1 . When we think about what makes humans different from other animals, the word “conscience” often appears. Conscience is the feeling you get when you assess (评估) if you’ve done something “correct” or “wrong”. It is with the help of our conscience that we understand the moral principles we hold. This motivates us to act on them and therefore helps us assess our character and behavior. Eventually, it helps us judge ourselves against those principles, in terms of how well we follow them. Accordingly, you avoid certain desires (i. e., eating in class) and follow the behavior that is considered correct or “right” (paying attention to what the teacher is teaching) .
Consciousness, on the other hand, reflects how aware you are of your surroundings. A good way to understand this is to think of the human mind as an iceberg, as proposed by Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. The part of the iceberg on the surface represents your conscious awareness. It refers to all the things you are aware of and can easily describe. For instance, right now, while reading this article, your conscious mind is helping you make connections. The deeper level of the iceberg is your unconscious mind. It refers to aspects that you are unaware of, including your fears, violent motives, and strong desires that are hard to describe.
Many researchers, like Freud, propose that morality or conscience develops when a child internalizes (内在化) the rules that their, parents set when the child was growing up. However, some psychologists, like Paul Bloom, argue that morality is something we are all born with. Bloom argues that all babies are born with a sense of fairness. The claim came from studies of adopted children with genes, who were twins and separated at birth. If they possessed the “gene” to be kind, they would continue to be kind, despite being brought up in different family environments.
So, which opinion is true? We truly don’t know. While there is more evidence in the studies claiming that conscience is developed through learning and socialization, the newer ideas of it being genetically acquired from birth look promising as well!
1. What is a function of conscience?| A．It motivates us to act quickly. |
| B．It keeps record of our behavior. |
| C．It assesses our moral principles. |
| D．It helps us tell right from wrong. |
| A．You apply what you learn to practice. |
| B．You appreciate the beauty of poetry. |
| C．You have a fear of public speaking. |
| D．You describe violent scenes in a book. |
| A．Genes affect kids’ consciousness. |
| B．Kids acquire conscience with age. |
| C．Genetic studies promote his theory. |
| D．Parents should set strict rules for kids. |
| A．New theory uncovers the secret of our mind |
| B．What helps tell human being from animals? |
| C．Is conscience gained at birth or with age? |
| D．Consciousness improves our moral level |
It was right after Thanksgiving that registered nurse Jennifer Smith got an early morning phone call from John Burley, one of her favorite patients. He was extremely worried about his beloved dog.
Smith came to work early the Monday after Thanksgiving. Burley, who struggles a bit with speech, was calling from his hospital room, “Boomer is in the pound (流浪狗收容所)! Boomer is in the pound! Boomer is my world.”
Smith, who has been a nurse for 12 years, has a 13-year-old dog herself she has had since a puppy, so she fully understood the panic. She told Burley that she could tell he was concerned and also scared about what would happen to Boomer.
Burley took a breath and asked Smith, “Will you take care of Boomer?” “Of course, John, I will find Boomer and take care of him for you,” Jennifer Smith became a nurse to help people: any way that she can help somebody.
Smith had met Burley at the Grand Rehabilitation (康复) and Nursing Center in Rome, New York, through its adult day health care program, which is for patients requiring supervision (监护), and which allows them to socialize with others while receiving medical care.
60-year-old Burley still had his own apartment where he lived alone with his dog Boomer. Burley had adopted the 12-year-old dog in Arkansas when he was a puppy and later moved to New York. Most of his family still lives in Arkansas, so when he was hospitalized for pneumonia (肺炎) and lung problems, he had no one to take care of Boomer. No one—except Smith.
Smith formed a friendship with Burley in the adult daycare program and he would often talk about Boomer, showing off pictures of his furry companion. “I couldn’t separate the two of them. I just couldn’t. It made my heart sad for him and Boomer,” thought Smith.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式作答。
Burley didn’t know which shelter Boomer was in.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With the permission (允许) of the nursing center, Smith was able to bring Boomer to work with her.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . In the 1920s, Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik observed a strange thing. While dining out, she was impressed by the complex orders the waiters were able to remember at one time.
The Zeigarnik Effect refers to our tendency to remember incomplete or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. At first glance the Zeigarnik Effect can seem like a handy adaptation: It’s good to remember the things we need to do, and it’s a positive thing to want to finish the things we start.
First, each incomplete task your brain reminds you about takes up a bit of your attention, making it harder to concentrate on whatever you’re currently working on. Second, even if we manage to physically disconnect from work, the Zeigarnik Effect ensures that our unfinished tasks follow us home. They bring trouble to our vacations, our weekends, and even our sleep.
So what can you do about it?
Write your tasks down. Your brain is a terrible filing system. Instead of keeping tasks in your head, make a habit of writing them down as soon as they come to you.
