle shrinkage. UK biologist Alan Ronan Baudron, however, is convinced. Baudron’s studies have documented shrinkage of certain fish species due to climate warming. His account is that warmer temperatures lower the concentration of oxygen in the water, causing fish to burn energy faster and mature at a smaller size. But neither he nor Tseng is convinced that decreased oxygen can explain the shrinkage in the beetles.
44. What is the best title for the passage?
(A) Large Beetles Are Shrinking, Thanks to Climate Change
(B) Beetles vs. Fish: Are They Becoming Smaller?
(C) What We Know About Evolutionary Ecology
(D) Animal Ecology: Past and Present