【推荐1】阅读下面短文，从方框中选择适当的词或短语，并用其适当形式填空。每个词或短语只用一次。

value       courage       strong       honest       give up positive       prepare       effort       focus on       in return

If I Were a Boy Again

If I were a boy again, I would try hard to talk to myself     1     to learn about my own weaknesses and     2     , and I would begin early enough, before faults (缺点) had time to become habits.

If I were a boy again, I would practise perseverance (毅力), and never     3     because it was hard to do something. If we want light, we must beat darkness. There is nothing more     4     than perseverance when the right thing needs to be done.

If I were a boy again, I would build a habit of attention, and I would let nothing come between me and my goals. When we are young, one of our great mistakes is that we do not strictly     5     what we are doing at that particular moment. If we begin early and put a lot of     6    , it is easy to learn how to pay attention.

If I were a boy again, I would try to become a brave person. I would consider     7     as one of the highest achievements of life. Dangers will appear in any place, at any time, but staying calm will often get over the worst danger. Be     8     for any potential danger and show your bravery.

If I were a boy again, I would look on the     9     side of everything. Life is like a mirror; if you smile upon it, it smiles back again on you, but if you frown(皱眉), you will be sure to get a similar look     10     . Inner sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner, but all who come in contact with it.

【推荐2】Section B
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.

People Think Meals Taste Better If They Are Expensive

It is said that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but even if you manage to bag a bargain meal, it will not taste as good as a more expensive meal, according to scientists.

A new study has found that restaurant     1     who pay more for their meals think the food is tastier than if it is offered for a smaller price. The experts think that people tend to associate cost with quality and this changes their     2     of how food tastes.

Scientists at Cornell University in New York studied the eating habits of 139 people enjoying an Italian buffet (自助餐) in a restaurant. The price of the food was set by the     3     at either $4 or $8 for the all-you-can-eat meal. Customers were asked to     4     how good the food tasted, the quality of the restaurant and to leave their names.

The experiment     5     that the people who paid $8 for the food enjoyed their meal 11 percent more than those who ate the “cheaper” buffet. Interestingly those that paid for the $4 buffet said they felt guiltier about loading up their plates and felt that they     6    . However, the scientists said that both groups ate around the same quantity of food in total, according to the study     7     at the Experimental Biology meeting this week.

Brian Wansink, a professor of     8     behaviour at the university, said: “We were fascinated to find that pricing has little impact on how much one eats, but a huge impact on how you     9     the experience.” He thinks that people enjoyed their food more as they associated cost with quality and that small changes to a restaurant can change how tasty people find their meals.

In a(n)     10     study, scientists from the university showed that people who eat in dim lighting consume 175 less calories (卡路里) than people who eat in brightly lit areas.

【推荐3】Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. certainly   B. challenges   C. shape   D. nearly   E. impossible   F. painful G. serves   H. space   I. representing   J. happens   K. commitment

Life is filled with challenges. As we get older we come to realize that those challenges are the very things that     1     us and make us who we are, it is the same with the challenges that come with friendship.

When we are faced with a challenge, we usually have two choices. We can try to beat it off, or we can decide that the thing     2     the challenge isn’t worth the trouble and call it quits. Although there are     3     times when calling it quits is the right thing to do, in most cases all that is needed is     4     and communication.

When we are committed to something, it means that no matter how     5     or uncomfortable something is, we will always choose to face it and work through instead of running away from it. Communication is making a     6     for discussion and talking about how you feel as opposed to just saying what the other person did wrong. If you can say to a friend, “I got my feelings hurt,” rather than “You hurt my feelings.” You are going to be able to solve the problem much faster.

In dealing with many     7     that friendship will bring to you, try to see them for what they are: small hurdles(障碍) you need to jump or get through on your way through life. Nothing is so big that it is     8     to get over, and hurt only     9     to make us stronger. It is all part of growing up, it     10     to everyone, and some day you will look back on all of this and say, “Hard as it was, it made me who I am today. And that is a good thing.”

【推荐1】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. consequence       B. Similarly       C. describes       D. address E. recall       F. associated       G. nonessential       H. convenient I. addiction       J. Obviously       K. balance

Digital dementia—Smart devices don’t necessarily help people act smart

When was the last time that you dialed a phone number from memory? It probably depends on how long you have been using technology like a cellphone. While some generations can     1     the days of memorizing phone numbers, it’s possible that members of Generation Z have never had to remember a single contact. Why is this? Because smartphones offer quick and     2     ways for storing and accessing information. There is no need to memorize anything. But this isn’t without     3    . As digital devices develop more and more, user’s heavy reliance on them may be having bad effects. “Digital dementia (痴呆症)” is the term being used by medical professionals to identify some of these effects.

