1 . A merchant wanted to purchase a good-looking camel in the market and after spotting one began to bargain for it with the seller! There was a long bargain between the merchant and the camel seller, and finally the merchant bought the camel and took it home!

On reaching home, the merchant called his servant to take out the camel’s saddle. Under the   saddle, the servant found a small velvet bag which upon opening revealed him to be full of precious diamonds! The servant shouted, “Boss, you bought a camel, but look what came with it for free!”

The Merchant was also surprised when he saw diamonds in his servant’s hands which were shining and twinkling even more in the sunlight! The Merchant said: “I have bought a camel and not the diamonds, I should return it immediately!”

The servant was thinking in his mind “How stupid my boss is! Nobody will know who the owner is!”

However, the merchant did not listen to him and immediately reached the market and returned the velvet bag to the shopkeeper.

The camel seller was very happy and said, “I had forgotten that I had hidden my precious diamonds under the saddle. Now you choose any one diamond!”

The Merchant said, “I have paid the right price for the camel, so I do not need any gift and prizes!”

The more the merchant was refusing, the more the camel seller was insisting. Finally, the merchant smiled and said: “In fact, when I decided to bring back the bag, I had already kept two of the most precious diamonds with me!”

After this declaration, the camel seller was infuriated and he quickly emptied the bag and began to count his diamond! But after he counted with a heavy sigh of relief, he said “These are all my diamonds, so what were the two most precious ones that you kept?”

The Merchant said: “My honesty and my self-respect.”

1. If the servant had bought the camel, what would he have done?

A．Giving them to his master.

B．Returning the diamonds.

C．Pocketing the diamonds.

D．Dividing them with his boss.

2. Why did the seller ask the merchant take one diamond?

A．He thought he should reward him.

B．He regretted he had bargained with him.

C．He knew the he had made a big mistake.

D．He volunteered to lower the price.

3. What does the underlined word “infuriated” mean?

A．Content.

B．Funny.

C．Angry.

D．Happy.

2 . Facial expressions give away whether someone is being honest

Wouldn’t the world be such a simple place if someone’s nose really grew when they told a lie? Then we wouldn’t have to spend so much time trying to determine whether people are telling the   truth. Luckily, there are scientific ways to tell if someone is being honest by judging from their facial expressions.     1    .

They’re holding the right amount of eye contact.

Eyes have the power to be extremely telling at times, particularly when it comes to whether people are telling the truth or not. When I think about it,     2    , but it turns out the opposite is true.

Their rate of blinking doesn’t change.

Stay to the eyes for a moment — blinking is a very easy way to detect if someone is telling you the truth. Those who are being honest will maintain a consistent rhythm of blinking as they’re speaking to you.     3    , and then the blinking speed will increase up to eight time faster than normal after the lie has been told.

You haven’t noticed them touching their nose.

    4    . Are they reaching up and touching their nose as they’re speaking? Nose touching is a sign of lying. This is because certain tissues in the nose usually swell when a person is telling   a lie, making the nose itch. If the person hasn’t been touching their nose at all, take this as a good sign.

    5    .

A fake smile could mean something is up. Liars have an “increased activity of the ‘zygomatic major muscles’, located around the mouth,” and it can force the face into a fake smile.

A．There’s no fake smile in sight

B．Watch the person’s hands

C．Blinking fast is a way to give away one’s lying

D．I assume liars would have a difficult time holding eye contact

E．You have notice there’s a fake smile in their faces

F．Here are some ways to tell if someone is telling you the truth

G．Oppositely, a liar will blink more slowly when they’re telling a lie

3 . The first and only emergency hiking shelter in Golden Ears Provincial Park celebrated its 20th anniversary (周年纪念日) this summer, after helping countless people over the past two decades when they’ve found themselves in trouble near the peak.

At a height of over l,500 meters, Golden Ears is home to some unpredictable weather. According to a 2020 global study, more than 20 percent of hiking accidents happen partially due to poor weather conditions.

