1 . Supporting Others

We’re always being told that the secret to happiness lies in helping others. Indeed, it’s natural to want to support those we care about, especially if we are in a position to do so.    1    

When we offer support, it may not always be wanted.     2     In this case, offering support in the manner of “... if l were you, I would ...” can feel like a scolding rather than support. If our support feels conditional, it can feel burdensome.

    3     When someone is trying to manage illness or a house move, just saying “What would help you today?” can be amazingly supportive. Or, suggest what you can do for them: picking up some shopping, taking the dog for a walk. Even if it’s not needed, just knowing you’ ve been thought of can be supportive in itself.

Try to be mindful of offering support that is disabling, rather than enabling. My son, when aged five, wanted to make a cup of tea. I could see how inspiring it was for him to be able to do this. So I filled the kettle and took him through the safety measures. It felt like a huge risk but it worked. His pleasure was immeasurable. The same principle applies when we offer support that increases someone else’s capacity.     4    

Sometimes the only support that’s needed is to listen without judgement.     5     This reassures them that someone cares enough to listen while they ground themselves. When times are tough, remember to keep things stable. Waiting until the storm has passed is all it takes.

Support often works best when it’s a two-way process. It is good to know how to accept help from others as well as offer support to them.

A．Here are the pros and cons of supporting others.

B．Just be there, while someone lets out their feelings.

C．Ask what support is needed and provide a practical one.

D．This can often be a bigger gift than just doing it for them.

E．But we can do more by thinking about the support we offer.

F．Because being judgmental can only make someone annoyed.

G．Sometimes people are trying to manage life in their own way.

2 . 假设你是李华，刚刚得知自己被某大学录取了。你打算给英国好友Jack发一封邮件，告诉他这个好消息。内容包括：
1. 你的大学生活计划；
2. 征求对方建议。
注意：1. 词数 100 左右，开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Jack,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

3 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Keeping in Touch

There is one thing better than making a new friend and that is keeping an old one.

—Elmer G．Leterman

Two years ago my family moved.The day that we left，my best friend and I cried together in my empty bedroom for hours.No words could describe how sad and homesick I was during the five－hour car ride to my new house.Life was so unbearable that it seemed to be the end of the world.When we finally reached our new house, I rushed to the phone to tell my best friend my address and phone number.We talked for a little while, but I had to hang up because the long－distance call was expensive.

On the first day of school，I called her to tell her how it went. Then, on Halloween I sent her a letter with a picture of my new friends and me enclosed. Days later, she wrote me a letter. It wasn’t even a letter—just a bunch of pieces of paper saying, “Best friends forever.”

When I finally got her e－mail address, I e－mailed her the longest letter I had ever written.I never received an e－mail back, and by the third e－mail letter with no response, my messages grew shorter and shorter.With each passing day, I got angrier and angrier. At last, I never received a reply from her.

Mom said that I could call my other friends，and that I didn’t need to always call her.Give up on my best friend? Give up on the person I had known all my life? The person I had gone from diapers to Barbies to nail polish with, and who had been in the same class with me from the first through the fifth grade? My first answer was automatically “No way!” But after five more e－mail messages, three phone calls and two more letters，I started to consider what my mom had said.Every night about a week, I stayed up in bed thinking, “Should I give up? Should I keep trying?”

注意：续写词数应为150左右。

The way I looked at it，as my best friend，she would share anything with me.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With two years of disappointment and depression，I eventually got a phone call from her.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . My brother is exactly one year older than me. We look like twins, but we are completely________.By the time we got to middle school it was clear that my older brother________meditation (冥想)，while I was a born________who liked the stage. I took his relative silence to be unfriendly. We simply didn’t________.

I didn’t________having a bad relationship with my brother because I was busy at school.________,I threw myself into the world of music. I practised singing in the bedroom every day to remain at my best and be________for roles; my brother would meditate on a window seat. He might feel high school was already hard enough________my noisy singing. So space to practise became a(n)________between us because we shared a room.

