1 . 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).    1     These work based on personal preference, so just find one that works for you!

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.    2    If you can’t affect the outcome then there is no point in worrying about something.

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?    3    

Create goals.

Having a goal that you can work for can really help when you’re feeling lost and aimless in life.    4    Find something that you want for yourself and then figure out what you have to do to pursue it. You’ll find an inner peace when you’re working with all your soul devoted to a single goal.

    5    

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.

2 . Your emotion helps you make sense of the world. At the core of an emotion is a subjective experience of the valence of it — what emotion scientists call “affect” (情感). Generally speaking, affect is what we are most focused on. Do you have chocolate cake in front of you? That’s good! Do you see a spider on the table! That’s bad!

Your affective reactions tell you which experiences are desirable, and which aren’t, but the total emotional experience includes all you do and think. You can learn a lot by observing and describing them. You can also learn a lot by appreciating their secret life.

The problem is: the affective features of emotions tend to dominate. Our subjective valence of emotion is almost all we can see. When emotions are only about what is pleasant or unpleasant in subjective experience right now, the more important features of emotion disappear.

If you can slow down and expand; if you stop running or clinging (沉浸其中) and adopt a sense of curiosity, emotions become more subtle and different. When fear comes up, don’t walk away so that fear dissipates. Instead, stay. Allow yourself to feel the nervousness, the sweating, and everything else that comes along with it. It is one of the hardest things to do in life, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. If you run, you are telling basic parts of your brain, “I guess this threat really was real. I better stay away from it.” You are training yourself to fear, regardless of that situation. If you cling, you are saying, “Escape from this emotion is a threat”, and since it is not a happy experience, happiness slips through your hands like sand.

Note that you can not fool yourself. Just allow the full emotion. You will never enter into their secret life until you stop running or clinging. To control your life, you need to actively train your emotions to be your ally (同盟). Observe. Describe. Appreciate. Do that and you may find you have allies for healthy living that were there all along.

1. Why does the author mention “chocolate cake” and “spider” in paragraph 1?

A．To explain the complex response of emotions.

B．To show the subjective experience of emotions.

C．To indicate the goodness and badness of the world.

D．To emphasize the significance of emotions in life.

2. What is the consequence if you just focus on your present feelings?

A．The present feelings are less obvious.

B．The subjective emotions are less powerful.

C．The overall picture of emotions is easier to ignore.

D．The observation and description of emotions are easier.

3. What does the underlined word “dissipates” in Paragraph 4 probably refer to?

A．Deepens.

B．Spreads.

C．Disappears.

D．Sticks.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The secret of emotions.	B．The subjective experience.
C．The importance of allies in life.	D．Magical functions of emotions.

3 . In the back of my closet, there is a small cardboard chest that has followed me to every one of my new addresses. Until now, the only _________ contents in it are three wrapped _________ marked in my mother’s tidy handwriting: “Engagement”, “Wedding” and “First Baby”.

When I was three, my mother learned that she had advanced breast cancer. When I was seven, she had begun _________ a gift box for me. Inside, she packed presents and letters for the _________ of my life she was going to be missing — driver’s license, graduation, and every birthday until the age of 30.

My mother died ten days before our _________ birthday. That morning, when I turned 12 and she would have turned 49, I woke up early and opened the package _________ “12th Birthday”. A white card curling around the present _________: “I always _________ a birthstone ring when I was a little girl. Your Granny finally bought me one and I loved it more than I can say. I hope you like it, too.” I put on the ring and _________ her writing with my fingertip.

On the morning of my high school graduation, a __________ of pearls appeared as I opened the wrapped present. Her note read: “There seemed to be a __________ in my family that when girls graduated from high school, they received pearls.” I wore the pearls that afternoon as I took the stage to accept my diploma.

Year after year, my mother __________ forward in time to meet me. When I was a child, opening the next package felt like a treasure __________. As I grew older, her message met me like guideposts in a dark forest. If her words couldn’t point the way, at least they offered the __________ of knowing that someone had been there before and that I have been __________, wildly loved.

1.

A．following

B．remaining

C．entire

D．full

2.

A．plastics

B．products

C．pieces

D．presents

3.

A．working

B．preparing

C．writing

D．receiving

4.

