Those who have an inclination for crazy technological advances aren’t hard 18.
答案：(B) to please
【句型】hard to please 字詞搭配「難以取悅」，主動形式的不定詞表達被動意味（類似 easy to please）；to be pleased（被動不定詞，這種結構習慣用主動形式表達）、to be pleasing、to have pleased（完成式不定詞）都不合。
本題大考中心未公布逐題答對率，以下不談數據，只談觀念。
句子的意思是「這些人不難討好」，被討好的是那些人，所以你很容易覺得該用被動，選了 to be pleased。這個直覺的方向沒錯，錯在英文在這個說法裡已經把被動的意思藏進結構了，不必也不會再標一次。
這是課本教過的句型，而且課本是用一個等式在教的：It is hard to please Allen.（要討好艾倫很難。）＝ Allen is hard to please.（艾倫很難討好。）兩句意思完全相同，差別只在把 please 的受詞 Allen 搬到句首去當主詞。本題就是等號右邊那種寫法：Those who have an inclination for crazy technological advances aren’t hard to please.（那些熱愛瘋狂科技新玩意的人並不難討好。）把它翻回等號左邊就一目了然：It isn’t hard to please those who have an inclination for crazy technological advances.（要討好那些人並不難。）搬過去之後你會發現，主詞其實就是 please 的受詞——被動的意思正是靠這個搬動表達的。既然結構本身已經把事情講完，動詞就維持主動的 to please。同樣的句型你在國中就見過：This book is easy to read.（這本書很好讀。）——沒有人會寫 easy to be read，因為 book 本來就是 read 的受詞。常見的同型還有 easy to understand（容易理解）、hard to say（很難說）。換個角度看更好用：hard to please 這一整組其實相當於一個形容詞，用來描述主詞是什麼樣的人。證據就在英文自己的寫法裡——把它擺到名詞前面當修飾語時，會用連字號黏成一個字：a hard-to-please customer（一個很難討好的客人）、an easy-to-read book（一本好讀的書）、an easy-to-use app（一個好上手的應用程式）。既然整組等於一個形容詞，中間那個動詞就不必再去操心主動被動，記整組比記規則有用。
to be pleased：把被動再標一次，等於同一件事做了兩遍。to be pleasing：pleasing 是形容詞「令人愉快的」，to be pleasing 說的是「那些人本身很討喜」，與整句要講的「不難討好他們」方向相反。to have pleased：完成式的不定詞，表示比主要動詞更早發生的事，本句沒有這種時間差。
hard to please（難討好）、easy to please（好討好）、easy to understand（容易理解）、hard to say（很難說）、have an inclination for（偏好、傾向於）、technological advances（科技上的進展）。
At times, it seems like there are not many things that we can give a student who has everything. But 16 that Christmas is just a few weeks away, 17 is a gift idea. Those who have an inclination for crazy technological advances aren't hard 18. One simple way is a few new items that might 19 life more enjoyable. They don't look too revolutionary, but you'd be surprised 20 they are capable of. The following is one of the items.
21 a student who is never on time, there is the new Projection Alarm Clock. Many ordinary clocks are hard to read early in the morning, deceiving students of the correct time, 22 causing them to be late for school. Through a projector, this attractive radio-alarm-clock is able to display the time onto a wall, ceiling, or anywhere 23. The benefits include an easier visibility of the time, and an alarm that gets increasingly louder 24 turned off. It won't magically transport a student to school on time every day, but it just might make 25 a little easier.