1 . Shyness is normal and it is not considered as a mental problem. All people have been shy at one time or another. Even the most confident people experienced being shy.     1    .

You probably are wondering why you are shy. It may be because of the environment you were used to or the way you were brought up. Certain events or incidents in the past may also lead to the reason why you are shy now.     2     Most shy people have shy parents and relatives and it is not surprising to find out that they too have become shy persons.

One of the negative sides of being shy is having the tendency to be passive. Most of the time shy people can’t stand up for themselves and what they believe is right.     3    This apparently influences their social life as well as work, family and other aspects of their life.

While shyness has negative aspects, it has positive sides. Shy people are usually good observers and do not get themselves into too much trouble because they try to observe their environment or any situation before they act.     4     They can also make great friends. Since they have difficulties in social scenes, making friends seems to be a must. Therefore, they value their friends wholeheartedly and have proven to be loyal and thoughtful friends.

    5     Some of them born with shy parents have successfully battled against being shy. This contributes to their constant self-improvement, developing self-esteem and trying to be exposed to new environments.

A．But in most cases, shyness proves to be genetic.

B．They are sensitive and accustomed to getting suspicious.

C．Because some people are born to be shy, they let it go hang.

D．So if you’re feeling shy, don’t worry because you are not alone.

E．They are not hot-headed and think twice before making any decisions.

F．Although shyness is something from birth, it can be improved over time.

G．They avoid crowds by nature and stay away from groups and social interactions.

2 . 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

3 . Have you ever felt like others don’t understand your pain when they seem to be living a happy life? You’re not alone in feeling this way, but the truth is that happiness takes work.    1    

Live in the present moment

Your past is important to learn from.    2     At the end of the day, though, the only thing that exists outside of your head is the present. In order to ground yourself in the now, you can practise noticing what’s around you, how you’re feeling, why you’re feeling that way, etc.

Be kind to others

    3     While you may not be at a place to help them financially (经济上), offering a smile or a kind word can help them feel better about where they’re in life. When others see you show kindness, they’ll also be more likely to do so.

Keep your mind open

Having an open mind is important for your growth. You may be right about something, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to look at it.    4     You are sure to learn something as long as you stay open to difficult conversations.

    5    

You’ll hear people say “I had that idea” every time you see someone create something great. Everyone had the idea for Facebook first. The reason Mark Zuckerberg got rich off it is that he went out and did it, while everyone else was talking about it. Ideas are useless if you don’t act on them. Less thinking, more doing.

A．Decide what’s important to you.

B．Here are several ways you can try.

C．Take action for what matters to you.

D．Your future is important to work towards.

E．Every day you see someone who needs help.

F．Listening to ideas you don’t agree with keeps your mind open.

G．So find something new and set goals beyond what you believe possible.

4 . Watching horror movies can sometimes lead to a person feeling frightened and unable to sleep. If you're frightened or anxious after watching a horror movie, you can face your fears by acknowledging what frightens you, talking about them, and thinking about them logically.     1     .

Acknowledge the things you are scared of. After watching a horror movie, you may be worried about zombies, ghosts, serial killers, vampires, or a myriad of frightening things. Think about what scares you, and acknowledge the things that you fear.    2     , or just make you more scared (this method may not work for everyone).

    3     . It can be very helpful to tell someone else how you are feeling. Talk to your sibling or parents, or call or text a friend. Choose someone who is supportive and will listen as you explain what is upsetting you.

Be logical about what frightens you. Remind yourself that you are just as safe as you were before watching the movie. Use logical thinking to pick apart your fears. Tell yourself that it was a movie, not reality, and realize that the movie was designed to scare you.    4     .

Watch something funny.    5     . Or, watch an episode of a funny show that you like. Focusing on something other than the horror flick can help dissipate your fear. Laughter will also help to change your mood and make you feel better.

A．Overcome your fears

B．Talk about your fears

C．Follow up a scary movie with a comedy

D．Expose yourself to your fear if you have access to it

E．So the probability of your fear coming true is close to zero

F．Recognizing what makes you scared can help you deal with that fear

G．You can also try to distract yourself from your fears by watching something funny

5 . It was wintertime 30 years ago. I was a young father with 3 little children to support. My college education, however, didn’t ________ me a good job. Now I was working in a sawmill (锯木厂) for just above the minimum ________. Every day before I went to work, I would ________ band-aids around my fingers. Working 8 hours a day in the cold dry air had ________ cuts and scars.

That day was harder than normal. We were ________ of workers and the machines kept breaking down. We could see our ________ as the heaters weren’t working. When the day finally came to an end, I ________ my legs to my car. There I took off my work ________ to see my aching fingers. The cuts were worse than ever and ________ leaked through again. As I made a (n) ________ to fix it, my bad back cramped (抽筋). I had never felt that ________ before. I finally started my car back home and ________ fought back the tears. I wondered why life was so hard and how ________ I could keep doing this.

