1 . My House

My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That’s why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. “For just the two of us,” my mother said, “an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better.” Personally, I think she’s lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me?

I suppose if you looked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass — I couldn’t wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (扭曲的，粗糙的) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small treehouse, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before my father’s death.

This house is special — maybe only to me — but special nevertheless. It’s the little seemingly insignificant things that make this house so special to me: the ice-cold tile floors that make me tremble on midnight; the smell of my father’s pipe that still exists: the towering bookcases of my mother; the view outside my bedroom window.

This house holds too many memories, memories which would be lost if we gave it up.

1. Why did the author’s mother decide to move?

A．Because she hated the countryside.

B．Because Grandpa was on constant move.

C．Because Dad’s death made her lose her mind.

D．Because she thought a city flat more fit for them.

2. What impressed the author when she first moved into the house?

A．The treehouse.

B．The green grass.

C．The big trees.

D．The cold floors.

3. How did the author let us feel that the house was special to her?

A．By arguing whether the house was standard.

B．By explaining why the house suited their needs.

C．By describing the small things related to her house.

D．By comparing the differences between country and city life.

2 . High school life, especially in the senior year, is a rollercoaster of emotions filled with challenges and pressures. The constant demand for academic excellence, combined with the expections of college applications, and managing extracurricular (课外的) activities can lead even the best students to feel the weight of stress. However, it’s not only possible but essential to find moments of joy and strategies to reduce the pressure efficiently.

Understanding the nature of stress is the primary step. Stress isn’t just a state of mental unrest; it’s a physiological response.     1     The body notices any form of demand, challenge, or threat and reacts by preparing for a “fight-or-flight” response. This is an ancient survival process that equips us to deal with threats, whether they’re a challenging exam or a physical danger.

Interestingly, not all stress is harmful. We often overlook the distinction of different stress. Acute (急性的) stress, in contrast to the chronic (长期的), can act as a force.     2     It pushes us to our limits, motivates us to meet deadlines, and often results in that rewarding feeling of accomplishment.

However, long exposure to stress leads to chronic stress. This kind of stress, if left unchecked, can cause various health issues ranging from mental health problems like anxiety and depression to physical ailments like high blood pressure and even heart diseases.

To reduce the effects of stress, mindfulness and meditation have proven effective. Even on a busy day, sparing just a few moments to focus on one’s breathing or practicing guided meditation can significantly reduce stress levels.     3     These practices help in grounding an individual, bringing a momentary escape from the chaos (混乱).

Pursuing hobbies or activities that one is passionate about can also be a good way. Whether it’s painting, reading, playing a musical instrument, or engaging in sports, these activities not only divert the mind but also release endorphins, the body’s natural mood lifters.

Another aspect is communication.     4     Sharing burdens, discussing worries, or just talking about one’s day can offer a fresh perspective and often lightens the load. Schools offer services, and there are numerous helplines available to assist students in distress.

So, with the weight of expectations, deadlines, and too many responsibilities, remember to prioritize mental well-being.     5     Every individual deserves moments of relaxation and happiness.

A．When channeled correctly, stress can be our friend.

B．This response is a swift, automatic sequence designed for survival.

C．Prioritizing self-care isn’t a luxury (奢侈品); it’s a necessity.

D．Every challenge, it approached with a positive mindset, can be an opportunity for growth.

E．Seeding external help or just talking to a friend can be incredibly therapeutic.

F．They attach us to the present, clearing the mental disorder and lifting the spirit.

G．These parts often provide processes adjusted to individual needs.

3 . For some it is the sound of a bouncing basketball. For others the clearing of a throat. For Dr. Jane Gregory the list includes pigeons, ticking clocks and the sound of popcorn being eaten. “I cried on the plane the other day because I couldn’t figure out the volume on my new headphones and so I couldn’t block out the sound of a guy sniffing,” she says. Gregory is among those who experience misophonia, a phenomenon in which particular sounds can prove unbearable, triggering(引起)emotions from anxiety and panic to shame and anger. Now in her book, Sounds Like Misophonia, the academic is on a mission to explore what’s behind it, and to help those affected cope.

