1 . We cannot argue with reality. We cannot argue with science. Therefore, we simply cannot argue with the fact that there are no straight lines in the universe.

Let’s start with science. The science of a straight line falls under the subject of physics. It might seem like a complicated topic, but the theory behind it is pretty simple. If you start rowing in a boat from one place and keep sailing, the concept of the curved (弯曲的) Earth will take you in a circle and you will end up where you started. The brain forms the concept of a straight line to simplify what you see in nature. Consider it a tool for the mind to recognize reality.

The concept of straight lines was controversial and heavily influenced the politics and society of Europe from the 15th century to the 17th century. Greek thinkers and scholars like Aristotle in the 5th century already proved that the Earth was a globe, but many Europeans at that time did not believe in this idea! However, some Europeans during the Age of Exploration denied this belief. Just as the famous Italian scientist Galileo Galilei was persecuted (迫害) for advocating a heliocentric (日心的) model of the solar system, many thinkers like Giordano Bruno were shamed for believing that the Earth was round.

Well, my friends, let’s move on to life. The concept of nothing going in a straight line can be associated with life as much as it relates to science and architecture. Whenever you do something, it never turns out to play out exactly as planned. I especially know that as a thirteen-year-old! Life is a rough road—every time you go forward, it is followed by two steps back or to the side. Just like how science explains it, life is a curvy path full of unexpected twists, turns, and adventures that nobody can ever predict.

1. What does paragraph 1 function as?

A．An introduction to the topic.	B．A means to attract readers.
C．An explanation of a common sense.	D．A proof of the author’s opinion.

2. What would happen without the concept of straight line?

A．The mind could not recognize realities.	B．Things in nature might look complicated.
C．What you see in nature could seem simple.	D．People in the 16th century might find the Earth flat.

3. Which can best describe the road of proving the Earth round?

A．Plain and smooth.

B．Easy but fruitless.

C．Long and tough.

D．Bothersome but safe.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．A Straight Line: Everything Simple	B．A Straight Line: People’s Good Wish
C．A Straight Line: Difficult To Prove	D．A Straight Line: Simply Nonexistent

3 . 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

4 . 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.

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

The dog days of summer in Central Texas are hot and damp. It was a pity that our home didn’t have air conditioning. Momma and I were just trying to get through this August afternoon the best we could. Reading helped take our minds off the heat. Momma was stretched across the sofa, a pillow (枕头) under her head, reading. I sat on the floor, leaning (倚靠) back against the sofa, a curious nine-year-old in shorts sharing a fan’s flow. My book rested on the floor.

I looked at the thin hardcover my mom was reading, Ed Nichols Rode a Horse. There was a cowboy riding his horse on the front cover, but otherwise the book appeared plain and unimpressive. Before I settled, I asked, “Momma, what’s your book about?”

“It’s a story about a man, his horse and the hardships he encountered in Texas. Some of it takes place in Bosque County,” she answered.

With that, my mom returned to her story. I knew Bosque County was near where Momma had grown up. And I also knew it was best if I didn’t ask any more questions. My mom took her reading seriously.

We’d been reading for the better part of an hour-the only sounds were those that came from the fan and an occasional turn of a page — when I heard something unfamiliar. The sniffling (抽鼻子) back of tears.

I turned in her direction and saw something I’d never seen before: my mom crying. Something big — really big must have happened. My mom did not cry.

“Momma, what’s wrong?” I got up on my knees, staring directly into her face. “Are you all right?” “Jennifer, I’m fine.” Momma sat up and wiped (擦) her eyes. “You don’t need to be concerned.”

I wasn’t buying it. This was not normal behavior. “Why were you crying?” I asked in a whisper. She looked at me hard. “The book made me cry,” she replied.

I was trying to figure out how that plain-looking book could make my mostly no-nonsense momma cry when she said the most amazing thing. “The story made me sad when the horse got hurt.”

注意：
1.续写词数应为150 左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

That’s when I learned the truth that stories affect us.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I read Ed Nichols Rode a Horse from cover to cover with a big plan forming in my mind.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . 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

10 . 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