1 . We’ve all had the experience of wanting to get a project done but putting it off to a later date. So why do we delay things? Are we built to operate this way sometimes?
These questions are central to my research on goal pursuit (追求). It all starts with a simple choice between working now on a given project and doing anything else. The decision to work on something is driven by how much we value accomplishing the project in that moment — what psychologists call its subjective value. And delay, in psychological terms, is what happens when the value of doing something else outweighs the value of working now.
This way of thinking suggests a simple trick to defeat delay. For example, instead of cleaning my house, I might try to focus on why grading papers is personally important to me. It’s simple advice, but sticking to this strategy (策略) can be quite difficult.
People are not entirely wise in the way they value things. For example, a dollar bill is worth exactly the same today as it is a week from now, but its subjective value — roughly how good it would feel to own a dollar—depends on other factors besides its face value, such as when we receive it. The tendency for people to devalue money and other goods based on time is called delay discounting. For example, receiving $100 three months from now is worth the same to people as receiving $83 right now. People would rather lose $17 than wait a few months to get a larger reward.
Getting something done is a delayed reward, so its value in the present is reduced: the further away the deadline is, the less attractive it seems to work on the project right now. The tendency to delay things closely follows economic models of delay discounting. One way to manage it is to make the finish line seem closer. For example, vividly imagining a future reward reduces delay discounting.
1. Which of the following best explains “outweighs” in Paragraph 2?| A．Is equal to. | B．Is greater than. |
| C．Is involved in. | D．Is central to. |
| A．Avoid setting a deadline too strictly. |
| B．Consider doing nothing temporarily. |
| C．Increase the subjective value of working now. |
| D．Realize great fun of working immediately. |
| A．Time and tide wait for no man. |
| B．A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |
| C．One of these days is none of these days. |
| D．Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. |
| A．Asking for nothing in return. |
| B．Lowering our high expectations. |
| C．Searching for instant satisfaction. |
| D．Making future rewards more inviting. |
2 . I was standing in the checkout line behind a woman who looked to be in her 60s. When it was her turn to pay, the cashier greeted her by name and asked her how she was doing.
The woman looked down, shook her head and said: “Not so good. My husband just lost his job. The truth is, I don’t know how I’m going to get through these days.” Then she gave the cashier food stamps(食品券).
My heart ached. I wanted to help but didn’t know how. Should I offer to pay for her groceries, or ask for her husband’s resume(简历)?
Walking into the parking lot, I spotted the woman returning her shopping cart. I remembered something in my purse that I thought could help her. It wasn’t a handful of cash or an offer of a job for her husband, but maybe it would make her life better.
“Excuse me,” I said, my voice trembling a bit. “I couldn’t help overhearing what you said to the cashier. It sounds like you’ re going through a really hard time right now. I’m so sorry. I’d like to give you something. ”
I handed her the small card from my purse. When the woman read the two words “You Matter” on the card, she began to cry. And through her tears, she said: “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
I was a little startled by her reply. Having never done anything like this before, I didn’t know what kind of reaction I might receive. All I could think to say was: “Would it be OK to give you a hug? ”
A few days earlier, one of my workmates gave a similar card to me as encouragement for a project I was working on. When I read the card, I felt a warm glow spread inside of me. Deeply touched, I ordered my own box of “You Matter” cards and started sharing them.
1. What was the woman’s trouble?| A．She lost her job. |
| B．She needed more food stamps. |
| C．She didn’t know how to get through the hard time. |
| D．She didn’t have enough money to pay for her groceries. |
| A．She inspired the woman with a card. |
| B．She bought some food for the woman. |
| C．She gave the woman a handful of money. |
| D．She offered the woman’s husband a better job. |
| A．Moved. | B．Surprised. | C．Pleased. | D．Annoyed. |
| A．You Decide Who You Are | B．Bad Things Will Go Away |
| C．The Help from a Stranger | D．The Power of a Small Card |
3 . There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care. To water his flowers，he used two buckets(水桶).One was a shiny and new bucket. The other was a very old and dilapidated one，which had seen many years of service，but was now past its best.
