2 . Your Life Is Better Than You Think

The undeniable popularity of self-help books, wellness podcasts, and happiness workshops reflects the constant human desire to make life better.     1         

While we may have a loving family, a good place to live, and a decent job, we often fail to notice those things. It’s not because we are ungrateful or stupid, but it’s because of a basic feature of our brain, known as habituation.

Habituation is the tendency of neurons to fire less and less in response to things that are constant. You enter a room filled with roses and after a short while, you cannot detect their scent any longer; and just as you get used to the smell of fresh flowers, you also get used to a loving relationship, to a promotion, to a nice home, to a wonderful work of art. Like the front page of a daily newspaper, your brain cares about what recently changed, not about what remained the same.     2     You habituate to it—you fail to notice and respond to elements of your life which you previously found amazing.

    3     That is, you can suddenly start perceiving and responding to things to which you have become desensitized.

The key is taking small breaks from your daily life. For example, when people return home from a long business trip, they often find their old life has “reshined.” Ordinary things suddenly seem amazing. If something is constant, we often assume (perhaps unconsciously) that it is there to stay, and as a result, we focus our attention and effort on the next thing on our list.     4     If it is good at its core, it may just reshine. This is why time away, however short, will enable you to perceive your life with fresh eyes—and to break up reality.

A．And so, what once took your breath away becomes part of life’s furniture.

B．But could it be that many of our lives are already better than we recognize?

C．Habituation to the good drives you to move forward and progress.

D．But if we can make the constant less so, our attention will naturally turn back to it.

E．Rather than focus on how to see our life better, we need to learn to better our life.

F．The good news is that you can dishabituate.

3 . Pricing is managers’ biggest marketing headache. It’s where they feel the most pressure to perform and the least certain that they are doing a good job. All successful pricing efforts share two qualities: The policy combines well with the company’s overall marketing strategy, and the process is well-organized as a whole.

A company’s pricing policy sends a message to the market—it gives customers an important sense of a company’s philosophy. Consider Saturn Corporation (a wholly owned company of General Motors). Saturn wants to let consumers know that it is friendly and easy to do business with. Part of this concept is conveyed through initiatives such as inviting customers to the factory to see where the cars are made and sponsoring evenings at the dealership that combine a social event with training on car maintenance. But Saturn’s pricing policy sends a strong message as well. Can a friendly, trusting relationship be established with customers if a salesperson uses all the negotiating tricks in the book to try to separate them from that last $100? Of course not. Saturn has a “no hassle, no haggle” policy which removes the possibility of conflicts between dealer and potential customer. Customers have an easier time buying a car knowing that the next person in the door won’t negotiate a better deal.

Of course, there are typically many participants in the pricing process: Accounting provides cost estimates; marketing communicates the pricing strategy; sales provides specific customer input; production sets supply boundaries; and finance establishes the requirements for the entire company’s financial health. Input from diverse sources is necessary. However, problems arise when the philosophy of wide participation is carried over to the price-setting process without strong coordinating mechanisms (协调机制). For example, if the marketing department sets list prices, the salespeople negotiate discounts in the field, the legal department adjusts prices if necessary to prevent breaking the laws or contractual agreements, and the people filling orders negotiate price adjustments for delays in shipment, everybody’s best intentions usually end up bringing about less than the best results. In fact, the company may actually lose money on some orders.

1. Why is it essential for a company’s pricing policy to combine with its overall marketing strategy?

A．To maximize possible returns and profits.

B．To maintain consistency in business operations.

C．To eliminate the need for diverse sales inputs.

D．To attract customers to social events and trainings.

2. What does Saturn’s “no hassle, no haggle” policy (paragraph 2) most probably mean?

A．Saturn trains its dealers to treat customers sincerely.

B．Saturn offers discounts to some loyal customers.

C．Saturn cars are at least $100 cheaper than other cars.

D．Saturn cars are sold at fixed, non-negotiable prices.

3. What can be inferred from the wide participation in the pricing process?

A．Decision making requires gathering comprehensive information.

B．The coordinating mechanism won’t work without a lot of input.

C．Potential customers are easily upset at any stage of the process.

D．The company loses money unless everyone intends for the best.

4. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A．The art of coordinating pricing processes

B．The best sales negotiation techniques

C．Getting one step closer toward better pricing

D．Maximizing profits through pricing policies

4 . Guided Desert Adventure
Typical desert activities like sandboarding, dune bashing and quad biking

With this tour, you’ll have half a day of adventure activities in the desert.

You’ll start your tour by driving to a scenic spot on the top of a tall sand dune (沙丘) for a chance to take photos of the area. On top of a sand dune, you’ll have the chance to slide down the side by sandboarding. From here, you’ll get ready for hitting some dunes in a four-wheel drive vehicle. Next, you’ll hop on a quad bike and have time to drive around the desert in the open air. Finally, you’ll have a camel ride around a small part of the desert.

What’s included

Pickup and drop-off

20 minutes of sandboarding

35 minutes of dune bashing

25 minutes of quad biking

10-minute camel ride

Water and soft drinks

A drive through a camel farm

Additional information

Requires a high level of physical fitness.

Not suitable for children between 0 and 5.

Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Tours starting after noon include a BBQ dinner with sweets and fruits, which costs an additional US$ 45/person only.

1. What kind of experiences can participants expect from this trip?

A．Taking a sand bathing on the top of a sand dune.

B．Exploring the expansive desert freely on a camel ride.

C．An exciting day adventure filled with diverse activities.

D．Capturing the breathtaking desert landscape with a camera.

2. How much does a group of four university students need to pay for taking the 14:00 tour?

A．US$ 180.

B．US$ 220.

C．US$ 265.

D．US$ 400.

3. Which of the following is most likely to be a review from a former participant of the tour?

A．The show was great! I highly recommend!

B．It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed every minute of it.

C．The place is cool, easy to find and get to with metro.

D．Arrive early for tickets to avoid a long queue.

5 . I used to think I was a good person. I was caring to my friends, my partner, my family; I gave to charity and I volunteered. But when I started training to become a therapist (治疗师), I began to understand that however much we might like to think of ourselves as good people, we don’t actually know ourselves very well. I learned about how we might, without consciously realizing it, deny the feelings and motivations we consider to be bad, pushing them down into our unconscious and projecting them out on to others, so they become the bad people. I learned that deep in the human mind, alongside love and kindness, run currents of anger, need, greed, envy, destructiveness, superiority—whether we want to acknowledge them or not.

It was 22-year-old Boru who taught me what it really means to be a good grown up. We first spoke two years ago. He was unemployed, living with his parents, watching his friends’ lives progress. A good grown-up, he told me, is “someone who has his ducks in a row”—and that wasn’t him.   

I also didn’t feel like the competent, confident grown-up I thought I should be—and neither did most of the adults I knew. I researched statistics about people hitting the traditional landmarks of adulthood later and later, if at all—from buying a home to getting married or starting a family. I recognized what made me feel like a bad grown-up: that I’ll sit with a broken fridge rather than call an engineer to repair it.

Then I saw Boru again. He told me how, over two years, he’d found a job he loves, rented a flat with a friend. He’s now cycling round the world, having adventures that will keep him strong for the rest of his life. So what changed? “You start to have those conversations with yourself, and you become more of an honest person. I don’t feel like I’m hiding from anything anymore, because I’m not hiding from myself.”

     I think growing up must involve finding your own way to have those conversations. Boru does it on his bike, I do it in psychoanalysis, others I spoke to do it while cooking or playing music. That, for Boru, and for me, is what it means to “have his ducks in a row”.
1. What does the first paragraph imply about understanding ourselves?

A．Recognizing our positive traits is enough for growth.

B．Our understanding of our motives and feelings is accurate.

C．True self-awareness means accepting both good and bad sides.

D．Ignoring our negative traits does not affect our self-perception.

2. What critical lesson did the author learn from Boru about being a good grown-up?

A．It involves having a clear career path and financial stability.

B．It requires constant self-improvement and education.

C．It means being employed and living independently.

D．It is like a journey of self-discovery and honesty.

3. What does the author identify as a reason for feeling like an inadequate adult?

A．Escaping basic responsibilities.

B．Delaying reaching traditional life milestones.

C．Comparing personal achievements to others.

D．Investigating changing patterns of adult life.

4. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Why Hide Harms

B．How to Be Better Adults

C．Why Growing up Matters

D．How to Have Effective Conversations

7 . Keeping a bit of the outdoors inside is nothing new, but houseplant collections have become a popular social media trend — which means that more people than ever are discovering the comfort and beauty that caring for plants brings.

