1 . While socializing comes naturally for some, it can be a struggle for others. Shyness is a normal, common personality trait (特征).
Get Excited About A New Adventure
You may have been shy most of your life.
Pay Attention To Your Words
Practice Mindfulness (正念)
Mindfulness involves drawing your attention to the present and being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings.
Take Small Steps
Getting started can be the hardest part of learning how to be more social for those who are shy.
A.If so, that’s a part of you that you’re used to |
B.Sometimes the best path toward addressing a fear is exposure |
C.Mindfulness can help reduce symptoms of social anxiety disorder |
D.Taking time to tend to your appearance can make a big difference |
E.How we communicate and characterize ourselves can be powerful |
F.However, shyness can make it hard for people to connect with others and achieve their goals |
G.But engaging with people doesn’t have to be practiced as an important work presentation |
2 . How to Feel at Peace
Is feeling truly peaceful a pipe dream? Nope! With a little work, you can feel calm, cool, and collected (just like you deserve to).
Release what you cannot control.
This is the most important part of feeling at peace and the first place you should always start. 90% of the time, when we’re worried about something or stressed out, the source of our anxiety is really something that we have no control over.
Get an inspiration from nature.
Go sit out in an area nearby. Listen to the trees. Watch the animals. Do they seem worried about what their brother did last Christmas? Do the trees seem to notice when it starts to rain?
Create goals.
Having a goal that you can work for can really help when you’re feeling lost and aimless in life.
When other people make us angry, it is usually because we cannot understand why they’re doing something that’s making us angry. Instead of blowing up at someone or stressing yourself out, try to see things from their side of the table. Think about why they did what they did... and remember that we’re all people with our own problems and our own dreams.
A.Forgive yourself. |
B.Find the humanity in all people. |
C.All you can do in life is to try your best and let fate take its course. |
D.Happiness is on the horizon, and we’re here to show you what to do. |
E.No. Nature adapts and embraces every twist and turn in life and you should too. |
F.Really, what’s the point in life if you don’t have something to work towards, right? |
G.A huge source of worry in our lives comes from when we beat ourselves up from inside. |
3 . Many would consider emotions to be a barrier to decision-making and, therefore, think that they would be better off without them. However, the latest research has proved that our emotions will drive the conclusions we make, and that our well-being may depend upon our ability to understand and interpret them.
Start by understanding your emotions.
Emotions can act as a compass (指南针), pointing you toward what matters most to you. However, strong emotions can affect our judgment and make it challenging to think objectively and critically.
It’s beneficial to expand your viewpoint. When you see the big picture and are focused on your highest purpose, you are not distracted by smaller issues. Figuring out your deepest long-term goals and pursuing them will channel your emotions toward peace and harmony.
To sum up, emotions play a significant role in decision-making and, when used properly, they can improve the effectiveness of the decision-making process.
A.Emotions can provide valuable insights. |
B.All this information can serve your goal in the long run. |
C.You’ll recognize that a decision driven by your values is the best. |
D.Actually, we can effectively use emotions for successful decision-making. |
E.Take a moment to recognize how you are feeling and why you are feeling so. |
F.Therefore, it is essential to balance emotional insights with logical reasoning. |
G.You should try to understand how critical thinking contributes to great decisions. |
What Color Is a Hug?
When my daughter Bernadette was 10 years old, I found myself very worried about her. Her mother had passed away before she turned one, and I, needing to provide for our livelihood, had to work long hours, leaving little time for her. Although she was close to her grandparents, unfortunate circumstances took them away as well. The series of losses implanted unbearable pain on her young soul.
A merciless series of losses like that is hard on anyone, especially a child. But it was particularly hard on Bernadette because of her sensitive and loving nature. Prolonged periods of isolation and silence led her into a deep depression. The sparkle in her eyes faded, and her face lost the once-present smiles. She lost interest in playing, learning, and even declined invitations from friends. She often lost in her own thoughts without uttering a word for a long time.
Witnessing my daughter’s suffering, I felt a deep sense of guilt and helplessness. I knew she needed more than just companionship; she needed a healing of the soul. I began reading more about child psychology, attempting to understand how to guide her out of this situation.
Over the next few months, I adjusted my work schedule to spend more time by her side. I tried to communicate with her, stepping into her inner world. I encouraged her to join some extracurricular classes, developing new friendships. Slowly but surely, Bernadette began to regain her interest in certain things, and smiles started to reappear on her face.
Meanwhile, I started using hugs to comfort her. Each embrace conveyed my love and support, providing her with warmth and a sense of security. Gradually, she became more cheerful and confident. She initiated social interactions, sharing her thoughts with friends. Her mood gradually lifted, and life regained its brilliance.
After years of effort, Bernadette finally stepped out of depression. Our habit of hugging has persisted to this day, becoming the most sincere bond between us. Now, as my daughter is about to enter university, and I am approaching my fiftieth birthday, she has promised me a special gift.
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。
Paragraph1:
As her summer vacation began, she seemed even busier than before.
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Paragraph 2:
Before us was a warmly decorated studio, with a sign reading “Heartwarming Embrace Association.”
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5 . 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.
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.
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.
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.
So, with the weight of expectations, deadlines, and too many responsibilities, remember to prioritize mental well-being.
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. |
6 . 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.
Figure out the emotional meaning of fear.
Whether emotions are viewed positively or negatively varies from culture to culture.
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.
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.
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 |
7 . One of the cores of emotional intelligence is self-regulation, an important skill in the workplace. Like any skill, mastery of emotional self-control requires intentionality and practice.
