1 . Improved mental health is on the agenda for many people in 2024 and being organized is the preferred method of realizing it.
Disorganization is often considered to have a negative impact on the way we see ourselves and the lives we lead. The studied downsides of living in a disorganized environment include memory problems, poor eating habits, and decreased self-control. “There’s an obvious link between increased stress and anxiety disorders and living in a messy space,” says Daniel Levitin, a behavioral neuroscientist (行为神经科学家) at McGill University.
“Disorganization brings a loss of productivity that is difficult to quantify (量化),” says Levitin. He points to the amount of time people lose looking for lost items, missing appointments, or falling behind at work or school because of disordered living. “The average person likely loses 5 percent of their time due to disorganization,” he says. “Take your annual salary, multiply that by 5 percent, and you can measure what disorganization may be costing you.”
Joseph Ferrari, one of the most recognized scholars on disorganization research, says that nearly every mental health downside that comes from disorganization can be improved by getting organized. “You’ll feel more energetic, enhance your productivity in the office, and greatly improve the quality of your life,” he says.
Tidy homes have been found to be a predictor of physical health. “Those whose houses are cleaner are more active and physically healthy,” says Libby Sander, an assistant professor of organizational behavior. Part of this is due to organized people being better at managing their time, but it’s also because research demonstrates that less clutter can help improve one’s diet. “Studies show an association between clutter and overweight,” says Libby.
Getting organized has also been shown to decrease one’s stress levels, increase personal efficiency, and even improve sleep. Another studied advantage of getting organized may be improving the quality of one’s relationships. Libby explains that relationships can be negatively impacted when too much clutter affects communication or distracts one’s brain from noticing important message from their partner. Research shows this can cause others to feel ignored, misunderstood, or unimportant.
1. What does Levitin say concerning living a disorganized life?| A．It has been well realized by people. |
| B．It’s many people’s New Year resolution. |
| C．It has an obvious impact on mental state. |
| D．It’s closely related to the living environment. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By repeating other experts’ words. | D．By referring to previous studies. |
| A．decoration. | B．mess. | C．furniture. | D．light. |
| A．The Neuroscience Behind Healthy Minds |
| B．The Cost of Chaos — How Disorganization Affects Your Life |
| C．Mental Health in 2024 — Self-control as a Priority |
| D．Organize for Success — Boosting Health and Productivity |
2 . Where do you expect to see graffiti (涂鸦)? Probably not in a museum. Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, in the south-west of England, was the kind of place you went to see classical statues and stuffed animals in cases until the arrivals of the ‘Banksy Versus the Bristol Museum’ exhibition in 2009. The exhibition hosted more than 100 works by Banksy, one of the world’s most famous graffiti artists.
Banksy is a man of mystery (神秘). He hardly ever gives interviews and likes to be anonymous (匿名的). Nobody knows much about his life or his background but many people believe that his real name is either Robin Cunningham, Robert Banks or Robin Banks and that he was born in 1973 near Bristol.
Banksy’s questioned ‘street art’ includes paintings on live sheep and cows and graffiti on the huge wall put up to divide two areas. Brand Pitt spent over 82 million on a Bansky original. Banksy designed an album cover for the Britpop group Blur in 2003 but he has refused requests to do adverts for Nike. A year after the Bristol exhibition, Banksy made a film called Exit Through the Gift Shop. The film tells the story of a French street artist in America. Exit Through the Gift Shop received many positive reviews. Nobody knows if it was about a real artist or an invented character from Banksy’s imagination.
Bristol isn’t the only place in Britain to welcome graffiti. The DPM Park in Dundee, Scotland has the longest legal graffiti wall (almost 110m long) in the UK. Anyone can paint on the council-owned wall any time they like. Mike Crilley, the graffiti wall project organiser, promotes the positive side of graffiti and runs workshops for local children.
Is everyone doing graffiti? Can we do graffiti where we want these days? Not exactly. It’s illegal to paint on somebody else’s possessions, so make sure you find a legal graffiti wall like the one in Dundee if you want to have a go.