    1     Exposure to greenery, whether you have indoor plants, take walks outside or tend to a garden, has been found to have multiple mental-health benefits, such as lowering stress, decreasing feelings of depression, increasing sociability, restoring focus, improving cognitive performance, improving mood and increasing self-esteem.

“One study showed that patients at a hospital who had plants in their room reported less pain, lower blood pressure, less fatigue and less anxiety than patients without plants in their rooms,” says Jenny Seham, a New York-based psychologist. She explains: “Cortisol, the stress hormone, has been shown to lower with plant interaction, reducing fatigue, irritability (易怒) and blood pressure.”

Research has also shown that having plants and gardening increase productivity and levels of serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for lifting our mood.     2     And it is also opposed to dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.

Before you fill your space with greenery, consider how you’ll interact with your plants.     3     Can you care for them daily?

If you have a small space or aren’t sure how much time you’re willing to invest in “plant parenting.” Start slow. “    4     It can engage you by its smell or colour, creating a positive mood response with every interaction,” says Seham.

A．For instance, is there enough space for plants in areas where you spend a lot of time?

B．Half the fun of gardening is that you never know exactly what’s going to come up.

C．It’s a feel-good hobby that’s supported by science.

D．While indoor gardening can boost your feelings of wellbeing, help reduce stress and promote relaxation, it’s not, of course, a substitute for a trained mental health professional.

E．The theory is that plant care helps us focus on the present moment and provides a feeling of accomplishment.

F．Just one plant can make a difference.

8 . If you’ve ever seen a river rushing down a mountain or played in breaking waves at the beach, you’ll know that moving water contains a lot of energy. A river can push you and your boat downstream, sometimes quickly, and waves crashing into you at the beach can knock you back, or even knock you over.

This energy of moving water originates from the water cycle, where water evaporates or is released from plants, rises to higher sea level, cools, and changes into liquid, forming clouds. Rain or snow that falls from these clouds flows downhill due to gravity, forming rivers or melting into existing water paths.

Hydropower (水电) uses this energy from flowing water. It uses turbines, which are turned by moving water. These turbines turn around a rotor inside a device called generator, turning the motion into electricity with the help of magnets.

There are two primary types of hydropower facilities (设施). The first is called the run-of-the-river facilities, which channel river water through turbines. The electricity production follows the timing of the river flow. When a river is running full with lots of spring rain or meltwater, the turbine can produce more electricity. Later in the summer, when the river flow decreases, so does the turbine’s output. These types of power stations are typically small and easy to build, but there is limited ability to control the amount of electricity they produce.

The second type is the dam (大坝)-based facilities. These use a solid dam to hold back the flow of a river and create an artificial lake behind it. The dam operator releases water from his lake, which flows through pipes inside the dam. Turbines within the dam generate electricity as the water passes through them, and then the water flows out the other side. These facilities are usually large and can affect river habitats, but they can also produce a lot of electricity in a controllable manner.

Hydropower depends on the availability of water in flowing rivers. As climate change affects the water cycle, some regions may have less rainfall and therefore less hydropower generation. Since hydropower is a form of renewable electricity, it can play a role in limiting climate change. Hydropower facilities can also help avoid any imbalance in electricity production from wind farms and solar power plants.

1. The underlined word “evaporate” in paragraph 2 can be replaced by “________”

A．form a circle	B．turn into a gas
C．fall to the ground	D．change into liquid

2. According to paragraph 3, which of the following words best fits the box with “?” in the picture of a hydropower setup?

A．turbine

B．magnet

C．pipe

D．rotor

3. What can we learn about the two basic types of hydropower facilities mentioned in the passage?

A．Only dam-based facilities use water to generate electricity and they are easy to construct.

B．Electricity production by the run-of-the-river facilities doesn’t vary with river flow.

C．Dam-based facilities provide a more considerable and adjustable electricity supply.

D．Run-of-the-river facilities have a larger impact on river habitats than dam-based facilities.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards hydropower?

A．Optimistic

B．Critical

C．Doubtful

D．Indifferent

9 . A short period of sleep taken during the day is known as a nap. Naps don’t just have benefits for adults at work, though. They could also help pupils to make the most of their school day. Studies have shown that a 20 to 30-minute “beauty sleep” makes people more alert and focused. This improves people’s ability to remember new information, which would help school children concentrate during lessons. Experts say that napping also improves brain functions, such as memory and the ability to complete difficult tasks.

