2 . The Spotlight Effect

Have you ever felt as if the entire world was watching while you made a mistake? Well, here’s some good news: it’s likely that no one even noticed.

    1    We have this experience not only when we make mistakes but also when we perform well. Every time we do something that is a little different from what we usually do, we may assume that everyone around us will notice. The spotlight effect might happen when we make a mistake in a game, have a bad hair day, or give a terrible answer in class.    2    In these moments, it feels like everyone is watching.

The spotlight effect exists because we all get used to seeing things through our own eyes. Every person is the main character in his or her story, and the events of our lives seem to have great importance.    3    

The spotlight effect is a very common part of the human experience. However, in some cases, it can lead to extreme social anxiety and nervousness around other people. Everyone suffers some degree of social anxiety. We all care about what others think, and we all want to be liked. It’s normal to wonder about what effect we have on other people.    4    If someone is so nervous that they can’t make good decisions, then it’s time to take action and improve the situation.

Learning about the spotlight effect is important because it can help us reduce our anxiety. Next time you feel like everyone is staring at you, remind yourself that it’s just your mind playing tricks on you.     5    If you fill your mind with thoughts of your friends and family, it will help you be less self-conscious.

A．However, this can be a problem when the anxiety is too much to handle.

B．That’s why fewer people notice the embarrassing circumstances they encounter.

C．Another good exercise is to make an effort to notice the people around you, rather than focusing on yourself.

D．The spotlight effect is a trick of the mind that makes us believe that people notice us more often than they really do.

E．What you can do at this moment is to ignore them.

F．We are so busy examining ourselves that we actually observe very little about everyone around us.

G．It can also appear when we score a big goal, ask someone on a date, or do a good deed.

4 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Last winter, Linda went through a very messy divorce and was very depressed. So she quit her job and left Los Angeles, where she encountered her ex-husband in college. She flew to Boston on the east coast of the US. Later, she settled in a new neighborhood in East Boston. However, shortly afterwards, the company where she worked went bankrupt (破产). Suffering a series of bitter blows, she fell ill, a severe case of flu. She had to stay at home for the whole week, feeling extremely bad and hopeless.

Early one morning, Linda lay in bed, feeling painful all over. Then all of a sudden, there was an upsetting knock on her front door. Struggling out of the bed, she dragged herself to the window. There, outside, she saw a young lady carefully holding some leaflets(传单)and a TV set model. She knew of a large TV set establishment nearby and assumed a message was about to be gently delivered. “This is the last thing I need today.” She muttered to herself and hesitantly opened the door.

Coughing bitterly, Linda stuck her head out. “Excuse me, madam…” the young lady said with a smile. “I’m sorry but I am not the slightest bit interested in any TV whatever.” Linda interrupted her impatiently. “As a matter of fact, I am feeling terribly awful.” “Is there anything I can do for you, madam?” the young lady asked with concern. “No thanks, just leave me alone.” Linda then shut the door in her face. The young lady politely turned and left in silence.

注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:

A few hours later, another knock.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

Linda was surprised by this loving action.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . We live in an age________ more information is available more easily than ever before.

A．why

B．to whom

C．when

D．on which

6 . 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。

As of June, China had about 285 million Internet users living in rural areas,     1     (account) for over 30 percent of the country’s total, according to a recent report on China’s Internet development. The number of rural Internet users in China     2     (grow) by over 30 million in the last few months.

The report said the Internet is playing a     3     (great) role than ever in the country’s poverty (贫困) reduction efforts, with the public’s participation in and     4     (recognize) of relevant campaigns on the rise. It said as of June, online promotions of agricultural products from remote areas had reached more than half of the Chinese Internet users, and     5     more than one third of netizens had bought such products via online platforms.

Meanwhile, the report shows that e-commerce livestreaming (直播) grew     6     (increasing) active in the first half of the year. As of June, the number of e-commerce livestreaming users in China had hit 309 million, up 16.7 percent from March. China saw over 10 million livestreaming marketing     7     (activity) in the first half of this year, attracting over 50 billion views, the report noted.

The report said the Internet can contribute significantly     8     China’s anti-poverty goal by providing jobs, social security and medical service information for     9     poor and allowing children in poverty-stricken areas     10       (access) better education.

7 . According to a new study， teens focus on rewards and have a hard time learning to avoid punishment or consider the consequences of alternative actions.

University College London researchers compared how teens and adults learn to make choices based on the available information. They tracked the way in which 18 volunteers aged 12-17 and 20 volunteers aged 18-32 completed tasks in which they had to choose between abstract symbols.

Each symbol was consistently associated with a fixed chance of a reward, punishment, or no outcome. As the trial progressed ， participants learned which symbols were likely to lead to each outcome and adjusted their choices accordingly. Teens and adults were equally good at learning to choose symbols associated with reward， but teens were less good at avoiding symbols associated with punishment. Adults also performed significantly better when they were told what would have happened if they had chosen the other symbol after each choice， while teens did not appear to take this information into account.

“From this experimental lab study we can draw conclusions about learning during the teen years. We find that teens and adults learn in different ways， something that might be relevant to education," said lead author Dr. Stefano Palminteri. " Unlike adults, teens are not so good at learning to adjust their choices to avoid punishment. This suggests that incentive systems based on reward rather than punishment may be more effective for this age group. Additionally, we found that teens did not learn from being shown what would have happened if they made alternative choices."

