1 . Team-building exercises have become popular for managers trying to increase organizational and team harmony and productivity. Unfortunately, many employees are angry about compulsory bonding and often regard these exercises as a nuisance (烦事).

A paper published this week by University of Sydney researchers in Social Networks has reported participants' feelings about team-building intervention (干预), revealing ethical implications in forcing employees to take part.

“Many people see team building activities as a waste of time, so we decided to look in more depth at what's behind this,” said the paper's lead researcher, Dr Peter Matous.

“Teams are formed, combined and restructured. Staff are relocated and office spaces redesigned. All this is done with the aim of improving workplace efficiency, collaboration and cohesion. But does any of this work?” said Dr Matous.

The study found that team-building exercises which focused on the sharing of and intervening into personal attitudes and relationships between team members were considered too rude and nosy (爱打听), although the researchers say some degree of openness and vulnerability (脆弱) is often necessary to make deep, effective connections with colleagues.

"Some participants were against team-building exercises because they were indirectly compulsory. They didn't welcome management's interest in their lives beyond their direct work performance," said Matous. "Many people don't want to be forced into having fun or making friends, especially not on top of their busy jobs. They feel management is being too nosy or trying to control their lives too much."

In this study the researchers recommended a self-disclosure (表露) approach where participants were guided through a series of questions that allowed them to increasingly disclose personal information and values. The method is well-tested and has been shown to increase interpersonal closeness. However, to be successful it must be voluntary.

The researchers said there are numerous schools of thought that propose differing psychological methods for strengthening relationships. “With caution, many relational methods to improve teams and organizations can be borrowed from other fields. The question is how to apply them effectively to strengthen an entire collective, which is more than just the sum of individual relationships,” said Dr Matous.

1. Why are many employees opposed to team-building exercises?

A．They consider such exercises annoying.

B．They deem these exercises counter-productive.

C．They see such exercises as harmful to harmony.

D．They find these exercises too demanding.

2. What did Dr Matous and his team do to find out whether team-building activities would improve productivity?

A．They relocated team leaders and their offices.

B．They rearranged the staff and office spaces.

C．They redesigned the staffs work schedules.

D．They reintroduced some cohesive activities.

3. What did the study by Matous’ team find about some team-building exercises?

A．They were intended to share personal attitudes and relationships.

B．They indirectly added to the vulnerability of team members.

C．They always strengthened connections among colleagues.

D．They were regarded as a violation of employees' privacy.

4. How can the self-disclosure approach succeed in increasing interpersonal closeness?

A．By allowing participants freedom to express themselves.

B．By applying it to employees who volunteer to participate.

C．By arranging in proper order the questions participants face.

D．By guiding employees through a series of steps in team building.

5. What does Matous think of the various psychological methods borrowed from other fields for strengthening relationships?

A．They must be used in combination for an entire collective.

B．They prioritize some psychological aspects over others.

C．They place too much stress on individual relationships.

D．They have to be applied cautiously to be effective.

2 . As a symbol of Chinese history, the Palace Museum ________ the cultural memory of the country.

A．preserves

B．prevents

C．acquires

D．declares

3 . —I’d like to know if you’re satisfied with my work. How am I doing?
—________. I believe you will be getting promotion.

A．Never mind	B．Help yourself
C．Forget it	D．Keep it up

4 . Having a rival (对手) can keep you committed to achieving your goals and enhance your overall performance. But before you go out and find an entrepreneur (创业者) to outcompete(胜出), it’s important to understand and avoid the traps that often come with rivalry. After all, competitive rivalry can also make it difficult for you to make a decision and increase your willingness to take risks, behaviors that can ultimately hurt your venture’s (风险项目) success.

Finding someone you’re committed to outcompeting can be a great way to stay focused on your goals and push your venture to the next level. But when you’re intently focused on outperforming your rivals, you may begin to develop a “win-at-all-costs” mentality (心态) that causes you to ignore how you achieve success. One group of researchers, for example, examined the link between rivalry and unethical(不道德的) behavior. They found that when people compete against their rivals, they are more willing to behave unethically to win. But such behavior may damage your reputation and strain(使……紧张) relationships important to your success. One way to avoid this trap is to stop and reflect on what’s important. While outperforming your rivals may provide short-term benefits, the loss of your integrity(正直) will have long-term consequences.

One reason having a rival can enhance your venture’s performance is that it creates a level of excitement that drives you to work harder. But this eagerness to win may also hurt your venture’s success, particularly when it causes you to make impulsive, insensible decisions. But it’s possible to avoid such costly mistakes by making a habit of engaging in critical thinking, such as considering opposing viewpoints and conducting cost-benefit analyses, especially for those decisions that are complex and can determine the future of your venture.

The sense of eagerness that comes with having a rival can not only cause you to make poorer decisions, but it can also lead you to take greater risks that put your venture in great dangers. One way you can overcome the risk-inducing (诱发) effects of rivalry that stand to endanger your venture’s success is to remain attentive to your emotional state and actively monitor how such feelings are affecting your decision-making.

1. How can competitive rivalry benefit entrepreneurs according to the passage?

A．By enabling them to outcompete other entrepreneurs.

B．By enabling them to make their venture a success.

C．By helping them to reach long-term goals.

D．By helping them to stay goal-oriented.

2. What is one of the traps entrepreneurs may often fall into when competing with rivals?

A．They may adopt strategies that are bound to ruin their venture.

B．They may depend on unethical means to outperform their rivals.

C．They may be too eager to succeed while ignoring the huge labor cost.

D．They may be intently focused on winning at the current market level.

3. What are entrepreneurs advised to do to avoid traps that often accompany rivalry?

A．Think very carefully about what really matters.

