12. Although our manager is definitely not a________ , he does tend to pay a lot of compliments to those in authority.
(A) sycophant
(B) precursor
(C) renegade
(D) laggard

8. The prince’s traitorous acts placed a shameful blot on the royal family _____. (A) escutcheon (B) curlicue (C) repertoire (D) imprecation

9. As we entered the farmyard, we were met with a _____ of animal sounds. (A) diminution (B) cacophony (C) decrement (D) cynosure

10. Andy Lou can be readily recognized by his _____ nose, curved like the beak of the eagle. (A) ignominious (B) vicarious (C) aquiline (D) incendiary

11. The politician could never speak simply; he was always _____ by using high-sounding language. (A) timorous (B) virulent (C) precarious (D) grandiloquent

13. The detective was hired to track down the greedy accountant who________ some of his company’s funds. (A) condescended to (B) absconded with (C) prevaricated about (D) throttled back

14. Although the outsider was _____ and honest, many people in the town questioned his motives for starting his business. (A) above board (B) over the moon (C) in position (D) under the weather

15. In situations where there are no _____ rules, leaders and governors have to make decisions in the interests of the whole country. (A) tooth-and-nail (B) hard-and-fast (C) fast-and-furious (D) half-and-half

二、語意測驗: 請依文意選出一個最適當的答案，每題 1 分，共 5 分。16. _____ Ikigai, loosely translated, means sense of purpose in life. And in Okinawa, a person’s ikigai often grows as they get older. It is their reason for living, the thing that propels them out of bed in the morning. In the United States, people often retire in their mid-60s, but there isn’t a similar word in Japanese because the concept of retirement doesn’t even exist. Moai is an informal social group of people who have common interests and look out for each other. Your moai is your “tribe” and another reason Okinawans believe they live so long. (A) Okinawa is a chain of islands about 400 miles southwest of mainland Japan. (B) If you ask anyone in Okinawa why they live so long, you will doubtlessly hear two words: ikigai and moai. (C) Combined with a particular diet and support network of friends or “moai”, ikigai is helping people live longer on Okinawa. (D) Ikigai and moai make the elders in Okinawa less likely than their counterparts in the United States to have heart disease, dementia or certain cancers.

17. Contrary to popular belief, the light bulb, a mainstay of modern life, had been around years before Thomas Edison ever created one. _____ Previous versions were unreliable, expensive, and didn’t last very long. Up to 20 other independent inventors were doing the same thing as Edison at the time, trying to build a better light bulb. Edison’s version of the light bulb improved on the filament, used a sealed vacuum bulb, and had a lower voltage than others at the time. The result was a marketable product that could last for hours. (A) Edison’s contribution was nothing but to improve on it. (B) Thomas Edison was credited with the formulation of the light bulb. (C) Edison purchased patents for the light bulbs other people had developed. (D) Edison’s design has been improved upon over the years.

18. Drones have become an increasing nuisance for airports worldwide in recent months, and good solutions to keeping them from interfering with flights aren’t yet available. Airports in various cities have grounded planes in the last three months following drone sightings. The incident at Gatwick in December proved especially disruptive, _____. Aviation experts fear catastrophic damage or death could result from a drone hitting an airplane. Such an incident could be accidental or motivated by ill will, such as a terrorist attack. (A) impacting the flights of more than 100,000 passengers (B) losing millions of dollars from flight delays and cancellations (C) causing more damage than birds—a threat the industry has long faced (D) concerning the lack of fully vetted drone detection and counterdrone systems