1 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It     1     (build) originally to protect the city     2     the Tang dynasty and has now been completely restored (修复). It is possible       3     (walk) or bike the entire 14 kilometers.

We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.

After     4     (spend) some time looking at all the defensive equipment at the wall, we decided it was time for some action and what     5     (good) than to ride on a piece of history!

We     6     (hire) our bikes from the rental place at the South Gate. My bike was old and shaky     7     did the job. It took us about 3 hours to go all     8     way around the Xi’an City Wall. Supposedly you can do it in two hours, but we stopped at the different gates and     9     (watchtower) to take pictures or just to watch the local people going about their     10     (day) routines.

3 . According to Jessica Hagy, author of How to Be Interesting, it’s not difficult to make yourself interesting at a dinner party.

    1    , if you’re out of your comfort zone or if you’re wandering into somebody’s house for the first time. So the main thing is just to show up and be adventurous, trying different foods and talking to strangers.

People love to talk about themselves. If you can start the conversation with a question other than “What do you do for a living?”, you’ll be able to get a lot more interesting conversation out of whomever it is you’re talking to.     2    , it can bring in “I have this old, broken-down vehicle” or “I rode the bus with these crazy people who were laughing at silly jokes in the back.” It just opens up conversation.

    3    ? If you can’t take their wine away, you should certainly try to take away their soapbox (讲台). If you’re the host, you can ask them to help you in the kitchen with something and just remove them from the situation.    4    .

And what about that other dinner-party killer: awkward silence? If you’re faced with an awkward silence at a dinner party, the only thing that always gets everyone talking again is to give the host a compliment (赞扬).     5    . Just quickly turn around and say, “This cake is extremely delicious and you have to tell me all about it.”

So being interesting at a dinner party isn’t that hard.

A．How do you know the host

B．The first step is to go exploring

C．If you ask the question “How did you get here?”

D．Be prepared to have awkward conversations with strangers

E．Or turn the conversation into a topic where they have little to say

F．What about that person who had too much to drink or won’t stop talking

G．He or she is the person who is feeling the weight of that awkwardness the most

4 . When almost everyone has a mobile phone, why are more than half of Australian homes still paying for a landline (座机)?

These days you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Australia over the age of 15 who doesn’t own a mobile phone. In fact plenty of younger kids have one in their pocket. Practically everyone can make and receive calls anywhere, anytime.

Still, 55 percent of Australians have a landline phone at home and only just over a quarter (29%) rely only on their smartphones according to a survey (调查). Of those Australians who still have a landline, a third concede that it’s not really necessary and they’re keeping it as a security blanket — 19 percent say they never use it while a further 13 percent keep it in case of emergencies. I think my home falls into that category.

More than half of Australian homes are still choosing to stick with their home phone. Age is naturally a factor (因素)— only 58 percent of Generation Ys still use landlines now and then, compared to 84 percent of Baby Boomers who’ve perhaps had the same home number for 50 years. Age isn’t the only factor; I’d say it’s also to do with the makeup of your household.

Generation Xers with young families, like my wife and I, can still find it convenient to have a home phone rather than providing a mobile phone for every family member. That said, to be honest the only people who ever ring our home phone are our Baby Boomers parents, to the point where we play a game and guess who is calling before we pick up the phone (using Caller ID would take the fun out of it).

How attached are you to your landline? How long until they go the way of gas street lamps and morning milk deliveries?

1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about mobile phones?

A．Their target users.	B．Their wide popularity.
C．Their major functions.	D．Their complex design.

2. What does the underlined word “concede” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Admit.	B．Argue.
C．Remember.	D．Remark.

3. What can we say about Baby Boomers?

A．They like smartphone games.	B．They enjoy guessing callers’ identity.
C．They keep using landline phones.	D．They are attached to their family.

4. What can be inferred about the landline from the last paragraph?

A．It remains a family necessity.

B．It will fall out of use some day.

C．It may increase daily expenses.

D．It is as important as the gas light.

5 . 阅读下面材料, 在空白处填入适当的内容（一个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Kim Cobb, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, is one of a small but growing minority of academics     1     are cutting back on their air travel because of climate change. Travelling to conferences, lectures, workshops, and the like frequently by plane       2    （view） as important for scientists to get together and exchange information. But Cobb and others     3     （be） now questioning that idea pushing conferences to provide more chances to participate remotely, and     4    （change） their personal behavior to do their part in dealing with the climate change crisis. On a website called No Fly Climate Sci, for example,     5    （rough） 200 academics - many of them climate scientists     6     （promise） to fly as little as possible since the effort started two years ago.