Don’t forget to look back at how far you’ve come.
| A．Establish a work shutdown routine. |
| B．Have a system for expanding your job skills. |
| C．The problem when it comes to our productivity is two-fold. |
| D．Yet when customers checked out, these were totally forgotten. |
| E．We always quickly forget everything we’ve already accomplished. |
| F．We need a way to mentally disconnect in our hours away from work. |
| G．You have to actually complete all of your tasks to feel mental relief from it. |
My younger sister and I loved to play the piano, so when the annual winter concert was canceled, we were disappointed. We had been looking forward to it for a long time and had already prepared two of our best pieces. “You and your sister can perform at Carriage House Senior Living (CHSL),” my mom suggested. “The seniors there would love your music and you could each play more than just two pieces.” It seemed like a win-win situation because I’d play more songs and also have the chance to cheer up the residents with some lively music.
My mom called CHSL and made arrangements for my sister and me to perform. We were told we could play the piano during the Sunday dinner hour in two weeks. In the coming days, I worked hard to polish up fifteen pieces that I thought the crowd would enjoy. My sister and I decided that first I would play three songs and then she would. We would take turns playing until the end of the hour.
When the day finally arrived, we reached CHSL, and stepped into an entryway that overlooked the big dining room. Right at the entrance to the room stood the piano. The dining area was filled with round tables. At nearly every table several gray-haired people were seated, enjoying an early dinner and the company that the crowded room provided. Regardless of the conversations going on at various tables, isolation (孤独) hung like a dark cloud in the room.
Almost immediately, we were greeted by an old woman who introduced herself as Phyllis. “You two must be here to play the piano,” she said smiling. When we nodded, she seemed pleased and told someone to get a microphone. “I’ll introduce you to the audience,” she said. She told us that she was always the one in charge of doing things like that. I asked her if I could introduce myself and she agreed. While we were waiting for the microphone, I pressed a key on the piano and it produced a beautiful sound.
注意：1.续写词数应为150 左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
Soon a man returned with a microphone.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My nervousness disappeared as I began the song.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Every time I sat down with my family and looked through our photos — holidays, trips, or vacations, there was always something missing. It was me. It was not just because I was the one behind the camera, but because I avoided being photographed. I always felt I looked awful in photos.
There were a few photos of me on my birthday that always made me feel bad. Generally speaking, I didn’t hate my appearance; I just wasn’t very photogenic (上相的). Therefore, when it came to family photos, I was missing. Gradually, I didn’t feel and look confident, and seldom smiled.
Then I met Mary. I was attending a writers’ meeting in North Carolina and she was a photographer who was good at photo shooting for writers. As a new writer, I needed a good personal photo for business cards and social media. I decided to give Mary a try.
The day of my appointment (约定) arrived. I picked out clothes that were most suitable for me. I checked myself in the mirror and felt I looked okay, but I was not sure whether the photos would reflect that. By the time Mary was to take photos of me, it began to have a light rain. My hair had started out nicely, but I knew the rain would destroy it.
I unwillingly walked into the room. Mary greeted me with a sunny smile. I felt relaxed. I was sure that she could sense I was not confident about my appearance because she immediately began to comfort me. She promised my photos would be wonderful. And she said how sad it made her that so many women thought so little of their appearance and how much this would hurt their self-respect.
The light rain stopped. Mary led me outside onto the grass-covered grounds of the meeting center. With the bright new green of spring and flowers seen everywhere, it was the perfect place for photos, even on a cloudy day.
注意：1, 续写词数应为100个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Mary first let me stand by a beautiful flower.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next day, I sat by Mary’s computer and looked through the photos.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was seven years old, my family moved from Mexico to America. In Mexico, I was a cheerful girl who loved making people laugh with my jokes and inventing fun games to play with my friends. However, when I arrived in America, I found it hard to fit in, and I became quieter.
We lived in a small house with a modest yard where we grew vegetables—my responsibility. While I took pride in watching them grow, there were times when I dreamed of having a beautiful garden like my schoolmate Luella’s, with its delicate tulips (郁金香). Although Luella lived in the same neighborhood as me, we barely knew each other.
It was after a tornado that Luella and I finally became close friends.
The tornado struck on a Sunday afternoon.The gentle breeze transformed into a strong wind, and thick gray clouds filled the sky. Gradually, the tornado took shape, starting as a thin rope and growing into a large black funnel (漏斗). My entire family gathered in the bathroom, seeking shelter from the storm. Terrified, I sat close to my mom, knees in my chest. After the storm had passed, our worries and fears were replaced by relief that we were unharmed and that our house had remained undamaged.
