Sometimes your parents might ask you to write thank-you notes to people but you might not want to do it. However, writing thank-you notes can not only make you feel good but also make the person getting the note feel good.
Amit Kumar is a professor at the University of Texas. He worked with Nicholas Epley to do experiments to see why people hesitate to send thank-you notes. They also studied the reactions of people who received the notes.
Kumar and Epley asked students in business classes to write a letter of thanks to another person. And then they asked both the writers and the receivers how the letter made them feel.
As a result, they found that writing the letter was a good experience for the writers. It improved their mood right afterward though the writers only thought the letter would be embarrassing for someone who got a letter of thanks. However, that was not the case.
The writer worried about what to say and how to say it. However, Kumar says, the receivers did not care much about whether writers got the words right. Those who got letters felt really good.And they didn’t really feel embarrassed at all.
“When you are a receiver, you focus on the warmth,” Kumar says. The receivers considered the feelings on the letters while the writers only tried their best to make sure their writing was correct.
In general, most people don’t always realize that thank-you notes make others feel good. If they knew, things might change. “They would do it more often,” Kumar says.
Kumar thinks that this study is a good reminder. It shows that small things can have an effect. Writing a thank-you note is a simple thing. Still, it can make a big difference. We feel good when we do nice things for others.
1. What’s the purpose of Kumar and Epley’s experiment?| A．To advise us to thank our parents. |
| B．To see thank-you notes’ influence. |
| C．To get children close to their parents. |
| D．To prove letters are the best to show our thanks. |
| A．Their writing skills. | B．Receivers’ feelings. |
| C．Receivers’ warmth. | D．Their proper words. |
| A．They enjoyed being thanked | B．They feel shame and sad. |
| C．They didn’t care about the notes. | D．They hate writers’ mistaken ideas. |
| A．Be generous to others. | B．Be willing to do nice things. |
| C．Pay attention to small things. | D．Write thank-you notes frequently. |
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【推荐1】If there is one thing that matters in high school — and for your whole life—it is friendship.
My latest novel, THE UNWKTTTEN RULE, is about a girl, Sarah, who falls for her best friend Brianna’s boyfriend, Ryan, but it’s more about wrestling with feelings for a guy that you know you shouldn’t have. The book sets us thinking about friendship, the kind of lifelong friendship that means the world to you... and what happens when you realize that maybe it isn’t what you think it is. Maybe your best friend isn’t your best friend. Maybe she isn’t even a friend at all.
Friendships are tricky things. You can be sure everything is fine, and that your friendship is going to last forever... and it can just end. No explanation, no anything. And it is not easy. In fact, I think losing a friend is worse than losing a boyfriend, especially when it is a friend you’ve had in your life for a long time.
One of the things that Sarah struggles with in THE UNWRITTEN RULE, beyond her feelings for Ryan, is her friendship with Brianna-how long they’ve been friends, how she understands Brianna in a way no one else does, and what to do when a crack appears in their friendship, not because of Sarah’s feelings for Ryan, but because Sarah begins to wonder if maybe Brianna isn’t her best friend after all. Making a friendship end is unbelievably painful and one of the things I hated when I was younger—and that I still hate now—is how people say, “Oh, it’ll be okay. You’ll move on, you’ll be fine.”
It is true that you will eventually move on and that you will be fine. But you will also always carry that lost friendship with you. It may not take up all of your heart like it does at first, but it will take part of it.
And that, I think, is something no one ever talks about and that I wish we could — and would.
What do you do when someone you are friends with decides your friendship is over? How do you deal with it?
Maybe my latest novel can provide something for you.
1. From the passage we can infer that .| A．it may take Sarah a long time to recover after she lost Brianna’s friendship |
| B．Sarah and Brianna are still best friends after a long period of time |
| C．Sarah does not value Brianna’s friendship at all |
| D．Ryan would feel puzzled about his real love |
| A．friendship. | B．school life. |
| C．love. | D．wrestling with feelings. |
| A．We will all lose some friends in our life |
| B．Ending a friendship is worse than losing a boyfriend. |
| C．It’s usual a crack appears. |
| D．You will eventually move on after you lose a friendship. |
| A．My Latest Novel. | B．Tricky Friends. |
| C．Sarah and Brianna. | D．Unforgettable Friendship. |
【推荐2】My father was 44 and knew he wasn’t going to make it to 45.He wrote me a letter and hoped that something in it would help me for the rest of my life.
