1 . I never imagined that someone telling me I looked skinny would anger me. And yet, I was made very angry when a colleague pinched (捏) my waist and screamed, “Rosa, you’ve lost weight. You look great!” The truth is that I was tired and not taking care of myself. I decided to start a proper weight-loss program.
The first to go would be road rage (路怒). I am in far less control of this weight than any other. Every time something gets in the way, I fly off the handle. I need to lose the road rage! No, no more speed. Instead, I now repeat the words, “I am not in a hurry.” This year, I will drive safely, allowing the “stupid” to happen all around me. From that, I hope to gain patience.
Next is guilt. When guilt drives my conscience to do better, it’s functional. But when it presents itself as an internal dialogue that goes nowhere, it’s useless. This year, I want to stop feeling guilty for not keeping a cleaner house, for spending time away from my children to be with friends, for not attending every party because I’d rather be at home, or for watching TV when I should be reading. My image and performance are not at the back of anyone else’s mind but my own. From this, I hope to gain freedom to be myself.
The last is fear. Fear has held me back. Fear of failure has prevented me from being a writer. Fear of embarrassment has prevented me from giving an opinion. Fear of being rejected has stopped me from aiming higher in my life. Fear of regret has led me into situations that made me uncomfortable. If I can lose any one of these fears, I stand to gain experience.
So, if I can lose the rage, shake off some guilt, and take fear off my plate, I stand to gain patience, freedom, and experience. Pound for pound I have not lost a thing but I will be much lighter. Next time, I hope my colleague looks me in the eye to see my glow instead of pinching part of me that has nothing to do with how great I really look.
1. What does the underlined part “fly off the handle” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Pick up speed. | B．Drive off. |
| C．Desert the car. | D．Lose control of anger. |
| A．Attending too many parties. |
| B．Reading much with her children. |
| C．Wasting her time in watching TV. |
| D．Spending little time with her friends. |
| A．It has prevented her achieving her goals. |
| B．It has made situations complicated for her. |
| C．It has stopped her furthering her education. |
| D．It has made it difficult for her to make friends. |
| A．Stop Body Shaming | B．Lighten You Mind |
| C．Watch Your Weight | D．Avoid Body Contact |
2 . Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment. “We didn’t know at that time there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it,” says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement .Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many， many times,” says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first. According to US government reports, emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 tons .The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9. Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with, the world is a safer and healthier place. A kind of “Green thinking” has become part of practices.
Great improvement has been achieved. In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs; today in 1995 there are about 6,600. Advanced lights, motors, and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution.
Twenty –five years ago, there were hardly any education programs for environment. Today, it’s hard to find a public school, university, or law school that does not have such a kind of program. “Until we do that, nothing else will change!” says Bruce Anderson.
1. According to Anderson, before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___.| A．the social movement | B．recycling techniques |
| C．environmental problems | D．the importance of Earth Day |
| A．The grass –roots level. | B．The business circle. |
| C．Government officials. | D．University professors. |
| A．They have cut car emissions to the lowest. |
| B．They have settled their environmental problems. |
| C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities. |
| D．They have reduced pollution through effective measures. |
| A．Education. | B．Planning |
| C．Green living | D．CO reduction |
3 . The end of a semester can be a challenging time for students. Kids from elementary school through high school are already stressed after more than a year of C0VID-19 disrupted learning. Pressing through the last few weeks of a semester can be discouraging, especially for older students with demanding final projects and exams.
“Parents’ fears about their kids are so often not about the present but the future — a fear that kids who are struggling will get stuck there. But kids rarely stay stuck, in part because they too want their lives to work out,” says Ned Johnson, a test preparation expert. When children show signs of stress, parents should respond by focusing on mental health, not achievement or grades.
Families can create a sense of safety for children by establishing routines for the day and week, especially those that emphasize connection, such as family dinnertime and a bedtime chat. Parents should meet kids with empathy and listening, instead of trying to solve their problems. For example, we can normalize family conversation about the ups and downs of the day. As Madeline Levine, a psychologist, put it: let your children “borrow your calm”.
In addition, peer support programs can also play an important role in teaching skills for stress management and wellness. “Teens will talk to other teens, especially when they feel they are in a brave space built on trust,” Katie Hurley, a psychotherapist says.
