1 . “Anxiety.” The very word invites discomfort. Its effects — shortness of breath, pounding heart, muscle tension — are definitely upsetting. But, as a clinician, I find that we tend to miss out on many valuable opportunities presented by this human emotion. In and of itself, anxiety is not deadly, nor is it a disease. Quite the contrary: it is an indicator of brain and sensory health. Once we accept that it is a normal, though uncomfortable, part of life, we can use it to help us.
We all know working out at the gym is hard. By nature, a “good workout” is uncomfortable, since it involves pushing our physical strength past what we can easily do. The sweet spot of exercise is always a somewhat challenging experience. Similarly, if you want to be emotionally stronger, you need to face some tension. For example, one effective treatment for fear is exposure therapy (疗法), which involves gradually being exposed to things that make one anxious, reducing fear over time.
Humans are social creatures. When my patients learn to open up to their partners about their anxieties, they almost always report a greater sense of emotional closeness. Also, as international relationship expert Sue Johnson teaches, when we express our need for connection during challenging moments (e.g., “I’m having a hard time right now and could really use your support”), it creates greater connection and turns our anxiety into love.
From time to time, we find ourselves at the end of our rope. Our responsibilities pile up, our resources break down, and we feel uncomfortably anxious—what we’re experiencing is called stress. Simply put, the demands placed upon us outweigh our available resources, just like a set of scales (天平) going out of balance. Focusing on work and pretending everything is OK only leads to disastrous results. Medical treatment for stress may function for a while, but it tends to make things worse in the long run. The only solution to dealing with stress is to do the mathematics to balance the scales.
1. What does the author say about anxiety?| A．It is an invitation to diseases. | B．It indicates stable mental health. |
| C．It is a natural emotional expression. | D．It costs us many valuable chances. |
| A．To prove how exercise influences emotions. |
| B．To suggest an effective way to challenge limits. |
| C．To explain how anxiety builds emotional strength. |
| D．To show a positive connection between mind and body. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Dismissive. | C．Suspicious. | D．Critical. |
| A．Devote more energy to our work. |
| B．Master advanced mathematical skills. |
| C．Seek professional medical treatment. |
| D．Balance the demands and available resources. |
1. What was the speaker’s greatest fear?
| A．Living a hard life in high school. |
| B．Meeting all types of people. |
| C．Attending the college entrance exams. |
| A．He did more and spoke less. |
| B．He praised their strengths. |
| C．He talked about similar interests. |
| A．Playing basketball. | B．Joining learning club. | C．Taking baseball classes. |
1. 表示歉意;
2. 说明原因
3. 提出补救措施
注意：1. 词数80左右;
2. 请在相应位置作答
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4 . Streaming humorous videos on the Internet at work isn’t always a waste of time. They may be putting themselves in a good mood (心情) so that they can think more creatively.
According to Ruby Nadler, a PhD student at the university of Western Ontario, “Generally, a positive mood has been found to improve creative problem solving and flexible yet careful thinking.” She and her colleagues Rahel Rabi and John Paul Minda focused their research on a specific type of learning that benefits from creative thinking.
People in the study were put into various moods before being given a category (类别) learning task to complete: They learned to classify (分类) sets of pictures with visually (视觉) complex patterns. The researchers used music and video clips to change people’s mood; at the beginning, they tested out a few to see which ones made individuals the happiest and saddest. The happiest music was a cheerful Mozart composition, while the happiest video was a newborn baby laughing.
The researchers then used them in the experiment, along with sad music and videos that had no effect on moods. People were required to learn to spot a pattern after listening to the music and seeing the movie. Volunteers who were happy were better at learning a rule to categorize the patterns than those who were sad or indifferent.
“If you have a project where you want to think creatively, or you have a problem to carefully consider, being in a positive mood can help you do that,” Nadler says. And music is a simple method of putting yourself in a good mood. Everyone responds to various types of music, so don’t feel obligated (必须的) to switch to Mozart, she adds.
This, according to Nadler, might be one of the reasons why individuals enjoy watching humorous films at work. “I think people are unconsciously (无意识地) trying to put themselves in a positive mood, so the seeming waste of time may actually be beneficial to employers,” she says.