Some professionals like Jim Kwik, an expert in memory improvement are taking a closer look at this effect. Kwik     4     digital dementia like this; “we depend so much on our smartphones that they are making us stupid.” As medical studies show the decline in memory and cognitive (认知的) skills among smartphone user, a connection is made between symptoms     5     with dementia.

The seriousness of overuse becomes apparent when you consider just how young smartphone users are becoming. The overstimulation of screens and sounds can lead to     6    . So now parents , teachers and managers are asking how to handle the influx (涌现) of young people with this kind of addiction

    7    , smartphones aren’t all bad. They’re incredibly convenient, and the connectivity they create cannot be taken for granted. The key is figuring out how to strike a     8     between usage and no—use. Here are a few ways people can try to     9     cellphone addiction and fight against digital dementia.

First, monitor your cellphone use. Cut back on any     10     usage. Set a specific goal of how much you think you should use your phone.

Second, determine designated (指定的) areas for cellphone use. For example, while you are at home, only allow yourself to check your phone somewhere like a home office. This way, the time in between tasks isn’t automatically filled with staring at your screen.

【推荐2】Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. concentrating       B. constantly       C. contrary       D. deliciously       E. healing F. originates       G. peaceful       H. reduction       I. sort       J. specializes       K. thorough

Enjoying Your Life’s Pauses

Each country has its own secret to happiness. If “pyt”, which closely means “don’t worry about it and stuff happens”, explains a relaxed attitude of Danish people, “niksen” will reveal how Dutch people fight stress and burnout in a fast-paced lifestyle.

The term “Niksen”     1     from the Dutch word “niks”, which refers to “nothing”. Mindfulness, another welcome subject to help people have a     2     mind. But unlike mindfulness, niksen is not about     3     on the present moment. It’s about letting yourself do nothing, and allowing your mind to run free without expectation.

In practice, this means “hanging around, looking at your surroundings, or listening to music as long as it’s without purpose,” according to Time Magazine.

Niksen sounds     4     to the advice we were all given as kids. Nowadays, we’re     5     told to stay busy and work harder than everyone else. But niksen opposes that mentality. It offers the chance to“    6     do nothing”, as Carolien Hamming, a coach at CSR Centrum, an organization devoted to fighting stress and burnout in the Netherlands, told Time. She thinks that niksen is essential to staying healthy, since it’s a form of mental relaxation and     7    . Just as a wild animal lies in wait for their prey, niksen seems to be a natural state of being.

For some people, niksen can mean more than just stress     8    . It’s also a means to imagine new ideas or plans. Jenny Holden, a communications expert in the UK, adds it to her daily lunch breaks. “Within 10 minutes of doing nothing-just staring and listening to myself -my head began to clear and     9     out my work and home to-do lists,” she told the Metro UK.

Above all, niksen is a suggestion for balancing work and rest. As Dutch-born writer Ogla Mecking wrote in US-based Whoolly Magazine, niksen is the “    10     enjoyment of life’s pauses”. Everyone is encouraged to embrace your niksen moments.

【推荐3】

People become quite illogical when they try to decide what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten. If you lived in the Mediterranean, for instance, you would consider octopus a great     1    . You would not be able to understand why some people find it repulsive. On the other hand, your stomach would     2     at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat---the     3     accepted practice in many northern countries. The sad truth is that most of us have been brought up to eat certain foods and we     4     to them all our lives.

No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail. Cooked in wine, snails are a great luxury in various parts of the world. There are countless people who, ever since their early years, have learned to     5     snails with food. My friend, Robert, lives in a country where snails are despised. As his flat is in a large town, he has no garden of his own. For years he has been asking me to collect snails from my garden and take them to him. The idea never appealed to me very much, but one day, after a heavy     6    , I happened to be walking in my garden when I noticed a huge number of snails taking a stroll on some of my     7     plants. Acting on a sudden impulse, I collected several dozen, put them in a paper bag, and took them to Robert. Robert was delighted to see me and     8     pleased with my little gift. I left the bag in the hall and Robert and I went into the living room where we talked for a couple of hours. I had forgotten all about the snails when Robert suddenly said that I must stay to dinner. Snails would, of course, be the main dish. I did not     9     the idea and I reluctantly followed Robert out of the room. To our dismay, we saw that there were snails everywhere: they had escaped from the paper bag and had taken complete     10     of the hall!