Luis國際資訊事務所

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Skiing has come a long way since the Stone Age, when early humans jumped on boards before going out to hunt. Back then, sliding down snow-covered hills was merely a means of pursuing prey. _(1)_ a successful skiing trip in the Stone Age would have required bringing home a wooly mammoth, today it merely involves a trip to any of the three hundred plus alpine skiing resorts scattered around the globe.

　　It took quite some time for skiing to _(2)_ the gap between utility and recreation. The first evidence of skiing simply _(3)_ the sake of skiing can be found in Icelandic poetry written roughly 1,000 years ago. One poem boasts of the high speed achieved by a skiing Viking king. King Hadrade skied for no other reason _(4)_ to feel the air against his face, the pull of gravity on his body, and the sensation of controlled falling that skiing provides.

　　Of course, skiing equipment also took some time to advance beyond the 4,500-year-old wooden skis archeologists found in Scandinavia. Early skis were _(5)_ tree branches stripped of their leaves. Neither the material nor the shape of those early skis _(6)_ much resemblance to modern ones. Today's skis are complicated mixtures of fiberglass and metal, _(7)_ more like hourglasses than tree branches. These developments have made skiing easier and thus more enjoyable.

──by LuAnn Crowther Oliver

1. (A) When(B) As (C) Because(D) While

2. (A) gate(B) bridge(C) deepen(D) broaden

3. (A) at(B) to(C) for(D) by

4. (A) than (B) only(C) but(D) except

5. (A) more(B) very(C) most(D) mostly

6. (A) wear(B) gear(C) bear(D) tear

7. (A) to shape(B) shaped(C) shape(D) shaping

1. pursue vt. 追捕/趕

2. mammoth n. 長毛象

3. alpine a. 高山的

4. resort n. 渡假/遊覽勝地

5. utility n. 實用性

6. recreation n. 消遣, 娛樂

7. roughly adv. 大致地, 大約
= approximately

8. gravity n. 重力, 地心引力

9. sensation n. 感/知覺

10. archeologist n. 考古學家

11. mixture n. 混合/合成物

12. hourglass n. 沙漏

1.come a long way　　有長足進展
例: Leon has come a long way in his study of kung fu.
（里昂在功夫的學習上大有斬獲。）

2.means n. 手段, 方法; 財富
by means of...　　藉由……
例: We are determined to get the job done by means of working through the night.
（我們決定徹夜奮戰來完成工作。）

3.scatter vt. 四散, 散佈
例: The woman scattered the bread crumbs around her for the birds to eat.
（那名婦人在她四周灑麵包屑給小鳥吃。）

4.boast of/about...　　誇耀/自誇……
例: That stand boasts of the best dumplings in all of Taipei.
（那攤子自誇有全台北市最棒的餃子。）

5.strip vt. 剝去, 脫光
strip sb/sth of sth　　剝奪某人/物的某事物
例: The army stripped Jack of his ranking after he went absent without leave.
（軍方在傑克擅離職守後撤除他的軍階。）

1.第一題空格應選 (D) While

理由:
a.while作連接詞時, 除可表『當……時』, 亦可表『雖然』之意, 即等於although或though, 用於連接兩個意義對比的句子。
例: While he is smart, his brother is as stupid as he can be.
=Though he is smart, his brother is as stupid as he can be.
（雖然他很聰明，但他弟弟卻笨得可以。）

b.When (當……時), As (當……時; 由於……), Because (因為……) 雖均為副詞連接詞, 可用以連接兩句, 但置入空格後均不合語意, 故(A)、(B)、(C)不可選; 僅While置入空格後符合語意、用法, 故選(D)。