1 . I’ve always loved horses, but for years my riding took a back seat to my four kids’ soccer games, dance recitals and so on. As my children became more _______,I decided it was time to put myself _______the calendar, not always being at the beck and call of my family.

I have a work-to-ride rent at a nearby stable (马厩). As soon as I arrive at the stable, I always _______ to take a deep breath or two, inhaling the sweetness of freshly mown hay (干草). Then I go for a joyride. Sometimes, I’m_______by a friend and other times I ride solo, but it’s always a reset and _______ of my batteries for another week in the real world.

One day, as I wiped off my bridle (马笼头), my friend Mary asked with sad eyes, “Did you hear about Heather? She _______ her son last week.”

“No, how awful! Heather’s son is around my age.” I murmured.

“Yes, it’s tragic,” she said. “I _______to her yesterday. She seemed okay despite everything.”

“Yesterday? She was out here?”

“She and her grandsons went for a trail _______. This is the best place to be when you need to _______real life,” Mary commented knowingly.

I nodded ________. Mary’s husband had just ________a horrible disease, and whenever she wasn’t taking care of him, she was here to take care of herself. We all ________ various levels of heart-hurt on a daily basis. Our stable is pure________— from worry, frustration, hurt, even unimaginable loss.

Relief from real life. We all need it, somewhere, somehow, because life is ________. I’m so glad I’ve found that horse time can make the hardest landings a little ________.

1.

A．ambitious

B．enthusiastic

C．independent

D．responsible

2.

A．on

B．in

C．off

D．behind

3.

A．forget

B．hesitate

C．regret

D．stop

4.

A．persuaded

B．joined

C．refused

D．forced

5.

A．replacement

B．recovery

C．recharge

D．repair

6.

A．lost

B．beat

C．abandoned

D．raised

7.

A．wrote

B．talked

C．explained

D．whispered

8.

A．adventure

B．walk

C．visit

D．ride

9.

A．get through

B．get over

C．get away from

D．get across

10.

A．silently

B．hurriedly

C．gratefully

D．eagerly

11.

A．spread

B．developed

C．controlled

D．prevented

12.

A．result from

B．recover from

C．depart from

D．suffer from

13.

A．concern

B．affection

C．escape

D．value

14.

A．tough

B．precious

C．simple

D．unclear

15.

A．neater

B．smoother

C．softer

D．higher

2 . To put it simply, stress can be the father of growth, while a crisis can be the mother of innovation. The notion that great good can emerge from great adversity (逆境) is as old as the legend of the great phoenix (凤凰), who not only arises but soars to new heights from its own ashes.

In 1598, William Shakespeare penned the play As You Like It. One of the most famous lines from that play is spoken in Act 2 Scene 1 by Duke Senior, “Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad (癞蛤蟆), ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” Even 500 years ago, the potential value of adversity was recognized, not by a great healer, but by a great playwright. Can this really be the case?

Fast-forward to the great silent film star Mary Pickford. She was called the most popular actress in the world in the 1910s and 1920s. Failing to continue acting with the advent of the “talkies”(movies with recorded sound), she co-founded the film company United Artists. Shifting her talents to producing and directing, she became the most powerful woman in the entertainment industry. She once noted, “You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

Rather than fear and try to avoid adversity, perhaps we should accept the inevitability (必然) of adversity and prepare for it. Indeed, positive things can emerge from adversity.

Adversity reveals true opportunities for those preparing to take advantage. Dr. John Krumboltz’s happenstance theory states that career and life development is best fostered by preparing for opportunities that you may not know even exist in the current moment. Numerous unpredictable factors are potentially shaping the future. These include the crises adversity brings.

In Friedrich Nietzsche’s book, Behold the Man, the German philosopher writes that a person who has “turned out well” could be recognized by the ability to take advantage of and prosper from adversity, just as he wrote before, “What does not kill him makes him stronger.”

So, the next time adversity enters your life, will you run from it, or will you embrace it and use it as a step ping stone to greater happiness and success?

