One day three Frenchmen who did not know English very well were talking about the English language.
The first Frenchman said, ‘I heard someone shout ‘look out’ ,I put my head out of a window and a basin of water fell on me. It seems that ‘look out’ may mean ‘don’t look out!’
The second one followed, ‘ I was once on a ship and heard the captain（船長） shout, ‘All hands on the deck(甲板)’ I put my hands on the deck and someone trod(踩)on them.’
The third one told his friends his experience too, ‘One early morning I called on my English friend and the maid(女傭) said, ‘He is not up yet, come back in half an hour.’ When I went again for him, she said, ‘He’s not down yet.’I said, ‘If he’s not up and he is not down, where is he then?    What a strange language it is!’
【小題1】What is the possible meaning of “look out” in this passage?

One day three Frenchmen who did not know English very well were talking about the English language.
The first Frenchman said, ‘I heard someone shout ‘look out’ ,I put my head out of a window and a basin of water fell on me. It seems that ‘look out’ may mean ‘don’t look out!’
The second one followed, ‘ I was once on a ship and heard the captain（船長） shout, ‘All hands on the deck(甲板)’ I put my hands on the deck and someone trod(踩)on them.’
The third one told his friends his experience too, ‘One early morning I called on my English friend and the maid(女傭) said, ‘He is not up yet, come back in half an hour.’ When I went again for him, she said, ‘He’s not down yet.’I said, ‘If he’s not up and he is not down, where is he then?    What a strange language it is!’

1. 1.

   What is the possible meaning of “look out” in this passage?

   1. A.
      Put your head out and look outside
   2. B.
      Be careful
   3. C.
      Come out and have a look
   4. D.
      Both A and B
2. 2.

   When the captain shouted. “All hands on deck”, he really meant to tell____________.

   1. A.
      Everyone on the ship to put his hands on the deck
   2. B.
      All the sailors(水手)to put their hands on the deck
   3. C.
      All the sailors to come up to deal with (處理)some trouble
   4. D.
      Everyone on ship to gather (集合)on the deck
3. 3.

   What did the maid mean when she said, “He’s not up yet”?

   1. A.
      He has not risen to his feet yet.
   2. B.
      He’s not back yet.
   3. C.
      He has not got up yet.
   4. D.
      He was ill in bed.
4. 4.

   Where was the third Frenchman’s English friend then?

   1. A.
      He was at a party.
   2. B.
      He was at work.
   3. C.
      He was in his bedroom.
   4. D.
      He was in the bathroom.
5. 5.

   What do you think was the three Frenchmen’s real trouble?

   1. A.
      English is too difficult to understand.
   2. B.
      They didn’t use the language so often.
   3. C.
      They knew nothing about the English idioms.(成語\習慣用語)
   4. D.
      They were not sure about the English grammar.

Now, more and more cities are facing problems, such as high housing costs, pollution and crime. Let’s see what people in Hyderabad, India and in Sao Paulo, Brazil do to solve (解決) the problems.

Hyderabad, India

To improve people’s lives, Hyderabad is planting more and more trees. The city is even creating greener buildings that use less water and less electricity for power. Adding green to a city has a number of advantages. For example, trees make the air cleaner. In Hyderabad, streets were grey and dirty in the past. However, today they are filled with trees and flowers, making the city cleaner and more colourful. Green areas also give people places to relax or exercise. A study in the USA shows an interesting thing: the greener a neighborhood is, the less crime there is.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Many people work in the centre of Sao Paulo, but they don’t live there. They’ve spread out to neighborhoods outside the city because housing is cheaper. Every day, these people travel into the city, and traffic is very heavy. City planners are using different ways to deal with (處理) the problem. First, they are building better subways. Another goal is to make it cheaper for people to live in the downtown area (中心區). Doing this will reduce traffic and pollution in the city.

1.What does the underlined word “greener” mean?

2.Which advantage of making Hyderabad greener is NOT talked about in the passage?

3.According to the passage, what problem does Sao Paulo have?