1 . Do you often compare yourself to others? In reality, it’s ________ for us to do so — especially given the nature of how most of us were raised and the ________ cultures in which we live. By comparison, some get ________ while some become negative. But both run only a limited time since someone better or worse will show up soon.

The ________ of comparison is like the game of the coin. The head means we “win” and we think we have more ________ and the tail means we “________” and we think we’re worse. However, no one will win ________. We will possibly meet someone better than us and end up with some ________ or something alike.

How can we ________ our comparison process and make it an experience of growth, connection, and self-acceptance? It’s simply by ________ it directly and going to the source — how we ________ ourselves, namely the relationship between man and self. Here are some things we can do to get away from the comparison mode.

Use comparison as a(n) ________ to accept, appreciate, and love yourself. When comparison shows up, it generally originates from fear or uncertainty in your heart, not the ill intention. ________ criticizing ourselves for what we might do wrong, what if we take this as a cue to take care of and ________ ourselves in a real way?

Admit people who are ________. Another great way to ________ the negative impact of comparing ourselves to others is to reach out to them with some ________. Faced with other people’s success and talents, the more ________ we praise them, the more likely we are to create positive feelings and outcomes in our own lives. There is not a finite amount of success and when we ________ people we compare ourselves to, that reminds us that there is more than enough for us to ________ and experience wonderful things in our own life as well.

1.

A．significant

B．normal

C．helpful

D．positive

2.

A．painful

B．familiar

C．competitive

D．advanced

3.

A．satisfaction

B．knowledge

C．argument

D．sympathy

4.

A．trap

B．content

C．reason

D．benefit

5.

A．alternatives

B．excuses

C．changes

D．strengths

6.

A．disappear

B．continue

C．lose

D．break

7.

A．casually

B．permanently

C．aimlessly

D．instantly

8.

A．rejection

B．curiosity

C．enthusiasm

D．insecurity

9.

A．transform

B．find

C．describe

D．accelerate

10.

A．avoiding

B．sharing

C．managing

D．creating

11.

A．care for

B．rely on

C．calm down

D．relate to

12.

A．opportunity

B．target

C．result

D．practice

13.

A．Because of

B．Instead of

C．As for

D．But for

14.

A．inspire

B．honor

C．hide

D．blame

15.

A．braver

B．better

C．weaker

D．luckier

16.

A．tell

B．analyze

C．predict

D．remove

17.

A．doubt

B．carelessness

C．kindness

D．responsibility

18.

A．sincerely

B．apparently

C．formally

D．deliberately

19.

A．comfort

B．refuse

C．acknowledge

D．forgive

20.

A．indicate

B．discover

C．memorize

D．compare

2 . Ancient documents are an important part of ancient civilization. Unfortunately, such documents are often vulnerable (易受……伤害的) to aging and related damage, which greatly reduce their legibility (易读性).

An international group of computer scientists have teamed up to strike up the conversation with ancient people through their writing that have been broken down by time. They have developed a computer-assisted method to help us have a conversation with people from the distant past.

Appreciating ancient documents, even when in good condition, can require a reader to dig into the role of a cryptologist (密码学家). That’s because the combination of a writer’s handwriting legibility, lettering styles, old-fashioned spelling and grammar conventions or abbreviations (缩写) can make even a native language seem unfamiliar. Besides, the same document’s legibility can be reduced even more by faded ink, widened lettering due to exposure to wetness, and so on.

Typical digital reconstruction changes a document into black text on a white background in an attempt to reveal the text through noise filtering (过滤) and contrast improvement. However, in this current method, the image is much more of a restoration effort, keeping much of the look and virtual feel of the document.

Researchers applied a complex integration of several digital color interpretation techniques and Gaussian mixture models to identify and separate features of text, paper, and historical objects. This allows for the specific selection of different layers of information based on slight spectral (光谱的) differences. So a user could decide whether a notation (符号), page decoration, coffee mug ring stain or another feature was critical to the understanding by adding or removing layers.

In some cases, the technique could preserve features that would otherwise be lost, such as the vague watermarks of a paper manufacturer, which could offer vital insights to historians. “For example, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous works were written on pages with watermarks from various paper suppliers that allowed document historians to group them into likely writing periods,” said Usman Habib, an expert on digital restoration.

According to the paper, the processing can be accomplished on a standard desktop computer, and it takes just a few minutes. This would make it a great tool for historical document researchers and people attempting to figure out old family recipes.

1. What does the international team mainly aim to do?

A．Categorize documents of the past.

B．Share developments in computer science.

C．Analyze causes of ancient works’ breakdown.

D．Restore historical writing digitally.

