My dad was more than a father to me; he was my friend and confidant (知己) and one of the most amazing people in my life. So when he passed away suddenly from a stroke at the age of 51, my world fell apart. I was lost, along with my mother who had been with my father since age 16, two brothers, and everyone who knew him. We were thrown into a thick fog of anger, sadness, and shock.
I cried every night and tried to hold onto all my memories of him. I replayed every moment I could remember — writing down thoughts, printing out old e-mails, reading old birthday cards — anything I could hang on to because I didn’t want to forget. As I was going through all these old memories, I began to wonder about all the things I had missed. My dad was a quiet man who was known for his listening skills, his patience, his humor, and his smile. He was often the one listening instead of telling stories. I wanted to know what stories I had missed by losing him so soon. So I decided to compile (编纂) a memory book as a surprise Christmas gift for my mom and brothers.
I started my project in November, contacting everyone I knew who was close to my dad or had been in the past. I sent e-mails and letters asking for friends and family of Gary Force to send me their thoughts and memories of him. I asked them specifically to share funny stories about my dad and the stories that maybe no one had ever heard or had long forgotten. I told them to respond no later than one week before Christmas. I waited and waited and got very few responses by December. I began to wonder if this was a horrible idea or if anyone even cared.
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。
And then the responses started pouring in.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I gave it to my family as the last gift on Christmas Day.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . Panic attacks cause a sudden intense fear when no danger is present or there is no identifiable trigger (诱因). This fear activates the body’s emergency system, causing the physical fight or flight reactions.
Learn to be flexible.
If you are sitting on the couch watching TV and you start to feel a panic attack, don’t continue to sit there and think about it. Get up and do something else! Leave your desk and apply some cold water to your face. Call a friend. Or just leave the house to get some fresh air.
Work out.
When feeling panic, it can be effective to match the intensity of the anxiety with physical exercise. Just go outside, walk energetically around the block, or walk up and down the stairs until the feeling passes. Gentle exercise is less effective while intense exercise can make it difficult to think about anything else.
Breathe properly.
Pick something objective and study it deeply, Then describe every detail of it. When you finish one item, move on to describe other items. For example, What is the leaf like? Does it have smooth edges? What is its color? Are some new leaves coming out? This exercise can help bring you back to the moment and away from focusing on physical sensations.
A.Shift your focus. |
B.Enhance muscle building. |
C.Incorrect breathing can lead to shortness of breath. |
D.Physical exercise can also help your muscles relax. |
E.If not controlled, they can be terrifying and life-changing. |
F.So use these tools to measure it when a panic attack starts. |
G.In a word, don’t remain in the same environment whenever possible. |
3 . Gifts are more than just an economic exchange of goods. They signal things about the giver, receiver and their relationship. It’s a sort of language that lets us communicate without words. Use the following little tricks to make gift-giving perfect.
Aesthetics (美学) of a gift shouldn’t be ignored and neither should presentation be. All the time and energy you spend picking the perfect thing for your receiver will fall short if you do. A gift should delight. It should be unique and easy on the eyes. So receivers often prefer appearance over function. This is why gift stores are filled with such gifts. These items are often low in their usefulness yet they make most gifts.
The price isn’t necessarily a priority. Even costly items can be considered as cheap sometimes. It’s better to pick an item from the top of an inexpensive sort than one at the bottom of an expensive sort. Even if you’re paying the same for both choices, the former will be received well.
A gift that feels heavier tends to be considered as of higher quality. Giving someone a hardcover book is better than giving them a paperback as a gift. You may also package it in a relatively heavy box. Anyway, pick items that aren’t too light.
Don’t present your gift without the wrapping (包装). It shows effort and devotion. Presentation expresses special thought on behalf of the giver. When they receive a gift, receivers process the exchange and analyze the giver in terms of thoughtfulness, which is communicated through gift presentation. If you want your receiver to think of you as thoughtful, make sure you wrap it in a good wrapping paper. Bad presentation can ruin a great gift. So it matters making a present more attractive to your receiver.
1. What kind of gifts are mostly sold in shops?A.Strange objects. | B.Eye-catching items. |
C.Useful things. | D.High-cost pieces. |
A.Never choose any expensive gif. |
B.The more expensive a gift is, the better. |
C.Two gifts at a time are always better than one. |
D.The best gift in the cheap kind is a better choice. |
A.A hardcover book. | B.A paperback. |
C.One in a light box. | D.One without wrapping. |
A.The giver is generous. | B.The receiver is special. |
C.The giver is thoughtful. | D.The receiver is attractive. |
4 . Many people feel anxious in situations that are stressful to them. For example, they may feel anxious about taking tests, meeting new people, or speaking in class.