Every morning，the gardener would fill up the two buckets. Then he would carry them along the path，one on each side，to the flowerbeds. The new bucket was very proud of itself. It could carry a full bucket of water without a single drop spilled. The old bucket felt very ashamed(惭愧的)because of its holes: before it reached the flowerbeds，much water had leaked(渗漏)along the path.
Sometimes the new bucket would say，"See how capable I am! How good it is that the gardener has me water the flowers every day! I don’t know why he still uses you. What a waste of space you are!"
And all that the old bucket could say was，"I know I am not very useful，but I can only do my best. I am happy that the gardener still finds a little bit of use in me ，at least.’’
One day，the gardener heard that kind of conversation. After watering the flowers as usual，he said，"You both have done your work very well. Now I am going to carry you back，and I want you to look carefully along the path."
Then the two buckets did so. All along the path, they noticed，on the side where the new bucket was carried，there was just bare earth；on the other side where the old bucket was carried，there was a joyous row of wild flowers，leading all the way to the garden.
1. What was the old bucket ashamed of?| A．Its past. | B．Its aging. | C．Its manner. | D．Its leaking. |
| A．Dirty. | B．Dark. | C．Worn out. | D．Ordinary-looking. |
| A．take pity on the old one | B．laugh at the old one |
| C．show off its good look | D．praise the gardener's kindness |
| A．Because it was used to keep a balance. |
| B．Because it stayed in its best condition. |
| C．Because it had its own advantage. |
| D．Because it was thought of as a treasure. |
4 . When John was growing up, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him weeding the garden, carrying out the garbage and delivering newspapers. But when John reached adulthood, he was better off than his childhood playmates. He had more job satisfaction, a better marriage and was healthier. Most of all, he was happier. Far happier.
These are the findings of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 teenage boys from Boston. The study showed that those who had worked as boys enjoyed happier and more productive lives than those who had not. ＂Boys who worked in the home or community gained competence(能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society,＂ said George Vaillant, the psychologist(心理学家) who made the discovery. ＂And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them.＂
Vaillant’s study followed these males in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25,31 and 47. Under Vaillant, the researchers compared the men’s mental-health scores with their boyhood-activity scores. Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.
The link between what the men had done as boys and how they turned out as adults was surprisingly sharp. Those who had done the most boyhood activities were twice as likely to have warm relations with a wide variety of people, five times as likely to be well paid and 16 times less likely to have been unemployed. The researchers also found that IQ and family social and economic class made no real difference in how the boys turned out.
Working — at any age — is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence — the underpinnings(基础) of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how to do this. Yet work isn’t everything. As Tolstoy once said, ＂One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one’s work.＂
1. What do we know about John?| A．He enjoyed his career and marriage. |
| B．He had few childhood playmates. |
| C．He received little love from his family. |
| D．He was envied by others in his childhood. |
| A．a description of personal values and social values |
| B．an analysis of how work was related to competence |
| C．an example for parents’ expectations of their children |
| D．an explanation why some boys grew into happy men |
| A．recording the boys’ effort in school |
| B．evaluating the men’s mental health |
| C．comparing different sets of scores |
| D．measuring the men’s problem solving ability |
| A．Quick to react. | B．Having a thin edge. |
| C．Clear and definite. | D．Sudden and rapid. |
| A．Competent adults know more about love than work. |
| B．Emotional health is essential to a wonderful adult life. |
| C．Love brings more joy to people than work does. |
| D．Independence is the key to one’s success. |
5 . Exams never made me break out in a nervous sweat with tears threatening to ruin my already-trembling façade — but this one did. Even booking my piano exam reduced me to a blubbering mess of anxiety.
