【推荐3】Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. fit B. practice C. promising D. boast E. ingredients F. disturbed G. evolution H. excuses I. passing J. stuck K. honouring

The Origin of Trick-or-treat

On October 31, hordes of children armed with Jack-o’-lantern-shaped buckets and pillow cases will take to the streets in search of sugar. Trick-or-treating for candy is equivalent to Halloween, but the tradition had to go through a centuries-long     1     to arrive at the place it is today. So how did the holiday become an opportunity for kids to get free sweets? You can blame pagans (异教徒), Catholics, and candy companies.

Historians agree that a Celtic autumn festival called Samhain (萨温节) was the origin of modern Halloween. Samhain was a time to celebrate the last harvest of the year and the approach of the winter season. It was also a festival for     2     the dead. One way Celtics may have appeased the spirits they believed still walked the Earth was by leaving treats on their doorsteps. When Catholics invaded Ireland in the 1st century CE, they rebranded many pagan holidays to     3     their religion. November 1^st became the “feasts of All Saints and All Souls,” and the day before it was dubbed “All-Hallows’-Eve.” The new holidays looked a lot different from the original Celtic festival, but many traditions     4     around, including the practice of offering food to the dead. The food of choice for Christians became “soul cakes,” small pastries usually baked with expensive     5     and spices like currants and saffron.

Instead of leaving them outside for     6     ghosts, soul cakes were distributed to beggars who went door-to-door     7     to pray for souls of the deceased in exchange for something to eat. Sometimes they wore costumes to honour the saints—something pagans originally did to avoid being     8     by evil spirits. The ritual, known as “souling”, is believed to have planted the seeds for modern-day trick-or-treating.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that trick-or-treat gained popularity in the US. Following the Great Depression and World War II, the suburbs were booming, and people were looking for     9     to have fun and get to know their neighbours. The old     10     of souling made a comeback and gave kids a chance to dress up in costumes and roam their neighbourhoods. Common trick-or-treat offerings included nuts, coins, and homemade baked goods (“treats” that most kids would turn their noses up at today).

【推荐1】Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. content B. demands   C. guard     D. depressed   E. prioritized   F. fits G. failure   H. meant   I. competed     J. mere     K. independent

Happiness, as the Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moracs put it, is “like a feather flying in the air. It flies light, but not for very long.”

Humans are not designed to be happy or even     1    . Instead, we are designed primarily to survive and reproduce, like every other creature in the natural world. A state of contentment is discouraged by nature because it would lower your     2     against possible threats to your survival.

Evolution has     3     the development of a big frontal lobe(脑叶)in our brain (which gives us excellent executive and analytical abilities) over a natural ability to be happy. Different geographical locations and circuits in the brain are each associated with certain neurological(神经系统的)and intellectual functions, but happiness, being a(n)     4     idea with no neurological basis, cannot be found in the brain tissue.

In fact, experts in this field argue that nature’s     5     to eliminate depression in the evolutionary process is due precisely to the fact that depression as an adaption plays a useful role in times of difficulty, by helping the     6     individual get away from risky and hopeless situations in which he or she cannot win.

Our emotions are mixed and at times contradictory, like everything else in our lives. Research has shown that positive and negative emotions can coexist in the brain relatively     7     of each other. This models show that the right hemisphere processes negative emotions preferentially, whereas positive emotions are dealt with by the left-sided brain.

It’s worth remembering, then, that we are not designed to be consistently happy. Instead, we are designed to survive and reproduce. These are difficult tasks, so we are     8     to struggle, seek safety, fight off threats and avoid pain. The model of competing emotions offered by coexisting pleasure and pain     9     our reality much better than the unachievable bliss(极乐)that the happiness industry is trying to sell us. In fact, pretending that any degree of pain is abnormal will only develop feelings of inadequacy and frustration.

So, if you are unhappy at times, this is not a shortcoming that     10     urgent repair. Far from it. This fluctuation(波动)is, in fact, what makes you human.

【推荐2】选词填空

A. convinced     B. probably       C. generalize     D. distinguish       E. attached       F. prominent     G. notorious       H. narrowed       I. readily        J. households       K. displays

Cats are     1     for their indifference to humans: Almost any owner will testify to how     2     these animals ignore us when we call them. But according to a study published Thursday in Scientific Reports, domestic cats do recognize their own names - even if they walk away when they hear them.

Atsuko Saito, a behavioral scientist at the University of Tokyo, previously showed that cats can recognize their owners’ voices. In her latest study she     3     this down, investigating whether they respond to hearing their names. The study included 78 cats from Japanese     4     and a ”cat cafe.“ (Such cafes, where patrons can interact with felines, are popular in Tokyo and have started to catch on in London and New York.)

