1 .
I grew up hearing that it is better to give than to receive, and the older I get, the more I aim to take this message to heart. Nevertheless, here I am, in the midst of the holiday season stressed out about gifts I have not yet purchased.
How did gift buying become an emotionally fraught chore (苦差事)? For a moment, it’s easy to question if it’s worth it. But science tells me that giving makes us feel good.
“The act of giving actually does improve your happiness,” says Michael Norton, a psychologist at Harvard Business School. He has published several studies on the effects of giving.
In one experiment that included about 700 people, the researchers randomly assigned participants to make either a purchase for themselves, or for a stranger. Afterwards, the participants reported how happy they felt. Turns out, giving to others led to a significant happiness boost, whereas spending on oneself didn’t move the needle.
“If you take $5 out of your pocket today, the science really does show that spending $5 on yourself doesn’t do much for you,” Norton says. “But spending that $5 on somebody else is more likely to increase your happiness.”
Take a scarf. If you buy one for yourself, it’s just another thing you don’t necessarily need. But if you buy a scarf for someone else, “you’ve shown them that they’re important to you,” Norton says. Either way, it’s just a scarf. “But it can either be a throwaway object or something that enhances a relationship between two people,” he says.
So, there’s evidence that generosity promotes happiness, but the process of shopping, wrapping and schlepping (搬) gifts can be tiresome — or even extremely annoying considering all of our day-to-day demands and other holiday stressors.
Studies also show when people are given something they are more likely to give back. Reciprocity (互惠) is a foundation of good relationships and when we surround ourselves with generous people, we tend to feel the same. Feeling that spirit of giving and the connection it can bring is what the holidays are all about.
1. Why does the author mention his own experience in paragraph 1?A.To make a prediction. | B.To introduce the topic. |
C.To present a reason. | D.To clarify a concept. |
A.By listing data. | B.By giving examples. |
C.By making comments. | D.By telling personal experiences. |
A.It’s difficult and expensive. | B.It happens frequently. |
C.It’s not valued by others. | D.It requires much effort. |
A.It is not worth the effort. |
B.It is a must to enhance a relationship. |
C.It brings about emotional benefits. |
D.It gains popularity during holidays. |
2 . At my first lesson in Chinese calligraphy, my teacher told me plainly: “Now I will teach you how to write your name. And to make it beautiful.” I felt my breath catch. I was curious.
Growing up in Singapore, I had an unusual relationship with my Chinese name. My parents are ethnically Chinese, so they asked fortune tellers to decide my name, aiming for maximum luck. As a result, I ended up with a nonsense and embarrassing name: Chen Yiwen, meaning, roughly, “old”, “barley (薏米)” and “warm”.
When I arrived in America for college at 18, I put on an American accent and abandoned my Chinese name. When I moved to Hong Kong in 2021, after 14 years in the States, I decided to learn calligraphy. Why not get back in touch with my heritage? I thought.
In calligraphy, the idea is to copy the old masters’ techniques, thereby refining your own. Every week, though, my teacher would give uncomfortably on-the-nose assessments of my person. “You need to be braver,” he once observed. “Have confidence. Try to produce a bold stroke(笔画).” For years, I had prided myself on presenting an image of confidence, but my writing betrayed me.
I was trying to make sense of this practice. You must visualize the word as it is to be written and leave a trace of yourself in it. As a bodily practice, calligraphy could go beyond its own cultural restrictions. Could it help me go beyond mine? My teacher once said to me, “When you look at the word, you see the body. Though a word on the page is two-dimensional, it contains multitudes, conveying the force you’ve applied, the energy of your grip, the arch of your spine.” I had been learning calligraphy to get in touch with my cultural roots, but what I was really seeking was a return to myself. Now I have sensed that the pleasure out of calligraphy allows me to know myself more fully.
During a recent lesson, my teacher pointed at the word I had just finished, telling me: “This word is much better. I can see the choices you made, your calculations, your flow. Trust yourself. This word is yours.” He might as well have said, “This word is you.”
1. What did the author initially think of her name “Chen Yiwen”?A.It was lucky so she gladly accepted it. | B.She felt proud of its symbolic meaning. |
C.She understood the intention but still disliked it. | D.Its strange pronunciation made her embarrassed. |
A.pick up a new hobby | B.reconnect with her origin |
C.gain insights into a new culture | D.fit in with local community |
A.reflects the creator’s spirits | B.comes from creative energy |
C.highlights the design of strokes | D.depends on continuous practice |
A.Appreciate what our culture offers. | B.Find beauty from your inner self. |
C.A great teacher leads you to truth. | D.We are the sum of what we create. |
3 . Historically, only local governments worried about a widespread food crisis, but today, the rapidly rising food prices and the resulting food crisis can quickly be a worldwide phenomenon. Over the next 20 years, the fight to feed the world will be a huge challenge facing the global economy.
The first solution lies in the combined effect of money and time.
Another way to solve the crisis is to double food production in developing countries.
While we may not be seeing all the symptoms of food shortage, we must be clear-eyed in our current support of food production. It is obvious that we will face a severe problem, but the problem is solvable.