The weather became such a problem that Ron Paley, former trail-master for Golden Ears Trail Preservation and Restoration Club, was personally involved in multiple rescues while preparing the future construction site.

“One involved a couple of guys hiking, one of whom hurt his ankle. His friend tried carrying him down the mountain, but it’s hard enough hiking that mountain alone, so there was no way he would have made it while giving a piggyback ride to someone else,” Paley said.

Since the structure was completed on Oct. 1, 2002, many people have visited it — whether for emergency or personal use.

Rick Laing, spokesperson for the Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue, emphasizes that this long-standing shelter is designed to be used in only extreme cases.

“But, a lot of people seem to use it as a destination instead of for emergencies,” Laing said.

The tough conditions of Golden Ears make it likely that many more of the nearly 1 million people who visit the park each year will need to seek out this shelter in the future.

“I’ve done the Grand Canyon and it’s easier than Golden Ears,” Paley said.

It’s because of this challenging terrain (地形) that completing the emergency shelter took more than two weeks and $50,000. But according to Paley, he looks back on the challenge fondly.

“If this shelter has saved even one life, it’s worth it.”

1. What led to the construction of the shelter in Golden Ears?

A．Its great height.	B．Hikers’ requests.
C．Sudden weather changes there.	D．Frequent hiking accidents there.

2. What can we infer about the guy with an injured ankle?

A．He lost his life in the park.	B．He was saved by Ron Paley.
C．He had hiked that mountain alone.	D．He was carried down the mountain by his friend.

3. What is Laing’s attitude to people using the structure as a destination?

A．Unfavorable.

B．Tolerant.

C．Uncaring.

D．Approving.

4. Why is the Grand Canyon mentioned?

A．To imply the importance of Golden Ears.

B．To reveal Golden Ears’ remote location.

C．To show the tough conditions of Golden Ears.

D．To suggest Golden Ears’ growing popularity.

4 . To American ears, hearing the words “Black Grace” used together makes them feel a kind of quiet strength in times of hardship or perhaps a positive cultural stereotype (刻板印象). To choreographer Neil Ieremia, the words represent the joining of two ideas born from personal and cultural conflict.

In New Zealand, where Ieremia grew up in what he describes as “a fairly tough town” northeast of Wellington, black was used to describe brave, daring behavior. In Ieremia’s youth, brave people were called “black”, linking them to the neighborhood’ s heroes, New Zealand’ s great All Blacks, the national rugby (橄榄球) team.

Ieremia was born in New Zealand to Samoan immigrants who arrived in the country during the 1960s. Illnesses kept him from actively participating in the country’s widespread sports culture. This was difficult for a Pacific Island boy living in a neighborhood where boys were expected to be sporty and tough. In this world, he developed a passion for music.

At the age of 19, Ieremia decided to attend dance school. At his first ballet class, the instructor told him he lacked grace. Ieremia wasn’t discouraged. When he started his own dance company in 1995, he looked to his own experiences for a name that would also reflect his ambitions for dance grace and storytelling. Thus Black Grace was born. Since then, he has changed the face of modern dance in New Zealand and turned Black Grace into one of the most recognizable and successful cultural brands.

In the early years of Black Grace, Ieremia struggled with the conflict between Samoan and New Zealand cultures. Questions of how and where one belongs were at the forefront of his work. Ieremia draws inspiration from his Samoan and New Zealand roots to create innovative dance works that reach across social, cultural and generational barriers. The work itself is highly physical, rich in the storytelling traditions of the South Pacific, and expressed with unique beauty and power.

1. What is Neil Ieremia’s occupation?

A．a sports figure

B．a dancer

C．a psychologist

D．a great writer

2. What does “Black Grace” mean to Neil Ieremia?

A．Stay calm and positive when facing difficulties

B．The quality of being courageous and elegant

C．A kind of stereotype from cultural conflict

D．The expectation of being sporty and tough

3. According to the passage, what can we learn about Ieremia?

A．Ieremia immigrated from New Zealand to Samoan.