Since the day I was 12 and first read his letter, some of his words have lived in my heart. One part always stands out. “Right now, you are pretending to be a timekiller. But I know that one day, you will do something great that will set you among the very best.” Knowing that my dad believed in me gave me permission to believe in myself. “You will do something great.” He didn’t know what that would be, and neither did I, but at times in my life when I’ve felt proud of myself. I remember his words and wish he were here so I could ask, “Is this what you were talking about, Dad? Should I keep going？”
A long way from 12 now, I realize he would have been proud when I made any progress. Lately, though, I’ve come to believe he’d want me to move on to what comes next: to be proud of, and believe in somebody else. It’s time to start writing my own letters to my children. Our children look to us with the same unanswered question we had. Our kids don’t hold back because they’re afraid to fail. They’re only afraid of failing us. They don’t worry about being disappointed. Their fear－as mine was until my father’s letter－is of being a disappointment. Give your children permission to succeed. They’re waiting for you to believe in them.
I always knew my parents loved me. But trust me: That belief will be more complete, that love will be more real, and their belief in themselves will be greater if you write the words on their hearts:“Don’t worry; you’ll do something great.” Not having that blessing from their parents may be the only thing holding them back.
1. We learn from the text that the author ________.| A．lost his father when he was young. |
| B．worked hard before he read his father’s letter. |
| C．asked his father’s permission to believe in himself. |
| D．knew exactly what great thing his father wanted him to do. |
| A．Children need their parents’ letters. |
| B．Children are afraid to be disappointed. |
| C．His children’s fear of failure held them back. |
| D．His father’s letter removed his fear of failing his parents. |
| A．He got no access to success. |
| B．He wrote back to his father at 12. |
| C．He was sure his parents loved him. |
| D．He once asked his father about the letter. |
【推荐3】Happiness is for everyone. You don’t need to care about those people who have beautiful houses with large gardens and swimming pools or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and so on. Why? Because those who have big houses may often feel lonely and those who have cars may want to walk on the country roads at their free time.
In fact, happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school, your friends will help you; when you study hard at your lessons, your parents are always taking good care of your life and your health; when you get success, your friends will say congratulations to you; when you do something wrong, people around you will help you to correct(改正) it. And when you do something good to others, you will feel happy, too. All these are your happiness. If you notice them, you can see that happiness is always around you.
Happiness is not the same as money. It is a feeling of your heart. When you are poor, you can also say you are very happy, because you have something else that can’t be bought with money. When you meet with difficulties, you can say loudly you are very happy, because you have more chances(机会) to challenge yourself. So you cannot always say you are poor and you have bad luck. As the saying goes, life is like a revolving(旋转)door. When it closes, it also opens. If you take every chance you get, you can be a happy and lucky person.
1. Happiness is for_________.| A．those who have large and beautiful houses | B．those who have cars |
| C．those who have a lot of money | D．all people |
| A．you may correct it | B．you will have no chance to challenge yourself |
| C．anybody will laugh at you | D．you will be happy |
| A．Do Something Good to Others | B．Happy and Lucky |
| C．Happiness | D．Life and Success |
【推荐1】Three Things to Do Before You Are 18
Are you bored with your daily life? Here are some things you should try before you are 18.
★Learn to swim
Seriously, this is so important that it can save your life. If you can’t swim well, you won’t be able to do water sports like waterskiing, surfing and diving. Even taking a boat trip will be dangerous for you. Make sure you do it.
★Try at least one kind of team sports
Being a good team player is an important skill in life. You can’t just think of yourself, but have to work well with other people. Other advantages of team sports like basketball, football and baseball are that they keep you fit and healthy, and they are also great fun. Teams usually have a good social life too—you’ll go to lots of parties and make many friends.
★Collect something
One of the best hobbies for under-18s is collecting things. You could collect kinds of stamps, or you could collect things that make you remember what you have done, like cinema tickets for films you have seen or letters from friends. The best way to collect is to have a special album to put your collection in and to write what each thing means to you. That way you won’t forget.
1. The most important reason for learning to swim is that ________.| A．you might feel well | B．it can make you healthy |
| C．you might easily do lots of things | D．it can save your life |
| A．collect something | B．do some water sports |
| C．send letters to your friends | D．play basketball with your friends |
| A．work well with other people | B．keep you fit and healthy |
| C．have a good social life | D．improve your English |
| A．good habits to keep | B．skills to have |
| C．things to do | D．sports to play |
【推荐2】According to a new study, running 50 minutes a week, at a pace between 10- and 7.5-minute mile, helped lower the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other causes. Working out more than that didn’t mean more health benefits, say the researchers, based on a review of a number of studies.