A．milestones

B．majors

C．purposes

D．centers

5.

A．individual

B．usual

C．shared

D．national

6.

A．marked

B．celebrated

C．created

D．made

7.

A．read

B．sounded

C．found

D．signed

8.

A．called for

B．stood for

C．paid for

D．longed for

9.

A．tackled

B．traced

C．revealed

D．confirmed

10.

A．list

B．string

C．matter

D．variety

11.

A．member

B．problem

C．impression

D．tradition

12.

A．put

B．looked

C．traveled

D．stepped

13.

A．house

B．box

C．map

D．hunt

14.

A．property

B．sorrow

C．comfort

D．value

15.

A．deeply

B．temporarily

C．unfortunately

D．simply

4 . It’s almost impossible to totally avoid stress, but these top tips will help you to get it under control so that it doesn’t take over your life.

    1    

Studies of both animals and humans show that social contact can help avoid body’s stress. So cultivate a network of people you can turn to share what’s bothering you with a friend and ask for some helpful advice. Avoid people who always need something without giving back or who are always short with you.

Avoid last-minute rushes

Leave the house 15 minutes early for appointments, set up a system for paying your bills(ask your bank about automatic bill paying), refill your prescriptions a week ahead of time and stock up on birthday cards whenever you see ones you like.     2     .

Make time for yourself

Give higher priority to your “relax and renewal” time. Include it in your schedule at least every other day.     3     . Or spend some time alone reading or listening to music you love.

Laugh a lot

    4     Laughter also stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles and boosts your resistance to infection. It’s nearly impossible to stay tense while you’ re laughing. If you laugh for 20 seconds, your body gets the same amount of beneficial oxygen—very good for stress relief—as it does in three minutes of exercise. Plus, it’s nearly impossible to stay tense while you’re laughing.     5     . Share jokes with friends over email.

If you feel you’re experiencing more stress than you can manage, you may want to talk to your doctor about getting help.

A．Lean on other people

B．Share your problems with friends

C．So you’d better laugh all day long

D．A little advance planning can spare you a lot of headaches

E．Find cartoons, videos, TV shows, writers and comics that make you laugh

F．If you have to cut out an activity to make time for your hobby—or a warm bath—then do it

G．When you laugh, you send chemicals called endorphins to your brain that ease pain and enhance your feeling of well

5 . Humour is a phenomenon influenced by culture. It can be difficult to determine what aspects form a certain sense of humour. How funny somebody finds a certain incident depends on many aspects including age, personal experience, level of education and geographical location. A nation’s sense of humour is linked to the historical development of the country.     1    

But what about when both countries speak the same mother tongue? Will they then share the same sense of humour or can differences still occur? Let’s take the example of Britain and America.     2     To what degree is this true, if at all?

Recent research proves that there are two major differences between British and American sense of humour.     3     However, it’s not shared by Americans. For example, if a British man lost his new and favourite mobile phone in the toilet, he just said “Well done! That’s just what I need.”

    4     And that kind of jokes is called negative humour by researchers. British men and women use it on a daily basis, while it is not the case of American humour. What Americans don’t understand is the need to use it so frequently. When Americans use negative humour, they tend to state that they were “only kidding”.

Although the British really do have a unique sense of humour, quite different to American humour, they can both appreciate the other’s sense of humour. Therefore, some shows describe a lifestyle which both Americans and the British alike can relate to.     5    

A．British jokes tend to have a hidden meaning.

B．Thus humour can’t always be conveyed in another country.

C．Americans and the British often share the same sense of humour.

D．Humour contrary to what you want to say is regarded as typically British.

E．The other difference is how frequent to joke about the dark side of life.

F．People say Americans and the British hardly understand each other’s jokes.

G．Comedies The Office (UK) and The Office (USA) gain popularity on both countries.

6 . 假如你是李华，你已和英国朋友 Eric 约定于本周三下午去高铁站接他。但你临时有重要会议不能如约前往，将委托他人接站。请你用英语给 Eric 写一封致歉信，主要内容包括：
1.表示歉意；2.解释原因；3.接站安排。
注意：1. 词数 100 左右；2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
Dear Eric,

I am writing to

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Sincerely,

Li Hua