1. Why is Banksy a man of mystery?| A．His works are mainly set in Bristol. | B．His works are not universally recognized. |
| C．He’s likely to use a penname in his works | D．He comes from an area unfamilar to others. |
| A．It was produced in the year 2010. | B．It was based on Banksy’s true story. |
| C．It was directed and starred by Banksy. | D．It was filmed for the Bristol exhibition. |
| A．On any wall in the UK. | B．On somebody’s outer wall. |
| C．In Mike Crilley’s workshops. | D．In any nation-owned parks. |
| A．Different opinions on graffiti. | B．Britain’s famous graffiti artist. |
| C．Banksy’s most successful graffiti. | D．Graffiti in major cities in the world. |
3 . A century ago, kids were transported to school by all kinds of random vehicles. Because there were no national standards, it was up to states or individual school districts to hire buses, trucks and even horse-drawn wagons to convey kids to and from school.
Frank Cyr didn’t like this system. Back in the 1930s, Cyr was a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and an advocate for rural education. Cyr traveled the country conducting a study of school transportation. “In many cases, standards have been set up by more or less hit-and-miss methods,” reported Cyr in a New York Times article. He decided that something needed to be done to keep America’s schoolkids safe.
So in 1939, Cyr organized a conference in New York City dedicated to improving and standardizing the American school bus. He invited educators, transportation officials from 48 states and bus manufacturers to design a newer, safer school bus. At the meeting, Cyr hung up 50 paint samples on the walls of the conference room and formed a special committee to pick a winner. They chose the symbolic yellow-orange color that was originally known as “National School Bus Chrome”.
Cyr wasn’t a scientist or a safety expert, but he instinctively made the connection between bright colors, visibility and vehicle safety. “Based upon the standards of 1939, yellow was a very intelligent choice,” says Dr. Stephen Solomon, a retired optometrist (验光师) and founder of Visibility in Motion, which does consulting for emergency services providers. “The colors that are most easily seen by the human eye are the yellows — the yellow-green to yellow to greenish-yellow,” says Solomon. “That’s at the peak of the visibility range.”
Solomon explains that color vision is determined by photoreceptor cells in the retina (视网膜) called cones (视锥细胞). There are three types of cones, each tuned to detect different wavelengths of light: red, green and blue. Yellow light stimulates both the red and green cones at the same time, which is why the eye is most sensitive to colors in the yellow range.
1. What does the underlined word “hit-and-miss” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Random. | B．Similar. | C．Effective. | D．Special. |
| A．Many schoolkids were invited. |
| B．A prize was chosen to award a winner. |
| C．Cyr was appointed as a transportation official. |
| D．The color yellow was selected for school buses. |
| A．It has different wavelengths. | B．It determines photoreceptor cells. |
| C．It affects two cones at the same time. | D．It covers the most visibility range. |
| A．Why Are School Buses Yellow? | B．Cyr: Father of School Buses |
| C．1939: a Year of School Bus Standards | D．What Vehicles Are Safe for Kids? |
4 . Many people view cities largely in negative terms — as crowded, dirty, unhealthy environments that are breeding (繁殖) grounds for disease and crime. People fear that as cities get bigger, living conditions will get worse. To a growing number of economists, urban planners, and environmentalists, urbanization is good news. Many planners now believe big cities offer a solution to dealing with the problem of Earth’s growing population.
Harvard economist Edward Glaeser is one person who believes that cities bring largely positive benefits. Glaeser’s optimism is reflected in the title of his book The Triumph of the City. Glaeser argues that poor people flock to cities because that’s usually where the money is. Cities are productive because of “the absence of space between people”, which reduces the cost of transporting goods, people, and ideas. While the flow of goods has always been important to cities, what is most important today is the flow of ideas. Successful cities attract and reward smart people with higher wages, and they enable people to learn from one another. In the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, employees work in one open, crowded space sharing information. “They value knowledge over space. That’s what the modern city is all about.”
Another champion of urbanization is environmentalist Stewart Brand. From an ecological perspective, says Brand, moving people out of cities would be disastrous. Because cities are dense, they allow half of the world’s population to live on about four percent of the land, leaving more space for open country, such as farmland. People living in cities also have less impact per capita (人均) on the environment. Their roads, sewers (下水道) , and power lines are shorter and require fewer resources to build and operate. City apartments require less energy to heat, cool, and light than larger houses in suburbs and rural areas. Most importantly, people living in dense cities drive less. They can walk to many destinations, and public transportation is practical because enough people travel regularly to the same places. As a result, dense cities tend to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions per person than scattered, sprawling suburbs.