B．Ieremia played a key role in mainstream sports culture.

C．Ieremia had a talent for dance at an early age.

D．Ieremia made Black Grace become a successful cultural brand.

4. The best title for the message might be________.

A．Bridging cultures through dance	B．A conflict between two cultures
C．Breaking cultural stereotype	D．Neil Iremia—a successful choreographer

5 . You may not realize that your brain is consuming energy almost all the time. Paying attention, decision-making, empathy, even meditation consume mental resources. You can’t think much at all-or laugh, or respond to danger, or dream about the future, or even remember where you put the car keys-without mental energy.

Despite its essential status, mental energy is a missing factor in most accounts of psychic(心理的)operations. It’s not even clear what mental energy is. One model sees it as one part mood state, one part cognition, and one part motivation. There’s no agreed-upon measure of or method for assessing mental energy.

Whatever mental energy turns out to be, one thing is clear: it’s something people want more of. Perhaps because we live in disquieting times that we struggle to make sense of even decisions about what to put in the garbage bring us face-to-face with existential threats-there are continuous demands on mental energy. Or maybe it’s just the price of having a big cerebral cortex(大脑皮层)in a time of information overload.

There are known ways of maintaining mental energy. Most accessible, perhaps, is the careful use of whatever mental energy individuals already have. Habits help conserve mental energy. They obviate the need to make any number of decisions so as to maintain mental energy. Good habits are even better; they additionally prevent the need to expend energy on mopping up the damage done by bad habits.

It’s also possible to generate mental energy from within by a technique known as mental contrasting. New York University psychologist Gabriele Oettingen developed mental contrasting as a way to use the energy necessary to turn goals into achievements. The technique requires imagining a future you want to attain-writing a book, say-and the best outcome of that desired goal-feelings of accomplishment and pride. The critical part is then avoiding pure fantasy by contrasting your wishes with the reality of the work necessary to attain them. The judgments people then make about how likely they are to attain the desired future are starting working, and the energy mobilization(能量调动)can be measured physically in tests of hand-grip strength(握力). Further,Oettingen finds，mental contrasting gives rise to a universal arousal state in which energy is transferrable to mental tasks wholly unrelated to the fantasy that birthed it.

1. What do we know about mental energy?

A．It’s clear that people desire more of mental energy.

B．Most threats and struggles can be addressed with mental energy.

C．It is a model with parts including mood state, cognition, and motivation.

D．Most accounts of psychic operations describe mental energy as a main factor.

2. What does the underlined word “obviate” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Meet.

B．Remove.

C．Increase.

D．Provide.

3. How does mental contrasting help generate mental energy?

A．By turning goals into achievements.

B．By transferring your energy to mental tasks.

C．By picturing your desired goal and its outcome.

D．By fantasizing about your accomplishments.

4. Which would be the best title for the text?

A．The making of mental energy.

B．The functions of mental energy.

C．Habits, good keepers of mental energy.

D．Mental contrasts, sources of mental energy.

6 . How to practise emotional awareness?

What is emotional awareness? Emotional awareness is being able to identify and make sense of not only our own emotions but those of others. It’s absolutely essential in understanding our behaviors and changing our way of dealing with the problems. With emotional awareness, we can understand how this influences our behaviors.    1    

Of course, describing exactly how we feel can often prove difficult.    2    It’s not always easy to put a finger on exactly what’s wrong, without digging a little deeper. This is often because on some level we don’t want to know how we really feel.

    3     Unhealthy thoughts, behaviors and coping mechanisms that are hidden from our view. Perhaps you lash out(猛击)or withdraw when you feel overwhelmed or go into a flood of criticism and self-doubt when you receive negative feedback.