Cobb, for her part, started to ask conference organizers who invited her to speak     7     she could do so remotely; about three-quarters of     8     time, they agreed. When the answer, was no, she, declined the     9     （invite）. That approach brought Cobb's air travel last year down by 75%, and she plans     10    （continue） the practice. "It has been fairly rewarding. ", she says, "a really positive change."

6 . I have the same 24 hours in a day as you do, but I have made specific choice that allow me to make the most of every day and still feel happy and relaxed.     1    

Pick the most important.

    2     Focus on spending time that for you is fun and productive. I chose the life of an adviser because I like to work with companies, but don't want the life of a big company CEO. My choices are based on the lifestyle I want.

Combine your activities.

Many people go crazy trying to figure out how to spend time with friends, family, work, play, etc.     3     Find ways to enjoy them in a combined manner. Build your social life around people in your work environment. Find people in your company who share common interests and develop your career (职业) around the people and activities you love.

    4    

You would think learning takes more time from you, but actually there are always new ways of doing things that can save you time on daily tasks, freeing you up for the most important. Always be looking for a new way to gain back an hour here or there.

Lighten up.

The world won't come to an end in most cases just because you left a few things undone. Celebrate progress and keep refining (改进) toward a happy productive existence.     5     Every completion is a small victory that adds up in a big way.

A．Speed up.

B．Be an active learner.

C．Stop trying to balance time between them all.

D．Make choices about what is meaningful in your life.

E．The things you do well usually give you greater joy.

F．Perhaps these tips will help you make the most of your time.

G．This is why making lists is important in any productivity handbook.

7 . Simply saying thank you doesn’t seem enough in certain situations. I was considering this while working as a _______ just a few weeks ago. And it came to me then how much easier it would be if we had a range of words that express different _______ of gratitude (感谢).

My thoughts were soon _______. We had a woman patient who was _______ from a knee replacement operation. One afternoon, while _______ to get into bed she collapsed (倒下) from what was _______ discovered to be a heart attack. The collapse was disastrous, _______the emergency medical team and good teamwork. But she recovered, though _______, and was ready for discharge (出院) after four weeks.

She was _______ for everything that the medical and nursing team had done for her. On her day of discharge, we shared in her ____________ at her recovery. As she was ____________ she was eager to say ____________ to each of us in the nursing team. When she ____________ one nurse, she tried to press a five-pound note into her hand. My colleague ____________ to accept it, saying that we were all just ____________ our job. The patient looked puzzled, and then ____________:“Oh this isn’t for the____________ I had. I take that as a ____________. No, this is for setting my hair yesterday.”

       And there you have it. To many people,____________lives is part of the job but styling hair is an ____________ and should be rewarded.1.

A．cleaner

B．chemist

C．nurse

D．doctor

2.

A．grades

B．meanings

C．needs

D．expectations

3.

A．brushed aside

B．put to the test

C．brought under discussion

D．taken into account

4.

A．departing

B．escaping

C．retiring

D．recovering

5.

A．attempting

B．choosing

C．pausing

D．promising

6.

A．eventually

B．fortunately

C．casually

D．secretly

7.

A．assessing

B．requiring

C．forming

D．proving

8.

A．slightly

B．accidentally

C．slowly

D．happily

9.

A．grateful

B．thoughtful

C．sorrowful

D．fearful

10.

A．surprise

B．delight

C．curiosity

D．disappointment

11.

A．operating

B．thinking

C．hesitating

D．leaving

12.

A．sorry

B．hello

C．goodbye

D．yes

13.

A．reached

B．consulted

C．introduced

D．persuaded

14.

A．wished

B．pretended

C．failed

D．refused

15.

A．enjoying

B．doing

C．securing

D．starting

16.

A．repeated

B．recited

C．replied

D．reported

17.

A．courage

B．patience

C．duty

D．care

18.

A．goal

B．given

C．push

D．greeting

19.

A．risking

B．changing

C．saving

D．building

20.

A．honour

B．ability

C．opening

D．extra

8 . During an interview for one of my books, my interviewer said something I still think about often. Annoyed by the level of distraction (干扰) in his open office, he said, “That’s why I have a membership at the coworking space across the street — so I can focus”. His comment struck me as strange. After all, coworking spaces also typically use an open office layout (布局). But I recently came across a study that shows why his approach works.

The researchers examined various levels of noise on participants as they completed tests of creative thinking. They were randomly divided into four groups and exposed to various noise levels in the background, from total silence to 50 decibels (分贝), 70 decibels, and 85 decibels. The differences between most of the groups were statistically insignificant; however, the participants in the 70 decibels group — those exposed to a level of noise similar to background chatter in a coffee shop — significantly outperformed the other groups. Since the effects were small, this may suggest that our creative thinking does not differ that much in response to total silence and 85 decibels of background noise.