Some children may arrive at the finish line exhausted and needing sleep. Or perhaps they are eager to celebrate the holidays with all the usual fanfare. Honor your child’s wishes and plan to create the break that fits your family’s needs. McKenna Reitz, a mom from Toledo, Ohio, plans for her daughters Karsen, 9, and Maddox, 6, to enjoy time off with family and friends. Her holiday plan apparently reflects that. “It is the most important thing they need right now,” she says. “Our children need to know that they are not alone.”
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Children are struggling in study in the present situation. |
| B．Children’s focusing on grades makes them stay stuck in learning. |
| C．Parents stay stuck in making their children live to work out. |
| D．Parents’ fear about children getting stuck in study is unnecessary. |
| A．To ask parents to stay calm before their kids. |
| B．To show the necessity of talking to kids before tests. |
| C．To make parents let go of their kids during COVID-19. |
| D．To stress the importance of the help from the experts. |
| A．Staying with kids in holidays. | B．Respecting the needs of kids. |
| C．Helping kids celebrate holidays. | D．Keeping exhausted kids happy. |
| A．Parents should help kids to prepare their tests. |
| B．Parents should keep a closer eyes on kids study. |
| C．Parents should connect their kids more with nature. |
| D．Parents should let kids take a break from school stress. |
4 . One young person, who was well educated, went for a job as a manager in a big company. The president did the final
He discovered the youth was
The president requested the youth to
“Go and clean your mother’s hands when you go back today, and then
The youth felt his chance of getting the job was high, so when he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. However, his tears fell
The next
The president said, “You are
| A．election | B．test | C．interview | D．competition |
| A．strong | B．excellent | C．humorous | D．cute |
| A．maker | B．cleaner | C．mender | D．seller |
| A．wash | B．hide | C．show | D．dry |
| A．found | B．let | C．helped | D．watched |
| A．study | B．ignore | C．work | D．rest |
| A．move | B．see | C．recognize | D．answer |
| A．after | B．until | C．because | D．as |
| A．believed | B．sensed | C．noticed | D．expected |
| A．quietly | B．sadly | C．excitedly | D．angrily |
| A．morning | B．noon | C．afternoon | D．evening |
| A．worried | B．felt | C．brought | D．spoke |
| A．important | B．difficult | C．different | D．impossible |
| A．value | B．secret | C．type | D．change |
| A．educated | B．respected | C．trusted | D．hired |
5 . Unlike humans who enter a state of relatively complete unconsciousness while sleeping, birds can more carefully control their sleep. Birds often sleep with one eye open, only half their brain resting at the same time. The other half of the brain is awake, able to note danger if needed.
While the exact way in which birds control their sleep patterns has not been well studied, it has been shown that the safer a bird feels when sleeping, the more likely it is to sleep deeper. If the situation is more uncertain, however, the bird will sleep more lightly.
Sleeping together is another defensive method that many birds use. By living together, some species can create a nighttime place where thousands of individuals sleep. As a result, there are more birds to notice their enemies’ attack, giving each individual bird a greater chance of survival. In winter, many birds, particularly small birds, live together to share body heat and survive lower nighttime temperatures.
When birds sleep, they bury weak body parts in their feathers. A bird’s feathers create air pockets that help it keep warm, and by placing feet or the bill into the feathers, less body heat is lost. When a bird’s bill is buried deeply in its feathers, it is also able to breathe air warmed by its own body heat.
There is little data about how long birds sleep at a time, but studies show that birds may sleep longer during longer nights. This may be because birds are not able to search for food or take part in other activities without enough light and so sleeping is the next natural item on their to-do lists. Birds are able to sleep for a short time during the day, however, and can also sleep longer whenever they are in a safe place.
1. How can birds control their sleep?| A．By opening both of the eyes. | B．By ignoring danger frequently. |
| C．By entering a dream completely. | D．By keeping half of the brain awake. |
| A．Birds’ condition. | B．Birds weight. | C．Birds’ feelings. | D．Birds’ sleep patterns. |
| A．They can attack their enemies. | B．They can protect themselves well. |
| C．They can lower body temperatures. | D．They can share body heat in summer. |
| A．Into their feathers. | B．Into their feet. |
| C．Into their mouths. | D．Into their skin pockets. |
| A．Birds can search for food in weak light. |
| B．Birds should plan their activities more carefully. |
| C．Birds can usually sleep longer at night in winter. |
| D．Birds should place sleeping first on their to-do lists. |
6 . Ten years ago, the professors Brian Lucas and Loran Nordgren encountered a contradiction. On the one hand, we recognize that other people are more likely to make creative breakthroughs when they persevere. On the other hand. when we feel stuck on a problem, most of us fail to sec how successful we’ll be if we just keep trying. We tend to believe that our creativity drops over time — that if our best ideas don’t come to us immediately, they won’t come at all.