I feel permanently scarred inside churches — no longer admiring their beauty because, over the years, I have received such terrible marks from examiners hiding behind the stained-glass partitions. Despite being 15 — too old, too cool to be frightened — I remember trembling inside the bathroom stalls before my tests. I wished I never had to play in front of others.
But this time, after booking my Level 8 Royal Conservatory of Music piano exam, I went back to my normal routine. A little practice here, a little practice there. And then it happened.
My trusty, 10-year-old electric piano gave out. Middle C started to sound like an F-sharp and all other keys sounded like they were a fourth above their natural tone. Thankfully, my precious, boredom-saving buttons still worked. I could still change my piano’s settings from “piano” to “harpsichord .” I admit, it was a lot of fun banging on my wacky keys. Each note bonged like the sound on children’s TV shows when a character repeatedly runs into a wall.
Goofiness aside, I had to get my act together. I hated practicing but I really wanted a good mark. When I told my father what had happened to my piano, he only glared at me with disappointment, “When I was your age, I learned to be resourceful.”
Hmm. I had a broken piano, an exam coming up in a few months and a father who refused to buy me a new piano because he wanted to teach me a “life lesson”. I finally came upon a decision: I’d practice at school.
Going to a private school had to have its benefits, so I looked for a place to play. The school had many pianos but only a few in tune. Within a few days of searching, my piano books, my artistic best friend and I headed off to a music room at every available opportunity.
I loved finding new pianos in hidden corners of the school and I laughed at the dusty old historic pianos. They really had character. I spent hours in those music rooms while my friend honed her art skills in sketching and drawing. She suffered through my annoying, repetitive scales while I looked over my shoulder once in a while and admired her work. Not only did I become a better musician, but I also managed to gain a few subpar skills as an art critic.
As my exam drew close, all the music teachers knew to look for me in the piano rooms during recess, after school and late on Fridays. In anticipation of my assessment, one of my music teachers let me perform for her as a mini practice exam. To my surprise, she was greatly impressed.
Within a few months I went from not caring about my playing to feeling actually, maybe, kind of proud of my work. And over countless hours spent in my favorite, soundproof music room, I discovered that behind the piano, I could become anyone. Talking to other people never came easy to me, but I was able to express myself through music. I became overjoyed. It was like I had developed a sixth sense, one that only musicians could understand.
When I played, my worries about what others thought of me and how I viewed myself merged to reveal who I really am. All my adolescent musings made me feel like I was in a cage, but music gave me the key. Sitting behind a piano and creating music combined the movement of my body and the inner workings of my heart.
Music had never been the love of my life but that was changing. I loved the idea of being on a stage and creating something for others to enjoy and remember. Actually, it wasn’t a something, but rather a feeling that the audience would carry outside into a world where music wasn’t the only thing that people cared for.
When the time came to play in front of an examiner, instead of fearing my judge, I feared nothing but being unable to represent all my hard work. All the anxiety I had about going up on stage dimmed, and when the lights went on, all I could think about was the marvellous journey I’d had to get here. Trilling the keys reminded me of when I’d spent nearly two hours alone in a music room, more content than I had been anywhere else. Playing the melody reminded me of the bittersweet music experiences of past years.
Many days later, I received my mark. Not only did I earn a rarely mentioned “well done” and an 82 per cent, I had rewritten what music meant to me.
Now whenever I get caught up in the daily struggle, I remember the hard work that it took to reach my goal. Whenever I feel discouraged, I never forget to look at the gleaming keys of my new upright piano. As my father always says, some lessons are just learned the hard way.