But since the results at 70 decibels were significant, the study also suggests that the right level of background noise — not too loud and not total silence — may actually improve one’s creative thinking ability. The right level of background noise may interrupt our normal patterns of thinking just enough to allow our imaginations to wander, without making it impossible to focus. This kind of “distracted focus” appears to be the best state for working on creative tasks.

So why do so many of us hate our open offices? The problem may be that, in our offices, we can’t stop ourselves from getting drawn into others’ conversations while we’re trying to focus. Indeed, the researchers found that face-to-face interactions and conversations affect the creative process, and yet a coworking space or a coffee shop provides a certain level of noise while also providing freedom from interruptions.

1. Why does the interviewer prefer a coworking space?

A．It helps him concentrate.	B．It blocks out background noise.
C．It has a pleasant atmosphere.	D．It encourages face-to-face interactions.

2. Which level of background noise may promote creative thinking ability?

A．Total silence.

B．50 decibels

C．70 decibels.

D．85 decibels.

3. What makes an open office unwelcome to many people?

A．Personal privacy unprotected.	B．Limited working space.
C．Restrictions on group discussion.	D．Constant interruptions.

4. What can we infer about the author from the text?

A．He’s a news reporter.

B．He’s an office manager.

C．He’s a professional designer.

D．He’s a published writer.

9 . Swap, Don’t shop!

You keep hearing about recycling, right? But it doesn’t end with bottles, cans, and paper. Clothing takes a huge amount of natural resources(资源)to make, and buying loads of new clothing(or throwing out old clothing)is not healthy for the environment. So what to do with all those perfectly-good-but-you’re-maybe-a-little-sick-of-them clothes piled on your bedroom floor?     1    . It’s the best way to get rid of your used clothes, score clothes from your friends, and have a party all at the same time.

A successful swap depends on the selection of clothes, the organization of the event, and, obviously, how much fun is had. It’s really easy to do! Here are a few pointers.

●Invite 5—10 people so you have a nice selection.     2     , and there may not be enough things to choose from; more than that, and it becomes uncontrollable.

●    3    . They should also prepare plenty of reusable bags to carry their “new” clothes home.

●Put different types of clothing on different surfaces in the room.    4    . Place a few mirrors around your room so people can see how things look when they try them on. One of the ground rules of the swap should be that everyone must try on the clothes before they take them—things always look different when you put them on.

●Set a starting time. Maybe you say “go,” or turn on a certain song, or whatever.     5    . And don’t forget to put out some cookies and fruits. Remember, it’s a party!

A．Less people than that

B．Hold a clothing swap

C．If two people are competing

D．Just keep music playing throughout

E．Donate whatever clothes are left over

F．Have everyone put their clothes in the right spots

G．Tell everyone to bring clean clothes in good condition

10 . Over the past 38 years, Mr. Wang has pretended to be someone else many times,and has even learned to ________ different dialects (方言), leading to him being described as an “Oscar-winning actor”.

The 60-year-old is not an actor, but a ________ However,he is more devoted to his “________ ” than any real actor.

In the 1990s, a group of thieves often sold stolen goods with the help of some beggars. To look into the ________, Wang disguised (伪装) himself and ________ the beggars. Dirty shorts and old shoes gave him the ________ of a real beggar and his convincing dialect soon won him the ________ of the beggars.

“I often ________ them to drink alcohol. Once they were ________,they began to talk a lot,"Wang said. “I'd then ________ myself to use the toilet, ________ what the beggars said, and send the ________ to my teammates.”

Wang, who is often in ________ situations, is also a judo (柔道) master.   “As long as I get close enough, no criminal can ________ from me,” he said.

Wang's ________ won him several honors, including a National May Day Labor Medal and 11 Citations of Merit.

1.

A．teach

B．compare

C．assess

D．speak

2.

A．lawyer

B．doctor

C．policeman

D．businessman

3.

A．role

B．study

C．family

D．audience

4.

A．minor

B．case

C．future

D．question

5.

A．interviewed

B．joined

C．arrested

D．assisted

6.

A．challenge

B．experience

C．appearance

D．freedom

7.

A．vote

B．sympathy

C．permission

D．trust

8.

A．invited

B．forced

C．helped

D．expected

9.

A．drunk

B．deserted

C．bored

D．lost

10.

A．guide

B．persuade

C．excuse

D．allow

11.

A．refer to

B．note down

C．ask about

D．miss out

12.

A．plan

B．agreement

C．direction

D．information

13.

A．awkward

B．dangerous

C．unfortunate

D．strange

14.

A．separate

B．recover

C．escape

D．hear

15.

A．courage

B．honesty

C．kindness

D．optimism