1. Why does the author quote the line from Shakespeare’s play?

A．To emphasize the great wisdom of Shakespeare.

B．To highlight the beauty of Shakespeare’s language.

C．To challenge the conventional belief regarding adversity.

D．To show the long-standing recognition of adversity’s value.

2. What is conveyed through Mary Pickford’s story?

A．Fame can block one’s achievements.

B．Strong determination overcomes adversity.

C．Accepting adversity results in positive outcomes.

D．Courage in the face of challenges leads to success.

3. What is the idea behind Krumboltz’s happenstance theory?

A．Embracing uncertainty.	B．Managing life’s challenges.
C．Seizing hidden opportunities.	D．Focusing on personal growth.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards adversity?

A．Cautious.

B．Favorable.

C．Neutral.

D．Doubtful.

5. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Finding value and opportunity in facing adversity.

B．Stress as the primary cause of growth and innovation.

C．How to avoid adversity and negative experiences in life.

D．Historical figures who failed to overcome adversity effectively.

3 . I’m in a coffee shop in Manhattan and I’m about to become the most disliked person in the room. First, I’m going to interrupt the man reading quietly near the window and ask for a drink of his latte. Next, I’m going to ask the line of people waiting to pay if I can cut to the front of the queue. This is how I chose to spend my last vacation. Here’s why.

Growing up, all I ever heard about was “EQ.” It was the mid-1990s, and psychologist Daniel Goleman had just popularized the concept of emotional intelligence. Unlike IQ, which tracked conventional measures of intelligence like reasoning and recall, EQ measured the ability to understand other people — to listen, to empathize (共情), and to appreciate.

My mother, an elementary school principal, prized brains and hard work, but she placed a special emphasis on Goleman’s new idea. To her, EQ was the elixir (万能药) that separated the good students from the great after they left school. She was determined to send me into the adult world with as much of this elixir as possible.

But when I finally began my first job, I noticed a second elixir in the pockets of some of my colleagues. It gave their opinions extra weight and their decisions added impact. Strangest of all, it seemed like the anti-EQ: Instead of knowing how to make others feel good, this elixir gave people the courage to do the opposite — to say things others didn’t want to hear.

This was assertiveness (魄力). It boiled down to the command of a single skill: the ability to have uncomfortable conversations. Assertive people — those with high “AQ”— ask for things they want, decline things they don’t, provide constructive feedback, and engage in direct confrontation (对峙) and debate.

A lifetime improving my EQ helped me empathize with others, but it also left me overly sensitive to situations where I had to say or do things that might make others unhappy. While I didn’t avoid conflict, I was always frustrated by my powerlessness when I had to say or do something that could upset someone. This is my problem and I’m working on it.

1. Why did the author act that way in the coffee shop?

A．To improve a skill.	B．To test a concept.
C．To advocate a new idea.	D．To have a unique vacation.

2. What do we know about the author’s mother?

A．She thought little of IQ.

B．She popularized Goleman’s idea.

C．She was a strict mother and principal.

D．She valued EQ as the key to greatness.

3. What does the word “it” underlined in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A．EQ.

B．AQ.

C．Empathy.

D．Courage.

4. According to the passage, those with high EQ but low AQ are likely to be ______.

A．successful leaders	B．people pleasers
C．terrible complainers	D．pleasure seekers

5 . Mason Branstator is on a journey to find the meaning in life every day. With a positive social media ________, he’s helping others find it, too.

When Mason was in high school, he loved skiing. A(n) ________ day changed his life forever. Skiing down a hill he had been on countless times before, he hit a jump too fast, ending with a ________ back. Doctors decided he had a spinal cord (脊髓) injury, which ________ lower body functions and that he likely wouldn’t ________ again.

He just thought it was a(n) ________ for the first couple of days. However, it only took him a few days to accept the reality. He began the ________ process at Craig Hospital, struggling to make what he was ________ told was impossible — walking — possible. He came to ________ he was fighting mental and physical barriers, and soon learned the ________ of him he thought he’d lost forever was not gone at all. He even ________ his recovery stories online, inspiring others with similar ________. “The optimistic Manson came back again,” he said.