1. What made the author so stressful inside churches these years?| A．The religious atmosphere. | B．The artistic performance. |
| C．The horrible surroundings. | D．Her colorful fantasy. |
| A．The author’s family was too poor to afford a new piano. |
| B．The father was quite angry about the author’s bad behavior. |
| C．The author showed great dissatisfaction about her father. |
| D．The father wanted the author to address the problem independently. |
| A．mixed | B．separated | C．interacted | D．exploited |
| A．Her good friend accompanied her to get through hard time. |
| B．Her teachers treated her much better than before. |
| C．Her family supported her quite well. |
| D．Her own understanding of musical value. |
| A．Nervous — disappointed — angry — calm |
| B．Curious — frustrated — hopeful — grateful |
| C．Frightened — indifferent — passionate — proud |
| D．Depressed — satisfied — disappointed — peaceful |
| A．An important Music Test |
| B．A Hard but Enjoyable Life |
| C．The Key to Happiness |
| D．My Favourite Piano |
6 . If your in-box is currently reporting unread messages in the hundreds or thousands, you might have a hard time believing the news: e-mail is on the decline.
At first thought, that might seem to be the case. The incoming generation, after all, doesn’t do e-mail. Oh, they might have an account. They use it only as we would use a fax machine: as a means to communicate with old-school folks like their parents or to fulfill the sign-up requirements of Web sites. They rarely check it, though.
Today’s instant electronic memos — such as texting and Facebook and Twitter messages — are more direct, more concentrated, more efficient. They go without the salutation (称呼语) and the signoff (签收); we already know the “to” and “from.” Many corporations are moving to messaging networks for exactly that reason: more signal, less noise and less time. This trend is further evidence that store-and-forward systems such as e-mail and voicemail are outdated. Instead of my leaving you a lengthy message that you pick up later, I can now send you an easily-read message that you can read — and respond to — on the go.
The coming of the mobile era is responsible for the decline of e-mail. Instant written messages bring great convince to people. They can deal with them at about any time: before a movie, in a taxi, waiting for lunch. And because these messages are very brief, they’re suitable for smart phone typing.
Does this mean e-mail is on its way to the dustbin of digital history? Not necessarily. E-mail still has certain advantages. On the other hand, tweets and texts feel ephemeral — you read them, then they’re gone, into an endless string, e-mail still feels like something you have and that you can file, search and return to later. It’s easy to imagine that it will continue to feel more appropriate for formal communications: agreements, important news, longer explanations.
So, e-mail won’t go away completely. Remember, we’ve been through a transition (过度) like this not so long ago: when e-mail was on the rise, people said that postal mail was dead. That’s not how it works. Postal mail found its smaller market, and so will e-mail. New technology rarely replaces old one completely; it just adds new alternatives.
1. What would the incoming generation like to do with their e-mail accounts?| A．Check bank accounts. | B．Send long messages. |
| C．Fill in some forms. | D．Communicate with their colleagues. |
| A．The possible reasons behind the decline of e-mail |
| B．The likes and dislikes of the young generation |
| C．The rapid development of e-communication channels |
| D．Evidence about the uncertain future of easily-consumed messages |
| A．Automatically-sending. | B．Randomly-written. |
| C．Hardly- recognized. | D．Shortly-appearing. |
| A．It’s too early to determine the decline of e-mail. |
| B．E-mail has reasons to exist with its own advantages. |
| C．E-mail, just like postal mail has come to its end. |
| D．We should feel sorry for the decline of e-mail. |
7 . Traveling alone can be daunting. I have traveled by myself many times but, on every occasion, there was someone to meet me at the other end of the bus, train or plane journey. This time was different.
Last week I had a holiday, from work, but none of my friends had the same week off. I decided that I still wanted to do something, so I booked a train ride to Toronto and reserved a bed in a hostel for one week.
One week by myself. Would I be lonely? Would I be bored? Quite the opposite. In fact, there are many benefits that come from traveling alone. Firstly, I was able to do whatever I wanted. I spent hours in museums that would have seemed boring and dull to some of my friends. I walked all around the city, which' some people may have found too exhausting. Instead of relying on someone else to remember directions or to suggest activities to do, I discovered my' independence and developed map-reading skills that I didn’t know I had. I could get up and go to sleep when I wanted and I didn’t have to wait for anyone else to shower and get ready every morning. Being in the safe environment of a hostel with like-minded travelers also gives a great opportunity to meet new people from all over the world, which can help combat loneliness.