During their experiments Saito and her colleagues used what behavioral psychologists call the habituation-dishabituation method. This involves repeatedly exposing a subject to a stimulus (in this case a spoken word) until the subject no longer     5     any reaction. Then the subject is presented with a test stimulus ( in this case, its name), and researchers observe whether it reacts. This step helps rule out responses to random stimuli.

For the new study, the scientists first had cat owners repeatedly say four words that were similar to their cats’ names, until the cats habituated to those words. Next the owners said the actual names, and the researchers looked at whether individual cats (when living among other cats) appeared able to distinguish their monikers. The cats had more pronounced responses to their own names - moving their ears, heads or tails, or meowing - than to similar words or other cats’ names.

Then the researchers had people unfamiliar to the cats speak the names, to test whether the cats still recognized them. Although their responses were less     6     than when their owners called them, they still appeared to recognize their names after being habituated to other words.

”This new study clearly shows that many cats react to their own names when spoken by their owners,“ says biologist John Bradshaw, who studies human-animal interactions at the University of Bristol’s Anthrozoology Institute and was not involved in the new study. But Bradshaw says he is less     7     cats can recognize their names when spoken by someone unfamiliar. ” I think that it’s entirely possible that some cats are able to     8     between one human voice and another, but I’d like to see more trials before I’d say that the evidence is compelling,“ he says.

Saito says she thinks feline pets learn to recognize their names because of what is in it for them. ”I think cats associated their names with some rewards or punishments,“ she says - adding that she thinks it is unlikely the cats understand their names are     9     to them. ”There is no evidence that cats have the ability to recognize themselves, like us,“ she explains. ”So, the recognition about their name is different from ours.“ Still, she says, it may be possible to teach cats to recognize other words. Whether that could allow humans to train cats to respond to commands - as dogs readily do -- is another matter.

”Cats are just as good as dogs at learning,“ Bradshaw says. ”They’re just not as keen to show their owners what they’ve learned.“ Most cat owners would     10     agree.

【推荐3】从下表中选择合适的词汇并用其适当的形式完成此文。

With the spending power of teenagers     1    , managing money     2     to be     3     important to younger generations. America requires high school students to take courses in personal     4    . However, for those young people who have no     5     to courses, grandparents or parents give different education methods. One is making “Kare Bags” containing     6     (necessity) for the homeless people, the other is     7     four jars to tell teens how to spend their money wisely. Although the four jars have different values, their     8     goal is the same: to understand how much value money brings to individuals and society.

【推荐2】Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. abandoned                  B. ceremonies                  C. duties                  D. jewelry        E. memorable F. instructions                 G. historical                    H. occasion                 I. predictions        J. supposed K. traditional

One-Month-Old Feast and One-Year-Old Catch (Zhuazhou) of Babies

In China, One-Month-Old Feast and One-Year-Old Catch of a baby are of unique Chinese characteristics. These two     1     are milestone-like significance in the growing process of a baby.

On the day when a baby is a month old, the family of the baby will invite their friends and relatives to a ceremony to celebrate the     2    . In a     3     One-Month-Old Ceremony, there will be a rejoicing and festive atmosphere in the family and the feast is     4     to be lively and joyful. However, in recent years this custom has been gradually     5     among young people. Nevertheless, One-Month-Old Feast still remains a     6     and happy moment for every family.

“Zhou” in the word “zhuazhou” means “a baby is one year old”. The earliest     7    record about “zhuazhou” appeared during the Dynasty of Northern Qi. On the day when a baby is a year old, before the baby eats its longevity noodle, the family will lay out sutras, brush pens, ink sticks paper, ink slabs, abacus, copper coins, account books,     8    , flowers, rouges, food, toys, etc. If it is a girl, scoops, scissors, rulers, thread, scissor-cut will be added. The parents then put the baby in front of these articles and make it sit up. Nobody will give any     9     or cues to the baby so that it is left free to choose by itself. Watching the baby catch the articles it likes, the family can then make     10    about its potential interests, future career and development.

【推荐3】Complete the description of a Chinese wedding ceremony with the correct form of the words in the box.

attach                       surround                         host                      custom             joy character                  exchange                         moment                 traditional

Last weekend, I attended my cousin’s wedding ceremony. There is a lot of meaning     1     to the colours and decorations at a Chinese wedding. The wedding hall was decorated with red paper cuts of the Chinese     2     which means “double happiness”. We were     3     by an atmosphere of     4     and we felt very excited the     5     the ceremony began. When the wedding     6     said, “Are you going to marry this person?” Everyone in the hall was eager to hear the word “Yes”. After that, the couple     7     wedding rings. As a     8     Chinese     9    , the bride and groom toasted their guests. We all congratulated them on their happy day and wished them the best for their future life.