“It all started with me just wanting to find more people like me that I could ________ with and talk to.” said Mason, “And then it ________ into this thing that inspired millions of people around the world, which I didn’t ________ in the beginning.”

1.

A．presence

B．intervention

C．popularity

D．giant

2.

A．busy

B．exciting

C．sunny

D．typical

3.

A．painful

B．broken

C．rigid

D．stressful

4.

A．enhanced

B．affected

C．restored

D．preserved

5.

A．walk

B．travel

C．sit

D．stand

6.

A．chance

B．adventure

C．dream

D．choice

7.

A．exercise

B．operation

C．reaction

D．recovery

8.

A．temporarily

B．eventually

C．initially

D．consequently

9.

A．confirm

B．realize

C．remember

D．admit

10.

A．story

B．concept

C．part

D．detail

11.

A．documented

B．changed

C．advertised

D．created

12.

A．conflict

B．lesson

C．mission

D．challenge

13.

A．compete

B．consult

C．connect

D．deal

14.

A．grew

B．faded

C．melted

D．got

15.

A．assume

B．anticipate

C．appreciate

D．witness

6 . David Cote, then CEO of Honeywell, shared the pros and cons of hiring a CEO with experience in the role. Experience can make directors feel more ________ at a candidate, but the question is: Does he or she have the ________ to make a difference? If they don’t possess that hunger, they won’t investigate things deeply. So in many cases, experience is ________.

Are inexperienced CEOs more likely to have hunger than others? If they have no real reputation, they’ll be more likely to be driven to ________. For example, when Cote was CEO of Honeywell, some leaders said to him they didn’t know if the company could be ________—and that even if it could be, they weren’t sure whether he was the ________ to do it because he was not their first choice. Those comments just ________ his hunger. He decided to impress them.

Does the finding that previous CEO experience can hurt a person’s performance ________ you? An experienced CEO might say, “I am ________ in this work, so I know how to settle it.” Rushing to conclusions tends to ________ an experienced CEO to all facts and opinions. People will ________ act according to their own experience, which is an instinct (天性). So sometimes experience can be a(n) ________.

Rather than a fundamentally necessary factor for a CEO, ________ is simply the icing (糖霜) on the cake. The hunger ________ it. Nobody knows the future. It’s more important to hire somebody eager to ________ things, regardless of their experience.

1.

A．annoyed

B．generous

C．concerned

D．relieved

2.

A．knowledge

B．desire

C．doubt

D．opinion

3.

A．overrated

B．offered

C．broadened

D．ignored

4.

A．succeed

B．adapt

C．quit

D．resist

5.

A．taken in

B．looked into

C．given up

D．turned around

6.

A．settler

B．talent

C．reporter

D．maintainer

7.

A．balanced

B．controlled

C．increased

D．spoiled

8.

A．shame

B．shape

C．serve

D．shock

9.

A．expert

B．disappointed

C．honest

D．engaged

10.

A．accustom

B．blind

C．expose

D．attach

11.

A．effectively

B．unwillingly

C．unconsciously

D．cautiously

12.

A．disadvantage

B．reminder

C．alternative

D．privilege

13.

A．openness

B．honesty

C．experience

D．leadership

14.

A．limits

B．outweighs

C．follows

D．defines

15.

A．bring about

B．turn to

C．make up

D．figure out

7 . I have been told many times that we should cherish what we have. But I never truly ________ it until a year ago.

When I graduated from junior high school, I was ________. I had never experienced such a sad goodbye before then. When the bell rang, my classmates ________ walked out of the door, exchanging their last words of farewell and giving last-minute hugs. I knew that- despite the ________ -there would be little chance for all of us to sit in one room again.