2. Which of the following can best describe the task of reading ancient documents?

A．Risky but rewarding.	B．Complicated and challenging.
C．Repetitive but fruitless.	D．Straightforward and accessible.

3. How does the researchers’ new method perform better than typical ones?

A．It helps remove the trouble of doing repair work.

B．It saves time by applying contrasting backgrounds.

C．It preserves the original appearance of the documents.

D．It raises the quality of images through noise filtering.

4. What can be achieved through the researchers’ new method?

A．Translating the text into different languages.

B．Generating alternative copies of documents.

C．Identifying the dates of the related historical objects.

D．Getting rid of unnecessary layers of information.

5. What is Usman Habib’s attitude toward the new technique?

A．Critical.

B．Unclear.

C．Favorable.

D．Intolerant.

3 . Many people love the Halloween season, particularly young ones. It’s not hard to understand. The Halloween season is a time for fun-sized candy, giving rocks to trick or treaters, apple cider donuts, and frights. The very last-frights, are generally all in good fun. But can they be dangerous? Can someone be scared to death?

The key factor in an imagined scare-caused death is a little chemical that anyone who’s played a particularly intense game of hide-and-seek is very familiar with: adrenaline (肾上腺素). Fear puts the body in a state of severe emotional anxiety, which in turn causes the autonomic fight-or-flight response.

The fight-or-flight response is an evolutionary defence mechanism (机制) which acts in your best interest when there is a noticed threat. You sweat a lot, your anxiety is exacerbated, your blood glucose (葡萄糖) levels are increased, and your heart rate is higher. Like a cornered animal, you’re a bit less reasonable, a bit stranger, but a bit more ready to survive.

Now, back to the adrenaline. Adrenaline causes all of these processes, but there’s just one organ, which, if overloaded, can lead to sudden death. The human body doesn’t immediately come to an end as soon as a kidney (肾) fails, but when a heart stops working, the whole business fails. This is what happens to your body during an adrenaline rush.

Adrenaline causes calcium (钙) to enter the heart at a higher rate, and when there’s more calcium rushing through the heart, it has harder time resetting to its normal resting rate. This can cause a dangerous condition, which prevents blood from pumping to the rest of the body. Without immediate treatment, this can lead to sudden death.

Of course, such cause of death isn’t unique to being scared. Any event that increases one’s adrenal level could lead to this dangerous condition. So if you are planning on scaring others the next Halloween season, be sure to do it in a controlled setting, especially if you have a history of heart problems.

1. What do we learn about the fight-or-flight response mentioned in Paragraph 2?

A．It makes us think in a better way.

B．It prevents adrenaline from rising.

C．It has nothing to do with little kids.

D．It is meant to help us survive better.

2. The underlined word “exacerbated” in Paragraph 3 means “________”.

A．acquired

B．relieved

C．worsened

D．addressed

3. What will probably happen during the dangerous condition according to Paragraph 5?

A．Having a failed kidney.

B．Having faster blood circulation.

C．Having too much calcium in our blood.

D．Having irregular heartbeats.

4. We can learn from the passage that we should ________.

A．enjoy Halloween in a controlled way

B．avoid low blood glucose levels

C．exercise to protect ourselves from heart disease

D．avoid scaring others during the Halloween screen

5. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Is it enjoyable to frighten others?

B．Is it possible to be scared to death?

C．Why is too much adrenaline dangerous?

D．What to watch out for during the Halloween season?

4 . American author Gary Hopkins tells us, “A suitable apology can be a wonderful thing, so long as it is from the heart.” However, an apology is ______ to make.

A few years ago, I was a guest ______ at a conference for professional trainers. I was well ______, knowledgeable about the topic, and I felt confident as I ______ my speech. But afterwards, an experienced female delegate ______ me. We exchanged a few greetings, and then she dropped something unexpected on me. She said, “Do you know how many times you ______, from the moment you ______ to the microphone until the moment you left the stage?” “Sorry, I don’t know,” I replied. “Nine times,” she said. “And all of them were unnecessary.” I was ______. It was the first time someone had ever made me ______ my “sorry habit.” So what was the first word out of my mouth ______? “Sorry!” We both burst out laughing.

Of course, apologies shouldn’t be ______ that way. This incident raised my awareness of how we routinely use apologies. I know ______ to apologize is a big mistake as we’ve made a mistake or wronged someone else. How to do it? First and foremost, we need to understand real apologies or wholeheartedly saying “sorry” is ______. It’s like a big ______ into a relationship account and there’s no alternative for it. Actually, there are ______ apologies, which are tools of dodges (搪塞). They are awful and we should stop them. ______, habitual apologies are an unnecessary automatic response, as I ever made at the conference.