To interpret the results, the researchers developed computational models of learning and ran simulations （模拟）applying them to the results of the study. The first was a simple model, one that learned from rewards, and the second model added to this by also learning from the option that was not chosen. The third model was the most complete and took the full context into account, with equal weight given to punishment avoidance and reward seeking. For example, obtaining no outcome rather than losing a point is weighted equally to gaining a point rather than having no outcome.

Comparing the experimental data to the models, the team found that teens" behavior followed the simple reward-based model while adults" behavior matched the complete, contextual model. “Our study suggests that teens are more receptive to rewards than they are to punishments of equal value, ” said senior author Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. “As a result, it may be useful for parents and teachers to frame things in more positive terms.”

1. It can be learned from the study that .

A．adults made choices faster than teens

B．adults understood rewards better than teens

C．teens reacted better to reward than punishment

D．teens were aware of the outcome of each choice

2. What do we know about the three computational models?

A．They reflected people’s strong desire for punishment avoidance.

B．They gave circumstances different degrees of consideration.

C．They paid equal attention to reward and punishment.

D．They shaped the behavior of people at different ages.

3. The underlined word “receptive" in the last paragraph probably means .

A．accustomed	B．opposed
C．sympathetic	D．responsive

4. According to the writer, which of the following statements works best for teens?

A．“If you insist on doing things in this way， you will lose ten points. "

B．“If we had talked about this earlier， you wouldn’t have made the mistake. "

C．“ If you hand in your assignment ahead of time， you will get an extra bonus."

D．“If you want to approach a problem differently ， you can talk to your parents. "

8 . There are some 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, each unique, using different sounds, vocabularies and structures. Charles the Great said: “To have a second language is to have a second soul.” This begs the question: Does the language we speak shape who we are? As it turns out, yes.

In societies such as the United States or Western Europe, self-expression and language precision are valued. Asian cultures, on the other hand, prefer an indirect form of communication. Words like “perhaps” and “maybe” are used more than “yes” or “no”. Americanism takes an informal approach to communication. Therefore, it’s OK to refer to a stranger or the boss as “you”. However, the Thai language has 12 forms of the same pronoun, choosing one depends on status. In this way, languages are essential in leading any culture, be that our own or otherwise.

People who speak different languages notice different things, depending on the constructs of their mother tongue. Take an accident. In English, it’s OK to say: “She broke the glass.” But in a language like Spanish, you’d probably go with: “The glass broke.” The same incident produces two different responses. English speakers will remember who’s at fault, because their language asks them to, while Spanish speakers are more likely to remember it was an accident. This has real consequences, especially when it comes to crime and punishment.

Professor Jim Cummins has written extensively on mother tongues. For Cummins, the stronger our home language, the easier it is for us to learn others. Of course, research also shows that being bilingual gives people many advantages in life. Linguist Julien Leyre writes that learning another language develops our ability to “understand the mental world of another person, based on the language they use, and how that world is different from our own.”

Our mother tongue is central to how we think, what we know and who we are. Like us, languages are living things that change over time and must be cared for to survive. By doing so, we protect not just the linguistic structures or vocabularies we use, but the culture, knowledge and power behind them.

1. Why does the author mention “Americanism” and “the Thai language” in Paragraph 2?

A．To tell the cultural differences between them.

B．To indicate a language is a guide to a culture.

C．To stress American expressions are informal.

D．To reveal a language is associated with status.

2. How will English speakers’ react to an accident?

A．They will seek blame.	B．They will punish others.
C．They will avoid responsibility.	D．They will draw a lesson from it.

3. What does Julien Leyre think about bilinguals?

A．They enjoy a more colorful life.	B．They can remain mentally healthy.
C．They find it easier to learn a language.	D．They can gain insight into others’ minds.

4. Which one can be the best title for the text?

A．How do languages differ?	B．Will your language be extinct?
C．Why does our mother tongue matter?	D．Should we speak a second language?

10 . 阅读下面短文，按照要求完成阅读任务。

A self-service flower shop operated by a college student in Beijing is attracting many young customers, Chinese media reported.

Different from traditional shops in the capital, the young storekeeper surnamed Wang opened the first self-service flower shop where people can select flowers and pay via mobile payment systems including Wechat and Alipay.

Born after 2000 and a lover of literature, the young man said “he begins the startup (创业) because it will not take up his time”. “Besides, people can go to flower shops at any time,” he added. “I cannot focus on reading when I have to serve customers.” So Wang opened the self-service flower shop after doing market research.

Most young customers like shopping in a free environment, and hate promotion (推销) from clerks, he explained, adding that customers can have their questions answered about the names of flowers through mobile apps.

Even though there is no shopkeeper, the operation has attracted many young customers and proved to be a success, at least for now.

Although he does not sell flowers in the shop in person, Wang said he would go to the shop at odd intervals to take care of the flowers though he couldn’t afford it full time.

“It is a business with a little money, and it can’t cause a huge loss if a burglary (偷盗) happens,” he said, adding that he trusts people.

1. How do people pay for flowers? (no more than 8 words)
________________
2. Why does Wang open the self-service flower shop? (no more than 20 words)
________________
3. How can customers have their questions answered about flowers? (no more than 10 words)
________________
4. What does the underlined phrase “at odd intervals” most probably mean? (no more than 4 words)
________________
5. What do you think of the self-service flower shop? Tell your reasons. (no more than 25 words)
________________