11/11/2004

下午去了荃灣剪頭髮。剪髮的時候，我留意一下剪髮人的剪刀，發現蠻特別，是「狗牙」型的剪刀。我好奇的問：「Tim，你的剪刀看來很特別，應該是購自日本的吧？」Tim說：「哈哈，是的。」我再問：「數百元行不行？」他再答：「當然不行了。」

同樣也是投資，可是我的便宜得多。剪髮後我到了三聯購買AL Econ pastpaper，由九八年到零四年都買齊了，也買了零四年的CE Econ pastpaper。我此前沒有細讀過零三及零四年AL Econ的試題；讀後發覺試題真的出得很不錯！有些試題很有趣味，也反映到出卷者是真高手也。玆將其中一條試題抄錄如下，以饗讀者：

Super-highways for motor vehicles have been constructed at a very fast pace in mainland China. The quality standards of these highways are comparable to those in the United States. Fees or tolls are routinely charged for their use, with private cars paying lower tolls than trucks or lorries, and lorries are divided into two or three weight categories with different toll charges. The tolls are high. Generally speaking, the price (toll) for using the highways is about the same as the cost of fuel.

(a)
Why have super-highways been constructed at such a fast pace in mainland China, faster in fact than what has been observed in most other countries?

(b)
It has been reported that in spite of the relatively new super-highways in China built to international standards, the highways often repairs. Why? (Hint: What does road damage have to do with high toll charges?)