1 . 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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1．写作的目的；
2．老师给予你的教育和帮助；
3．你所取得的成绩。
注意：
1．词数100左右；
2．信件的开头和结尾已经给出，请接着往下写；
3．可适当增加细节，使文章过渡自然。
Dear Mr. Li,
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Yours,
Li Hua
We’ve all heard that laughter is the
Humor plays
Sharing the pleasure of humor
5 . A sunny afternoon before Christmas, a little girl was decorating a box with a gold wrapping paper to put it under the Christmas tree. Money was tight, so the girl’s father
However, the next morning the girl
The father was extremely
Each of us have been
| A．praised | B．punished | C．admired | D．contacted |
| A．expensive | B．common | C．cheap | D．lovely |
| A．emailed | B．sent | C．brought | D．put |
| A．beautiful | B．full | C．amazing | D．empty |
| A．box | B．gift | C．paper | D．package |
| A．anxiously | B．fluently | C．seriously | D．calmly |
| A．excitement | B．tears | C．fire | D．stars |
| A．designed | B．exchanged | C．filled | D．arranged |
| A．surprised | B．proud | C．shy | D．annoyed |
| A．ears | B．hands | C．eyes | D．arms |
| A．forgiveness | B．carelessness | C．kindness | D．blindness |
| A．alone | B．happy | C．sad | D．excited |
| A．heart | B．love | C．anger | D．stress |
| A．given | B．requested | C．attracted | D．impressed |
| A．source | B．topic | C．confidence | D．treasure |
6 . Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had
Seeing this style
Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and
“Yeah, right. But it’s not that
“Yes,it is.” Jerry said. “Life is all about
I
| A．interesting | B．true | C．positive | D．imaginative |
| A．think | B．act | C．explain | D．reply |
| A．followed | B．admired | C．respected | D．trusted |
| A．kindness | B．attitude | C．politeness | D．courage |
| A．bad | B．good | C．busy | D．long |
| A．the boss | B．the employee | C．the customer | D．himself |
| A．exactly | B．recently | C．specially | D．really |
| A．manager | B．clerk | C．person | D．waiter |
| A．remind | B．say | C．warn | D．persuade |
| A．have | B．decide | C．choose | D．expect |
| A．happens | B．appears | C．starts | D．arrives |
| A．keep away from | B．look forward to | C．learn from | D．pay attention to |
| A．complaining | B．promising | C．greeting | D．hesitating |
| A．refuse | B．depart from | C．escape from | D．accept |
| A．difficult | B．easy | C．cheerful | D．optimistic |
| A．changes | B．challenges | C．dreams | D．choices |
| A．react | B．move | C．lead | D．compare |
| A．make a friend | B．deal with problems | C．live life | D．talk to others |
| A．depended | B．reflected | C．went | D．tried |
| A．tour | B．fishing | C．film | D．restaurant |
7 . For the past five years, I have worked in strategic roles in advertising. During my work, I challenged the difficulties in creating an ad that would be relevant to the brand, match its core values, and would also target appropriately consumers with a strong consumer insight. When I contribute to a successful campaign that matches all of the above, what I get is sheer bliss. In this sense, I love advertising.
Nevertheless, I am aware advertising has its gray areas. In many cases, advertisers focus on few features that can distinguish them from the competition, while presenting an incomplete picture of the product. For example, a snack brand can focus on the taste claim and ignore any clear reference to nutritional values and calories of the product. In other cases, advertisers claim superiority by using survey findings that do not agree with consumers’ common sense. Recently, a new Cola was introduced by a major Israeli company, claiming its Cola tastes better than the traditional Coca-Cola. Although such claim is possible, it is highly unlikely that a private-label Cola will be able to better suit the Israeli taste, since Coca-Cola dominates the Israeli Cola market for decades with over 90% market share. Yet, as a marketer, I understand we must be aggressive to put our products in consumers’ consideration set.
From a consumer’s standpoint, however, I have a contradictory attitude towards ads. I have some strong relationships with brands I encounter on a regular basis. I adore the design and innovation of Nespresso. I already replaced 4 iPhone models during the last decade and never bought a basketball shoe which is not a Nike shoe. When these brands advertise, I am open to hear about new products and watch ads. Consequently, I am willing to pay more or purchase more expensive products.
Meanwhile, getting used to certain brands makes me less willing to try new ones. When I experience a brand that does not meet my expectations as my usual choices do, I feel like I made a wrong decision. Moreover, the bad experience increases my skepticism towards new brands.
Overall, I admire the efforts made by us advertisers to increase sales. However, my true desire as a consumer is to minimize my exposure to irrelevant ads as much as possible.
1. What does the underlined expression “sheer bliss” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Pure happiness. | B．Deep worry. | C．A heavy burden. | D．A great chance. |
| A．most products only have a few features |
| B．the legal boundaries of ads are undefined |
| C．the truth of the products is partially presented |
| D．most ads confuse their products with their rivals’ |
| A．The author was inspired by the design of Nespresso. |
| B．The author has never been bothered by high price. |
| C．The author is loyal to certain brands. |
| D．The author likes watching ads. |
| A．Why Ads Are Misleading | B．Why I Love and Hate Ads |
| C．What Made Ads So Annoying | D．What Made a Household Brand |
Hunger
When I was a young boy, my mother would place spoonfuls of vegetables onto my plate whether I wanted them or not and the rule in our family was that we always had to clean our plates. However, I rarely saw my mother eat the vegetables herself. She always served us first. She seemed never hungry.