Despite the negative aspects such as pollution and serious problems like urban slums, it is a mistake to see urbanization as evil; instead, we should view it as an inevitable part of development. Rapid growth itself is not the real problem — the larger issue is how to manage the growth.
1. Why does the author mention the New York Stock Exchange in Paragraph 2?| A．To indicate the space there is valuable. |
| B．To show how goods can be exchanged. |
| C．To illustrate the importance of information flow. |
| D．To describe what a modern city should look like. |
| A．advocates something | B．challenges something |
| C．achieves something | D．protects something |
| A．urbanization would be more disastrous |
| B．life in cities is more economical than in rural areas |
| C．public transportation consumes more energy in cities |
| D．people living in rural areas have less impact on the environment |
| A．By quoting authorities. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By analysing the causes. | D．By criticizing opposing views. |
5 . Mosquitoes can carry various diseases and one of the most popular is dengue (登革热). Dengue is caused by any one of the four related viruses spread by mosquitoes, because of which numerous Filipinos died. One of the easiest ways to prevent mosquitoes is to use repellents. In the market, there are many commercial mosquito repellents available. The commonly used repellent in the Philippines is quite unaffordable. Meanwhile, it contains chemicals that may cause irritation (刺激). These account for why researchers seek to develop an alternative mosquito repellent.
The researchers plan to use natural components. Since the component is natural, the new mosquito repellent to be made from it is effective yet inexpensive and poses no risks to health or environment. One of the major components being explored is from lemongrass.
Lemongrass has natural anti-microbial features, suitable for use on various types of skin infections, usually as a wash, and is especially effective on skin diseases. It has mosquito repelling effects and is used to make a mosquito repellent. In using this product, you will spray it over all exposed skin areas. Contact with eyes should be avoided. If irritation occurs, wash off immediately and discontinue using. The very importance of this product is to prevent the spread of multiple diseases caused by mosquito bites. The new mosquito repellent containing lemongrass extract (提取物) also helps control the outbreak of other insect-borne diseases such as Malaria, Lyme Disease and West Nile Fever. After all, lemongrass is a popular plant found commonly in the country and its extract is used for medicinal and food products.
The new study is significant because there’s an increasing number of deaths concerning mosquitoes. While there are alternative solutions, Filipinos cannot deny their brothers and sisters living in poverty cannot afford to buy repellents. Yet, currently the researchers aim to test how effective their natural product is in repelling mosquitoes within households. This initial study will evaluate the product’s effectiveness before further trials in broader applications.
1. Why do the researchers want to create an alternative repellent?| A．The effect of original products is doubted. |
| B．There are too many mosquitoes to get rid of. |
| C．The providers fail to meet the market demands. |
| D．The existing products are costly and harmful. |
| A．Its unique property. | B．Its distributing style. |
| C．Its easy extracting. | D．Its lower risk on eyes. |
| A．It will be long before being evaluated. |
| B．It is a popular mosquito-proof product. |
| C．Its cheapness is its crucial selling point. |
| D．Its natural makeup often appeal to its users. |
| A．A Therapy Fighting back Mosquitoes |
| B．A Cost-Effective Natural Mosquito Repellent |
| C．Dengue: A common Disease from Mosquitoes |
| D．Lemongrass: A Compound Extract from Nature |
6 . The fact that gender diversity is something that companies constantly desire highlights the problem in itself. Actually, there are several professional industries where the female to male ratio (比例) is still nowhere close to equal. Across industries, the workforce gender balance is still highly skewed (偏向……的), even in domains which do not conventionally involve laborious work. The tech industry is a case in point, with the workforce imbalance definitely being one of the most prominent on the list.
Diversity and inclusion need to go hand in hand, and women around the world are increasingly assuming important positions and taking core decisions in the tech sector. These women are driving technological change and innovation which impact the industry at large.
Gender diversity, like diversity in general, is important for varied perspectives and thought processes in a company. These perspectives are what help shape advancements and new ideas in technology and overall operations for the success of the business. This is especially true for technologies such as AI. The effects of personal biases on AI can tilt (使……倾斜) the results and, thus, they require a number of inputs and caution on the team’s part, to be able to produce accurate solutions based on diverse and inclusive data.