Mindfulness is the process of bringing our attention to the present moment and becoming more aware of our thoughts. It’s a state of calm, non-judgmental reflection.    4     We can quiet the mental chatter that often accompanies difficult emotions and instead sit with the physical sensation of the emotion in our body. Doing this regularly allows us to be more aware of the source of our emotions and enables us to carry out strategies to manage them more effectively.

Self-reflection develops emotional awareness and is key to understanding why you feel the way you do. Activities such as journaling can be really beneficial in learning about your thought processes.    5    It can be difficult to feel heard by others if we don’t have the language to describe how we’re feeling.

A．And in turn, change the way we respond to challenging situations.

B．Without emotional awareness, we may develop emotional blind spots.

C．It’s the very reason we turn to general phrases like “I’m not myself today”.

D．Sometimes what we really struggle with is putting our emotions into words.

E．There are many ways to be mindful, from practising breathwork to sitting in silence.

F．And for many of us, that means understanding how we feel and why can be incredibly difficult.

G．Research shows that being aware of your emotions is hugely beneficial to social and emotional functioning.

7 . Conflict (冲突) between teenagers and parents happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes conflict happens between teenagers and parents just because conflict happens between human beings anyway. Humans have different needs, different feelings, different opinions about what they want, and the relationship with people can be really difficult. However, teenagers can cause further conflict because of the hormonal (生理的) changes that are happening and the stage of life that they're in.

Teenagers and parents have different understanding about rules and at times they find it difficult to look into the future. So parents and teenagers will often experience conflict about many things, do chores, homework, whether teenagers speak respectfully or not and about what they're allowed to do.

Before we think about rule boundaries (界线) for teenagers, we need to make sure that we have a really good relationship base. There's no point saying “From now on, you have to listen to me”: if you don't have a positive relationship with your teenager. We need to go back and make sure there is some degree of shared respect, and some degree of positive communication and enjoyment being together. you do that first, it means that rule boundaries are a lot easier to set up.

Often we're dealing with conflict on the fly. This is not the right time to be dealing with it. We really want parents and teenagers to sit down and think about the kinds of things that may happen in the house before the problems come. The more detailed your rule boundaries are for teenagers, the more likely it is that they are going to follow them. So this means we don't have rule boundaries like “Have the bathroom cleaned”. It needs to be “The floors mopped, nothing on the countertop and the mirrors cleaned by ten o'clock every Saturday”: Rule boundaries need to be written down, and set out ahead of time so the teenager knows exactly what's expected.

1. What's important to set up a rule boundary easily for teenagers?

A．Being strict from the start.	B．Developing a good relationship with them first.
C．Saying"No" to their requirements.	D．Avoiding close talks with them.

2. Which of the following rules are teenagers most likely to follow?

A．Doing some housework.	B．Having a good reading habit.
C．Cleaning the bathroom.	D．Finishing your homework by five.

3. What do the underlined words "on the fly" in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．In a hurry.

B．On the plane.

C．By oneself.

D．Another day.

4. What's the best title for the text?

A．Growing Pains	B．Teenage Problems
C．Parent-Child Conflict and Solutions	D．Knowing the Conflict

8 . The Feynman Technique(费曼学习法)is a powerful method that you can use to learn anything faster because it forces you to actively think about the problem instead of passively reading or listening to someone else talk about it. You can take the following five simple steps to study better.

·Find out the topic you want to learn.     1     Otherwise, you'll end up jumping between topics without developing a deeper understanding of any of them.

·Explain the topic as if teaching a sixth-grader. This step is the heart of the FeynmanTechnique—    2    .This requires you to meet the child at their level of understanding by using the simplest way.

.Identify areas of improvement in your explanation. You’ll need to critically(批判性地)review the explanation you cane up with in Step Two     3    . Try to find any knowledge gaps, together with any areas where you felt that you couldn't explain the topic simply.

·Improve and optimiez(优化) your explanation. Think about all the knowledge gaps and other areas of improvement you found before.     4    

· Repeat the steps until you’ve achieved mastery of the topic. Keep going through each step you're fully satisfied with your explanation.    5    , and that is why going through all the prior steps just once is usually not enough to achieve topic mastery.

