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 . 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。

When advising children and adolescents who are learning to regulate their emotions, experts explain that how they think affects how they feel. After children learn to use some basic techniques to regulate their emotions, a greater sense of internal control arises. Thereafter, people start to notice the power they can feel in their minds by changing their thought patterns.

“I believe that changing our thinking patterns helps engage different parts of the brain,” said Ran D. Anbar, the author of Changing Children’s Lives with Hypnosis: A Journey to the Center, “For instance, we may find ourselves habitually thinking in a particular way that predictably makes us feel poorly, for example angry, anxious, or sad. People can become angry when they feel that they have been treated poorly or have not gotten their way. The anger occurs because the person focuses on the perceived (察觉到的) injustice. When we shift our thinking, we can more easily create new, healthier thought patterns.”

For instance, 14-year-old “Sarah” became angry with her parents for restricting her use of social media. While discussing why her parents did so, Sarah recognized that they were attempting to protect her from some of the ill effects of overusing social media. Sarah let go of her anger. She switched from thinking about her frustration with her parents’ restrictions and instead focused her thoughts on how to solve the dilemma (困境) regarding her overuse of social media. She was able to recognize that her parents were her valuable friends rather than her opponents.

Frequently, people explain to themselves and others that their poor mood is related to unfortunate circumstances. While holding such a belief, people sometimes take comfort in the idea that since they cannot change their circumstances, there should be no expectation that they take charge of improving their feelings.

However, as demonstrated in this post, our emotional response to unfortunate circumstances can be brought under our control and improved through a change in our thinking patterns. Sometimes, that change can even help us figure out new ways to act that also will improve our situation.

1. What happens after children regulate their emotion?
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why does the author mention the example of Sarah in the 3^rd paragraph?
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
People always believe their poor mood is due to unfortunate circumstances, so they will try to change their situation in order to have a good mood.
4. Besides changing thinking patterns, do you have other way(s) to control your emotions? (In about 40 words)
_________________________________________________________________________________

4 . 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.

5 . How We Talk about Fear Matters

Lately, there seems to be plenty to fear in the world. How we talk about what we fear might offer clues to how we perceive that emotion socially and culturally.

Get the root of fear.

    1    . In Anglo Saxon times, “fear” primarily referred to sudden danger. The root of the word dates back to “pēr” from Indo-European about 6,000 years ago. This root suggests that fear developed from a sudden (frightening) experience you passed through.

Figure out the emotional meaning of fear.

Whether emotions are viewed positively or negatively varies from culture to culture.    2     . For instance, in English, the word “anxious” can be used to mean “worried” or “eager”. But the word meaning “anxious” just means “regret” in Dargwa. Therefore, many English speakers may not view anxiety as negatively as Dargwa speakers.

Find out a fearful pattern.

In looking at such patterns across the major language families, researchers found that the word “fear” was often associated with anxiety, envy and grief in Indo-European languages. But in Austronesian languages, “fear” more often was associated with surprise.     3     .

    4    

How we talk about fear changes how we react to it. When we talk about what frightens us, it may be useful to disrupt associated meanings. In addition, how our language categorizes an emotion seems to impact whether we perceive those emotions negatively or positively.

In conclusion, fear is something that can be changed by cultural and linguistic experience.    5     . Perhaps Roosevelt was right when he in famously said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

A．Talk more about fears

B．Change our perception of fear

C．The word fear has a long history in English

D．There seemed a fearful pattern across the major language families

E．This is based on what people have learned to associate with emotion words

F．It opens the door to potential ways to change how we talk about and react to it

G．This makes speakers of the latter languages associate this emotion with a less negative sense

6 . All the feels

You can make your picture book memorable by concentrating on emotional connection. This works across every principle of writing, regardless of age range or genre (文体), because it is universally recognized.     1    

The reason why emotional connection works is that emotion is a fundamental human experience.     2     It also brings us together and reminds us that although we have differences, people are fundamentally the same. By bringing emotion into your story, you tap into that consciousness. The story feels more real to us. It is consistent with us, and as a result, we have a richer reading experience.

    3     This is useful for your picture book writing, such as choosing vocabulary to use or adopting a suitable linguistic style. Once you know the genre of a book, you can think about the kind of emotional storytelling a reader would expect from this genre.