Gregory, a clinical psychologist at the University of Oxford, suggests misophonia is far from being a simple sensitivity to sound. It can be fed by a complex interplay of factors, including a lower ability to filter out certain noises, the association of negative meanings with particular sounds, and the burden of feelings associated with an emotional response to them.

Yet, the phenomenon was largely unknown until the 2010s. In one study, researchers asked people with high and low traits of misophonia to listen out for a “trigger” sound in the presence of a masking sound. Both groups detected the trigger just as easily. “The person with misophonia had a more intense reaction, but only after they identified what the sound was,” adds Gregory. Those results, she says, suggest that people with misophonia are not inherently better at detecting particular sounds, such as a sniff or a rustle—rather they might be listening out for them more, or not be as good as others at tuning them out. This is a trait, Gregory speculates, that might have offered our ancestors an evolutionary advantage, such as helping them to detect hiding predators. Another implication of the research, Gregory says, is that it is not just the auditory features of the sounds that cause negative reactions but the meaning attached to them. An example would be a reaction to the jingling of a dog’s collar after being frightened by an aggressive dog.

Gregory hopes her book will support those too often told to ignore sounds. She says: “The emotional reaction is much more complex than just being annoyed... They feel trapped and helpless when they encounter these sounds. If you think it’s nothing, then you’re not experiencing what this person is experiencing.”

1. Misophonia is a phenomenon where ________.

A．people fail to recognize particular sounds	B．specific sounds cause negative emotions
C．different feelings are mixed up together	D．people lose control of their emotions

2. Which of the following might be the cause of misophonia?

A．Trigger sounds of similar origins.	B．Disability to ignore certain sounds.
C．Understanding of particular sounds.	D．Inborn ability to tell certain sounds.

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．To detect certain sounds is a solution to misophonia.

B．People with misophonia are well understood by others.

C．People can benefit from misophonia in some situations.

D．Objects related to sounds may trigger negative reactions.

4 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

Last year, I baked biscuits for complete strangers to say “thank you”. I’d had to call 999 because I found my husband unconscious on the floor. Within minutes, a police car arrived and soon my husband received medical care in hospital.

A week later, when I dropped off still-warm biscuits and presented a thank-you note at the police station, the policemen thanked me for delivering gifts.

I drove away feeling light and happy. Later, I realized that my natural high might have been more than it seemed.Research has shown that sharing gratitude has positive effects on health. People who express gratitude will increase their happiness levels, lower their blood pressure and get better sleep.

What about people who receive gratitude?Research has confirmed that when people receive thanks, they experience positive emotions.“Those are happy surprises,”says Jo-Ann Tsang, a professor of psychology. When someone is thanked,he’s more likely to return the favor or pass kindness on, and his chances of being helpful again doubles, probably because he enjoys feeling socially valued.

The give-and-take of gratitude also deepens relationships. Studies show that when your loved ones regularly express gratitude,making you feel appreciated,you’re more likely to return appreciative feelings, which leads to more satisfactory in your relationships.

Nowadays,however,many people don’t express gratitude. Our modern lifestyle may be to blame. With commercial and social media, everything is speeding the younger generation to feel they’re the center of the world. If it’s all about them, why thank others?

Why not thank others? Just take a look at how many positive effects can saying “thank you”have on personal health—and the well-being of others.

If you aren’t particularly grateful, I strongly suggest you learn to be.People who are instructed to keep gratitude journals,in which they write down positive things that happen to them,cultivate gratitude over time.

