1 .

A．Excited.

B．Exhausted.

C．Bored.

D．Dissatisfied.

2 . Why We Hate the Feeling of Failure and How It Affects Us

Loss aversion is the idea that a potential loss has greater weight in a person's mind than the possible gain. People seek to avoid failure and the negative feelings they expect will come from such a loss.

    1    . Marketers want to understand the emotions surrounding loss so they can word advertisements in a way that prompts consumers to feel they need to buy a product to avoid negative feelings.

More recently, social scientists have turned their at tent on to how loss aversion can hinder people from performing in their daily lives.    2    .

Sports and athletic performance was one of the first areas of focus. A study in May 2023 looked at how adult athletes were hindered by a fear of failure. It found that athletes who feared failure tended to approach an athletic event and appraise(评估) it for potential losses.

Losses weren't just related to the final numbers on the scoreboard. Rather, some athletes approached a practice or a game and saw it as a potential to perform poorly and lose standing with their coach, teammates or fellow athletes.    3    Scholars are also considering how a fear of failure impacts academics. In a 2015 article, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 33 studies that measured the relationship between procrastination and academic performance.

Not surprisingly, procrastination was shown to decrease academic performance.    4    .Rather, this type of I'll-get to-it later mentality was a loss aversion strategy. When a student didn't feel confident or competent in completing a task, whether it was writing an essay or studying for an exam, they procrastinated to delay feeling like a failure.

While our fear of loss may impact our mindset and whether or not we pursue something new, if we let that fear take hold, then we’ve already lost. There for, don’t let fear of failure keep you from trying something new.

A．Researchers have examined how fear of failure can lead to-procrastination.

B．The loss was seen as humiliating and something the athlete feared or wanted to avoid.

C．Research has found this fear of failure drives people to stop pursuing their passions.

D．However, the study found that it wasn't due to students prioritizing their social life or Netflix queue.

E．Doubt has killed their dreams than failure ever will

F．Loss a version has long been used to study consumer psychology.

3 . Directions：Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A.simple   B.heard   C.difficult   D.faster   E.personal   F.shapes   G.goal   H.receive   I.shared   J.come   K.happiness

Everybody has different ways achieving happiness and the reasons for feeling happy may change from year to year, or even from day to day. For example, happiness may     1     from getting a good grade on school assignment or from a very     2     thing like having full stomach. This kind of happiness is inside of you — it is     3     happiness. Happiness is also something you can communicate to other people. The good grade you     4     on your paper will probably make your parents happy and proud. Another way of communicating happiness is to help other people over     5     experiences in their own lives. In this situation, you give off your own happiness to make others happy.

The most important things to remember in your pursuit (追求) of     6     are:

1. Happiness should not be your only     7    — a real goal, like better grades, a better job, or closer friends, is sure to give more happiness than chasing after a feeling.

2. Happiness may come in all sizes and     8    . If you keep your sense of humor and see things in a balanced way, happiness will come to you     9     than to the person who is always worrying about what tomorrow will bring.

3. Happiness is meant to be     10    . “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.”

4 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Dear Sally,

I recently became engaged, I love my fiancé a lot but we are getting into a lot of arguments     1     our Wedding plans. I would prefer a small wedding, just our immediate family and closest friends. I think it is such a special moment and I only want the people who are most important to be near us. I don’t want to be surrounded by people not really     2    (care) about us. He wants the whole world to be there--- the mail carrier, the baker, the butcher!!! My fiancé says a wedding day is     3    (important) day in anyone’s life. He wants to share his joy with everyone.

It’s not a question whether we can afford it although I     4     worry about how much a wedding costs and I would rather save the money for a house. I dislike fighting but I just don’t feel comfortable with his plans.

——Nervous

Dear Nervous,

Planning weddings     5     be very stressful. Each person has clear ideas about     6     his or her “perfect” wedding would be. Each person has dreams and hopes for that day. Now it is a good time to practice compromising (妥协) with your husband-to-be.     7     one of you should be unhappy on your wedding day. If you get your way, your husband will be unhappy. If he gets his way, it sounds     8     you will be unhappy.