At the start of the term, I practiced “Circle of Life” for a musical play. This was the first time I________to learn a song, because my voice cracked (破音) when I changed to a head voice. I was annoyed in that period and________practising, announcing I had reached the ceiling of my singing career. For the first time in years my brother________quiet when I got home.

After two days of this, my brother asked me to________him in meditation. Feeling my anger at my failure to sing this song________, I accepted. My brother said, “When your mind calms down, you simply come back. Don’t blame yourself." I got the message, and it soon became my new________.I kept trying at the song, no longer getting________at myself. And just in time for the trial (选拔) performance, I was able to________power in my singing despite the change to a head voice. It was important for me to learn that you don’t have to always get everything________the first time and that good things come with________.I now understand why my brother prefers the________.

1.

A．capable

B．unusual

C．different

D．normal

2.

A．preferred

B．disliked

C．replaced

D．adapted

3.

A．writer

B．performer

C．painter

D．leader

4.

A．get along

B．stir up

C．show off

D．check in

5.

A．try

B．mean

C．enjoy

D．mind

6.

A．In case

B．In particular

C．In return

D．In contrast

7.

A．humorous

B．ordinary

C．competitive

D．grateful

8.

A．above

B．below

C．near

D．without

9.

A．opportunity

B．problem

C．agreement

D．balance

10.

A．struggled

B．expected

C．promised

D．decided

11.

A．began

B．allowed

C．continued

D．stopped

12.

A．hated

B．experienced

C．accepted

D．wanted

13.

A．help

B．invite

C．join

D．admire

14.

A．gradually

B．suddenly

C．gracefully

D．carefully

15.

A．limit

B．sentence

C．mistake

D．philosophy

16.

A．rude

B．surprised

C．angry

D．excited

17.

A．maintain

B．remove

C．reduce

D．lose

18.

A．right

B．wrong

C．back

D．down

19.

A．luck

B．talent

C．fear

D．effort

20.

A．noise

B．quiet

C．fight

D．safety

5 . The first time my grandma came to visit us in Canada, she was a little upset. She ________ that there was nothing to do.

Before my grandma arrived, I used to tend the flowers in our garden. But while I was at school and my parents were at work, my grandma, feeling ________, came down upon the little piece of land. She pulled out the annuals (一年生植物) and ________ those with orderly rows of green onions and other ________. I told her to stop, to keep the flowers. “They’re pretty, but they’re ________,” she said matter-of-factly. I was annoyed until I learned something about her past.

Grandma was ________ at the time of a severe famine (饥荒). She lost her parents and did everything on her own. ________ , she never cried about it to anyone.

Different times ________ unique characters. My grandma was shaped by the ________ of her family members and the difficulties in China’s recent history. Those who experienced the famine are, ________, unwilling to use valuable land to plant flowers. Her ________, responsibility, diligence and frugality (勤俭), helped her through those difficult years, some of which were laid down by the hands of time, and to change them now would ________ her. She is a(n) ________ link between my family’s past and future — she ________ her times’ challenges to support the next generation. Someday, I will be like my grandma and ________ my small part to human’s moving on.

1.

A．believed

B．confirmed

C．complained

D．agreed

2.

A．bored

B．curious

C．amused

D．delighted

3.

A．removed

B．surrounded

C．decorated

D．replaced

4.

A．trees

B．flowers

C．grasses

D．vegetables

5.

A．useless

B．complicated

C．expensive

D．natural

6.

A．picked up

B．let down

C．brought up

D．reached out

7.

A．Thus

B．Otherwise

C．However

D．Instead

8.

A．create

B．inform

C．combine

D．explain

9.

A．loss

B．experience

C．blessing

D．love

10.

A．gradually

B．naturally

C．rarely

D．immediately

11.

A．achievement

B．independence

C．guideline

D．gentleness

12.

A．attach

B．break

C．threaten

D．help

13.

A．direct

B．accurate

C．essential

D．impressive

14.

A．escaped

B．battled

C．folded

D．adapted

15.

A．provide

B．contribute

C．influence

D．gain

6 . 假定你是李华，希望通过外籍老师Hanna找一位英语笔友。请写一封信，描述一下你理想中笔友的条件，并说明为什么选这样的笔友。具体条件包括：
1.年龄；2.性别；3.爱好（旅游、运动、养宠物等）。
注意：1.词数100左右；2.开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数；3.适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
Dear Hanna,

I’m writing to ask whether you are able to do me a favour.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

8 . About five years ago I started at a new school when my family moved to Iowa. I was just a little excited, but I worried I would never fit in with (适应) the other sixth graders.

Lucy, a girl in my class, who I thought was not ready for change, didn’t like me from the start. In fact, I was sure she hated me. I could tell she thought I was a fool.

My teacher made us sit by each other for the last term. Lucy was surprised that I didn’t wear make­up (化妆). I didn’t exactly look like the coolest girl. But, I kept smiling at her, though she rolled her eyes, and I kept telling her she looked beautiful, even when she was angry.

Finally, Lucy let me talk to her, even in sight of her “cool” friends. She started telling me how beautiful I looked. I still remember that first time when she smiled at me saying that, and I smiled right back, telling her thanks. Lucy invited me over to her house for a party, and talked to me all the time instead of her other friends.

I may move to Arizona after that, but I will never forget Lucy. She was a great friend. I still smiled at Lucy when she made fun of me. I’m not stupid, I didn’t think she was right in doing those things, but I still put up with (忍受) it. And we became great friends.

About two weeks ago, I read a sentence by Abraham Lincoln: “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” Immediately, I smiled, thinking of Lucy.

1. When the author started at a new school in Iowa, she worried ________.

A．she couldn’t get along well with her classmates

B．she looked stupid when asking questions

C．she didn’t look like the coolest girl in her class

D．she was not ready for change at all

2. How did the author change Lucy’s attitude towards her?

A．By wearing make­up.	B．By wearing beautiful clothes.
C．By keeping smiling at Lucy.	D．By sitting beside Lucy in class.

3. From Paragraph 5, we know the author thought ________.

A．it was a waste of time to make friends with Lucy

B．it was right of her to suffer when making friends

C．it was foolish of her to smile at Lucy all the time

D．it was a shameful thing to put up with what Lucy did

4. What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Making friends means losing enemies.	B．Friendship needs to be cared for.
C．Kindness can beat any enemy.	D．Patience is important in making friends.

10 . Hundreds of friends on Facebook can’t replace a handful of close friends in real life, a study has found. In a recent study, researchers discovered that people with only a few friends were at least as happy as those with far more if many of theirs were online.

Social media, the researchers said, has encouraged younger people to have larger but more impersonal networks of “friends”. But instead of trying to amass friends, they added, a better cure for loneliness might be spending time with those you’re closest to.

Scientists from the University of Leeds did their study using data from two online surveys on 1,496 people by a non-profit research organization. People taking part in the study showed their ages, the make-up of their social networks, how often they had different types of social interactions, and their own feelings of well-being. They included details of how often and how they interacted with families or neighbors, and whether they included people who provided services to them in their networks.

The number of close friends someone had appeared to be the only thing which influenced how satisfied they were with their social life.

“Loneliness has less to do with the number of friends you have, and more to do with how you feel about your friends,” said Dr Wändi Bruine de Bruin. Actually, it's often the younger adults who admit to having a bad opinion of their friends.

If you feel lonely, it may be more helpful to make a positive connection with a friend than to try and seek out new people to meet.

1. According to the text, friends made on social media can ______.

A．take the place of friends in real life

B．only help people increase the number of friends

C．be as important as people’s close friends

D．bring people more happiness than friends in real life

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “amass” in Paragraph 2?

A．Play the role of.	B．Increase the number of.
C．Take advantage of.	D．Think highly of.

3. What can be learned from the scientists’ study?

A．Scientists conducted one online survey on 1,496 people.

B．People surveyed mentioned new forms of social networks.

C．The number of friends was the only cause of people’s happiness.

D．People surveyed showed their ways to interact with families.

4. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To show us the importance of friends.

B．To tell us ways to get rid of loneliness.

C．To advise us to make few online friends.

D．To present us with the findings of a study.