1 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.

She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9­year­old daughter Bailey.

He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.

Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”

After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.

1. Why did Burke thank J. K. Rowling according to the text?

A．She guided him how to write a good story.

B．She encouraged him when he was in trouble.

C．Her books helped him through times of confusion.

D．Her books helped him improve his bond with his daughter.

2. What is implied in Burke’s words in paragraph 4?

A．He has found it interesting to read the series.	B．He was too old to understand the series better.
C．He has chosen a better way of reading the series.	D．He hopes to play a role in the drama in the future.

3. Which word can best describe Burke’s experience according to the text?

A．Useless.

B．Normal.

C．Valuable.

D．Boring.

4. What is the main idea of this text?

A．J. K. Rowling chooses to help improve kids’ health.

B．J. K. Rowling gives a magical gift to a single father.

C．J. K. Rowling has a deep influence on others’ growth.

D．Burke comes to know J. K. Rowling through her series.

2 . Emotional energy is a relatively new term to describe our vitality (活力).     1     If we feel that some situations drain (耗尽) us, then it’s because they take away all our vitality in matters that are insignificant, but ones that do require effort. They’re situations that only distract us from what’s truly important, and from the things that enrich us. Let’s learn to identify them and avoid them.

Arguments about insignificant issues

A debate is a great opportunity to present your own points of view and learn from other’s opinions. However, something very different happens when two people get into a pointless argument.     2    

Gossip

    3    . This sort of curiosity is no more than a sign of a lack of identity. Whoever gossips about others looks for themselves in other people. The thing is, they just can’t find themselves.

Worrying over and over again

One of the situations that drain our emotional energy is unstoppable doubt. This is when we think and think but only come up with “ifs” and “buts”. We try to find the right answer or make the right decision just by reflection.     4    

Need for approval

We’re constantly trying to get other people’s approval.     5     Instead of investing time to explore who we are, whether others like us or not, we just spend our time doing things that other people want us to do. Generally, people either accept you or they don’t, and sometimes for reasons that are completely beyond your control.

A．We spend so much time worrying about things that it blurs our vision of life.

B．The only purpose of it is to “beat the other person”, and express their own points of view.

C．By doing this we’re just cheating ourselves.

D．Vitality is the strength that we have before tiredness sets in.

E．We go on and on about the same problem, without actually doing anything to solve it.

F．Sticking our noses into other’s private lives, instead of our own, drains our emotional energy.

G．However, we forget that many answers come only when we combine thought and action.

4 . Childhood should be full of friends, play, and happiness. But when children are_________ and without their peer(同龄) group, they may _________ a helping hand to get back on track. That’s why schools in India are teaching _________.

Actually, it is important to _______kids to be resilient (有弹力的). They needed a(n) _________that could teach students to identify emotions and ways to release them.

The happiness course was _______started by the Indian government in 2018. It _______ mental health, well-being. It also encouraged_______ peer interactions for elementary school children. The course included storytelling and teamwork activities.

“The happiness course is a(n)_______, and schools should welcome it. The objectives include developing self-awareness, mindfulness(正念减压法), critical thinking, and helping children ________ life skills to deal with stress,” said Shikha Banerjee, the principal of the Seth Anandram Jaipuria School in Kanpur.

“Mindfulness(正念减压法) is the cornerstone(基石) of the happiness course and its biggest ______________ is that every day 1.6 million children in Delhi start their studies in school with mindfulness. It has been________ as a turning point in the lives of students studying in Delhi schools and has relieved (缓解) children from stress and __________ their focus in studies,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said during the Mindful Education Awards 2021 program.

The award is good to recognize the efforts of schools in creating a mentally and ________healthy environment for the development of ________ through teaching mindfulness.

1.

A．sad

B．afraid

C．lonely

D．angry

2.

A．need

B．offer

C．lend

D．give

3.

A．lessons

B．happiness

C．standard

D．subjects

4.

A．allow

B．persuade

C．train

D．direct

5.

A．ability

B．chance

C．guide

D．course

6.

A．gradually

B．originally

C．finally

D．specially

7.

A．focused on

B．depended on

C．stuck to

D．consisted of

8.

A．classic

B．typical

C．various

D．positive

9.

A．example

B．surprise

C．success

D．conclusion

10.

A．apply

B．practice

C．contain

D．adapt

11.

A．desire

B．image

C．concern

D．beauty

12.

A．hosted

B．regarded

C．come

D．put

13.

A．limited

B．located

C．distracted

D．increased

14.

A．physically

B．fortunately

C．merely

D．actually

15.

A．women

B．children

C．adults

D．elders

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Where does the conversation probably take place?

A．At the office.

B．At the restaurant.

C．At the supermarket.

2. What’s the woman’s favorite thing about the sandwich shop?

A．The environment.

B．The food.

C．The prices.

3. What is the man going to eat?

A．A beef sandwich.

B．A chicken sandwich.

C．A cheese sandwich.

9 . A recent study has discovered that gentle sound stimulation, referred to as pink noise, could enhance deep sleep among older adults and strengthen their word recall abilities.

Deep sleep is critical for memory consolidation. But beginning in middle age, it decreases considerably, contributing to memory loss in aging. The sound stimulation significantly enhanced deep sleep in participants and their scores on a memory test. This innovative approach offers a simple and safe means to potentially enhance memory among older individuals and mitigate the natural age-related memory decline.

A team of researchers from the Northwestern University in the US gathered 13 adults aged 60 and above, monitoring their sleep in a lab for two nights. On both nights, the participants underwent a memory test, went to bed while wearing headphones and a special cap, and took the memory test again in the morning. But without the participants’ awareness, researchers only played pink noise into the headphones on one night. More specifically, they timed the sounds to match the participants’ slow-wave oscillations. During deep sleep, brain waves slow to approximately one oscillation per second, compared to about ten oscillations per second during wakefulness. The system they employed in the study allowed the team to deliver a low burst of pink noise at the “precise moment” when the participants’ slow waves rose — a pattern that is unique to each person.

The study found that participants’ slow waves increased after the night of sound stimulation, suggesting a potential enhancement in their deep sleep quality. And in the morning after hearing pink noise, they performed three times better on memory tests than they did after sleeping without any sound stimulation.

The study was a relatively small one and Northwestern has taken steps to confirm its findings and to study how longer-term use of pink noise affects sleep. The team aims to develop an affordable device that people can use at home, from the comfort of their beds.

1. What did the study reveal about the impact of pink noise?

A．It disturbs overall sleep quality.	B．It weakens word recall abilities.
C．It increases the length of sleep.	D．It boosts memory performance.

2. The underlined word “mitigate” in the second paragraph most probably means _________.

A．decrease

B．notice

C．worsen

D．describe

3. What can be learned about the new study?

A．It adjusted participants’ slow-wave oscillations precisely.

B．It employed a sound system to match slow-wave oscillations.

C．It compared different sound effects on the elderly and the youth.

D．It played various sorts of pink noises into participants’ headphones.

4. It can be inferred that the approach used in the study _________.

A．pose a long-term risk for older adults.

B．requires an innovative and affordable device

C．has the potential to be put into practice.

D．lacks researchers’ interest in confirming findings.