Start with a “growth” mindset. Some people have a fixed mindset. They might think, “This is how I am.”
Notice how anxiety affects your body. When you’re anxious, do you feel “butterflies” in your stomach? Sweaty palms? Shaky hands? A faster heartbeat? These physical feelings can be uncomfortable but they aren’t harmful. You can cope. You don’t have to push the feelings away.
Face the situation—don’t wait for anxiety to go away. You might think that you’ll put off speaking in class or talking to that new person until you no longer feel anxious about it. But it doesn’t work that way.
Learning to cope with anxiety takes time, patience, and practice. Most of all it takes being willing to face anxiety. Start with one small step. The more you practice, the better you’ll get at lowering anxiety.
A.Talk yourself through it. |
B.Tell a parent or another adult you trust. |
C.It’s facing the anxiety that helps you lower it. |
D.Try to pay attention to anxious thoughts and feelings. |
E.Try to notice them without getting upset that they’re there. |
F.With a fixed mindset, people don’t think things can change. |
G.If you feel anxious in situations like these, you’re not alone. |
I was a broke university student. I should have been going to university on a scholarship because I came from a low-income family, but a last-minute £100-a-year pay rise for my mum pushed my family over the threshold (门槛) for what defined “low-income” and I was suddenly no longer qualified for £15,000 a year in scholarship money. This news came after I’d been accepted by the university and signed the lease (租约) for my accommodation.
Despite my family not being labelled low-income anymore, I still wouldn’t receive any financial support from my family as all the income went toward taking care of my disabled brother and paying their own bills. It would be tight, but because I had savings from my part-time job, I decided to go to university anyway. After paying my rent, I had £10.20 a week for everything else including food, toiletries, and school supplies.
As I was in a new city, I really wanted to make friends, which was difficult when most of the social activities were expensive. Therefore, I jumped at the chance to do a relatively cheap coffee shop trip with my roommates who were pleasant to me.
I had £20 with me to get a cheap cup of coffee and my food shopping for a few weeks. So I headed for the coffee shop. While paying, I pulled out the note and a handful of change and realized I could pay without breaking the note, so I put it back in my pocket. It wasn’t until I arrived at the supermarket that I realized the note was gone. What should I do? I was desperate it was the equivalent (相等物) of two weeks of money. My roommates helped me look for the note. However, it was in vain. Finally, I went to school empty-handed.
注意:
(1) 续写词数应为150词左右;
(2) 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
P1: As a final attempt, I messaged the coffee shop’s Facebook page asking if they’d seen it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
P2: I said, “Oh, ...This isn’t mine; my note was an old worn one.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 . As the trees drop their leaves and frosts advance in, we prepare our homes and ourselves for the winter months.
The phrase “emotional wintering” was popularized by Katharine May. She mentions emotional wintering asks us to see our difficult or uncomfortable feelings as winters which we can get ready for and live through.
Sometimes the emotional winters are caused by an event that makes us feel as though we want to withdraw into ourselves.
With the management, we believe we will be well by the time the next summer rolls around.
A.It prepares us for the coming spring. |
B.Different emotions come to all of us. |
C.Emotional wintering asks us to change. |
D.We can grow from challenging experience. |
E.Thick socks and cosy blankets are brought out. |
F.We expect to always live in our emotional summers. |
G.At other times we simply use up our supplies of positivity. |
7 . 每年的 12 月 5日是国际志愿者日(International Volunteer Day)。作为校志愿者协会(School Volunteer Association)主席,请你用英语在志愿者日发表国旗下讲话,内容包括:
1. 向校志愿者表示感谢;
2. 志愿服务的好处;
3. 发出呼吁。
注意: 1. 词数 80 左右;
2. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Dear teachers and schoolmates,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 . You’ve just received your final grades and they’re not exactly what you were hoping for. To make matters worse, your BFF’s grades have got you green with envy. Try not to panic. We’ve put together some tips to help you manage.
Be happy for them
First things first, make sure you start things off right by congratulating them for doing well this semester (学期). We’re not going to lie. This can be hard when you’re overwhelmed with jealousy (忌妒), but your BFF has worked for it and they deserve to be celebrated. Don’t hate them for their achievements.