A.Since you think it beneficial to the whole world |
B.What about developing economy to solve the crisis |
C.If we are to reach our goal and prevent a global food crisis |
D.How can we relieve the current crisis and avoid future risks |
E.The goal needs an enormous investment in agriculture from various sources |
F.Developing a national strategy to reduce food loss and waste is also useful to handle the crisis |
G.Some countries like India have realized this fact and are giving more financial support to agriculture |
4 . Digital mindfulness is the application of mindfulness practices in your digital life. According to Jon KabatZinn, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medicine School, mindfulness is “a means of paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally”. Here two main key points are emphasized when it comes to mindfulness as a practice in your digital life.
The first point is that you must learn to do things on purpose. For instance, you use your phone as a habitual escape from boredom or stress, which is thought by many as a quick solution to all those negative feelings. But what if you get only negative responses from your phone—the news or posts are negative? Instead of finding peace, you find more boredom and more stress. The solution that mindfulness provides is purposeful and intentional choice. Therefore, you are empowered to choose how to respond to the stimulus(刺激) behind such feelings as boredom, loneliness, and stress and not just treat the symptoms(症状).
The other key is going through the experience nonjudgmentally. When you feel sad or angry because of a post on social media, all you ever do is to go through the experience and let it flow. At its core, mindfulness involves the acceptance of your memories, feelings, and thoughts minus any judgment on yourself or others because of those things. These feelings, memories, and experiences come and go. After they have passed, you are still you and in control. You will become more aware of your inner world. It’s this internal monologue(独白) that pushes you to grab your digital technology (phone, Alexa speaker, TV, etc.).
Digital mindfulness is not about avoiding the negative things in life. Through mindfulness practice, you regain the power to learn from these experiences and healthily deal with the negative. Mindfulness will also teach you to be aware of all your emotions, so you learn to deal with the things that you used to avoid. Finally, digital mindfulness brings you peace of mind in an everchanging and increasingly connected world.
Now, I would rather prefer to think of it as one of many tools that we can use in our daily life.
1. What does the author suggest readers do when they feel stressed in their digital life?A.Find something interesting to do. |
B.Use the phone as a habitual escape. |
C.Keep away from the negative responses. |
D.Deal with the root cause of the problem. |
A.Negative feelings should be avoided or controlled. |
B.Mindfulness involves both acceptance and judgment. |
C.Mindfulness helps us fully experience life as it happens. |
D.Digital technology is the key to understanding our inner world. |
A.How Can You Avoid Negative Feelings? |
B.How Can You Define Digital Mindfulness? |
C.How Can Digital Mindfulness Help You? |
D.How Can Digital Mindfulness Harm You? |
A.Applications of mindfulness in communication. |
B.Ways of practising mindfulness in the digital age. |
C.Development of mindfulness in medical field. |
D.Benefits of practising digital mindfulness in daily life. |
5 . It was 4:30 pm. As I was packing up, I noticed my colleague had left his laptop bag in the office. So I decided to bring it to him. It took me about 15 minutes to get to his house, where I
Suddenly a snowstorm came and within minutes I was in a whiteout. I stopped because I was afraid of driving into a farmer’s field, or worse. I kept the car
Those seconds after the call were
I texted my colleague, joking about my good deed ending in
Waiting in the car, I doubted whether
At 8 pm, I saw a tall figure in a yellow raincoat striding toward me in the dark, carrying a flashlight. I’d never been more
He turned around and started to trudge through the snow, sure of the direction. I drove behind him, feeling my heart begin to beat more
The experience has been a game changer for me. I now
A.dropped off | B.filled up | C.set aside | D.put away |
A.locked | B.parked | C.signaling | D.running |
A.painful | B.critical | C.disappointing | D.impressive |
A.failure | B.smoke | C.disaster | D.mystery |
A.route | B.location | C.direction | D.destination |
A.news | B.help | C.hope | D.faith |
A.satisfied | B.surprised | C.relieved | D.worried |
A.slowly | B.excitedly | C.nervously | D.strongly |
A.recognition | B.admiration | C.satisfaction | D.appreciation |
A.identify | B.present | C.approach | D.anticipate |
6 . Quite often my mother would
One evening as I was setting the table, Marge, a neighbor woman,
“No, it’s all right,” replied my mother. “We’re not expecting company.”
“Well then,” said Marge with a(n)
“Because,” my mom answered, “I’ve prepared my family’s favorite meal. If you
“Well yes, but your beautiful china will get chips,” responded Marge.
“Oh well,” said Mom
Mom walked to the cupboard and
We all laughed. At that moment, I knew for sure that the china held for mother a number of love
A.beg | B.request | C.push | D.stop |
A.occurred | B.started | C.covered | D.exchanged |
A.remembered | B.admitted | C.questioned | D.observed |
A.settled down | B.came across | C.dropped by | D.passed on |
A.knocked | B.beat | C.lay | D.hit |
A.aiming | B.laughing | C.glaring | D.glancing |
A.company | B.delivery | C.cooks | D.strangers |
A.annoyed | B.puzzled | C.exhausted | D.depressed |
A.buy | B.set | C.polish | D.repair |
A.guest | B.neighbor | C.family | D.boss |
A.coolly | B.calmly | C.cautiously | D.casually |
A.mistake | B.trouble | C.debt | D.price |
A.turned in | B.tidied up | C.took down | D.threw away |
A.helpful | B.harmful | C.grateful | D.graceful |
A.accidents | B.stories | C.explanations | D.dishes |