B．Prioritize obtaining immediate benefits.

C．Estimate the long-term consequences.

D．Reflect on what successes are achievable.

4. How can entrepreneurs avoid making impulsive and insensible decisions?

A．By engaging themselves in critical reasoning.

B．By developing a habit of keeping their integrity.

C．By criticizing themselves for previous poor performances.

D．By stopping themselves from being too excited about their successes.

5. How can entrepreneurs overcome the risk-inducing effects of rivalry?

A．By paying close attention to their current performance.

B．By taking steps that stand to endanger their rivals’ success.

C．By monitoring how their decision-making impacts their mentality.

D．By keeping their emotions in check to avoid making poor decisions.

5 . ________ on the first Friday of October, World’s Smile Day is established for the spreading of simple joy and love to everyone.

A．Being celebrated	B．Celebrating
C．Celebrated	D．Having celebrated

6 . 假定你是晨光中学校微信视频号英语节目“Talk to Talk”的负责人李津，近期要开展一期以“如何更好地用英语讲述中国故事，让世界更好地认识中国”为话题的访谈节目。外籍教师Chris在中国已经工作一年，对中国有了一定的了解，现请你给他写一封邮件，邀请他作为外籍嘉宾参加这期访谈节目。内容包括：
（1）邀请他的原因以及访谈的时间和地点；
（2）该期访谈节目的介绍（访谈话题、访谈目的等）；
（3）希望他对同学们如何学好英语提出一些建议。
注意：（1）词数不少于100；
（2）可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯。
参考词汇：微信视频号：WeChat Video Channel
Dear Chris,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Jin

7 . The Browns ________ the online shopping experience in China since they moved back to Australia two years ago.

A．have been missing	B．had been missing
C．were missing	D．will be missing

8 . Most of us in the enterprising community are blessed—or harmed—with higher-than average ambition. Ambitious people strongly desire accomplishments and are willing to take more risks and spend more effort to get them.

Overall, this is a positive quality, especially for people trying to build their own businesses. Apparently, if you’re more naturally driven to set goals, you are more likely to succeed.

Actually, this isn’t always the case. In fact, in some cases, extreme ambition may end up doing more harm than good.

One major side effect of excessive ambition is the tendency to focus too determinedly on one particular vision or end goal. This is problematic because it prevents your ability to adapt to new circumstances, which is vital if you want to be a successful entrepreneur (创业者). If a new competitor emerges to threaten your business, you may need to change direction, even if that means moving away from your original vision. If you have too much ambition, you’ll find this hard, if not impossible.

Few people are successful when they try to build their first brand. Unfortunately, for the most ambitious entrepreneurs, a failure is seen as disastrous and impossible to recover from.

It’s a clear departure from the intended plan to ward the intended goal. For people with limited ambition, however, failure is viewed as something closer to reality. Remember, failure is unavoidable, and every failure you survive is a learning experience.

Ambitious people tend to be more successful in material wealth than non-ambitious ones. However, they’re only slightly happier than their less-ambitious counterparts, and tend to live significantly shorter lives. This implies that even though ambitious people are more likely to achieve conventional “success,” such success means nothing for their health and happiness—and if you don’t have health and happiness. what else could possibly matter?

Clearly, some amount of ambition is good for your motivation. Without any ambition, you wouldn’t start your own business, set or achieve goals and get far in life. But inappropriate ambition can also be dangerous, putting you at risk of burnout, stubbornness and even a shorter life.

1. What does the author think of most entrepreneurs?

A．They are more willing to risk their own lives.	B．They are more ambitious than ordinary people.
C．They achieve greater nonconventional success.	D．They have more positive qualities than most of us.

2. What does the author imply by saying “this isn’t always the case” in Paragraph 3?

A．Ambitious people may not have a greater chance of success.

B．Ambitious people may not have more positive qualities.

C．Entrepreneurs’ ambition docs as much good as harm.

D．Entrepreneurs are more naturally driven to success.

3. What does the author say is of extreme importance for one to become a successful entrepreneur?

A．Holding on to once’s original vision.	B．Being able to adapt to new situations.
C．Focusing determinedly on one particular goal.	D．Avoiding total change in one’s career direction.

4. How do the most ambitious entrepreneurs regard failure in their efforts?

A．It will awaken them to reality.	B．It is a lesson they have to learn.
C．It means the end of their career.	D．It will result in a slow recovery.

5. What does the author advise us to do concerning ambition?

A．Distinguish between conventional success and our life goal.

B．Follow the example of the most ambitious entrepreneurs.

C．Avoid taking unnecessary risks when starting a business.

D．Prioritize health and happiness over material success.

9 . 假设你是晨光中学高三学生李津。你的英国朋友Chris在China Daily上看到一些中学生团体为甘肃地震灾区积极捐款捐物的新闻，向你了解你校学生参与类似活动的情况，并询问你校学生组织的其他大型活动。请你给Chris回一封电子邮件，介绍相关情况， 内容包括：

(1) 介绍学生向灾区捐款捐物的相关情况；

(2) 介绍学生组织的其他大型活动(如体育、文艺等方面)；

(3) 你对参与校园活动的印象和感受。

注意： (1) 词数不少于 100；

(2) 内容充实，行文连贯；

(3) 开头结尾已给出，不计入词数。

参考词汇： 地震灾区 quake-affected regions 赈灾物资 relief supplies

Dear Chris,

I’m so glad to hear from you.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Best regards,

Li Jin

10 . The traditional viewpoint ________ girls are not as good at science and math as boys is ______ by the experts at home and abroad.

A．that; acquired	B．which; balanced
C．which; exchanged	D．that; challenged