Lucas and Nordgren call this misunderstanding the “creative cliff illusion”, which refers to the false belief that our creativity sharply declines after an initial period of effort, leading us to underestimate our ability to generate new and innovative ideas with continued perseverance. In one experiment, they asked participants to spend 10 minutes generating “as many original ideas for things to eat and drink at a Thanksgiving dinner as you can. ” Afterward, participants were asked to guess how many ideas they would come up with during a second 10-minute period. Most expected to generate far fewer ideas the second time around, but in fact they produced just as many during that second period — 66 percent more than they had guessed. And those were rated by other people as more creative than the initial ideas.
Though we tend to think our ability to come up with ideas is easily consumed, we actually get more creative the longer we focus on a problem or task. One major reason for this is known as the “serial-order effect”. Each next creative idea we have is likely to be better than the one that came before.
The serial-order effect isn’t always easy to see. Most of us have adopted the belief that creativity should feel easy, or “fluent”. And so we associate mental difficulty with pointlessness. But working through bad ideas is a necessary step in the creative process. The first solutions that come to mind tend to be either preexisting ideas or popular wisdom. These are the paths of least resistance. Though avoiding them requires some work, it’s the surest way to find original ideas that aren’t immediately manifest.
The serial-order effect applies to tasks that last minutes or days, but creativity also improves across years, decades, and even careers. The life’s work of most successful entrepreneurs proves it.
1. What does the contradiction mainly tell us about?| A．Two professors’ wonder. | B．The best ideas for failures. |
| C．People’s mental tendency. | D．Immediate solutions to creativity. |
| A．Humble. | B．Surprised. | C．Hopeful. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Obvious. | B．Effective. | C．Attractive. | D．Acceptable. |
| A．People can be more creative with age. |
| B．Creativity comes from creative approaches. |
| C．Creativity actually increases with continued effort. |
| D．People can avoid misunderstandings about creativity. |
7 . Earlier this year Rodney Smith Jr. made headlines when he drove eight hours from his home in Huntsville. Alabama, to cut the lawn for an elderly soldier in North Carolina who couldn’t find anyone to help him with his yard work.
That wasn’t the first time the twenty-nine-year-old Bermuda native had gained such attention. To do his good deeds, Rodney often finds leads for those in need through social media.
Back to one August afternoon in 2015, Rodney Smith Jr. was driving home. That’s when Rodney saw an elderly man struggling to mow his lawn. He would take a couple of shaky steps, using the handle to stabilize himself, pause, then slowly push the mower again. Rodney decided to help. Mr. Brown thanked him greatly, and Rodney went home feeling satisfied.
Sitting at his computer to do his homework, Rodney couldn’t get Mr. Brown out of his mind. There must be many Mr. Browns out there. He went online and posted that he would mow lawns for free for senior citizens. Messages flooded in.
One day a cancer-battling woman said she wasn’t having a good day. Rodney decided to do more than mowing lawns. After he finished mowing, he knocked on her door. “You're going to win this fight, Madam”, he said. Then he asked folks to pray for her on social media.
Word of Rodney’s mission spread. A grandmother in Ohio said he’d encouraged her 12-year-old grandson to mow lawns. He got a letter from a seven-year-old boy in Kansas. “Mr. Rodney, I would like to be a part of your program, and I’ll make you proud,” he wrote.
That gave Rodney an idea. In 2017, he decided to establish a programme Raising Men Lawn Care Service to make a national movement for young people. The kids learn the joy of giving back.
Yard work seems like a small, simple thing, but taking care of the lawn means a lot to the people they do it for. “When we mow their yards for free, they can use the money for healthcare and food etc. It means more than you would think,” Rodney said.
1. Rodney drew attention for his _____.| A．mowing skills | B．ambition | C．driving distance | D．generosity |
| A．To comfort her. | B．To pray for her. |
| C．To share gardening tips. | D．To ask about her health. |
| A．National media. | B．Personal success. |
| C．Daily inspiration. | D．People’s courage. |
| A．Giving Free, Gaining Fortune |
| B．Mowing a Lawn, Making a Life |
| C．Serving the Senior, Satisfying the Self |
| D．Changing a little, Challenging the Limits |
8 . Kids' health：Four steps for fighting stress
Everybody gets stressed from time to time.