For example, if it’s a funny picture book, your reader is clearly expecting to laugh. Make sure they laugh. If it’s an adventure story, your reader will be expecting to feel excitement, anticipation and probably a little mild fear. If it’s a heartwarming story, your reader expects to feel warm, comforted and overflowing with love.     4    

Another reason for including emotion in your picture book is to really get your reader inside your character’s head. Firstly, it helps build on the young reader’s emotional development and understanding of self and others.     5     As well as caring about character, an emotion-filled picture book therefore keeps us on our toes.

If you want your story to stand out amongst other stories, give your reader something to remember — a strong emotional connection.

A．Secondly, it creates interest in the character.

B．It helps us make sense of the world around us.

C．An emotional ending in a picture book works well.

D．When we feel something, we will have sharp minds.

E．This is obviously not a complete list, but it is a starting point.

F．Here is why it works and how you can use it in your picture book writing.

G．Picture books have many different genres and your job is to know which genre your story sits in.

7 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。请在答题纸指定区域作答。

If you feel like you may be a people-pleaser, you’re not alone. In today’s highly-connected world, we have a growing obsession (痴迷) with being liked and needing to please others. People seek to please others for various reasons, including avoiding conflicts, securing feelings of being needed, and reducing fears of abandonment. And they are forced to use agreeableness as self-defense.

People-pleasing behavior can lead to mental and physical health problems such as fear of rejection, frustration, anger, addictions, headaches, stomach problems, and high blood pressure. It can also result in weak boundaries, problems with decision-making and dependency. Therefore, it’s important to recognize and overcome your own people-pleasing behaviors. Here are some simple exercises that you can start working on today.

Learn to love your own company. Trust that people will not abandon you, even if you don’t drop everything for them. Believing you are lovable for who you are, not what you do, means knowing that people will still be there for you even if you do not always search for ways to please them. Practice this by going to a movie or restaurant alone.

Value the plans made with yourself. They are as important as plans you make with other people. Otherwise, you are sending a message to your brain that a plan you make with yourself does not hold as much value. Don’t break long-or short-term plans you make with yourself, whether it’s going to the gym or studying for an exam.

Say “no” when necessary. If you’re a people-pleaser, you may find it hard to say “no” because you feel it comes across as cruel or uncaring. But it absolutely does not have to. Be clear, be direct, and use “I” statements. Try statements like: “I would really love to be able to help you, but unfortunately, I’m already committed at that time.” By consistently integrating these strategies into your life, you’ll break your people-pleasing habits and develop more healthy, interdependent relationships.

1. What is a people-pleaser like?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Besides mental and physical problems, what other problems may a people-pleaser suffer from?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
If you don’t want to be a people-pleaser, you should love being with others, value the plans made with yourself, and decline others’requests when necessary.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What do you think of the behavior of pleasing others? (In about 40 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . A Way Out of Social Anxiety: Volunteering and Acts of Kindness

As a socially anxious introvert, I can attest(证明)to the benefits of serving others through volunteering in my community.

A volunteer job doesn’t need to require stepping into a busy room full of 100 people at a school or hospital.     1     This kind of work is much more suitable and agreeable for introverts.

    2     When I help elders or people with disabilities who are more isolated and lonelier than I am, I feel my nervousness and self-consciousness disappear. My social awkwardness loses its grip on me when I’m focused on helping someone else rather than myself or my social performance. Unlike showing up at a job interview, business meeting, or speaking engagement, working as a volunteer with people in need takes the spotlight away from being measured or judged.     3    

Social scientists have an apt name for stressful social situations where we need to perform and would likely be judged or evaluated. The “social-evaluative threat” is particularly threatening for people with social anxiety as stress hormones rapidly increase. Any time we are in evaluative situations where we are judged by others, we face this social-evaluative threat and endure a sudden rush of stress hormones that increase anxiety.     4     Yet when we are in situations where we are offering casual acts of kindness or nurturing others we tend to feel less threatened or judged by others. Helping others and sharing simple acts of kindness does not pose such a social-evaluative threat, but instead, calms and soothes us. Neuroscientists have studied the warm glow of doing good that makes us feel good.