Why don’t the two of you talk about     9     compromise? Perhaps a medium-sized wedding? Perhaps two weddings--- a small intimate ceremony and a large reception? You     10    (have) to compromise many times in your married life. You both can start now.

——Sally

5 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. steadily B. predicts C. biology D. temporary E. dramatic F. recovers G. permanent H. grounded I. expansion J. formed K. kindly

Teens Are Still Developing Empathy Skills

The teen years are often full of door-slamming, eye-rolling and seeming insensitivity, even by kids who behaved     1     before. Some parents worry that they are doing something wrong or that their children will never think of anyone but themselves. A six-year study published in Developmental Psychology shows that     2     is partly to blame.

In adolescence, critical social skills that are needed for one to feel concern for other people and to understand how they think are undergoing major changes. Adolescence has long been known as prime time for developing cognitive skills for self-regulation and executive function.

“Cognitive empathy,” or the mental ability to take others’ perspective, begins to rise     3     in girls at the age of 13, according to the study co-authored by Jolien van der Graaff at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. By comparison, boys do not begin until the age of 15 to show increases in perspective-taking, which helps in problem-solving and avoiding conflict.

Adolescent boys actually show a     4     decline, between the ages of 13 and 16, in a related skill—“affective empathy,” or the ability to recognize and respond to others’ feelings. This may be the result, at least in part, of a     5     rise in the primary male sex hormone, during adolescence, which sparks a desire for dominance and power. Fortunately, the boys’ sensitivity     6     in their late teens. Girls’ affective empathy remains relatively high and stable throughout adolescence.

This doesn’t mean, however, that we can do nothing but just wait for teenagers to develop a feeling of empathy. In fact, parents can help instill(灌输) affective empathy into their children. Affective empathy is     7     in marginal region of the brain, which regulates emotions. This capacity begins to develop in infancy. Children learn to practice empathy by watching their parents and by experiencing it themselves—being well treated by adults who sensitively respond to their emotions. While cognitive empathy arises from a different part of the brain, the two abilities are linked. Children’s affective empathy     8     their level of cognitive empathy as teens.

The findings reflect a major     9     in researchers’ understanding of cognitive growth during adolescence. They used to believe that both forms of empathy were fully     10     in childhood. Now, it is clear that “the brain regions that support social cognition, which helps us successfully understand and interact with others, continue to change dramatically” in our teens, says Jennifer Pfeifer at the University of Oregon. Research in her lab also suggests that cognitive empathy rises in teens. The discoveries serve as a new lens for exploring such teen behavior as bullying and drug abuse.

6 . Years ago, I made friends with a couple who had recently fallen in love. It was glorious to be in their orbit, watching as their relationship blossomed into a serious commitment. I recall the night we celebrated their engagement, watching this golden couple swing each other on the dance floor, laughing while emitting a glow that could light a city grid.

As happy as I was for them, in that moment I couldn’t ignore a sudden heaviness of heart. That pang was back, whispering, “Why not me?”

It had been a long time between visits from the pang. In the past, it was a constant companion as I navigated life with naive notions of love, romance and fate. I had grown up believing a relationship should complete me. As a result, I often felt more lost than found as part of a couple.

Then as I matured, I took a closer look at those who I thought had it all, the ones who tick all the boxes, who look and act the romance-novel parts. And when I dared to explore under the shiny surfaces, I saw that no honest couple had what I’d assumed they had: the perfect relationship, the easy love, the lucky life.

No, what I saw was a lot of unhappiness. Yes, while some couples were both blissed and blessed, many admitted that their relationships were hardly the happily-ever-after.

What’s more, I grew to understand I avoided bad relationships and like my life too much to settle. I realized I am the cake and relationships just the icing. The pang only emerges when I make the mistake of comparing myself to others.

The reason why I’m sharing this is because in the past couple of weeks, I have watched that golden couple endure one of the ugliest break-ups. What I saw that night on the dance floor was a romantic illusion. When the bubble burst, the fall back to earth was terrible for them both.

Watching the break-up, I am aware that to protect perfection is to do reality an injustice. I accept the understanding that there is only one relationship that really counts in life and that is the one we have with ourselves. And mine is a healthy one, not golden, but rosy all the same, because as my friends’ split has proven once again, shine and sparkle can blind the rest of us.

