2016年成人學位英語考試模擬試題及答案（3）
Passage 3
Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services. People use money to buy food, furniture, books, bicycles and hundreds of others they need or want. When they work, they usually get paid in money.
Most of the money today is made of metal or paper. But people used to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was shells.
Shells were not the only things used as money. In China, cloth and knives were used. In the Philippine Islands, rice was used as money. In some parts of Africa, cattle were one of the earliest kinds of money. Other animals were used as money, too.
The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the center. People strung them together and carded them from place to place.
Different countries have used different metals and designs for their money. The first coins in England were made of tin. Sweden and Russia used copper to make their money. Later, other countries began to make coins of gold and silver.
But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money. The first papermoney looked more like a note from one person to another than paper money used today.
Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell money until today.
26. Which of the following can be cited as an example of the use of money, in exchange for services?
A. To sell a bicycle for $20.
B. To get some money for old books at a garage sale.
C. To buy things you need or want.
D. To get paid for your work.
27. Where were shells used as money in history?
A. In the Philippines.
B. In China.
C. In Africa.
D. We don' t know.
28. Why, according to the passage, did ancient Chinese coins have a square hole in the center?
A. Because it would be easier to put them together and carry them around.
B. Because it would be lighter for people to carry them from place to place.
C. Because people wanted to make it look nicer.
D. Because people wanted to save the expensive metal they were made from.
29. Why does the author say that even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive?
A. Because they are easy to steal.
B. Because they are difficult for people to obtain.
C. Because they are not easy to carry around.
D. Because they themselves are expensive, too.
30. Which do you choose as the best title for this passage?
A. Money and Its Uses
B. Different Things Used as Money
C. Different Countries, Different Money
D. The History of Money
Passage 4
My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that plowed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I' ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and loyal to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man' s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem, one of the most important things a person can have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never miss one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dream of making thousands of dollars playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity I learned working in the field except now I was driving golf balls with club, notoxen with a broomstick.
31. What was the writer' s first job?
A. To stand down the fairway at a golf course.
B. To spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them.
C. To drive the oxen that plowed the cane fields.
D. To watch the sugar-cane plantation.
32. The word "tedious" in paragraph 2 most probably means
A. hard
B. boring
C. interesting
D. long
33. What did the writer learn about from his first job?
A. He could work as hard as possible.
B. He could go to work on time.
C. He should never fail to go to work.
D. He should be respectful and loyal to the people he works for.
34. What gave the writer self-esteem?
A. Having a big family.
B. Bringing money back home to help the family.
C. Helping his father with the work.
D. All of the above.
35. What was the writer' s dream while working at a golf course?
A. Making a lot of money by playing golf.
B. Becoming a successful golfer.
C. Running a golf course near his house.
D. Both A & B.