II. Cloze Test

    You may have noticed that Easter eggs are more expensive this year. Nonetheless, did you know that climate change is one of the reasons? Most of chocolate materials in Easter eggs is made from cocoa grown in West Africa, but a humid heatwave has    11    the crops and massively cut yields. Experts say that human-induced climate change has made the extreme heat    12   . The shortage of cocoa resulting from the heatwave has seen prices soar to almost $8,500 a ton this week, which were about $2,800 a year ago.

    Cocoa trees are particularly vulnerable to changes in the climate. Recently, severe drought conditions have hit the West Africa region since February this year. This has been caused by temperatures that soared above 40 ˚C, breaking records in the countries.    13    the world cannot quickly reduces fossil fuel use, West Africa will probably experience similar heatwaves every two years in the future. The high temperatures increased the rate of    14   , leaving the crops without enough moisture. Another factor impacting the crops was El Niño, a recurring, natural fluctuation in weather patterns.

    The result of these different extreme events has been the same - the price of cocoa has become more than    15    than that of last year. “Lots of players have already announced price increases. We are also part of that group,” Martin Hug, of chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli told city analysts earlier this month.

    Menstruation, a fundamental biological process for women and girls, remains shrouded in stigma across the globe. In Nepal, for instance, entrenched cultural myths lead to the         16    of menstruating women, forcing them into isolation in rudimentary huts. Even when outlawed, such practices persist due to deeply ingrained societal misconceptions. Beyond physical isolation, the financial burden of menstrual hygiene products further marginalizes menstruators. The "pink tax," a discriminatory tax on feminine hygiene products, exemplifies this economic injustice. While some countries have abolished this practice, others continue to    17   gender bias through taxation. However, even tax elimination offers an incomplete solution. The stark reality is that many individuals face a fundamental struggle, forced to choose between acquiring food and purchasing essential menstrual supplies.

    UNICEF reports highlight the devastating consequences of this inaccessibility. In Bangladesh, the lack of affordable menstrual products forces many families to resort to unsafe alternatives like old clothing.    18   , India grapples with a mere 12% of menstruators having access to sanitary products, with the remaining population risking health complications from using unsafe materials like rags and sawdust.

    The    19    extend beyond physical health. Poor menstrual hygiene, according to UNICEF, increases the risk of reproductive and urinary tract infections. Furthermore, it impedes women's empowerment by hindering their participation in crucial life experiences. Girls who miss school due to inadequate menstrual management are more    20    child marriage, early pregnancy, malnutrition, domestic violence, and pregnancy-related complications.

III. Contextual Matching

第 21-28 題為題組

    In South Africa, the picturesque coastal town of Simon's Town annually hosts a festival dedicated to honoring Just Nuisance, a Great Dane that made history as the world's first dog to receive an official Royal Navy rank. Every April, both humans and dogs    21    upon the naval suburb of Simon’s Town to commemorate his life with cake, leisurely walks, and the melodic tunes of a pipe band.

    Born in 1937, Just Nuisance swiftly endeared himself to navy sailors passing through Simon's Town. His presence served as a morale booster for the young sailors during World War II. The moniker "Just Nuisance" stemmed from his    22    for lounging in bustling areas aboard the HMS Neptune in 1938. Despite occasionally causing inconvenience, the crew developed a fondness for him, and the name became firmly    23   . Owing to his popularity among the soldiers, he frequently accompanied his sailor comrades aboard the train to Cape Town, often without the requisite ticket, as his companions boldly    24    this obligation. Subsequently, the sailors’ repeated efforts to conceal the dog were discovered, leading to the railway company's    25   : either Just Nuisance be euthanized for persistently riding the train without a ticket or the sailors find a solution. This incited    26    protests from the sailors, prompting the Royal Navy's South Atlantic commander-in-chief to formally enlist Just Nuisance as an Able Seaman, complete with tongue-in-cheek designations and a seasonal rail pass. Just Nuisance continued to serve as an esteemed member of the Royal Navy until his passing in 1944.

    To this day, the Just Nuisance Festival serves as a cherished occasion to pay    27   to the enduring bond between humans and dogs. With a(n)    28    fee of 50 rand (approximately $3), individuals and their canine companions are warmly invited to join the festivities honoring this truly exceptional dog. For those unable to partake in the event in person, visit Simon’s Town Museum, which offers an extensive section dedicated to Just Nuisance alongside exhibits detailing Simon’s Town’s community history.

(AB) homage (AC) deduced (AD) converge (AE) penchant (BC) affixed (BD) elusive (BE) nominal (CD) ultimatum (CE) vehement (DE) skirted

第 29-31 題為題組

    People who like to bring up old Friends jokes at parties should be grateful it's not a few hundred years ago. We'd have license to leech them, bully them, and maybe even bury them alive. These were some of the treatments proposed for nostalgia during the 17th to 19th centuries, when it was considered a psychopathological disorder—rather than a blanket term for fondness for anything that existed more than thirty minutes ago.

    Swiss physician Johannes Hofer coined the term in his 1688 medical dissertation, from the Greek nostos, or homecoming, and algos, or pain. Though Hofer is credited with naming nostalgia, it existed prior to that. During the Thirty Years War, at least six soldiers were discharged from the Spanish Army of Flanders with el mal de corazón. The malady came to be associated with soldiers, particularly Swiss soldiers, who were reportedly so susceptible to nostalgia when they heard a particular Swiss milking song, Khue-Reyen, that its playing was punishable by death.

    According to the ancient literature on the disease, almost anything under the sun could cause nostalgia. A too lenient education, coming from the mountains, unfulfilled ambition, masturbation, eating unusual food, love: all could bring on the complaint. In the 18th and 19th centuries, some doctors were convinced nostalgia came from a "pathological bone" and searched for it to no avail.

    Some of the symptoms victims presented with are fairly logical—melancholy, sure; loss of appetite, okay; suicide, upsetting but understandable. But many other symptoms that were gathered under the umbrella of nostalgia almost certainly had causes other than homesickness—malnutrition, brain inflammation, fever, and cardiac arrests among them. Some of the early symptoms, according to Dr. Albert Van Holler, were hearing voices and seeing ghosts of the people and places you missed, though whether these were hallucinations or just regular old dreams is unclear.

    Just as the symptoms, old-fashioned treatments for nostalgia were quite diverse. French doctor Jourdan Le Cointe thought nostalgia should be treated by "inciting pain and terror." Le Cointe cited the example of the Russian army's outbreak of nostalgia in 1733, on its way to Germany. The general told the troops that the first one to come down the nostalgic virus would be buried alive, and actually made good on his threat a couple times, which nipped that right in the bud. When nostalgia finally made its way to the United States, after the Civil War, the "scare it out of them" tactic was replaced with "shame it out of them." American military doctor Theodore Calhoun thought nostalgia was something to be ashamed of, that those who suffered from it were unmanly, idle and weak-willed. He proposed curing the ailment with a healthy dose of public ridicule and bullying.

    Other dubious cures tried over the years include leeches, purging the stomach, and "warm hypnotic emulsions," whatever that unspeakable horror might be. Doctors did sometimes go with the obvious solution of just letting the patients go home, which more often than not cleared their symptoms right up. But even that wasn't guaranteed to work, if the home they longed for had changed significantly or just no longer existed.

     Obviously the prevailing view on nostalgia has changed over the years, but advice on treatment from French doctor Hippolyte Petit is as relevant to someone clinging to the past today as it was to a soldier driven mad by a milking song hundreds of years ago: "Create new loves for the person suffering from love sickness; find new joys to erase the domination of the old." Or, just let it go.