1 . Four Habits That Lead to Emotional Security

Can you become more emotionally secure by doing certain things differently?     1     Doing what emotionally secure people do creates results. What follows is a list of good habits.

●   Be willing to apologize.

Do you know that refusing to apologize may actually increase your ego (自负)?     2     This creates insecurity because you then must defend your ego. Since nobody is perfect, it seems important to learn to apologize, admit when you are wrong and confess your limitations.

●   Be willing to accept failure.

Emotionally secure people can recognize and accept failure. This may be why two top schools in England teach failure as part of their curriculum.     3    

●   Learn to manage self-criticism.

Self-criticism is a usual stumbling block (绊脚石). It may be the most common psychological hang-up (障碍) in existence.     4     Constant self-criticism creates a lot of insecurity. Emotionally secure people handle the critical inner voice and do not allow it to control them.

●       5    

Taking a more objective viewpoint on your own life gives you access to the big picture. Emotionally immature people tend to lack thinking and make poor decisions, which will only create more problems to feel insecure about. One solution is to step back and consider the big picture before making decisions.

A．Learn to accept.

B．Take a big step back.

C．You need more help than this.

D．Research suggests that yes, you can.

E．It gives you a false sense of moral superiority (优越感).

F．The critical inner voice is common and almost without exception.

G．Losing or at least losing gracefully is a vital skill for students to learn.

2 . Everyone has bad days at work or studies. For example, you had an unexpected trouble with a project you had been working on for weeks.     1     Or you forgot to attend an important meeting on time and missed a good chance. Whatever the reason for your problem, the result is to make you feel more stressed and alone.

    2     According to a research, practicing gratitude can help make you happier. The next time you’re feeling troubled by a problem, take a minute and think of someone in your life that you’re grateful for.     3    

Why will that make you feel better? Gratitude is often a feeling when someone else does something helpful for you that they don’t need to do.     4     It might be a relative who took care of you when you were little, a guide teacher who helped you out, or a workmate who offered you a great chance.

Remember those people who helped you, and knowing why you’re grateful to them has two good points. For one, it gets you to think about something wonderful, which can cheer you up.     5    

A．In those moments, a little gratitude can help.

B．You felt as if only reading could relax yourself.

C．All of us have people in our lives who are helpful.

D．You are shouted at rudely by your partners in a discussion.

E．Then write a sentence or two about why you feel thankful.

F．There’s a reason gratitude is always showing up on tea bags and in self-help books.

G．It also makes you get on well with others so that you don’t feel quite alone anymore.

3 . Tips for you to overcome comparison

Identify your triggers (诱因) and avoid them. To stop comparing yourself to others, pay attention to the people or events that cause your behavior. Do you feel discontent with your life after looking at luxury goods?     1     Write down your comparative thoughts as soon as they happen so you can limit your exposure to these situations or avoid them altogether.

    2     When you minimize your abilities, it becomes easier to compare yourself to others. To avoid this negative behavior, make a list of your strengths and talents. By acknowledging your best qualities, you can learn to love yourself.

Keep a gratitude journal. To start journaling, reflect on the little things that bring you joy and write down why you’re grateful for them. Keeping a gratitude journal can increase your chances of overcoming comparison, but you may forget about it if you have a busy schedule.     3    

Work on improving your abilities. Instead of focusing on your “weaknesses”, reflect on the areas you can improve.     4     Besides, don’t be afraid to ask other people for help along the way. By prioritizing yourself, you can boost your self-confidence and find your place and value.

Appreciate others instead of envying them.     5     If you have friends who are highly achieving people, you might consider that their networks are full of people who might be able to help you become more successful in your life. Instead of envying their success, be supportive and use their success to your advantage.

A．Write down your positive qualities.

B．Do you set goals to achieve your dream?

C．Consider the advantage that others can bring you.

D．Recognize everyone’s circumstances are entirely unique.

E．Take classes or workshops to develop your skills and techniques.

F．Is there someone who constantly makes you feel bad about yourself?

G．Set a reminder to write at least once a week so you can actively express appreciation.

4 . 假如你是在英国的交换生李华，上周日露营时你不慎扭伤 (sprain) 了自己的左脚。St. Laurence School 的学生Chris恰好路过，并对你实施了急救。请你给Chris所在的学校写一封感谢信，感谢他的帮助，要点包括：
1.表达你对Chris的感谢之情。
2.急救的经过 (时间、地点、具体急救措施)。
3.简要谈谈你的感悟及再次赞扬Chris。
注意：
1.词数120左右，开头与结尾已给出，不算入总词数内。
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
词汇提示：冰袋 ice pack；绷带 bandage
Dear Sir/Madam,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

5 . Soothe the Sunday scaries

Most of us look forward to the weekend as a time to relax, connect with friends and family, and deal with tasks from a to-do list that gets neglected during the workweek. But as the weekend comes to an end, many are missing out on Sunday Funday and instead experiencing an overwhelming sense of anxiety and even dread about the upcoming week.     1     Some people describe it as a heaviness they can feel in their body, while others feel so unsettled that they could jump out of their skin.