She worked for a rich lady in town, and I always assumed that the reason why she didn’t have our tasteless meals was that she had eaten meats and sweets in the rich lady’s kitchen. Our meals were boring, and there was never enough since there were ten of us — my parents plus eight children.
One afternoon my older sisters were sick, so they couldn’t take care of me. Therefore, my mother had no choice but to bring me with her. It was a long winter day and as my father hadn’t had much work, we had even less food than usual. So I was very excited to go to the rich woman’s house.
My mother placed me in a corner while she rolled out pie crust (饼皮). Then she cooked some meat, and by the afternoon, the pleasant smell filled the kitchen and was making its way into my empty stomach. Then, a bell rang in the kitchen and my mother told me, “Don’t move” and then left.
I tried to do as told, but then I thought it wouldn’t matter if I ate just one blackberry. So I put a single blackberry into my mouth. What an explosion of flavor! The wonderful taste hitting my empty stomach was more than I could handle! Soon I was throwing blackberries into my mouth with two hands! It wasn’t until I was staring at the empty bowl that I noticed the empty, unbaked pie crust sitting on the table waiting for the berries. I looked around for more berries, but there was none. Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching, so I quickly hid into the cupboard (碗柜).
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Just at the moment, my mother entered the kitchen, following a well-dressed lady.
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After the lady left, I crept(爬) out of the cupboard with tears streaming down my face.
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My three-year-old son, Charles, has loved watching trucks, cars and all types of vehicles (交通工具) since he could sit up and look around. Charles was a fan of fire trucks, ambulances, garbage (垃圾) trucks and other vehicles which have wheels.
Because of his deep love for anything with wheels, I always made it a point to take him outside to watch garbage trucks drive up and down. Charles loved watching the workers and would get so excited when the drivers beeped the horns (鸣喇叭) at him as they went by. Charles would wave and shyly say, “Thank you.”
There was a particular waste management employee who was extra friendly. Charles was attracted by him, and after we knew his name — Lonnie, Charles talked about him throughout the day. One day, Lonnie rode by and said, “Charles, I promise when this pandemic (流行病) is over, I’m going to let you ride in my truck.” However, we were going to move out of the state about a week later. I had to tell Lonnie the truth.
The next week, we waited for the garbage truck. Finally, late in the afternoon, I heard the loud noise of the truck. I raced to the door, carrying Charles. We did not want to miss seeing Lonnie on our last week in Birmingham. Lonnie stopped the truck and got out. He told me he had some things for Charles — a hat, a yellow safety vest, two toy garbage cans, coloring books and so on. Charles was absolutely excited, especially by the garbage cans, and I was so touched. The next day, Charles and I were playing in the front yard when a man approached me. He said, “I’m Lonnie’s manager, and he has something special planned for Charles. Are you going to be here around 11 am?” I said, “Of course we will.”
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。
At noon, something surprising happened.
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Even though we moved out of the state, Charles still misses Lonnie.
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10 . Why do people long for celebrity news? At least some of the hunger centers around schadenfreude—having joy from the suffering of others. People often act as if joy is dependent on achieving material gain. Seeing people that seem to “have it all” suffer (going through divorce, drug abuse, mental illness, etc.) momentarily destroys that thought. And then people can think, “Perhaps it’s OK that I don’t have my own television show, and own four large houses.” Let’s chat a bit more about schadenfreude and related concepts. If you’ve been alive a couple of decades, you’ve certainly seen plenty of examples showing that money does not bring happiness. But what does bring happiness? One of the keys involves learning to fully attend to and enjoy the present moment—not just learning this as information, but, through practice, developing the skill of living mindfully in this moment.
Other keys to happiness involve developing the skill of compassion (同情) and loving kindness. This may seem strange to readers: developing a skill of compassion? Don’t you just have or not have compassion? There are some types of meditation (冥想) originating from Buddhist traditions that are designed to develop compassion and loving kindness.
The four related qualities developed by these types of meditation practices are termed: loving kindness, calmness, compassion, and sympathetic joy. Sympathetic joy is the exact opposite of schadenfreude—with sympathetic joy, we get joy from the joy of others. Think of a close family member doing well and notice the joy you feel—that is sympathetic joy. To develop more sympathetic joy, when something good happens to another person, say to yourself (with as much meaning as possible), “I’m happy for you. May your good fortune continue. May your good fortune grow.”
When a person, celebrity or not, is suffering, you can practice a compassion meditation. Close your eyes and imagine a scene that naturally brings forth sympathy, such as hugging a loved one, or holding a baby. Then imagine saying to the person suffering, “May you be free from suffering,” or “May your suffering ease.”
1. What can make us happy according to the author?| A．Having a well-paid job. | B．Owning great popularity. |
| C．Focusing on celebrities’ news. | D．Learning to live in the moment. |
| A．Compassion and loving kindness. | B．The origin of some traditions. |
| C．Happiness and meditation. | D．Meditation practices. |
| A．You cheer up when a celebrity gets divorced. |
| B．You crow over it when your schoolmate gets injured. |
| C．You’re delighted when your classmate wins a competition. |
| D．You’re pleased when a celebrity practices attentively meditation. |
| A．To show celebrities’ real life. |
| B．To introduce the findings of a study. |
| C．To stress the importance of happiness. |
| D．To correct the negative attitudes to other people’s sufferings. |