Try taking these four steps the next time you are stressed：
(1)Get support. When you need help, reach out to the people who care about you. Talk to a trusted adult，such as a parent or other relatives.
(2)Don't take it out on yourself. Sometimes when kids are stressed and upset they take it out on themselves. Oh, dear，that's not a good idea. Remember that there are always people to help you. Don't take it out on yourself.
(3)Try to solve the problem. After you're calm and you have support from adults and friends，it's time to get down to business.
(4)Be positive. Most stress is temporary (暂时的). Remember stress does go away, especially when you figure out the problem and start working on solving it.
These steps aren't magic，but they do work. And if you can stay positive as you make your way through a tough time，you'll help yourself feel better even faster.
| A．Ask for a helping hand to get you through the tough situation. |
| B．Notice your friends' feelings and find a way to help them. |
| C．Different people feel stress in different ways. |
| D．Ah, it feels so good when the stress is gone. |
| E．You need to figure out what the problem is. |
| F．And don't forget about your friends. |
| G．Then, find a way to calm down. |
9 . Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son. Suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut,” Joanna noted.
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. “She used to cuddle up (依偎) against me on the sofa and talk,” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is understanding which time is which.”
Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their mind. “In fact, parents are first on the list,” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years,” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”
Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental (思想的) break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.
1. “The door to his room is always shut” suggests that the son ________.| A．keeps himself away from his parents | B．begins to dislike his parents |
| C．is always busy with his study | D．doesn’t want to be ignored |
| A．Their daughter isn’t as lovely as before. |
| B．They can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly. |
| C．They don’t know what to say to their daughter. |
| D．Their daughter talks with them only when she needs help. |
| A．Teenagers talk a lot with their friends. | B．Teenagers do not understand their parents. |
| C．Teenagers talk little about their own lives. | D．Teenagers do not talk much with their parents. |
| A．Parents shouldn’t be angry with teenagers. |
| B．Parents have to talk with children face to face. |
| C．Parents are unhappy with their growing children. |
| D．Parents should try to understand their teenagers. |
10 . The biggest and the smallest of the world’s animals are most at risk of dying out, according to a new analysis, with vertebrates (脊椎动物) in the so-called “Goldilocks zone”—not too big and not too small—winning out. Action is needed to protect animals at both ends of the scale, they say. The research adds to evidence that animals are dying out on such a scale that a sixth extinction is considered under way.
One clue is body size. Research on birds and mammals has shown that those with larger bodies are more likely to go extinct. Yet, when the researchers made a database of thousands of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians (两栖动物) and reptiles (爬行动物) at risk of extinction, they found disproportionate (不成比例的) losses at the large and small ends of the scale.
“Surprisingly, we found that not only the largest of all vertebrate animal species are most threatened, but the very tiniest ones are also highly threatened with extinction,” Prof. Ripple told BBC News.
Large animals, such as elephants, rhinos (犀牛) and lions have long been the target of protection efforts. However, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians that are the giants of their kind, such as the whale shark, Somali ostrich (鸵鸟) and the Chinese giant salamander (蝾螈), tend to be overlooked. Meanwhile, small species at risk--such as frogs and shrews (鼩鼱)--receive very little attention.
“I think, for the smallest species, first of all we need to bring higher awareness to them, because the larger ones get a lot of attention, but the smaller ones get very little,” said Prof. Ripple.
In the study, vertebrates with the smallest and the largest bodies were found to be most at risk of disappearing, whether they were on land or living in oceans, streams or rivers.
Heavyweights are threatened mainly by hunting, while featherweights are losing out to pollution and cutting down forests. “Ultimately, reducing global consumption of wild meat is a key step to reduce negative impacts of hunting, fishing, and trapping on the world’s vertebrates,” they write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
1. What made the researchers feel surprised?| A．A sixth of animals are dying out. |
| B．Small animals are in great danger. |
| C．Great losses of birds and mammals. |
| D．Big animals are at risk of disappearing. |
| A．Transform our habits. | B．Change our concepts. |
| C．Find ways to save small animals. | D．Take measures to stop pollution. |
| A．Loss of forests. | B．Climate change. |
| C．Human activities. | D．Environmental pollution. |
| A．Size Matters When It Comes to Extinction Risk |
| B．Large Animals Are Badly in Need of Protection |
| C．Why a Great Number of Animals Are Dying out |
| D．What We Should Do to Protect Endangered Species |