Even though the Sunday scaries are common, they are manageable. Here’s how experts say you can ease your end-of-weekend anxiety.

Structure your Sunday.     2     You might still go through that sense of dread, but that feeling is harder to hold on to when you’ re engaging in something that makes you feel good.

Don’t forget to relax. If you’re feeling more stress, it’s important to make space for relaxing activities to ground yourself. Maybe a midafternoon shower or bath, maybe an engaging movie or show, whatever feels like a helpful distraction to reground from the scaries.

Identify your anxiety sources. Try to figure out what’s really causing you to dread the week.     3     Even if there’s not a single reason behind your Sunday anxiety, organizing the stress into small parts can help make it all more manageable.

    4     Getting rid of the Sunday scaries isn’t just about minimizing the gloom of the week ahead. Have something to look forward to. This gives you the opportunity to shift your thoughts to fun and will help improve your mood.

End your Sunday with the right energy. Sunday night is a proper wind-down time. Maybe you want to journal, do a face mask, read a few pages of a good book. Do your best to honor this time and make Sunday night all about you.     5    

A．Is it a deadline, meeting or presentation?

B．Create some excitement for the week ahead.

C．Experts have referred to this worry as Sunday scaries.

D．Sunday scaries come from tiredness after a really busy weekend.

E．Then you feel empowered and confident that you’ll be ready for the next day.

F．Instead of sitting on the couch and watching the clock, go to do something that you enjoy.

G．Anxiety is a natural response that happens in preparation for anything that causes pain or discomfort.

6 . 阅读下面材料，在空格处填入适当的词或所给词的正确形式。

“Look on the bright side” is one of those     1    (suggest) that people always consider inspiring but less helpful. However, new research shows that finding something     2     interest in a terrible situation makes people quickly stop complaining. Besides looking at a challenge with humor is a good method,     3     may even be helpful in preventing depressed people     4     feeling sad.

In a study     5    (publish) earlier this year, researchers gave the participants some photos that show negative situations. Then they would describe these photos according to     6     request of researchers. Those using humorous words to describe the photos     7    (find) to have fewer negative emotions and more possibilities to go through a hard time in their life than those who described the photos     8    (direct).

So there appear to be no disadvantages to looking at difficult things in your life with humor and lightness. The conclusion from the study is that for those at higher risk of depression, humor can develop an ability     9    (control) negative emotions. What’s more, humor has an extra benefit of     10    (make) others around you smile. Therefore, when you feel stressed and couldn’t focus your mind on what you are doing, find something that can make you laugh first.

7 . We have long imagined a world where we interact with computers and robots as if they were normal human beings. Science movies show computers and robots that think and feel just like humans. While these scenes exist only in the movies for now, we may be getting close to making technology emotionally intelligent.

The first step toward this is understanding what emotions are, Scientists are often unable to describe emotions in exact terms, even though we generally understand what people mean when they say they’re sad or happy.

Back in the 1950s, few scientists studied emotion. But American scientist Paul Ekman saw a lot of potential in this field. He began analyzing facial expressions, and gathered a list of over 5,000 muscle movements. These muscle movements combine to form our different expressions. His discovery of micro-expression—facial expressions that last only less than a second—allows us to read the emotions that people try to hide.

There are many possible uses of emotion-sensing technology. Dr. Chieko Asakawa, a researcher at IBM, has been blind since the age of 14. She has been developing a smartphone app that might be able to help people with disabilities. It recognizes people’s faces and facial expressions as they approach.

Another use of emotion-sensing technology can be shown through human-shaped robots like Pepper. It can comfort someone when it senses the person is sad, or tell a joke when the person is feeling playful. In Japan, Pepper is already serving customers in stores.

But as we walk on the streets, intelligent devices(设备)could record our facial expressions without our knowledge. This could allow many people to monitor(监视)or view our feelings without our permission. It may leave us with no control over who we share our feelings with. However, if we can deal with these challenges successfully, there could be many benefits for all of us if our devices become a little more human.

1. How did Ekman carry out the study?

A．By doing medical examinations.	B．By analyzing various robots.
C．By building new software.	D．By studying facial muscles.

2. Why does the author mention Dr. Asakawa’s app?

A．To present how IBM benefits from technology.	B．To describe the limitation of a new technology.
C．To show the value of Ekman’s work.	D．To praise what she has done.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph about intelligent devices?

A．They may create some problems.	B．They can take the place of humans.
C．They are of great benefit to humans.	D．They are useless in solving real problems.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Understanding other people’s emotions	B．New devices for the disabled
C．Robots that think like humans	D．Emotions in technology

8 . Walter Benjamin, the German philosopher, once noted that boredom was the “dream bird that hatches the egg of experience”. However, the creative flights of fancy which often arise from having little to do are being killed off by social media, researchers argued. Viewing mindlessly through attention-grabbing posts and videos prevents “profound (深层的) boredom” that can drive people on to new passions or skills. Instead, people find themselves in a state of “superficial boredom”, which does not motivate creative thought.

