1 . Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words and expressions to complete the passage. Note that there are two more options than you need.

bend                 defeat                    trial                    cruel                    educator             lose face masterpiece       unnecessarily          practically            recite                    dignity               by heart

Today I read about the early learning experiences of three famous people: Marie Curie, Charles Darwin and Nelson Mandela. Young Curie was frequently asked to     1     in front of visitors. In the beginning, she considered it a(n)     2     because she was a timid little girl. Fortunately, her father kept reading Polish     3     to the family on Saturday evenings. With the help of this great     4    , Curie gradually developed a taste for poetry and became willing to learn     5     and recite poems. Young Darwin acquired a nickname of “Gas” because he used to help his brother with his experiments in making gases and compounds in their laboratory. By doing this, he learned, in a(n)     6     way, the real meaning of experimental science. In a manner different from that of the other two, young Mandela learned a lesson from a(n)     7     incident with a donkey. It managed to unseat him while he was riding it. He     8     and felt embarrassed. He learned that he would not     9     his opponents by hurting their     10    .

2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. profound               B. carve               C. employed             D. acquired E. recited                  F. poet                 G. compose               H. national I. critic                      J. experiments       K. achievements

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco and spent his early childhood in the Far West. At the death of his father, when Frost was eleven, the family moved to Salem, New Hampshire. After graduating from high school as a class     1    in 1892, Frost entered Dartmouth College but soon left to work at odd jobs. In 1897 he tried college again—Harvard University —but he left at the end of two years, having     2    an enduring dislike for academics.

For the next twelve years Frost supported himself by teaching and farming while continuing to     3    his poems. In 1911 he decided to     4    out a place for him in literary circle. Leaving New Hampshire, he sailed for England and soon found a publisher in London, where his first book, A Boy’s Will (1913) brought him to the attention of influential literary giants, among whom the American       5    Ezra Pound praised Frost as a     6    poet.

Following the publication of the second volume of his poems, North of Boston (1914), Frost returned home, determined to win recognition in his native land. He worked hard and made great     7    . His fame grew with the appearance of a succession of books throughout the United States.

Frost had rejected the revolutionary poetic principles of his contemporaries, choosing instead “the old-fashioned way to be new”. He     8     the plain speech of rural New Englanders and preferred the short, traditional forms of lyric and narrative.

By the end of his life, he had become a     9    poet, who was honored with degrees from forty-four colleges and universities and won four Pulitzer Prizes. The United States Senate passed resolutions honoring his birthdays, and when he was eighty-seven, he     10     his poetry at the inauguration of the former President John F. Kennedy.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word that you do not need.

A. appearing       B. back       C. challenging       D. chased       E. complicated F. involved       G. hug       H. joking       I. shared       J. support       K. upset

Before starting college, I was told to make friends because friends could offer precious help with notes and homework. They could tell you where the parties were happening, and being in their company meant     1     well adjusted. But friends in college, a time of being away from family for the first time and facing emotional challenges alone, mean a lot more to me than that.

During my freshman year of college, two of my roommates were     2     around with me about how much I hated chicken salad. To mess with (招惹) me even more, they opened two packets of chicken salad and started eating it right in front of me. I decided to take one of those packets and throw it at them! We     3     each other up and down until I found that I had lost my favourite pair of earrings.

I started to get really     4    , but my roommates assured me that we would definitely find them. About 25 minutes later, they finally found the earrings in the elevator. I was so happy that I instantly gave them a(n)     5    . Then they told me that no matter what happened they would always be there, have my     6    , and never leave my side. It was right then and there that I knew we would be close friends for the next four years.

As an introvert (内向的人), I do think that it can be     7     to talk about certain topics with other people, such as academic struggles and complications in relationships. While there are often many resources available on campus, such as professors and advisers, I have found it most comfortable and convenient to turn to friends. Especially where emotions are     8    , outside views can provide a distance that is objective and clear. When combined with knowledge obtained through     9     experiences, this added point of view is of great help.

The numerous assignments, extracurricular (课外的) activities and social events tend to add up throughout a semester. I can confidently say that college would be much more difficult to navigate without the     10     of my friends. Much as I look forward to returning home during breaks, I have come to see some of my college friends as a whole new kind of family.

4 . 选用方框内合适的单词及短语并用其正确形式完成下面短文（每项限用一次）。

obviously, identity, hairstyle, selection, a variety of, experiment, sensible, nowadays

Avatars are often cartoony pictures with facial features like the     1     , the clothing, and accessories (配饰) that allow you to personalize your picture.     2     a lot of websites give you the chance to represent yourself with an avatar rather than a picture of yourself. Can people judge your personality from an avatar you create?

This question was addressed in a(n)     3     by some researchers. Thousands of people took part and were offered a wide     4     of avatars to choose from based on the instructions given. The results were somewhat beyond people’s expectations. In general, the aspects of avatars that people thought were most important for judging a person’ s personality did not accurately describe their     5    .

According to the research, the main reason is that some people generally try to select avatars that represent themselves correctly while others aim to show themselves in     6     different ways to the electronic world from what they appear in real life.

So, what did the results mean? Generally, people     7     prefer to draw inferences (推论) about characteristics from avatars. However, the aspects of the avatars that they use to make judgments about someone’s personality are not necessarily     8    . Thus, people may overestimate (高估) their ability to learn something about others from avatars.