閱讀測驗

第49至52題為題組
Ongoing conflicts across the Middle East have prevented more than 13 million children from attending school， according to a report published by UNICEF， the United Nations Children’s Fund.
The report states that 40% of all children across the region are currently not receiving an education， which is a result of two consequences of violence: structural damage to schools and the displacement of populations， also called “forced migration.”” Both issues result from the tide of violence that has crossed the region in recent years. The report examines nine countries where a state of war has become the norm. Across these countries， violence has made 8，500 schools unusable. In certain cases， communities have relied on school buildings to function as shelters for the displaced， with up to nine families living in a single classroom in former schools across Iraq.
The report pays particularly close attention to Syria， where a bloody civil war has displaced at least nine million people since the war began in 2011. With the crisis now in its fifth year， basic public services， including education， inside Syria have been stretched to breaking point. Within the country， the quality and availability of education depends on whether a particular region is suffering violence.
The report concludes with an earnest request to international policymakers to distribute financial and other resources to ease the regional crisis. With more than 13 million children already driven from classrooms by conflict， it is no exaggeration to say that the educational prospects of a generation of children are in the balance. The forces that are crushing individual lives and futures are also destroying the prospects for an entire region.
49. What is this article mainly about?
(A) Why people are moving away from their own countries.
(B) Why there are civil wars and violence in the Middle East.
(C) Why many schools have become shelters for displaced families.
(D) Why many children in the Middle East are not attending school.”

第49至52題為題組
50. Why is “Iraq”” mentioned in the second paragraph?
(A) To convince people that temporary housing can be easily found.
(B) To prove that classrooms there are big enough to host many families.
(C) To give an example of why schools are not usable for children’s learning.
(D) To show how structural damages of school can affect the quality of education.”

第49至52題為題組
51. What does the phrase “in the balance”” in the last paragraph most likely mean?
(A) Being well taken care of.
(B) In an uncertain situation.
(C) Under control by the authority.
(D) Moving in the wrong direction.”

第49至52題為題組
52. According to the passage， which of the following statements is true?
(A) The war in Syria has been going on since 2011.
(B) More than nine thousand schools have been destroyed by wars.
(C) Thirteen million people have been forced to leave their homes in the Middle East.
(D) Forty percent of all children in the world are not attending schools due to ongoing conflict.

第53至56題為題組
Many marine animals， including penguins and marine iguanas， have evolved ways to get rid of excess salt by using special salt-expelling glands around their tongue. However， the sea snake’s salt glands cannot handle the massive amounts of salt that would enter their bodies if they actually drank seawater. This poses a serious problem when it comes to getting enough water to drink. If seawater is not an option， how does this animal survive in the ocean?
An international team of researchers focused on a population of yellow-bellied sea snakes living near Costa Rica， where rain often does not fall for up to seven months out of the year. Because yellow-bellied sea snakes usually spend all of their time far from land， rain is the animals’ only source of fresh water. When it rains， a thin layer of fresh water forms on top of the ocean， providing the snakes with a fleeting opportunity to lap up that precious resource. But during the dry season when there is no rain， snakes presumably have nothing to drink. Thus， the team became interested in testing whether sea snakes became dehydrated at sea.
The researchers collected more than 500 yellow-bellied sea snakes and weighed them. They found that during the dry season about half of the snakes accepted fresh water offered to them， while nearly none did during the wet season. A snake’s likelihood to drink also correlated with its body condition， with more withered snakes being more likely to drink， and to drink more. Finally， as predicted， snakes captured during the dry season contained significantly less body water than those scooped up in the rainy season. Thus， it seems the snake is able to endure certain degrees of dehydration in between rains. Scientists believe that dehydration at sea may explain the declining populations of sea snakes in some parts of the world.
53. What is the purpose of the study described in this passage?
(A) To test if sea snakes lose body water at sea.
(B) To see whether sea snakes drink water offered to them.
(C) To find out if sea snakes are greatly reduced in population.
(D) To prove that sea snakes drink only water coming from rivers.

第53至56題為題組
54. Which of the following is true about sea snakes?
(A) Their salt glands can remove the salt in the seawater.
(B) They can drink seawater when it mixes with rainwater.
(C) The ocean is like a desert to them since they don’t drink seawater.
(D) They usually live near the coastal area where there is more fresh water.

第53至56題為題組
55. Which of the following is one of the findings of the study?
(A) If a sea snake was dried and weak， it drank more fresh water.
(B) If captured in the wet season， sea snakes drank a lot of fresh water.
(C) Most of the sea snakes had lost a lot of body water when captured.
(D) Dehydration is not a problem among sea snakes since they live at sea.

第53至56題為題組
56. What can be inferred from the study?
(A) Sea snakes can easily survive long years of drought.
(B) Evolution will very likely enable sea snakes to drink seawater.
(C) Sea snakes will be the last creature affected by global warming.
(D) The sea snakes’ population distribution is closely related to rainfall.

第41至44題為題組
For more than two hundred years， the White House has stood as a symbol of the United States Presidency， the U.S. government， and the American people. In 1790， President George Washington declared that the federal government would reside in a district “not exceeding ten miles square … on the river Potomac.”” As preparations began， a competition was held to find a builder of the “”President’s House.”” Nine proposals were submitted， and the Irish-born architect James Hoban won the gold medal for his practical and handsome design. Construction began when the first cornerstone was laid in October of 1792. Although President Washington oversaw the construction of the house， he never lived in it. It was not until 1800， when the White House was nearly completed， that its first residents， President John Adams and his wife Abigail， moved in.
American presidents can express their individual style in how they decorate the house and in how they receive the public. Thomas Jefferson held the first inaugural open house in 1805; many of those who attended the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol simply followed him home. President Jefferson also opened the house for public tours， and it has remained open， except during wartime， ever since. In addition， Jefferson welcomed visitors to annual receptions on New Year’s Day and on the Fourth of July. Abraham Lincoln did the same， but then the inaugural crowds became far too large for the White House to accommodate comfortably， and this also created a security issue. It was not until Grover Cleveland’s first presidency that some effective crowd control measures were implemented to address the problem caused by this practice.
At various times in history， the White House has been known as the “”President’s Palace，”” the “”President’s House，”” and the “”Executive Mansion.”” President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901.
41. What is this passage mainly about?
(A) The design of the White House.
(B) The location of the White House.
(C) The importance of the White House.
(D) The history of the White House.”

第41至44題為題組
42. What does “this practice”” refer to in the second paragraph?
(A) Holding an inaugural open house.
(B) Accommodating the crowds comfortably.
(C) Decorating the White House.
(D) Joining in the swearing-in ceremony.”