Generally, over apologizing ______ to happen when there’s a lack of ______ in your position, which will make others ______ you or even get unhappy. So we need to use apologies ______ and our attitude must be sincere. Refusing to apologize is a big mistake, and so is over apologizing.

1.

A．essential

B．impossible

C．reasonable

D．difficult

2.

A．editor

B．speaker

C．worker

D．member

3.

A．dressed

B．prepared

C．known

D．equipped

4.

A．formed

B．recalled

C．delivered

D．appreciated

5.

A．blamed

B．praised

C．discovered

D．approached

6.

A．interrupted

B．apologized

C．stopped

D．coughed

7.

A．caught on

B．brought out

C．stepped on

D．broke down

8.

A．speechless

B．hopeless

C．confused

D．frightened

9.

A．ready for

B．nervous about

C．careful about

D．aware of

10.

A．in reply

B．in vain

C．in return

D．in place

11.

A．ignored

B．mentioned

C．used

D．accepted

12.

A．regretting

B．failing

C．pretending

D．promising

13.

A．ridiculous

B．impressive

C．accessible

D．crucial

14.

A．sale

B．income

C．deposit

D．loss

15.

A．private

B．false

C．inadequate

D．illegal

16.

A．Besides

B．Therefore

C．Nevertheless

D．Instead

17.

A．expects

B．continues

C．deserves

D．tends

18.

A．motivation

B．confidence

C．energy

D．experience

19.

A．embarrass

B．challenge

C．misunderstand

D．tolerate

20.

A．suitably

B．normally

C．directly

D．frequently

5 . Tao Yuanming and Henry David Thoreau were both poets, but one lived in Ancient China and the other in 19th century America. Superficially, these two men, whose lives were separated in time by nearly 1,500 years, were polar opposites. And yet they shared an intense respect for nature, which made them each an influential figure of their time.

Both men made dramatic transformations to their lives in order to reconnect with nature. As an official in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Tao felt conflicted over life at court. In 405, he quit the service of the court for good, expressing his unhappiness in the now famous line that he would not “bow like a servant in return for five dou of grain”. He spent the next 22 years until his death, working the land in a poor, rural area. From his poetry, we can learn that although his life was arduous, he succeeded in finding contentment in its simplicity and in drawing pleasure from nature.

While Tao’s return to nature was a reaction to a lifestyle he was opposed to, Thoreau’s was a personal decision to transform the way he lived. He had a decent quality of life, but he wanted to live in a simpler way. For two years, two months and two days, he lived in a cottage in the forest on the edge of Walden Pond, focusing on himself and his writing. He explained his reason for doing so in Walden: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.” Both men were happy to withdraw from contemporary life, seeking a harmonious relationship with nature in the quietness of their lives.

Although Tao and Thoreau do not treat nature in quite the same way, their works show its beauty and value. Tao’s nature is a place of fields and villages, in other words, rural, and his animals are domestic ones, such as chickens and dogs. The calm and peaceful life he wrote about is in contrast to and critical of the depressive court life.

Thoreau’s descriptions of nature emphasized the beauty and purity of the wild areas around him. Devoting himself to observations of the natural phenomena, he recorded his detailed findings in his journals. Thoreau’s writing aimed to convince people that animals and plants had a right to live and prosper, as we do. We should live with them in harmony and enjoy nature’s gifts.

It takes considerable courage to reject the easy and familiar and instead try to live closer to nature, as both Tao and Thoreau did. Their choices led them to quiet and reflective lives with fewer material desires. In today’s modern world, their ideas about living simply and being at ease with nature may take us a step closer to attaining personal well-being and fulfillment.

1. Why did Tao Yuanming leave the court?

A．Because he was too old.

B．Because he felt conflicted over life at court.

C．Because he liked nature so much.

D．Because he liked living in a rural area.

2. What do Tao Yuanming and Thoreau have in common?

A．They treated nature in the same way.

B．They lived in the same century.

C．They were both unsatisfied with their leaders.

D．Their works showed the beauty of nature.

3. What did Thoreau describe in his writings?

A．Fields and villages.	B．Chickens and dogs.
C．Animals and plants.	D．Mountains and rivers.

4. What does Thoreau’s work mainly embody (体现)?

A．Nature’s wilderness is beautiful.	B．We should raise more animals.
C．Man should live in harmony with nature.	D．we should live in the rural area.

5. What should we do if we want to attain personal well-being and fulfillment?

A．Live closer to nature.	B．Increase material desires.
C．Walk a lot in the forest.	D．Share a respect for nature.