1. What can we learn about the author from the first two paragraphs?

A．She was moved to tears by the engagement of her friends.

B．She didn’t really feel happy for the engagement of her friends.

C．She had mixed feelings while seeing the engagement of her friends.

D．She didn’t think her friends would live a happy life after their engagement.

2. Why did the author feel lost in her relationship in the past?

A．She was misguided to pursue the perfect love.

B．She was too naive to find a perfect partner.

C．She was keen on being a good partner.

D．She was immature to control her fate.

3. By “to project perfection is to do reality an injustice” in the last paragraph, the author implies that       .

A．pursuing perfection does good to reality

B．we should never stop looking for perfection

C．what reality is all about is just perfection

D．a perfect relationship is hard to find in life

4. According to the author, what is the most important thing in life?

A．Accepting whatever you have in life.

B．Living in harmony with yourself.

C．Leading an admirable and happy life.

D．Having a golden relationship.

7 .

A．It was quite a success.	B．It was huge.
C．It was terrible.	D．The music was good.

8 .

A．Curious.	B．Confident.
C．Casual.	D．Hopeless.

9 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The Bennets had made plans to dine with the Lucases. And during the main part of the day Miss Lucas was kind enough to spend a lot of time listening sympathetically to Mr. Collins. Elizabeth made sure to thank her, but Charlotte assured her friend that she was happy to be useful, and     1     this was worth the little sacrifice of her time.

This was very kind, but Charlotte’s kindness went further than Elizabeth     2     imagine. Charlotte’s purpose was nothing less than to prevent Mr Collins from proposing marriage again to Elizabeth, by encouraging him to proposing marriage to     3    . Miss Lucas would have felt almost certain of her plan’s success if Mr Collins did not plan to leave so very soon.

But here she underestimated him, because the very next morning he rushed to Lucas Lodge to swear his love to her. In as short     4     time as Mr. Collins long speeches would allow, Miss Lucas accepted his proposal of marriage, and everything was settled down between them.

Charlotte did not think highly of men, but marriage     5    (always be) her only goal. It might not always bring happiness, but it was the only way     6     a well-educated young woman who was not rich could live a secure and prosperous life.

What she liked the least about the arrangement was the surprise     7     would give to Elizabeth Bennet,     8     friendship she valued beyond that of any other person.

In a private meeting with Elizabeth, she told her of the news. Elizabeth was so astonished that she could not help but     9    (cry) out: “Engaged to Mr. Collins! My dear Charlotte-that’s impossible!” “Why should you be so surprised, my dear Eliza? Do you think it is unbelievable that any woman could be attracted by Mr. Collins,     10     he was not lucky enough to succeed with you?”

10 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Understanding Your Loved Ones

Eight months after my father died, I saw some letters on top of my mother’s coffee table. They were written decades ago     1     my father’s neat handwriting. I couldn’t imagine my serious father ever     2     (write) anything like love letters.

“Would you like me to read them to you?” Mom asked with a hint of a smile. The letters     3     (address) to my mother in 1974 over the course of a month when my father traveled back to Italy to care for his sick mother, leaving his wife and me behind in Toronto,     4     my parents had immigrated to in 1956.

I sat back and listened while my mother read his letters to me, and thought, “Who is this guy?” My father was proud and stubborn (固执的), and he married a woman who was his equal in that regard. During their 58-year marriage, their stubbornness often     5     (lead) to conflict. So it was bittersweet to hear my father’s youthful words     6     (read) aloud by my elderly mother with a sad tone. I knew she was thinking about what could have been different if she had been     7     (proud).

As children, we often assume we know     8     about our parents. But, sometimes, we find out that they were and are people with various dimensions. After she finished reading the letters, I held them in my hands and examined them like they were fossils (化石). A man of few words     9     my father was, he had filled the front and back of several pages.

These letters are only part of their correspondence. My mother also wrote back to my father. I begged her to read them to me, but she only smiled. I don’t want to enter her heart’s most sacred place uninvited unless she wishes     10     (listen) to. But she has assured me that one day she will share them with me.