Confront (正视) your feelings
In saying that, being happy for your BFF doesn’t mean you should repress your feelings. Jealousy is natural. Jealousy can quickly become a problem for both your friendship and your mental health when it’s repressed. So,
Use it as motivation
Feeling jealous doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The fact that you’re envious of your friend’s grades means that you care about your studies. One of the best things to do in this situation is to use your jealousy as motivation to do better. Figure out where you went wrong and learn from your mistakes. Don’t focus all your energy on feeling upset.
Focus on what you learned, not the grades you received
The fact that your BFF received a higher grade than you doesn’t mean you’re a failure. We need to stop using other people’s successes as a benchmark for our own self-worth. Life isn’t a competition. Focus on your own strengths, appreciate yourself more, and soon enough your jealousy will just melt away.
A.Try not to compare yourself to others |
B.Attempt to be honest with how you’re feeling |
C.While grades are important, they aren’t everything |
D.Focus on them, and soon your jealousy will melt away |
E.Allow yourself to feel genuinely (真诚地) happy for your friend |
F.Instead, try to setting new goals and creating better study habits |
G.However, envy can quickly become a problem for your friendship |
When Mia was four years old, the doctors diagnosed(诊断) her with alopecia areata, which caused all her hair to fall out. Going bald(秃头的) at such a young age wasn’t easy for her. Her mother Meredith Bailey thought gifting a bald doll (玩偶) to her daughter would help her feel confident. Bailey knew her daughter wanted a doll, so she went to an American Girl store on Mia’s birthday in 2015. Inside the store, Bailey looked for a bald doll that Mia could relate to,but she couldn’t find any.
Curious, she asked the staff about bald dolls and learned buyers could place an order for them.The store did not display(展示) the bald dolls back then.
Bailey thought her daughter would love playing with a bald American Girl doll, so she placed an order and gifted it to Mia on her birthday.
While gifting the doll to her daughter,Bailey had no idea that Mia would soon ask her questions that would leave her speechless. She wasn’t expecting Mia to come up with such interesting questions.
“I knew she wanted the doll, but I didn’t realize the happiness it would bring. She had a doll that was just like her -it was a piece of her," Bailey said.
The doll was Mia’s best gift,but looking at it made her wonder if other children also bought bald dolls so she asked her mother about it.
Bailey told Mia that other kids also liked such dolls by explaining that the doll might be similar to one of their friends or they buy it thinking it is pretty.Little did she know that Mia would come up with another thought-provoking(发人深省的) question.
Mia asked her mother why the bald dolls weren’t sold at the store if they were so popular. The question left Bailey speechless and made her wonder why buyers had to place an order to buy a bald doll.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
On Mia’s 8th birthday, Bailey took her to the American Girl store and a bald doll on display caught the pairs’ attention.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Since Bailey thought sharing her fee lings with the manager wasn’t enough, she penned a heartfelt note and posted it on American Girl’s Facebook page.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mom poured herself a glass of orange juice. “I’m worried about your grandma,” she said. I asked, “Why?” “Well, before she moved to Florida, she was active. But now she sleeps most of the day or watches television. I can’t get her out of the house, and she won’t try to make friends,” Mom replied. My grandma wanted to go back to New York. But she couldn’t live alone anymore. That was why my mom let her come to live with us in Florida.
“I’ll find a way to make Grandma love Florida,” I thought for a minute and said. Mom smiled and said, “I wish you could.” After school, I saw Grandma watching television and figured she hadn’t moved all day. In my room, I took out my collection. I had found many beautiful and special seashells. My favourite one was called Baby’s Ear. It’s a beautiful white seashell. Looking at my seashells gave me an idea. I went into the living room and sat on the sofa.
“Did you ever go to the beach when you were little, Grandma?” I asked. “Once my mother took me there, but I didn’t enjoy it because I was afraid of the water and couldn’t swim. Even now, I’m a little afraid of the water,” she replied. I wished Grandma could feel the way I did about the beach. I loved to see seabirds and look for seashells. “Well, could you take me to the beach, Grandma? I need some new seashells for my collection. I’m not allowed to go by myself. Please!” I begged. Grandma finally agreed and took my hand as we left the house.
We walked to the beach. The sky was blue. I handed Grandma a plastic bag, and said, “This is for the seashells you find.” “Oh, you should take it,” she said. I shook my head. “No, Grandma. I need all the help I can get.” “All right,” she said.
注意:(1)续写词数应为150左右;(2)请按如下格式作答。
We walked side by side on the beach.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Wow! Look what I found!” Grandma shouted, standing in the sand and holding a pink seashell.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________