Once more I passed the willow tree (柳树) under which we exercised, played together, and even exchanged ________ for the future. I could not ________ how many times we had stuffed a snowball down somebody’s collar during a snowball fight when our head teacher wasn’t ________ from the second floor. At that time, the ________ were young, like little fairies (精灵，仙子) dancing in the sunshine.

Now, however, they seemed to ________ every time a breeze blew past. How much we ________ those leaves! After we had gained enough nutrition together and ________, the wind was about to carry us to various destinations. I was lost in thought. So, I opened my notebook and viewed my ________ notes... and there it was: a photograph in which my 14-year-old self and my best friend stood smiling and joking during an autumn tour to Shanxi.

I had indeed lived those ________ days. Smiling to myself, I packed the notebook and went on with my ________, convinced that I came, I cherished, and there was nothing that I had ________. And I will continue to cherish every moment that comes my way.

1.

A．changed

B．understood

C．deserved

D．regretted

2.

A．sorrowful

B．relieved

C．curious

D．fascinated

3.

A．regularly

B．leisurely

C．unwillingly

D．cautiously

4.

A．wishes

B．problems

C．pressures

D．difficulties

5.

A．reasons

B．ambitions

C．explanations

D．requirements

6.

A．find

B．prove

C．stop

D．remember

7.

A．playing

B．lecturing

C．starting

D．looking

8.

A．leaves

B．teachers

C．snowball

D．classmates

9.

A．hesitate

B．recover

C．pretend

D．depart

10.

A．pictured

B．resembled

C．accompanied

D．embraced

11.

A．checked in

B．turned up

C．showed off

D．grown up

12.

A．blank

B．special

C．previous

D．domestic

13.

A．joyful

B．lonely

C．painful

D．fearless

14.

A．feast

B．journey

C．work

D．research

15.

A．packed

B．gained

C．missed

D．explored

8 . “Sating from now on, to be healthy, I will NOT eat any snacks besides granola bars (燕麦棒),” is what I told myself yesterday, and yet here I am today chewing a Chocopie. I’m aware that I’m breaking my own promise to myself. Instead of eating this, I should be working out or something. But the thing is, chocolate is too good at this moment for me to refuse it!

As I type this, I’m experiencing what’s called instant gratification — the desire to experience pleasure or fulfillment without delaying it for a future benefit. Essentially, when you want it, you get it.

Instant gratification is also the exact opposite of what we’re taught to do-delayed gratification: deciding to put off satisfying our current want to gain something better in the future. We’ve all encountered instant gratification before. Should I sleep in or wake up early to work out? When I get home, should I rest and watch TV first or get started on my homework?

All humans have the tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain, which is a basic but fundamental concept known as the pleasure principle. Originally coined by Sigmund Freud, it clearly states that all humans are driven, to some extent, by pleasure.

Constantly seeking quick pleasure may bring subsequent troubles. However pleasant not doing your homework may seem pleasant right now, it only results in pleasure plagued by guilt and last-minute panicking late at night. An inability to resist instant gratification may result in underachieving in the long term and failure to meet certain goals.

Instant gratification, however, is not necessarily a bad thing. You don’t always have to say no to things you want at that moment, and it’s good to treat yourself when you need it. In other words, times where you “treat yourself” are only valuable in combination with delayed gratification. While my Chocopie may taste good now, it’ll taste even better if I only eat it after I’ve worked out or done something healthy.

1. How does the author introduce the topic?

A．By making a contrast.	B．By giving a definition.
C．By citing a personal case.	D．By listing detailed problems.

2. Which of the following is an example of instant gratification?

A．Purchasing items regardless of budgets.	B．Exercising regularly for long-term health.
C．Limiting time on social media platforms.	D．Finishing homework before watching TV.

3. What does the underlined word “plagued” in paragraph 5 probably mean?

A．Reminded.

B．Highlighted.

C．Introduced.

D．Bothered.

4. What may the author agree with?

A．Delayed gratification is pointless.

B．Instant gratification should be prioritized.

C．Enjoying the moment brings in endless pleasure.

D．Instant treats paired with delayed gratification are sweeter.