私醫聯招 英文歷屆試題｜全部題目＋答案＋詳解（第 4 頁）

A solar-powered airplane landed in India on March 10,  (21)  the second leg of its bid to become the first aircraft to circle the world by solar energy alone. Solar Impulse 2,  (22)  in Abu Dhabi, will make 12 stops on its 22,000-mile (35,000 km) journey.

Life has taught me that sometimes when people behave badly with you, it is because of some unhappiness that they are carrying around with them,  (23)  that has nothing to do with you. I wish I  (24)  more gentle with people in that situation and not reacted so angrily.  (25)  you find out what's really going on, the whole relationship can change.

According to the World Resources Institute, approximately 38% of the world's population could face chronic water shortages by the year 2025. It is estimated that humans use 45 times as  (26)  water as they did three centuries ago. All over the globe, humans are pumping water out of the ground faster than it can be  (27) . The United Nations recently outlined the severity of the problem, saying that more people will suffer a high level of water stress if consumption continues at current rates.

Several factors contribute to water shortages. Irrigation, which grows 40 percent of the world's food and makes it possible to feed the plant's 6.2 billion people,  (28)  the largest percentage of water use. Another problem is that people don't see the need to conserve water. If people can  (29)  the seriousness of the situation, they may be more willing to take action and use less water. In addition, it has been found that some places were rife with broken water pipes, leaky toilets, and faulty plumbing  (30)  a lot of water was simply being wasted.

As a person reads, he has his own writing experience to fall back upon. His understanding of what he reads, and his feelings about it, are  (31) , and deepened, by his possession of writing as a  (32)  of communicating. As a child begins to learn reading, he begins to acquire the rudiments of writing.  (33)  these two skills are always acquired together is important and not coincidental. As the child learns to read words, he needs to understand that a word is something he can write himself, though his muscle control may temporarily prevent him  (34)  it clearly. That he wields such power over the words he is struggling to decipher  (35)  the reading experience a satisfying one right from the start.

If we want to live longer, we can no longer afford to inhale air contaminated with particulate matter. Particulate matter—also known as particulates—is microscopic solid or liquid matter floating in the Earth's atmosphere. Sources of particulate matter can be natural or man-made. Particulates which occur naturally may originate from volcanoes, dust storms, or forest fires. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, coal combustion, and various industrial processes also generate significant amounts of particulates.

Fine particles, with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, are the most lethal form of air pollution because they are able to penetrate deep into the lungs and blood streams unfiltered, which in turn may cause permanent DNA mutations, heart attacks, and premature death. In addition, particulate matter exposure is also linked to an increased risk of stroke by its narrowing effects on the arteries.

Particulate matter can clog minute pores of plant leaves and interfere with photosynthesis functions. It has been found that high particulate matter concentrations in the atmosphere can lead to stunted growth or mortality in some plant species.

Various research centers are studying identical twins in order to discover the "heritability" of behavioral characteristics—that is, the degree to which a trait is due to genes instead of environment. They have reached some startling conclusions. One study found, for example, that optimism and pessimism are both very much influenced by genes, but only optimism is also affected by environment. According to another study, genes influence our coffee consumption, but not consumption of tea. Anxiety seems to be 40 to 50 percent heritable. Another study tells us that happiness does not depend much on money or love or professional success; instead, it is 80 percent heritable! Among the traits that appear to be largely heritable are shyness, attraction to danger (thrill seeking), and choice of career.

Our current phase of overconsumption began about 30 years ago, when Americans began committing close to half of their annual expenditures to nonnecessities. It was the beginning of a gradual decline in the cost of consumer goods, the growth of everyday credit-card use and the rise of big-box stores and discount retailers that pushed their way into communities nationwide, forcing down prices and profits for those competing around them.

In the past decade, the cost of cell phones, toys, computers and televisions has plunged, thanks in part to overseas manufacturing. The rise of "fast fashion"—popularized by the growth of clothing outlets like Gap, Forever 21 and American Eagle selling $10 T-shirts and $30 jeans—is now driven by low-cost imports H&M and Uniqlo. Today the average U.S. household has about 248 pieces of clothing and 29 pairs of shoes. It purchases, on average, 64 garments and seven pairs of shoes annually, at a total cost of $1,141 a year, or $16 per item.