As I opened the door, I ________ a weak smile on my face. But it soon became ________ as my daughter screamed a sweet “Daddy”. When she threw her little arms around my neck, my heart ________ with love. All my aches and pains disappeared in her ________! In that second I remembered again I was here for ________ and I knew I could move on.

In our lives, we all have ________ fingers and band-aid days. But with love we can survive.________, work may give us a living, but love gives us a life.

1.

A．show

B．guarantee

C．teach

D．name

2.

A．wage

B．size

C．order

D．grade

3.

A．hang

B．move

C．pull

D．wrap

4.

A．applied to

B．put off

C．resulted in

D．cleaned up

5.

A．short

B．aware

C．proud

D．fond

6.

A．eyes

B．teeth

C．life

D．breath

7.

A．crossed

B．dragged

C．swung

D．kicked

8.

A．shoes

B．uniform

C．gloves

D．cap

9.

A．water

B．sweat

C．juice

D．blood

10.

A．attempt

B．excuse

C．schedule

D．deal

11.

A．nervous

B．sad

C．angry

D．lonely

12.

A．successfully

B．bravely

C．desperately

D．simply

13.

A．long

B．well

C．soon

D．often

14.

A．imagined

B．practiced

C．shared

D．forced

15.

A．obvious

B．pure

C．natural

D．innocent

16.

A．broke

B．exploded

C．sank

D．beat

17.

A．cry

B．suggestion

C．laughter

D．hug

18.

A．assistance

B．comfort

C．love

D．shelter

19.

A．slim

B．bleeding

C．nervous

D．bent

20.

A．After all

B．On average

C．In contrast

D．At last

6 . Back in the 1960s, a Harvard graduate student made a great discovery about human anger. At age 34, Jean Briggs was allowed to live in an Inuit community where many Inuit families lived a traditional life.

Briggs quickly realized something unusual was going on in these families.“They never got angry with me, and even showing a bit of anger was considered weak and childlike,” Briggs said. For example, once when someone knocked a hot pot of tea across the igloo (冰屋), damaging the ice floor, no one changed their look. “Too bad,” the person just said calmly and went to refill the teapot.

Briggs wrote up her observations (观察记录) in her book, Never in Anger. But she was left with questions: How do Inuit parents teach their children this ability? How do the Inuit turn irritable (易怒的) babies into cool-headed adults?

After reading Briggs' book, in early December I came to the Arctic town of Iqaluit, Canada, which is an Inuit town, in search of parenting wisdom, especially when it comes to teaching children to control their feelings. Right off the plane, I started collecting data (数据).

I sat with the elders in their 80s and 90s. I talked with moms. And I attended a local parenting class. All the moms mentioned one golden rule: Don't shout or yell at small children, for it is a tradition among the Inuit to see yelling at a small child as shameful.

The elders I spoke with said colonization (殖民) over the past century is harming the tradition, so the community is working hard to keep their parenting methods. Goota Jaw, who teaches the parenting class at Nunavut Arctic College, is in the front line of this effort. “Shouting is not how we teach our children,” Jaw said. “It is just teaching them to run away.”

“When we shout at a child, we' re training the child to shout,” said author Laura Markham. “Parents who control their own anger are helping their children learn to do the same.”

1. What did Briggs find about the Inuit?

A．They often behaved like children.

B．They began to lead a modern lifestyle.

C．They developed a habit of drinking tea.

D．They were quite able to control their anger.

2. Why did the author go to Iqaluit?

A．To study how Briggs wrote Never in Anger.

B．To attend a class about the history of the Inuit.

C．To find out how the Inuit raise cool-headed kids.

D．To collect data on education in Inuit communities.

3. What are old Inuit people worrying about?

A．Their parenting style is being harmed.

B．Colonization will make the Inuit disappear.

C．Inuit parents become too kind to their kids.

D．Parenting classes are attracting fewer parents.

4. Which would Markham most probably agree with?

A．Kids follow the example of parents.

B．Teaching kids to be angry is necessary.

C．Parents often learn parenting from their kids.

D．It is sometimes OK to speak to kids seriously.

7 . Everyone feels a little jealous (妒忌的) once in a while. But when the feeling begins to ruin your relationship and cause you stress, it’s probably time to start looking for ways to get rid of it. Here are some tips to help you along the way.

    1    
        Sometimes there are deeper underlying (潜在的) issues that fuel jealousy. Once you admit that you’re struggling with jealousy, it’s time to start looking into why you’re feeling that way.     2    . When you feel like you’re falling behind everyone else, it’s easy to become jealous when you see other people’s success.
Use your jealousy to motivate yourself

    3    . While people often view jealousy as a bad thing, being jealous can actually provide you with a valuable learning opportunity. When you’re jealous, it’s usually because you’ve found something you want but you don’t have. So instead of stewing (担忧) in these jealous feelings, make an effort to go out and get whatever you want.