According to a 2017 report on Higher Education by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, women were at or near parity (对等) among undergraduate degrees in science IT and computer. Most women equal men when it comes to skills, but face discrimination in other areas, thus creating a gap and reducing the will to continue at the company.
According to reports, biased treatment within the workplace is the most frequently cited reason for leaving, followed by poor management. There is still scope for a shift in attitudes at workplaces, which is a major obstacle when it comes to retaining women employees. In order to retain this talent and hire more talent like this, governments, NGOs and leaders from tech organizations need to come together to help close the gender gap further by providing more flexible work options and decision-making opportunities for women.
More and more women across the world are interested in pursuing tech careers or maintaining their existing ones. There is a need to encourage them to take up roles in AI and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) with opportunities that are both fair and equal. Given the computer-driven nature of AI, there is a need for women from diverse backgrounds to balance out the conventionally male-dominated profession to give an accurate representation. Thus, an inclusive and diverse workforce, combined with better HR policies will retain and draw in more women. This, in turn, will help the entire tech industry to develop a more comprehensive, empathetic (感同身受的) way of operations, which will undoubtedly influence the future socio-cultural thread driven by products and services developed by them.
1. From the first paragraph we know that ________.| A．gender balance problem remains to be solved |
| B．laborious work demands more gender balance |
| C．not all industries have gender balance problem |
| D．gender balance problem has been more serious |
| A．unsatisfying income | B．unfair treatment |
| C．competitive workplace | D．poor management |
| A．Encouraging women to take up all kinds of roles. |
| B．Treating women employees more kindly than to men employees. |
| C．Offering women diverse work choices and decision-making opportunities. |
| D．Providing a tolerant working environment combined with favorable welfare. |
| A．To appeal to women to protect their proper rights |
| B．To present the fact of gender bias in the tech industry |
| C．To call for more women representation in the tech industry |
| D．To teach the tech industry how to get rid of gender bias |
7 . It might surprise you to learn that there are conservationists on four legs as well as two. In the 1890s, realizing that imported stoats (白鼬) were having a disastrous impact on local birds such as kiwi, conservationist Richard Henry relied upon his pet dog to help translocate birds to a reserve on Resolution Island. From then on, he kept working and contributed to the world’s first government-backed conservation dogs programme established in 1998.
Dogs have many qualities that recommend them for field work, but it’s their nose that puts them ahead of many humans. Damp surfaces trap odour molecules (气味分子), but dog noses are also remarkably sensitive. Add in a set of other adaptations that allow dogs to filter the air they breathe in to a dedicated smelling area at the back of the nose, you’ve got an extremely excellent detective machine.
Worldwide, dogs have helped scientists to track snow leopards, koalas, gorillas and even killer whales, whose muck (排泄物) only floats on the ocean’s surface for a limited time. For their cooperation, the dogs receive their favourite treat. “We reward our dogs for locating the target by playing balls,” says Hartman, a research scientist. She explains that around 98% of the dogs are from rescue shelters, given up by owners who could not match their energy levels. Enthusiastic dogs are a must for the programme, but trainers need to match this with patience curiosity and hard work.
After the muck sniffers (嗅探器), the next most common task for conservation dogs is live animal detection. Many working dogs were first bred to be pest controllers in agricultural settings. Now conservation dogs are used to find introduced rats and stoats on New Zealand’s island safe havens, feral cats in Australia, mongooses in Japan — even mussels and ants in the US that cause destruction and upset ecosystems. It’s just one of the ways dogs are being employed to keep human activity in check.
1. Why is Richard Henry’s story mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To illustrate stoats’ impact. |
| B．To tell dogs’ position in animal protection. |
| C．To present different kinds of conservationists. |
| D．To highlight Henry’s passion for making a reserve. |
| A．Loyalty. | B．Smelling. | C．Bravery. | D．Wisdom. |
| A．Dogs need training to achieve their potential. |
| B．Dogs located their targets by playing balls. |
| C．Humans could be as energetic as their dogs. |
| D．Dogs from rescue shelters are best for the job. |
| A．Be friendly to your pet dog. |
| B．Train your dogs to detect wildlife. |
| C．Cooperate with dogs for a better living. |
| D．Meet the dogs saving some animal species. |
8 . Lining up to board a plane has become a star k indicator of how our society has commodified (商品化的) the very act of waiting. The more you pay, the sooner you can get on the plane and the less likely you will have to check a bag. It’s not just airlines, it’s also museums, online purchases and amusement parks where VIP status can help you avoid lines. When did the act of waiting get such a bad reputation?