1. What health benefits can people gain from expressing gratitude?
_______________________________________________________
2. How do people probably respond when they receive gratitude and feel socially valued?
_______________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part of the following statement is false, then underline it and explain why.
▷ Saying “thank-you”improves relationships,but nowadays some young people don’t want to do it because everything is making them feel blamed by the whole society.
_______________________________________________________
4. If possible, who would you like to express gratitude to most? Why? (In about 40 words)
_______________________________________________________

5 . The Positive Effects of a Positive Affect

Parents often have high hopes for how their children will turn out in adulthood, such as wanting them to be healthy, to feel satisfied with their career, and to have strong friendships.    1    

Recent research suggests that a teen’s affect—especially positive affect—is one critical factor. What exactly is affect? Affect is the tendency to express positive or negative emotions, which in turn influences how we experience things and determine whether to judge a given situation as positive or negative.    2     Moreover, research suggests that a person’s affect is relatively stable over time, especially by the time one reaches adulthood.

Affect is typically described in terms of being either positive or negative, and it seems that positive affect, in particular, is related to a number of beneficial outcomes in adulthood.

In support of this crucial role that positive affect has in development, a study by researchers at the University of Virginia followed teenagers and young adults from ages 14 to 25, allowing them to understand the predictive power of positive affect across the critical developmental period from adolescence to young adulthood.    3     For example, teens with a higher positive affect reported had a stronger, healthier attachment to their friends.

    4     Positive affect also predicted increased self-worth and job competence, suggesting that, overall, positive affect seems to be a key predictor of young adult success across several important areas of functioning.

But what about the effects of negative affect? The researchers also examined whether negative affect would predict problems in young adulthood.    5     Thus, the important takeaway is that adolescent positive affect may have powerful links to important life outcomes in the domains of personal well-being, career, and social relationships up to a decade later.

A．Affective responses to events typically happen automatically.

B．So how can parents help their children grasp the meaning of positive affect?

C．But what factors help produce these outcomes as teens move from adolescence to adulthood?

D．Interestingly, the results suggested that positive affect may go beyond helping teens build positive relationships.

E．The results uncovered that negative affect might account for many life problems when a teenager became a young adult.

F．Unlike positive affect, having greater negative affect did not have any significant associations with any of the later life outcomes.

G．This study found that positive affect was strongly predictive of life outcomes in young adulthood, such as developing better friendships.

6 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写 1 个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Gratitude is more than just saying “thank you”. Gratitude is a deeper appreciation for someone or something. Expressing gratitude makes us feel a positive emotion. Over the past thirty years, there    1     (be) many studies showing that writing a gratitude letter to another person offers us an opportunity    2     (escape) from negative emotions. Even if we don’t share our writing with anyone, the act of completing the exercise alone makes us happier and    3     (satisfied) with life. The more we express gratitude, the more positive we feel.

7 . The Power in Accepting Your Errors

It pays to be kind to yourself. A new study shows that being compassionate (同情的) with yourself when you make mistakes can reduce depression.

It is generally good to hold yourself to high standards and strive to do your best. But sometimes people have unrealistic views of what they should achieve.     1     Then when they make a mistake, they may be too unforgiving of that error. It is an unhealthy form of perfectionism. This is when a person views anything imperfect as unacceptable.     2    

However, self-compassion can help protect people from such negative impacts, a new study finds.     3     “It’s often easy to say kind and supportive things to our friends when things go wrong for them,” says Madeleine Ferrari. She’s a psychologist at Australian Catholic University in Sydney. “If we can say these things to ourselves, we will still reach our goals but will have better mental health,” she says.

    4     Ferrari’s team wanted to see if self-compassion might weaken that link. The researchers surveyed 541 teenagers and 515 adults. They asked these people to fill out a set of three questionnaires and asked the participants to rate their levels of perfectionism, depression and self-compassion.

In both groups, people who were kinder to themselves were less likely to experience sadness and depression, the researchers found.     5     And that could be especially true for perfectionists.

A．They set standards that are too high.

B．Even the most intelligent and productive people make mistakes.

C．This is a good example of improving and changing based on a mistake.

D．Self-compassion is treating yourself the way you would treat a good friend.