Focus on your positive qualities

Sometimes jealousy is rooted in feelings of insecurity and a lack of self-confidence.     4    . When you start feeling those tell-tale signs of jealousy, remind yourself of all the things that make you amazing, such as your relationships, your job, or how much you’ve grown in the past few years. All of these help to beat your feelings of jealousy.

Stop comparing yourself to others

Constantly comparing yourself to others can fuel feelings of insecurity. It can be tempting to compare yourself to others and want to compete against them. However, constantly setting yourself up against others can just make your jealousy and feelings of insecurity worse. Stop doing that.     5    .

A．Find the root of your jealousy

B．Engage yourself in meaningful activities

C．Focus on yourself and how you’re doing instead

D．They are able to help you with increasing your confidence

E．However, it’s important to find your own unique strengths

F．For example, low self-confidence is often a cause of jealousy

G．Your jealousy might be just what you need to seek what you want

8 . I fell in love with music from a young age and often sat down making a few songs of my own.What would life be like, I wondered, without a beautiful song? In 1992, I made two love songs to my darling wife and watched tears run down her face as I sang.“Sam,” she said earnestly, “Your songs should be heard by more people.”

She got my ballads and started bothering various media people about me, her singing barber husband. Two radio stations took an interest and played the songs. After the programme was aired, I became known in our community as the Singing Barber.

The biggest surprise, however, was still to come. I received a call from a music promoter who offered me a long-term recording contract. He explained that he would be investing a lot of money to market my songs. I needed to be wholly focused on selling my records all over Australia.

But I hesitated.

My friends all told me to go for it. And Mary also thought I should do. “Go, Sam. I’ll manage with the family...it’ll be OK.”

I watched my daughter and son playing in the backyard. Soon they would both be in high school and where would I be? I was so used to my family turning to me for love and support. If I were to start a singing career, I would not only miss them terribly, I’d also certainly miss out on watching them grow up. Signing this contract would put a huge gap between my family and me and I couldn’t bear it. My family was my life. So I refused the music promoter’s offer. I’m still making music. I’m rich in love and I have no regrets.

1. When the author was offered the contract, most of his friends _______.

A．envied him

B．laughed at him

C．encouraged him

D．didn’t believe him

2. Why did the author give up the contract?

A．Because his wife was strongly against it.

B．Because the pay was not attractive enough.

C．Because he wanted to care about his two kids.

D．Because he didn’t want his family life damaged.

3. According to the passage, we can infer that the author _______.

A．used to be a country singer

B．preferred his present life

C．went on the road to fame

D．regretted giving up his contract

4. What does the author mainly intend to tell us?

A．One should know himself.

B．Interest is the best teacher.

C．Family should come first.

D．Every dog has its day.

9 . Recognize SAD symptoms (症状)

Season changes affect many people. However, for those with seasonal affective disorder, it deeply influences their mood and energy.     1    , which usually involve a lack of energy, low mood and concentrating difficulty. Kerry McLeod, head of information at the mental health charity Mind, advises speaking to your doctor if you notice a change in feelings, thoughts and behaviour that lasts for over two weeks or keeps returning.

Immerse (沉浸) in the (artificial) light

Richard Navarro, a famous psychotherapist, suggests that a light therapy (治疗) lamp or box could be of great help. She explains that since the 1980s, there’s been quite a bit of research on the effectiveness of light therapy for seasonal depression (沮丧).     2    .       

Take vitamin D

We create vitamin D from UVB rays (through direct sun exposure). While not officially proven, a low concentration of vitamin has been associated with depression.    3    . Chand, who takes a vitamin D supplement, says: “Regardless of whether it’s winter or autumn or not, that has an impact.”

    4    

Don’t abandon your outdoor exercise routine just because of wind or rain (or both). Having the right equipment will definitely make it a better experience. A pair of waterproof trail-running shoes might be a good investment and means you can take on puddles, mud and slippery trails.

Stay connected to others

    5    . But lacking communication socially can be a symptom and a cause of poor mental health, says McLeod. Try to make plans to visit people—and remember that keeping in touch by text or video call is still “a great way to maintain contact and boost your mood”.

A．Take some exercise

B．Connect someone to exercise with

C．Light can be useful in many aspects in life

D．So it’s advisable to take some if you feel low

E．Bad weather can prevent us from seeing people

F．Most has found light can make us happier in bad weather

G．For example, it may cause symptoms that negatively impact daily life

10 . 贾玲在电影《你好，李焕英》中讲述了她的母亲的辛劳与伟大。当你观看这部电影时是否想起了你的母亲对你的关爱与付出。假如你是李华，请你在母亲节到来之际给妈妈写一封感谢信，感谢她对你的付出。
写作要点提示：
1.祝妈妈节日快乐并表达对妈妈的感谢；
2.描述一件妈妈为你所做的让你非常感动的事情；
3.你将怎么回报母亲。
注意事项：
1. 感谢信必须包括所有要点提示，可适当发挥；
2. 词数100词左右，信件的开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Mom,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua