1 . I have had no interest in football for as long as I can remember. While my classmates played, I
But occasionally, whether in a taxi or when meeting a friend's father, I found myself faced with a
I realized that my
Then I became a father. I didn’t want my boy to
During one victorious match, we even met David, the Captain, who happily
| A．preferred | B．intended | C．wished | D．pretended |
| A．believed | B．understood | C．noticed | D．hid |
| A．confused | B．poisoned | C．defended | D．preserved |
| A．doubt | B．smile | C．confidence | D．dislike |
| A．well-informed | B．well-prepared | C．well-meant | D．well-presented |
| A．challenge | B．disturb | C．amuse | D．disappoint |
| A．attitude | B．personality | C．interest | D．habit |
| A．otherwise | B．ever | C．still | D．therefore |
| A．loser | B．fan | C．outsider | D．passer-by |
| A．go wild for | B．turn away from | C．get the hang of | D．miss out on |
| A．agreement | B．conversation | C．competition | D．connection |
| A．stressed | B．engaged | C．successful | D．busy |
| A．cheer | B．change | C．vote | D．play |
| A．danced | B．waved | C．posed | D．clapped |
| A．Gradually | B．Finally | C．Unexpectedly | D．Luckily |
1. What are the speakers talking about?
| A．Being honest all the time. |
| B．Forgiving friends’ mistakes. |
| C．Accepting the results of lying. |
| A．His mother. | B．His sister. | C．His best friend. |
3 . Ask any parents of young children whether they’ve ever felt overwhelmed (不堪重负的), and the answer will probably be—yes. Even in the most relaxed households there can be days when things seem to be out of control, leaving parents exhausted and annoyed. Kids often don’t have an off button or a quiet voice.
Common as this feeling is, there’s a personality trait (特点) that can make everyday family life more overwhelming for some parents. Roughly 20%-30% of the population are classed as being a highly sensitive person, according to a 2018 research. People who have it may find it hard to cope with bright lights and loud noise, and feel very stressful. It can also involve a stronger understanding of other people’s feelings—empathy (同情).
According to the psychologists, being highly sensitive is not a disorder but a personality trait—a way of responding to one’s environment. “Generally, highly sensitive people tend to react particularly strongly to sensory stimulation. They have stronger consciousness. They come to realize more details,” says Michael Pluess, a psychologist specializing in the study. “They will pick up on the moods of other people, have higher empathy, process things more deeply and pick up more about the environment. Deeply affected by what they see and feel, highly sensitive people are also easily overstimulated.”
The challenges highly sensitive parents face—including stress and overstimulation in a messy environment—can affect “high quality parenting”. In the early stages of parenthood, such parents report greater stress and find parenting more difficult than other parents do.
Fortunately, though, the trait also comes with certain advantages. Recent evidence suggests that while highly sensitive parents initially experienced high levels of stress, they showed improved parenting styles by the time their babies were nine months old. In the short term, sensitive people are more easily overwhelmed with change, but when it comes to parenting, highly sensitive parents have the potential to be exceptional. They can understand their children and respond to their needs quickly and appropriately.
Since parental overwhelm can affect anyone, whether highly sensitive or not, some of the coping strategies for highly sensitive people could benefit all parents.
1. What does the author imply in the first paragraph?| A．The life of young parents is colorful. |
| B．The kids are unhappy for lack of love. |
| C．Young kids are often tough to deal with. |
| D．It is easy to get everything under control. |
| A．They possess no good insight. |
| B．It is hard to overstimulate them. |
| C．They better understand the environment. |
| D．It is common for them to overlook details. |
| A．Deeply rooted. | B．Extremely harmful. |
| C．Greatly unstable. | D．Potentially beneficial. |
| A．Outcomes of coping strategies. |
| B．Tips for highly sensitive parents. |
| C．Responses to the concern about parenting. |
| D．Evaluation of overwhelmed parents’ impact. |
4 . On September 17, 2022, a father and son set out to begin the first of three legs of the Ironman competition in Oxford. David, 59, and his son, John, 28, weren’t the typical competitors. Despite difficulty in walking, John has his dream of being an athlete. His father would act as his arms and legs, carrying the weight of his son throughout the race.
To qualify as having finished, competitors must complete a hard 140 miles of swimming, bicycling and running in under 17 hours. David and John had participated together in five Ironman competitions, but they had yet to finish in the required time.
The race began with a 2.4-mile swim in the Choptank River. With one end of a rope tied to a belt around his back and the other end to a boat with his son inside, the father eased himself into the water. Swimming while carrying another person is tough enough — David also had to fight with jellyfish (水母).
The pair completed the swim in 90 minutes, and went through with the 112-mile bicycle ride in about nine hours, then set their sights on the final leg of the 26.2-mile marathon with David pushing John in the racing chair.
With minutes left and 200 feet to the finish line, his mom, on the sidelines, handed him the rolling walker. Not that long ago, John could hardly walk 23 steps. But after years of painful training, he increased his step count and was determined to finish the race on his own. He knew time was almost running out and worried they wouldn’t make the cutoff. “Not because I wouldn’t get my moment,” he says, “but because dad had worked so hard.”
After 16 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds — with just four minutes and 25 seconds to spare — father and son crossed the finish line together.
As the crowd flooded and cheered on John, the weary father kept a low profile. “He didn’t want his finish line moment,” says John. “He wanted it to be mine.”
1. How did David help his son in the swimming part?| A．By pulling a rope tied to a boat. | B．By swimming beside his son. |
| C．By pushing his son’s lifebelt. | D．By carrying his son on his back. |
| A．He wouldn’t get his moment. |
| B．His mom would be disappointed. |
| C．His father had put in lots of effort. |
| D．The audience had high expectations. |
| A．Responsible and selfless. | B．Brave and honest. |
| C．Committed and friendly. | D．Gentle and determined. |
5 . When I was in my second year in senior high school, I found a four-dollar-an-hour part-time job at Villa-nova Pizza. Like many of my friends, I longed to earn some pocket money from the job as well as gaining social experience. Just one week after I worked there, Stubby, the manager, called me into his office. As the saying goes, “Life isn’t a bed of roses.” My first job ended in failure. His reason was that I showed up late twice and took more breaks than others. “Oh, I’m a loser,” I thought to myself. I believed that thought was shared by my brothers, neither of whom had ever been fired, and my mother, though she would never express it in those terms.
“I am too sad to do anything,” I complained to my father. After listening to my words, he laughed. “It’s not funny; I’m a loser,” I said.
“No, you’re not. This is a part of growing up. You will be all right, my dear daughter,” he said, patting my shoulder. “Trust me. You are good enough.”
I looked into my father’s eyes and I could see he really trusted me. And I believed him. Since then, “Trust me. You are good enough!” are the only words I have repeated to myself. I have worked hard to be a better person and cherished every chance I have got.
Finally, I succeeded in entering a good university. After graduation I found my dream job. I couldn’t wait to call my father and show my gratitude.
Look ahead when you experience something unpleasant and there is always someone around believing in you. When they believe in us, we begin to believe in ourselves, too. They tell us we are good enough over and over until we can hear it.
1. Why was the author fired?| A．She was lazy. | B．She had too many breaks. |
| C．She had no social experience. | D．She failed to complete her task. |
| A．He laughed at her. | B．He was too sad to do anything. |
| C．He complained to the cruel boss. | D．He comforted her and said he believed in her. |
| A．She phoned her father and thanked him. |
| B．She returned home to have a celebration. |
| C．She showed her gratitude to her teacher. |
| D．She invited her family to a big party. |
| A．Strict and devoted. | B．Caring and kind. |
| C．Ambitious and brave. | D．Humble and humorous. |
6 . The rangoli (印度传统地画艺术) was a giant good-luck charm. Grandma used to make one for the start of the new year. First, she would draw on the floor with chalk. Then, she would fill the drawing with uncooked
This year, Manju was old enough to help. He
A
“I’ll surprise Grandma!” He decided. He
Manju rose to his feet and pushed the rice back. But the colors were
Just before nightfall, they finished fixing the rangoli.
Grandma lit candles around the rangoli. In the flickering light, the peacock seemed
| A．steamed | B．marked | C．colored | D．carried |
| A．rolled | B．brought | C．slid | D．sank |
| A．pale | B．wrong | C．fresh | D．bright |
| A．viewpoint | B．outline | C．mud | D．case |
| A．slowly | B．fluently | C．passively | D．instantly |
| A．imagined | B．spotted | C．created | D．missed |
| A．picture | B．rice | C．chalk | D．gap |
| A．flew | B．shouted | C．stretched | D．wandered |
| A．swell | B．lift | C．shake | D．rest |
| A．somewhere | B．everywhere | C．anywhere | D．nowhere |
| A．mixed | B．removed | C．classified | D．displayed |
| A．looked away | B．looked through | C．looked out | D．looked down |
| A．problem | B．puzzle | C．selection | D．collection |
| A．analyzing | B．searching | C．sorting | D．checking |
| A．ambiguous | B．frightful | C．fierce | D．alive |
Far from their home in Boucherville, Quebec, looking to remember as many once-in-a-lifetime memories as they could collect, Mia with her parents Edith and Smith rode horses across the bright green grassland of Mongolia, boated on the blue sea off Cambodia, camped under the soaring brick-red peaks of Namibia and flew in a hot air balloon over the brown, lunar-like landscape in Turkiye.
Back in 2013, when Mia was 3, the family began a frustrating series of visits to doctors, none of whom had an answer for her lack of night vision. In 2015, as a last resort, an eye doctor enrolled the family in a research project. After two years, their entire genome (基因组) was mapped out.
“Right now,” the doctor continued, “there is no cure.”
Full of emotion, Edith stood up, excused herself and walked to the nearest bathroom, where she locked herself in it. Unwilling to lose it in front of Mia, who wouldn’t understand, she sat there alone and cried.
While it was tempting to seek a second opinion, Edith and Smith knew that genetic mapping did not lie: The results were definitive and life-changing.
They hesitated about explaining to 7-year-old Mia what her condition meant. Should they let her be a kid, innocent and unaware, for as long as possible? A few weeks later, it just came out, part of a coversation about disabilities in general while having lunch at their kitchen table.
“You know the problem with your eyes?” Edith asked Mia. “You’re probably going to be blind when you’re an adult.” The truth was more abrupt (意外的) than Edith had hoped, but at least it was done. Edith held her breath as she waited for Mia to respond.
“Oh, that’s not fun.” the girl said before changing the subject.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Later that week, Mia started to keep everything in its place in the house.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After two years’ work, they set out for the yearlong trip while Mia could still see.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________| A．He’s bad-tempered. | B．He’s enthusiastic. | C．He’s considerate. |
| A．It’s very warm. | B．It’s super cold. | C．It’s rather hot. |
December 16, 2009 was the worst day of my mother’s life. It was the day I told her that her thirty-six-year-old daughter had stage Ⅲbreast cancer. I will never forget the look of hopelessness in her tear-filled eyes as I told her. Seeing my mother so b uncontrollably broke my heart. It was one of the few times in my life that I saw my mother weak and vulnerable (脆弱的).
Since I had been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, the doctors had a heavy-duty plan of attack to beat it, which would mean a double mastectomy (切除), five months of chemotherapy (化疗), and five weeks of radiation. It also meant that an independent single woman who lived alone was in serious need of some help taking care of herself.
Thankfully, I was blessed with my own personal army of family, friends, and co-workers who had offered to help me out with whatever I might need, including meals and rides to doctors’ appointments. But as grateful as I was, there really was only one person who I wanted by my side—my mom. My mother lived more than 300 miles away, but didn’t even give it a second thought. She was going to be my primary caregiver, driver, personal chef, counselor, and shoulder to cry on. No one else in the world could fill her shoes. It was a job that only she could do.
The night after my first chemotherapy treatment is forever imprinted in my memory. I was never so sick in my entire life. I couldn’t even keep down a glass of water. And after hours spent in the bathroom, I weakly lifted myself into bed, weeping, “Please, take this away from me. Please make me feel better.” At that moment, my mother crawled into bed with me, wrapped her entire body around me, and cried with me. Just like when I was a little girl, her arms enveloping me made it better.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
In the following months, my mom experienced real hardship.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I feel greatly moved by what my mother did.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