In spite of the benefits, I found that there were also some disadvantages of traveling alone. I missed having someone to talk to and to bounce ideas off. Experiences are often more enjoyable if they are shared, and part of the fun of traveling is the memories you have afterwards. Without a travel partner, I won’t be able to laugh about and remember my Toronto adventure with a friend or family member in years to come.
In addition, eating in a restaurant or cooking in the hostel was less fun on my own.
I am very proud of myself for traveling alone, and I had a fantastic time in Toronto. However, in the future, I think I will always prefer to travel with another person or in a small group. Though, maybe it depends on who you travel with I would rather be by myself than with someone who is lazy, difficult and argumentative.
1. What happened to the author last week?| A．She traveled alone to Toronto during a work vacation. |
| B．She felt lonely away from home and missed her family. |
| C．She found someone meeting her during a trip to Toronto. |
| D．She made a trip as her friend during the same week to Toronto. |
| A．finds it boring and dull to visit museums |
| B．has already acquired great map-reading skills |
| C．believes she could benefit by traveling alone more |
| D．enjoys sharing traveling stories with family and friends |
| A．Learn about. | B．Adapt to. | C．Fight against. | D．Live with. |
| A．She is proud of cooking in a hostel. | B．She will find it fun to travel with anyone. |
| C．She favors travelling with good company. | D．Argumentative travelers1 will be ideal choices. |
| A．Optimistic and talkative. | B．Humorous and generous. |
| C．Ambitious and imaginative. | D．Enthusiastic and independent. |
8 . Greenland is the biggest island in the world. And the ice sheet that sits atop it is massive. “The pile of ice being so thick, it extends more than 10, 000 feet above the ocean. And if all that ice were to melt and go into the ocean, global sea levels would rise by 24 feet everywhere around the world,” said Jason Briner, a geologist at the University at Buffalo. The ice sheet is melting, of course. But just how much, compared to the past?
Briner’s team did a computer simulation（模拟）of the southwest of the Greenland ice sheet, which he says is a good proxy for ice melt across the entire ice sheet. The researchers plugged past climate data into that model to “ hindcast”, rather than forecast, the past activity of the ice sheet. They then checked the model’s predictions of the past shape and size of the ice sheet by looking at piles of rocks and dirt on Greenland today, which outline the edges of ancient ice. And the simulation was in good agreement with the actual situation.
Using that reconstruction of the ice sheet over time, the team could compare the ice sheet’s historic losses to those happening today under human-caused global warming. And they determined that Greenland is on track to lose more ice this century than during any century in the past 12, 000 years — possibly four times as much. The results appear in the journal Nature.
Ultimately it’s up to us how much ice actually melts. “Humanity has the button — the carbon button — and that button is going to influence the rates of ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet.” If the world goes net carbon zero by 2100, for example, Briner says ice loss could stop, entirely at the end of the century, according to one model. “That was what kept me from being completely depressed about our study. ” Dozens of countries have already announced goals to go net carbon zero by the middle of this century — so far the U. S. is not one of them.
1. What does the underlined word “proxy” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Example. | B．Recommendation. |
| C．Combination. | D．Interpretation. |
| A．It is conducted by predicting the activity of the ice sheet. |
| B．It centers on ice melt throughout the entire ice sheet. |
| C．It consists with the ice sheet’s actual circumstance. |
| D．It shows the ice sheet’s losses are in decline. |
| A．To arouse people’s interest in Greenland. |
| B．To point out the importance of computer simulation. |
| C．To emphasize the accuracy of the simulation. |
| D．To appeal to America to go net carbon zero. |
| A．America Causes the Ice Sheet to Melt |
| B．Global Sea Levels Are Rising |
| C．Greenland Is Melting Faster |
| D．Man Can Conquer Nature |
9 . I was given a voice. That’s what people said about me I trained my voice, because it would be a shame to waste such a gift. I pictured this voice as a greenhouse plant and made sure it was provided with the right temperature, the right amount of water. I relieved its fears. I told it not to tremble. I nursed it, I trained it, and I watched it climb up inside my neck
My voice bloomed. People said I had grown into my voice. Invitations to perform flooded over us. All the best places wanted us. I was sought after, or rather my voice was. We went everywhere together and gave performances. Bouquets （花束）were thrown to it. Money was presented to it. Men fell on their knees before it. Applause flew around it.