Pause to Mentally Distance
When you notice your typical physiological experiences associated with strong negative emotion, what should you do? Mentally step out of your immediate experience. Asking yourself any question, or imagining what you might look like to others right now, will do the trick. At that point, although still physiologically keyed up, you will be able to ask yourself, “What is the best course of action right now?” or “What advice would I give someone else who is in my shoes?”
Take Control of Your Self-Talk
We’re frequently unaware of how much self-chatter is going on in the background of our minds. Such self-talk might not be in fully articulated (铰接式的) words or phrases, but instead little flashes of thought. Becoming aware of your self-talk can be difficult. Why is this an important skill to develop?
Seek Support from Partners
Ask others you trust to help you recognize when your emotions seem to be getting the best of you.
Cultivate (培养) Curiosity
Our brains are wired to draw conclusions and form judgments at lightning speed, and those are frequently the cause of our negative emotions.
A.They are comfortable with all emotions |
B.Those judgments are not necessarily accurate |
C.Doing so provides you with choices as to how to act |
D.Explain your developmental goals and sincerely ask for help |
E.Stay focused on coming up with an answer and following through on it |
F.Because it is those background beliefs that fuel our emotional responses |
G.Here are four ways you can develop greater emotional self-management |
What my father wore embarrassed me! I wanted him to dress like a doctor or lawyer, but he always dressed like my father, getting up before dawn every day to make breakfast for my mother and me.
We lived in South Texas, where my father worked as a repairman. He often wore a pair of jeans and a shirt, keeping his pencils, glasses and wrenches (扳手) in his breast pocket. His boots were those with steel toes that made them difficult to pull off his feet, which I sometimes helped him with when he returned from repairing cars — his job that also shamed me.
I blamed the way he dressed. I felt that my classmates laughed at me because they’d seen him mowing lawns (修剪草坪) in cut-off jeans and black boots. My classmates’ families paid men to beautify their lawns, while their fathers travelled in the bay wearing lemon-yellow sweaters and expensive shoes.
He preferred clothes that allowed him the freedom to move under cars. So even when taking part in a school trip with me, he was dressed in his repairman’s suit. On the school bus to the campsite, all students on the bus happily chatted with their parents except me, who lowered the head, avoiding spotting my classmates’ mocking glance (讥笑的眼光) or hearing their jokes, which I thought was about nothing else but what my father wore.
I regretted telling my parents the school trip, and I was very angry why my mother had no spare time while my father happened to have a vacation. But my father failed to read my mind. He was very happy, whistling a tune along the way.
Though my father didn’t sense my bad mood, the school bus seemed as sad as I was. It drove more and more slowly and finally it stopped on the roadside. The driver got out to check the bus but found nothing wrong. Students and parents on the bus began to whisper about what was happening, worried that the delay might spoil the journey.
注意:
1.续写词数应为150 左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卷的相应位置作答。
When others were complaining, my father stood up.
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The school bus restarted and everyone cheered.
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9 . Ways to Embrace Solitude (独处)
For many, being alone is something they shy away from because it’s like loneliness. But loneliness and solitude are not the same.
Psychologists even consider solitude as important as relationships and view the ability to be alone as a sign of healthy emotional development.
Enjoy solitary activities
People who enjoy solitude find satisfaction and meaning when getting absorbed in a hobby, reading for pleasure, or getting out in nature. They rarely experience boredom when they’re alone and genuinely enjoy themselves while doing something interesting.
In solitude, buried feelings, memories, or problems can surface. Rather than avoid being discouraged by them, you can learn to engage in the regulation with curiosity, using the private time to explore your feelings without judgment. Accepting and expressing them safely helps you self-regulate and release stress.
Be self-reflective
People who enjoy solitude are willing to self-reflect.
Know when to exit solitude
A.Protect your privacy |
B.Feel and regulate your emotions |
C.They prefer listening to solitude signals |
D.Break your solitude and turn for support |
E.The former is marked by negative feelings |
F.There are skills associated with its capacity |
G.They spend time considering behavior patterns |
I had all the usual child fears. I couldn’t go to sleep unless the light in my bedroom was on. I dreaded that someday when my mother was distracted, Crazy Betty (our local small-town oddball) would grab me in the grocery store. On the hottest summer nights, my feet had to be wrapped tightly in my bed sheets; if one of them hung bare over the side of the bed, who knew what might grab it in its cold, slimy claw.
But all other frights paled in comparison with the Great Fear, the Titanic of my childhood terrors. That fear — and I admit, I feel a tightening in stomach typing the words even today — was that something would happen to Monk-Monk, my beloved toy monkey. That was the deepest fear of my childhood and I learned from it the lesson of cherishing what’s important in my life.
Looking at Monk-Monk today, you wouldn’t see what I see. You’d see a torn, discolored sock monkey, very much past his prime, stuffing leaking from his stumpy tail, holes on his sock-body inexpertly stitched up with thread that doesn’t match. I see my dearest childhood friend, my companion of a thousand nights. When I was only two and very ill, an aunt made him for me and delivered him to the hospital. I bonded with him fiercely and rarely let him out of my sight. When no one else was around, Monk-Monk played endless games with me, soaked up my tears, and listened to my secrets.
And then Uncle Ken came to visit. He lived in Ohio and occasionally he would come and stay with us for a couple of days. I didn’t know Uncle Ken well, and I didn’t like him very much. I had the feeling that he didn’t really like me, either. He clearly thought it was pretty silly that a big first-grader was dragging a sock monkey around, and he teased me by saying he thought he’d take Monk-Monk home to Ohio with him. His words almost scared me to death. I clutched Monk-Monk more tightly.
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。
I was at school a few days later when Uncle Ken left.
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Finally Monk-Monk was found jammed behind the sofa.
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