A．Use those to improve your explanation

B．To do so, take a critical look at your explanation

C．Make sure that your explanation is interest-based

D．Your explanations need to be short and to the point

E．The Feynman Technique works best with a repeat

F．It’s important that you clearly know the topics you’re trying to learn

G．Explaining the topic simply enough to be understood by a sixth-grade student

9 . Everyone has their favourite Bond songs with the 007 movies offering so many different musical outings over the years from classic rock and pop to soul and even dance. Let us know in the comments.

Golden Eye — Tina Turner
Golden Eye (1995)

Golden Eye sees a cat-like Turner wandering about throughout its sound stage, flashing her claws where necessary. Its sweeping arrangement and sentimental brass (感伤的铜管乐) contribute to a powerful vocal performance. The strings are mixed with horns that sound like a passing train. This is effortless singing from Turner and her amazing control is a joy to hear.

Tomorrow Never Dies — Sheryl Crow
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

This rock/pop little number has always felt rather clear to the listeners. It is a bit Bond-aping (邦德式模仿) rather than creating something new all by itself, which is what it should ideally be aiming for. Crow gives it her all with her soft voice.

You Know My Name — Chris Cornell
Casino Royal (2006)

Right from the brilliantly exciting intro, the whole track just sounds so strong, as if it was chiseled (镌刻) out of the very finest stone. A lot of this is down to Chris Cornell’s powerful and deeply rich voice. One of the greatest singers of his generation, he absolutely nails this track.

Writing’s On The Wall — Sam Smith
Spectre (2015)

The title theme that most people can’t actually remember. By all accounts, Sam Smith’s Writing’s On The Wall was written very quickly, and frankly, it shows. Far from being a terrible song, it just lacks basically everything that a Bond theme needs. Sure, it certainly feels empty.

1. Who gives an impression of joy to hear through his/her voice?

A．Tina Turner.	B．Sheryl Crow.
C．Chris Cornell.	D．Sam Smith.

2. How does the song Tomorrow Never Dies sound to the listeners?

A．Sweet.

B．Strong.

C．Gentle.

D．Terrible.

3. Which song lacks a Bond theme according to the author?

A．Golden Eye.

B．Tomorrow Never Dies.

C．You Know My Name.

D．Writing’s On The Wall.

10 . Festivals are a part of our culture. We have grown up around them and have embraced them as a part of our lives.     1     Festivals to them mean decorations, sweets, gifts, games and lots of other celebrations. However, there are a lot of things that children can learn from celebrating festivals.

Festivals are celebrated with people.     2     This teaches children the importance of community and the joys of working together. When kids take part in preparations for a festival, they make a place for themselves in this community of people.

Festivals also mean that the entire family can be together and celebrate something they believe in. Kids and parents find time to help each other to decorate their house, prepare delicacies, make gifts, etc.     3     Kids are also able to spend time and bond with their grandparents, cousins, and other relatives.

Festivals also mean gift-giving and sharing. The exchange of gifts teaches children to share joys during festivals     4     Children learn to share and care for others who may not be able to celebrate festivals without their help. This teaches them the importance of generosity and humbleness. They also learn to be thankful for what they have and receive.

    5     A child can be taught more about their culture and their country during festival s and celebrations. This teaches them about their roots in the world and makes them proud of their country and culture. It is during festivals when stories of the past come forward to teach children about the past and help them understand the importance of celebration through generations.

A．Festivals have much more to offer to the people.

B．Festivals are a great way to understand one’s culture.

C．This allows children to form a stronger bond with their family.

D．Children are particularly the ones who enjoy festivals more than adults.

E．On these days people from all walks of life come together to celebrate life.

F．Children share sweets and gifts with relatives and friends to spread the joy of celebrations.

G．Celebrations always involve people coming together and helping each other to have a good time.