E．Such feelings can increase stress and lead to symptoms (症状) of depression.

F．So learning self-compassion could improve treatment for those with depression.

G．Previous research has shown that people who are perfectionists are more likely to become depressed.

8 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Laughter can help us to feel more    1     (relax) and comfortable when we are feeling anxious or worried. Even if you    2     (study) for a long time and feeling sleepy and bored, laughing can make you feel energized as if you had just had a nap! There are so many    3     (benefit) of laughter that I hope you all try and find a way to add more fun and laughter to your daily life.

9 .

Awesome Achievement Your college graduation Fills us with love and pride. We always knew that you could do Whatever you really tried. It’s a long and challenging journey To get a college degree, But you wouldn’t quit it, you just went and did it, And we’re beaming affectionately. Your achievement is awesome, my kid; You’ve worked hard and you’ve passed the test. We love you so, and we want you to know, We think you’re the very best! By Joanna

_______________________ Mom, from the time I was really young, I realized I had someone… you, who always protected me, who was always there for me no matter what. You taught me to do the right thing, even when it was hard to do. You took care of me when I was sick, and your love helped make me well. You had rules, and I learned that when I obeyed them, my life was simpler, better, richer. You were and are the guiding light of my life. My heart is filled with love for you, my teacher, my friend, my mother. By Karl

1. Where are the two poems taken from?

A．A website for school curricula (课程).

B．A website for kids reading.

C．A website for advice.

D．A website for learning tips.

2. What does Joanna show in her poem?

A．Her great pride in her son’s graduation.

B．Her gratitude to her mom after her graduation.

C．Her son’s happiness in passing the final exams.

D．Her joy in the hard and challenging journey.

3. Which of the following can be the best title for Karl’s work?

A．My Guiding Light.	B．When I Was Young.
C．No Matter What.	D．The Rules to Follow.

10 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容在答题卡相应题号后的横线上写下相关信息，完成对该问题的回答。

How to Work Out Your Worries by Writing

An extensive body of research shows benefits to writing about a traumatic experience or difficult situation in a manner that psychologists refer to as “expressive writing.” People who do this, recording their deepest thoughts and feelings, often show improved mental and physical health.

Expressive writing is different from writing in a journal. The idea is to reflect honestly and thoughtfully on a particular trauma or challenge. Recognizing that something is bothering you is an important first step. Translating that experience into language forces you to organize your thoughts. And creating a story or explanation gives you a sense of control.

But there are a few limitations. For psychiatrists, expressive writing isn’t a magical cure-all, so it shouldn’t be used as a replacement for other treatments. And people coping with a severe trauma or depression may not find it useful to do on their own, without therapy. Yet it can be a powerful coping tool for many, in large part because it helps combat the feelings that people often keep as secret about a trauma, as well as their reluctance to face emotions. “The more you avoid a problem, the more trouble you will have with it, because you create a circle of anxiety and worries, and increasing negative emotions,” says Brian Marx, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Why write? Thinking or talking about an event can lead to reflecting, where you become lost in your emotions. But writing forces you to slow down. The mere act of labeling a feeling— of putting words to an emotion—can reduce the neural activity in the threat area of the brain, says Annette Stanton, PhD, distinguished professor and chair of the department of psychology at UCLA. Stanton’s research suggests that expressive writing can lead to lower depressive symptoms, greater positive mood, and an enhanced appreciation for life. “Writing can increase someone’s acceptance of their experience, and acceptance is calming,” she says.

What if you don’t consider yourself “a writer”? Don’t worry about spelling or grammar, and don’t share your writing with anyone. But do dig deep into your thoughts and feelings. The goal of the exercise is to find meaning in an unsettling event.

1. How is expressive writing different from writing in a journal?
2. What are the limitations of expressive writing?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
▶ Expressive writing has a calming effect because it can help people to get rid of depression, appreciate life more and accept their experience.
4. What is your own way to work out your worries? And why？ (In about 40 words)