The school day starts early, which means that pupils don’t always get enough sleep because there’s no chance to have a lie-in. Adding naptime during the school day would help exhausted pupils to make up for any sleep they’ve lost from getting up so early.

There are long-term benefits to taking a short nap, too. According to a recent study from University College London, the brains of people who have regular naps are bigger than those who don’t. People’s brains naturally shrink when they grow old, and the results showed that little sleeps can help people’s brains to age more slowly.

Although a nap can seem like a good idea, going to sleep for too long can actually make you feel worse. It’s not very pleasant to wake up from a daytime nap feeling confused and sleepy. Napping during the day can also have a negative impact on how well you sleep at night. This can create a cycle of not being able to sleep as well at night, leaving you feeling even more tired in the daytime. Sleep expert Dr Clete Kushida said, “It’s generally recommended to maximize sleep at night.”

Another consideration is that there really isn’t time in the school day for pupils to go to sleep. Some parents and teachers are concerned that it would cause children to miss too much lesson time. Pupils might take advantage of the system and use their need for a nap as an excuse to get out of lessons.

So, what do you think? Should school allow kids to have naps, or should you wait until the evening to catch up on your sleep?

1. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．children need more naps than adults do

B．naps improve memory, efficiency and beauty

C．both children and adults are equally in need of naps

D．naps can bring more benefits to children than to adults

2. According to the passage, napping for too long is not advisable because ________.

A．it may affect a healthier cycle of sleep

B．school kids will feel too sleepy to wake up

C．it can’t make up for the sleep lost from waking up early

D．it extends the school day for kids to have enough lessons

3. Which of the following statements can be learned about taking naps according to the passage?

A．It’s better for babies to have as many daytime naps as possible.

B．Regular naps can slow the rate at which brains shrink with age.

C．There’s no need to guarantee night sleep if one has regular naps.

D．Different from teachers, parents want their kids to have naptimes.

4. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．Should Schools Have Naptimes?	B．How Could Naptimes Benefit Kids?
C．Are Kids Losing Too Much Sleep?	D．Do You Get Enough Daytime Sleep?

10 . Why Do You Find It So Hard to Not Multitask?

Most of us do multitasking almost daily. But it’s time to change that. Your attention is already being pulled in millions of directions daily, so you really don’t need to add multitasking to the list. Let’s take the smartphone for example. On average you check your phone 110 times a day — that means you’re spending 23 days every year glued to your smartphone! How productive do you think that makes you?     1    .

But it’s hard to let go of these habits because you’ve conditioned your brain to send misleading signals to your body. Research has shown that when you multitask “successfully”, you activate the reward mechanism in your brain that releases dopamine, the happy hormone.     2    . This rush can also make you overly optimistic, which means you are less careful about the work you do and more likely to make mistakes. Multitaskers basically get addicted to this rush which leads them to believe they are being effective when in fact they’re not.

You can find healthier, more balanced dopamine releases through ticking things on your to-do list through mono-, or single-tasking too. Since our brains can only effectively focus on one thing at a time, this is the way for you to accomplish more in less time. Research has suggested you’re 50% quicker on average to accomplish a task if you monotask, and you’re also 50% less like to make errors.     3    . You’ll also be able to appreciate things on a deeper level and get more enjoyment from them when you’re focused. If you’re chatting to a friend over coffee while checking your phone, you’re not making the most out of your time with your friend!

Now you’re probably desperate to find out how to get rid of this multiasking habit so you can find real productivity. There is no easy answer. You simply have to commit to it and have the self-discipline to stick to one task at a time. Just say to yourself: When I walk, I walk. When I talk to someone, I talk to someone.

When I read, I read. It’s as simple as that.     4    . And like that, you’ve mastered monotasking.

A．Focus on the one thing you are doing.

B．Habits like these which encourage you to multitask make you mentally exhausted and unproductive.

C．Make sure that you also take breaks in your monotasking, because that' s what helps your brain to stay focused.

D．So it’s a win-win for everyone!

E．The little information we do take in when we' re multitasking is more difficult to remember at a later stage.

F．You feel so good that you believe you’re being effective and further encourages your multitasking habit.