As I stepped outside, I witnessed the extent of the damage the tornado had caused to our neighborhood. Across the street, a tall tree had fallen, crushing Luella’s garden in front of her yellow house. We hurried over to check on it. Fortunately, her family seemed to be away at the time, and no one was injured. However, her once-beautiful garden was in ruins, with the fallen tree destroying the tulips and debris (碎片) spread everywhere. I could only imagine how heartbroken they must feel seeing this.
Then my mom’s usual words rang in my ear, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and my family started to think about how we could help.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Just at that moment, Luella’s family returned in their car.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Even after the debris was cleared, I could still sense Luella’s sorrow for her lost garden.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In a small town called Willow brook, there was a young woman named Emma who owned a bakery. Emma was really good at baking and her delicious treats could cheer up even the most tired people.
But Emma had a problem. Sometimes, she didn’t feel confident in herself and worried that her baking skills weren’t as great as people said. She thought maybe she was just lucky, not talented, so she longed for an opportunity to prove herself.
One day, Emma heard about a baking competition in town called the “Sweet Delight Contest”, Since she was a little girl, she had dreamed of taking part in such contests, so she quickly signed up for it. Feeling both excited and nervous, Emma was determined to prove herself and get rid of her doubts, She worked really hard, waking up early every day to improve her recipes and skills, Her bread smelled amazing as she baked tirelessly, showing how much she cared about her craft.
Finally, the big day arrived. The town square was filled with excitement, Tables were set up with beautiful treats made by all the contestants, Emma carefully prepared her creations, but she couldn’t shake off her doubts, “The judges tasted each dish, and Emma’ s heart raced with nervousness. When they tried her treats, their faces showed no excitement, Emma felt like her doubts were right, and she wasn’t as good as she hoped. Then came the moment of truth. When the host started to announce the winners, Emma listened with hope and curiosity, But when she heard the words, “And the last winner is,” her heart sank, her name wasn’t included, she tried to smile and clap for the deserving winners, but inside, she felt disappointed．
After the contest, Emma’s bakery lost its shine, People still came, but they didn’t seem as excited as before. Emma worried that they saw her as a failure, someone who couldn’t meet their expectations. Doubt took over, and her passion began to fade. But then, something unexpected happened.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
One day, a loyal customer named Mrs, Johnson approached Emma with tears in her eyes．
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With a renewed sense of purpose, Emma changed her focus.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. What is the main topic of the notice?
| A．Leaving school early. |
| B．Canceling school tomorrow. |
| C．Stopping students from driving home. |
| A．5 cm. | B．10 cm. | C．20 cm. |
| A．In the cafeteria. | B．In the classroom. | C．At the school gate. |
| A．School schedules. |
| B．Safety suggestions. |
| C．Driving instructions. |
Avoiding people in a small town requires the skills of a spy. So Brad Ryan moved like a ghost, taking precautions to stay far away from the woman who he thought had broken his heart. He had not seen or spoken to Grandma Joy for six years.
One day, he received a call from his mom, saying his elder sister had announced her engagement and a wedding date had been set for a Duncan Falls church. Brad’s heart sank. because Grandma Joy would be there. But he loved his sister, and there was no way he’d miss the wedding.
Despite Joy Ryan’s first name, there were lots of sufferings and regrets instead of joy in her life, She grew up in a home with no electricity, running water or plumbing. She attended a one-room schoolhouse, And she suffered the loss of two sons. She was a widow (寡妇)for 14 years, She lived a small life that stopped at the edge of the county line. And she’d never had the chance to see what she called the great outdoors other than a trip ta see relatives in Louisiana.
“My earliest memory of her is when I was 3.” said Brad. “We’d walk to Blue Rock State Park, which is close in her house She’d help me lift rocks in the creek (小溪)to find crawfish. We’d hold them in our hands and talk about how beautiful it was being in nature. No one in my family thought like that.”
However. as Brad entered adolescence, he was growing emotionally distant from his family. with occasional quarrels. One day. a violent conflict broke out between Brad and his father. Brad turned to his grandma, hoping for help or just a kind word. But he got neither. He found Grandma Joy is in his father’s side. “That was the end of my relationship with Grandma Joy.” he said
At the wedding venue, on seeing Grandma Joy. thin and gaunt (憔悴的). Brad found himself thinking a lot about her and the happy time they spent together. It puzzled him why that memory in particular stayed with him. Now grandma. 78, walked unsteadily into the Duncan Falls church.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Brad hesitantly walked over to her.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After that day, Brad decided not to leave any regrets in his grandma’s life.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. Which of the following appeals to the woman most?
| A．Shaolin kung fu. | B．Wing Chun. | C．Taichi. |
| A．Its health benefits. | B．Its entertaining elements. | C．Its graceful movements. |
| A．Different forms of self-defense. |
| B．The new concept of Chinese philosophy. |
| C．The importance of Chinese martial arts. |