“Kindness may help socially anxious people,” says Dr. Lynn Alden, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia.     5     She found that acts of kindness may help to counter the socially anxious person’s fear of negative evaluation by promoting more positive perceptions and expectations of how other people will respond.

A．Some people are naturally reserved while others are rather outgoing.

B．In social anxiety disorder, fear and anxiety lead to avoidance which can disrupt our life.

C．Indeed, my own act of kindness has always been a sure bet to bring me out of my shell.

D．Instead, my volunteer service consists of quiet one-on-one visits with isolated older adults.

E．When I am giving my free time to help others, I feel truly liberated in my mission to serve.

F．High-performance events such as public speaking or job interviews can be really unbearable.

G．She and her colleagues conducted a study with 115 undergraduate students who had reported high levels of social anxiety.

9 . Have you ever bought a new car and started noticing the exact color and model of car everywhere? Has that type of car just become popular in your city? Were they there before? Or are you just going crazy?

You’re not going crazy. The reason you are now just noticing them is what psychologists call “priming”. Basically, the cars were always there. You just didn’t recognize them consciously. However, when that certain model of car becomes part of your conscious thinking, you start “automatically” recognizing all of the other cars that are the same, because you are already “primed” to do so.

The priming effect takes many forms. In one study, students were asked to walk around a room for 5 minutes at a rate of 30 steps per minute, which was about one-third their normal pace. After this brief experience, the participants were much quicker to recognize words related to old age, such as forgetful, old, and lonely. Reciprocal priming effects tend to produce a coherent reaction: if you are primed to think of old age, you would tend to act old, and acting old would reinforce the thought of old age. This research shows that the way we think influences the way we act, and the way we act influences the way we think.

A similar conclusion was reached by the American psychologist William James a century ago, but he emphasized the effect on feeling. “Actions seem to follow feeling, but really actions and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not. Thus the path to cheerfulness, should our cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.”

So, that’s it. If you want to be happy, just sit up and act happy. Based on these scientific findings, we can adopt certain priming effects to help make ourselves consistently happier.

One thing we have in common is our ability to think, and thus feel. Pleasant thoughts have been proven to produce the chemicals that make us feel happy, particularly thoughts and feelings of gratitude. When we purposefully go through and think about the things we’re grateful for and deliberately feel as much gratitude as we can, we are flooding our mind with the “happy chemicals”. Furthermore, by consciously thinking, feeling and expressing gratitude, we will not only be happier in the moment, we will be “primed” to recognize the things in our life to appreciate. Each time this happens, the “happy chemicals” will be produced. Do this every day and we will become consistently happier. This makes up for the momentary happiness we gain from eating chocolate or buying new clothes. More than that, combining thoughts of gratitude with happy acts like smiling and laughing will have a supplementary positive effect on our state of mind.

1. Which of the following is an example of the priming effect?

A．Walking much faster after attending a lecture about old age.

B．Donating money to the poor after seeing pictures of cute cats.

C．Learning about various types of cars after purchasing the first car.

D．Completing SO_P as SOUP rather than SOAP after seeing the word EAT.

2. What does the underlined word “reciprocal” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Related.

B．Two-way.

C．Well-rounded.

D．Opposite.

3. What will the author probably agree with?

A．Eating or shopping leads to consistent feelings of happiness.

B．Our will has greater control over emotions than over actions.

C．Happy chemicals make us think about the things we’re grateful for.

D．Practicing gratitude frequently prepares us for long-term happiness.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Prime Yourself to Be Happier

B．Share Happiness to Enhance Wellbeing

C．Why Gratitude Is Important in Psychology

D．How Happy Chemicals Affect People’s Thoughts

10 . 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。

Crying is a natural response to emotions. Regardless of     1     causes the tears to flow, the physical reaction is usually the same with puffy cheeks and tight eyes     2     (lead) to streaming tears down one’s face. Despite its stigma (污名), crying can be an act     3     relieves tension and clears feelings of negativity and sadness. Crying can communicate our emotions to others and foster greater understanding and compassion. Ultimately, crying is a powerful tool we ought to use to free ourselves     4     negativity.