Then my voice began to shrivel. People said my voice would bloom only for a certain term: finally it would drop off and gone with it would be all the fame and wealth. I have noticed it so far. Fear has entered me since my voice has used up most of my life. I’ve given it all my love. But my voice is still as greedy as ever. It wants more: more and more, more of everything it has had so far.
Now it’s evening: the bright lights come on, and excitement quickens in the streets. We sit in this hotel room. Soon it will be time for us to go out. We have to attend a grand occasion. The two of us chained together as always. I have to put on its favourite dress, its favourite necklace and wind a fur around it. Then I have to go out: shining like ice: my voice attached to my throat like an invisible vampire （吸血鬼）.
1. Why did the author compare her voice to a greenhouse plant?| A．To introduce her way to grow a plant. |
| B．To stress her hard efforts to train her voice. |
| C．To express her determination to show her gift. |
| D．To indicate her strong desire to improve her skill. |
| A．go up | B．die away |
| C．grow more pleasant | D．become less attractive |
| A．The author totally ruined her fame. |
| B．The author gradually lost her freedom. |
| C．The author eventually accepted her voice. |
| D．The author greatly enjoyed her performances. |
10 . JeffBezos has a rule at Amazon, or perhaps more appropriate a philosophy. If a team cannot be fed by two pizzas then that team is too large. The reasoning is quite straightforward and basic. More people means more communication, more bureaucracy, more chaos, and more of pretty much everything that slows things down, hence why large organizations are oftentimes considered as being so inefficient.
In 2013 Gallup released a report called “The State of The American Workplace", in which they found that smaller companies had more engaged employees. In fact,42% of employees working at companies of 10 or fewer were engaged at work versus only 30% of employees at large companies.
Most people are not familiar with the Ringelmann Effect which is the tendency for individual members to become less productive as the size of a group increases. This concept was named after Maximilien Ringelmann, a French professor of agricultural engineering who passed away in 1931.In one of his experiments he asked volunteers to perform a very simple task, to pull on a rope. He found that when only one person is pulling on the rope they give 100% of their effort; however, as more people are added the individual effort goes down.
This experiment was recreated in the 1970's by Alan Ingham who came up with the concept of “social loafing” which helps us understand why the individual effort decreases as the team size increases. So why does this happen? Because it becomes harder to extract the individual contributions and performance of each person.
Organizations should really think about what their team structures look like and create and follow similar “two pizza rules”. It's no coincidence that smaller organizations are oftentimes more nimble while large organizations look like they are stuck in the mud.
1. What is the author's purpose of mentioning “two pizza rules” in paragraph 1?| A．To make a comment. |
| B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To provide an example. |
| D．To analyze a phenomenon. |
| A．It repeated the Ringelmann Effect experiment. |
| B．It was based on a simple task of pulling a rope. |
| C．It aimed to explore the reason behind the phenomenon. |
| D．It revealed the link between team size and individual effort. |
| A．Balanced. |
| B．Complicated. |
| C．Simple. |
| D．Flexible. |
| A．What Makes a Team More Productive? |
| B．Why Are Smaller Teams Better Than Larger Ones? |
| C．How Can Two Pizzas Be Shared by One Team? |
| D．Which Is More Important: Individual Effort r Team Size? |