1. How did the researchers change the participants’ mood in their study?| A．By sets of pictures. | B．By music and videos. |
| C．By an assignment. | D．By a project. |
| A．Complete a given task. | B．Report how they felt. |
| C．Learn a piece of music. | D．Design a rule for the given task. |
| A．Happy and sad people are equally good at learning. | B．Only Mozart’s music can help keep a good mood. |
| C．A positive mood can help think creatively. | D．It’s a must to keep a good mood at work. |
| A．Ways to change moods. | B．Types of music and videos. |
| C．Methods of keeping a good mood. | D．Positive effects of a good mood. |
1. 减轻压力；
2. 提高免疫力；
3. 改善心情。
注意：1. 词数 80 左右；2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。参考词汇：免疫系统 immune system
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1. 写信目的；2. 解释原因；3. 另约时间。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear David,
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Yours,
Li Hua
| A．Uninterested. | B．Annoyed. | C．Surprised. |
8 . 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. |
| A．The treehouse. | B．The green grass. | C．The big trees. | D．The cold floors. |
| 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. |
9 . A growing number of psychologists are getting out the message that anxiety has a positive role to play in our lives. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, who recently published Future Tense: Why Anxiety Is Good for You (Even Though It Feels Bad), thinks our culture goes too far in demonizing (妖魔化) the difficult emotion.
Psychologist Todd Kashdan, director of the Well-Being Lab at George Mason University in Virginia, is a critic of what he calls happyology. We don’t always have to be smiley and calm, or worry there’s something wrong with us. Sometimes, he says, worry itself is what is right. Fear of heights? Good, because you’re not going to be the person who falls off a cliff while taking a selfie.
These experts wonder if the natural role that anxiety plays in our lives is somehow being forgotten. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in March 2022 that the prevalence of anxiety had increased globally by 25% over the previous year. The WHO called the finding “a wake-up call to all countries to step up mental health services and support”. Do we know for certain that this data represents a public health crisis? Or could it mean that millions of folks are quite rightly feeling uncertain, stressed out and afraid?
We can experience healthy, often completely valid periods of anxiety without being categorized as mentally ill, according to behavioral psychologists. Anxiety is an adaptive strategy in human evolution. It helps us to prepare for the uncertain future. Anxiety helps us solve unknowns by planning and imagining, by plotting out possible ways.
According to Alice Boyes, who has a PhD in clinical psychology, coping with anxiety by avoiding them just reinforces your insecurity, because you’re not getting better at solving the problem. “Over time, you will feel less and less capable,” she warns.
The key is to manage anxiety before it overtakes us, like tending a garden so the weeds don’t spread. How do you do that? Solutions include meditation, exercise, compassionate connection such as volunteering, access to nature and mentally reframing what we’re experiencing.
1. Which statement is Kashdan’s opinion?| A．Fear may prevent you from taking dangerous actions. |
| B．Happyology is quite popular among the young nowadays. |
| C．Being smiley can stop us from worrying something wrong. |
| D．Difficult emotions such as anxiety should not be demonized. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Disapproving. | C．Objective. | D．Positive. |
| A．Resists. | B．Increases. | C．Adjusts. | D．Reveals. |
| A．The upside of anxiety. | B．The key to manage anxiety. |
| C．The origin of difficult emotions. | D．The right attitude to negative emotions. |
10 . At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. The airline had announced her plane’s
She said, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your
I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to
Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and
“Why is this a forever good-bye?” I asked.
“I am old and she lives too far away. And the reality is, her next trip back will be for my
“When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough’. What does that mean?”
He began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been
“When we said ‘I wish you enough’, we wanted you to have a life filled with enough good things to
“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest
He then began to
| A．arrival | B．departure | C．delay | D．cancel |
| A．grocery | B．wealth | C．love | D．reward |
| A．disturb | B．evaluate | C．shelter | D．pursue |
| A．temporary | B．forever | C．blank | D．separate |
| A．appreciation | B．sympathy | C．approval | D．greatness |
| A．precise | B．numerous | C．wasted | D．limited |
| A．Gradually | B．Naturally | C．Unexpectedly | D．Hopefully |
| A．birthday | B．celebration | C．funeral | D．anniversary |
| A．handed down | B．carried out | C．worn down | D．sorted out |
| A．in detail | B．in action | C．on purpose | D．with regret |
| A．access | B．host | C．support | D．label |
| A．history | B．text | C．childhood | D．memory |
| A．sadness | B．joy | C．jealousy | D．misfortune |
| A．possess | B．abandon | C．wonder | D．expect |
| A．smile | B．freeze | C．sob | D．shout |