Because running is a popular form of physical activity, study coauthor Zeljko Pedisic and his workmates chose to take a bird’s eye view of what past studies of running and the risk of death had concluded. The team collected 14 papers that collectively studied 230,000 people for the effects of running on cardiovascular, cancer and other causes. Most participants were from the US and Europe.
Pooling the results from these 14 studies showed that running led to lowering the risk of cancer-related death by 23%, the risk of cardiovascular-related death by 30%, and the risk of death from all other causes by 27%. Those benefits appeared even when people ran relatively slowly and for under an hour a week — less time than the World Health Organization recently suggests.
There are warnings to the research, though. Among other things, possibly these benefits were found because all the 14 studies of running and the cause of death only included healthy people from the get-go, the authors write. Also, only two of the papers recorded how people’s running habits over the years, and how often people ran was self-reported in other papers.
Though the results suggest that people might need less of a workout than the WHO might suggest, that doesn’t mean it’s time to change these standards, Pedisic says. There are other health factors than need to be examined besides the risk of death, he says, and people need other ways to keep fit, too.
1. What’s the new study mainly about?| A．Running as slowly as possible could keep you healthy |
| B．Running led to lower risk of death than other diseases |
| C．Running more than 50 minutes a week was bad for health |
| D．Running less than an hour a week could lower risks of death |
| A．Running 50 minutes a month | B．Running 10 miles a week |
| C．Running 50 minutes a week | D．Running 7.5 miles a week |
| A．12 of the studies self-reported how often people ran |
| B．most of the studies recorded people’s running habits |
| C．only people from America and Europe were included |
| D．running lowered the risk of death from cancer by 30% |
| A．People should run more than what the WHO suggests |
| B．The WHO needs to change its standards for running |
| C．The new study results need to be further proved |
| D．Running is one of the best ways to keep fit |
【推荐3】The number of fin-less porpoise, a protected species living in the Yangtze River, has seen growth compared with the 1,012 that were seen in 2017. A previous survey carried out on Oct. 25 said more mother-child pairs were seen and some were seen in places that had never reported them earlier.
Fin-less porpoise, also called Smiling Angels, have become a natural indicator of the health of the Yangtze River ecosystem, especially after the Lipotes vexillifer, a species of the freshwater dolphin commonly known as Baiji, became extinct in 2007. Despite efforts to protect the fin-less porpoise for over 40 years, its numbers continued to fall. Finally, there is some good news.
The turnaround would not have been possible without the three earlier scientific surveys and the ongoing one. Add to that a 10-yearfishing ban on the Yangtze River carried out on Jan. 1 last year, followed by the fin-less porpoise being upgraded to a level protected species on the national list on Feb. 5,2021,and the Yangtze River Protection Law coming into effect on March 1,2021.
Because of these measures, the provincial-level regions along the Yangtze River relocated their chemical plants, closed down illegal docklands, mended wetlands and adjusted sailing lanes. All these efforts ultimately improved the river’s ecological environment, helping breathe life into the fin-less porpoise species. The results show that China has chosen the right path in protecting not only the fin-less porpoise, but also the river’s ecosystem.
The story of the revival of the fin-less porpoise is only part of the bigger story of the Yangtze River’s protection as a whole. And protecting the river is part of the larger picture of the country’s ecological civilization. Fixing the Yangtze River’s ecology can benefit hundreds of generations, and a good ecology is a fortune of the Chinese nation as a whole.
1. What do we know about the Lipotes vexillifer?| A．It was extinct about 15 years ago. | B．Its favourite habitat is ocean. |
| C．Its population is falling rapidly. | D．It has been a protected species. |
| A．Ban on fishing industry forever. | B．The earlier and ongoing scientific surveys. |
| C．Relocation of the wetlands. | D．Improvement of the chemical plants. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Worried. | C．Conservative. | D．Positive. |
| A．Fin-less Porpoise—a Protected Species | B．Making the “Smiling Angels” Smile Again |
| C．The Yangtze River—Origin of Chinese People | D．Fixing the Yangtze River’s Ecology Is Urgent |