The very act of waiting can enhance our appreciation of something. We savor (欣赏) the anticipation like a child waiting for Christmas or summer vacation. Perhaps the person waiting in line to see his favorite singer perform in concert relishes the night more because of the time invested in getting into the venue.
As our world has sped up, this desirable balance between instant and delayed gratification (满足) is at ever greater odds with the current expectations of many people. This change has a negative impact on mental health both individually and collectively. When we look down upon the act of waiting, we risk losing an important part of our shared humanity. Being forced to wait is often seen as a sign of being less well off or ‘not in the game’. It encourages privileged impatience and disrespect for those who are caught waiting.
The ability to wait patiently is very important for a civitized society; it’s a key skill we all need. If we lose our patience and can’t wait in line or for our turn, we end up feeling the stress of a fast-paced world. Furthermore, if we call people who wait “losers”, we are being unfair and may act without thinking about how our actions affect others. This kind of thinking makes us see those who wait as different and less important, which is a harmful way to treat others.
Of course, we should not have to wait patiently for everything. For example, there are times when injustice deserves immediate action. Asking people to wait can be a calculated block to change. In a larger context though, it behoves (理应) all of us to understand the act of waiting not only as a necessary evil but also as an important function which allows us to participate fully alongside our fellow travelers in life.
1. What is the purpose of the author’s writing Paragraph 1?| A．To reach a conclusion. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To propose a suggestion. | D．To present a phenomenon. |
| A．Enhanced appreciation of experiences. | B．Increased frustration and impatience. |
| C．Immediate access to all desires. | D．Decreased value of time. |
| A．. Growing expectations for speedy service. |
| B．Appreciating the moment and anticipating. |
| C．Understanding through technological progress. |
| D．Experiencing the quickening pace of everyday life. |
| A．Waiting is an important part of our shared humanity. |
| B．Waiting means that one is at a disadvantage state. |
| C．Waiting is wrong and should be avoided. |
| D．Waiting helps us treat each other better. |
| A．Immediate action is sometimes necessary and justified. |
| B．Waiting is a waste of time without real purpose. |
| C．Patience is no longer a virtue in today’s society. |
| D．Waiting always fences the change. |
9 . Millions of older people, laborers and cancer sufferers could be unable to use their fingerprints to log in online bank accounts. Banks are spending millions of pounds on fingerprint technology to replace passwords. But banks may have to rethink these plans after warnings that the technology flawed （有缺陷）. Representatives of major banks at a London conference were told many older people’s fingerprints are too faded for the machines to recognize.
John Daugman, a professor of computer vision and pattern recognition at the University of Cambridge, says, “Fingerprints can ‘rub off’ for many kinds of laborers—their skin becomes almost smooth. Gardeners often acquire a lot of wounds on their fingers, and people who work with chemicals, such as cleaners, also suffer damage of fingerprints.”
Jean Slocombe, a senior nurse at Cancer Research UK, says, “Some drugs can cause the skin of hands and feet to peel. In severe cases, the fingers can peel, and it’s possible that this could change a patient’s fingerprints. This should improve once treatment ceases, but severe scarring（伤疤） can change fingerprints in the long term.”
Fingerprints are generally considered more secure than passwords for several reasons. Unlike passwords, fingerprints cannot be easily copied, written down, shared, or guessed. Additionally, it is impossible to forget one’s fingerprints. Currently, banks offer customers the option to use a password or PIN (personal identification number) for online access to their money. However, technology experts have predicted that companies might do away with passwords entirely to decrease the risk of fraud （诈骗）. Should this transition to fingerprint technology occur, there is a potential risk that millions of bank customers could find themselves unable to access their accounts.
Banks have tried other security measures, such as facial recognition—but fingerprint technology is often the best one, as it is fast and people are more familiar with it. Nick Dryden, a chief executive of technology company Sthaler, says, “Businesses like fingerprint technology because it’s fast.”
“There must always be a back-up so that if it doesn’t work, there is another way of paying, such as with a password.” Dryden adds that using the veins（静脉） in someone’s fingers to identify them is more secure and means people with faded prints will not be left behind as technology advances.