Dr Timothy Hill, leader of the research team at the University of Bath, said, “The problem we observed was that social media can ease superficial boredom. But that also consumes time and energy, and may prevent people progressing to a state of profound boredom, where they might discover new passions. Profound boredom may sound like a negative concept but, in fact, it can be intensely positive if people are given the chance for undisturbed thinking and development.

Researchers interviewed 15 people during the pandemic (流行病), when boredom was more likely because of restrictions. Many described being trapped in regularly daily walks and watching television, with many turning to social media to pass the time. But although the participants said that social media provided a temporary escape from superficial boredom, it also appeared to exacerbate it, leaving them feeling they had wasted their time.

The pandemic was a painful and consuming experience for thousands of less fortunate people. But there are stories of those in lockdown who found new hobbies, careers or directions in life. Switching off devices could help people reach the state of boredom which pushes them on to new hobbies or achievements.

This research has given us a window to understand how the “always-on”, 24/7 culture and devices that promise an abundance of information and entertainment may be fixing our superficial boredom but are actually preventing us from finding more meaningful things.

1. Why are Walter Benjamin’s words mentioned?

A．To call for attention to the research on boredom.

B．To comment on the strategies to face loneliness.

C．To offer advice on developing creative thinking.

D．To clarify the problem caused by social media.

2. Which of the following may Dr Timothy Hill agree?

A．Profound boredom is of value.

B．Social media can fuel passions.

C．The research has some limitations.

D．Creative thought is easily disturbed.

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

A．Avoid.	B．Break.
C．Inspire.	D．Worsen.

4. What is a suitable title for the text?

A．Why people enjoy boredom

B．How boredom helps kill time

C．Why being bored may be good for you

D．How social media blocks creative ideas

9 . How to Make Your Holiday Wonderful

Don’t want to spend a holiday alone feeling blue?     1    

1. Don’t Force Cheer

At family gatherings, when your relatives make some untruthful compliments (赞美), you will probably try to force a smile.     2     But a 2011 study by researchers at Michigan State University might make you think twice. They followed dozens of bus drivers for two weeks, looking to see when they force a happy face at their passengers. The results showed that on days when the drivers tried to pretend to have a good mood, their actual moods got worse.

2. Don’t Suppress (压制) Sadness

The results of the bus-driver study can be explained by researchers from Stanford University, who found that negative feelings like sadness or anger only worsen when we try to suppress them.     3     Expressing our sadness can help us get comfort and compassion from those who care about us. By contrast, suppressing our emotions can actually harm our relationships.

3. Respond Mindfully

    4     When you respond mindfully to an emotional trigger (诱因), you pause rather than reacting. Instead of blaming yourself, you simply notice what you’re feeling without judging that response as right or wrong. Studies suggest that a mindful response to a negative event reduces the amount of negative emotions we experience.     5    

Inevitably, the holidays will bring a mix of highs and lows. Perhaps the most important lesson to keep in mind is that this variety of emotions might be the best thing possible for your overall well-being.

A．A smile might seem like the most mature response.

B．And mindfulness is a skill you can develop over time.

C．So trying to hide their feelings seems to lead to an opposite result.

D．Psychological research suggests some effective ways to help beat the holiday blues.

E．Instead, if properly understood, they can help contribute to a healthy and happy life.

F．Recently, scientists have been paying special attention to the benefits of mindfulness.

G．That’s because we feel worse when we try to control and hide our negative inner feelings.

10 . Often when we have an uncomfortable feeling,such as sadness,fear or shame,our first reaction is to reject that feeling. We may tell ourselves that it is a bad feeling we don’t want to have.     1     For example,some people try to push it away or use alcohol to feel better.

Certainly no one wants to feel emotional pain all the time,but when we reject our emotions,we may actually make things worse. Often emotions arise as they give us useful information about the,world.     2    

An alternative to pushing away our emotions is to accept them. Accepting means that we must practice allowing our emotions to be what they are without judging them.     3     When we’re happy,we have to accept not only that happiness is a short-term condition,but also that we won’t always be happy. This goes for every type of emotions.

Emotions help us decide what we should stay away from and what we should approach.     4     Therefore,accepting emotions is helpful,because when we listen to our emotions,we can actually learn important information.

    5     After all, it’s our instincts (本能) to avoid them. With practice, though, we can learn to accept our emotions. Meditation (冥想) and mindful breathing exercises can be helpful.

A．We have emotions for a reason.

B．Actually,it is vital to handle our emotions.

C．It isn’t easy to learn how to accept emotions.

D．It also means accepting that emotions will change.

E．Then we may do something to get rid of that feeling.

F．Therefore,pushing away emotions isn’t the best idea.

G．Without emotions,we would make terrible decisions all the time.