1. Which of the following is the critical flaw of using fingerprints to log into accounts?| A．Fingerprints can be easily stolen from photos. |
| B．Fingerprint recognition adapts to medical changes. |
| C．The application of fingerprint technology costs too much. |
| D．Elderly people’s fingerprints may be too faint for detection. |
| A．Excessive use of technology. | B．Physical labor and natural aging. |
| C．Environmental exposure process. | D．Lack of proper fingerprinting equipment. |
| A．Experts recommend replacing passwords soon. |
| B．Fingerprints can totally avoid the risk of fraud. |
| C．Switching to fingerprints might lock out many customers. |
| D．Passwords and PINs are preferred by banks due to their simplicity. |
| A．Using veins instead of fingerprints isn’t workable. |
| B．There must be other ways to get into bank accounts. |
| C．Its greatest advantage is its high speed of recognition. |
| D．Passwords are still the most reliable security measure now. |
| A．Comparing password and fingerprint security. |
| B．Enhancing and upgrading bank security measures. |
| C．Presenting fingerprint technology challenges in banking. |
| D．Advancing fingerprint and facial recognition technology. |
10 . In my senior year of high school, while living with my grandparents, I discovered a unique talent: perfect timing. This discovery of my perfect timing was so astonishing that I kept it to myself, thinking no one would believe my ability to time my arrival at school with extraordinary precision.
My mother passed away when I was 13, leaving me, the oldest of four, in the care of our grandparents. Our father was absent, so financial challenges were part of our daily life. This prompted my grandfather to work as the janitor (门卫) of our school—a large building for grades 1-12. To help out, I started assisting him after school to ease his burden, such as sweeping rooms and emptying wastebaskets, earning a small wage in the process. I continued this work until my final year of high school.
By that time, Grandpa was eight years past retirement age. When the first cold snap of that year arrived, he fired up the school’s furnace (火炉). He quickly realized how difficult it had become for him to shovel the huge pile of coal chips required to fill the hopper (漏斗) of the furnace’s stoker (司炉).
I volunteered to take on that job, a commitment that required me to set my alarm clock an hour earlier each morning. I’d fumble into coal-darkened jeans, go over to the school, and shovel a half-ton of coal into the hopper, enough to keep the fire blazing for 24 hours. The next morning, I’d fill it again.
After finishing that chore, I’d go home, clean up, change clothes, and eat breakfast. I’d pace my preparations by glancing at the clock in the dining room—it would be years before I’d have a watch. Then I’d head back to school, always at the last minute. It was during those morning rushes to school that I discovered my superpower.
What initially seemed like mere coincidence—arriving at the exact moment the first bell rang—quickly became a deliberate challenge. I meticulously (小心翼翼地) planned each morning to maintain this precise timing, revealing in the master y of my routine.
Years later, at a school reunion, I recounted this story to Harold Spiry, the school headmaster during my time. I boasted about my perfect timing, recalling with pride how I had mastered my mornings to the second. ‘Oh that,’ he said, his eyes narrowing as he thought back to that time. ‘Do you recall that my desk and office windows looked out over the front of the building? I often saw you coming. And when you hit the sidewalk, I’d ring the bell.’ Oh, my ‘perfect timing’ was actually his doing.
1. What can we infer about the author’s character from his perfect timing?| A．He lacks confidence. | B．He is naturally lucky. |
| C．He prefers to work alone. | D．He values precision and discipline. |
| A．He was passionate about cleaning. |
| B．He found it was the only job available. |
| C．He needed the job to support the family financially. |
| D．He wanted to stay close to his grandchildren at school. |
| A．He wanted to learn a new skill. |
| B．He needed extra money for personal expenses. |
| C．He wanted to relieve his grandfather’s workload. |
| D．He was interested in the mechanical operation of the furnace. |
| A．The author’s devotion to aiding his grandfather with coal shoveling. |
| B．The author’s daily routine of waking up early to attend school. |
| C．The author’s development of a new skill in coal shoveling. |
| D．The author’s realization of the importance of punctuality. |
| A．Our accomplishments are often supported by unseen kindness. |
| B．Challenges can only be overcome through personal hardships. |
| C．Personal talents bring pride and joy to an individual’s life. |
| D．Perseverance leads to the development of unique skills. |
