1 . Loneliness is a bigger health threat than smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to a new research. Our ancestors likely did not suffer from a lack of companions. Why has loneliness become such a threat? How might it be addressed?

In the distant past, there were few complaints about loneliness. Indeed, every person in a community including children was up to speed on every detail of the lives of everyone else. Instead of suffering from loneliness, our distant ancestors were oppressed (被压迫) by a lack of privacy.     1     They facilitate distance. How did loneliness take over contemporary life?

Typically, people move away from family and friends for work opportunities. Yet, cities often function as gatherings of relative strangers rather than functional communities. The many people wandering around in a city are irrelevant if we have no social connection with them. Migrants to cities may establish various meaningful social links.     2     These might be the people we work among, those who frequent a coffee shop, or members of a gym or sports club. Such associations are not made automatically.     3     In some cases, those who eagerly need social connection can fare poorly in cities.

    4     According to the U. S. Surgeon General’s Report on Loneliness, people who spend more time online are lonelier. People who claim thousands of online “friends” are often chronically anxious, disconnected and depressed. Perhaps, they would gain better social bonus by being kind to people in real life.

Virtually, not everyone needs constant companionship. This is not merely a question of how extroverted a person is.     5     People with a strong sense of external purpose barely suffer from loneliness, whether they perfect their dance moves, get involved in political activism or train service dogs. In this vein, anyone who cultivates a love of nature may become a part of the natural world. That is an endless source of peace, happiness, and connection.

A．Their habits contributed to loneliness.

B．They require openness, initiative and effort.

C．Rather, it reflects how someone leads their life.

D．Outgoing people will live a busy life with social media.

E．Today, social media bring back the invasions of privacy.

F．Many turn to social media for companionship with mixed results.

G．However, associations are often formed through accidental networks.

2 . Psychologists have defined nostalgia (怀旧) as self-conscious, socially emotional, bittersweet but mainly positive. It develops out of happy memories mixed with a longing for the past and the close relationships we had back then. Often, nostalgia involves five senses. For example, the smell of autumn leaves might spark an intense longing for your childhood home.

Almost everyone experiences nostalgia, although its object tends to vary throughout life. One survey conducted by the psychologist Krystine Irene Batcho found that younger people felt more nostalgia for pets, toys, and holidays than did older people, who felt it more strongly for music. I came of age in the 1980s, and even songs I found hopelessly annoying back then can fill me with nostalgic emotions.

As my colleague Julie Beck has written, nostalgia was originally viewed as an emotional disorder when it was first defined in the late 17th century. And, crucially, it often occurs when people are experiencing negative moods or having bad experiences. Loneliness can be a trigger, as researchers found in 2008. Another is bad weather.

However, despite its association with negative emotions, nostalgia does not cause or increase unhappiness. Rather, nostalgia is a defense response to unhappiness, one that brings relief from a negative mood. Psychologists writing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2006 found that stirring nostalgia in experiments strengthened people’s social bonds, boosted their positive feelings about themselves, and improved their mood. Similar research has shown that when people feel nostalgia, it can fire their sense of life’s meaning, lower an existential (存在主义的) reaction to the idea of death, increase spirituality, and raise optimism.

Scholars aren’t sure exactly why nostalgia works; some have inferred that recalling happy memories strengthens “valued aspects of the self” in situations when we might otherwise feel lonely or unworthy. Either way, its emotional intensity allows the joy of the past to overpower the unpleasantness of the present, a little escapism that helps get us through the bad times.

1. What do the psychologists think of nostalgia?

A．Always painful.	B．Primarily positive.
C．Seldom intense.	D．Usually unconscious.

2. Why is the author’s experience mentioned in paragraph 2?

A．To show the objects of nostalgia change with age.

B．To illustrate annoying music often leads to nostalgia.

C．To highlight the young are more likely to be nostalgic.

D．To demonstrate nostalgia has an impact on emotions.

3. In which situation may people easily feel nostalgia?

A．Attending a lively class.	B．Engaging in a family reunion.
C．Staying alone in an empty room.	D．Joining in a joyful birthday party.

4. What may be a benefit of nostalgia?

A．Maintaining self-respect.	B．Shaping personal insights.
C．Escaping from daily chaos.	D．Enhancing one’s self-worth.

3 . The easiest way to love yourself is to treat yourself like your own BFF. It might seem like it’s easier to love others than to love yourself, but it’s tough to build healthy relationships if you don’t love yourself first.     1    

Let go of negative thoughts about yourself. Drill down to the core of those thoughts and tell yourself a different story. Think about what you would say to a friend who said those things about themselves. For example, if you forgot to buy trash bags, instead of blaming yourself, you might as well think, “I’ll just pick some up next time I go out — no big deal.” Don’t try to fight negative thoughts, though — they’re a part of who you are.     2     It might feel weird at first, but after a while, it becomes habitual to think that way.

Accept your flaws as part of who you are. Everything you’ve done and everywhere you’ve been is a part of who you are — you! Self-love isn’t about fixing all the “bad” things about yourself. Instead, accept that they’re all parts of the same whole.     3     For example, maybe you have a hard time trusting people. You wish you could be more trusting and open up more, but instead of trying to change, focus on how not immediately trusting people helps keep you safe.

    4     If you expect yourself to be perfect all the time, you’ll never be pleased with anything you produce. So make it a point to appreciate the work you put into completing a task, rather than looking for flaws in what you produced. Avoid stereotypical ideas and images of perfection, such as models in beauty magazines. Remind yourself that the actual person probably doesn’t look like that in real life!

Practice gratitude for good things rather than focusing on the negative. It’s human nature to see negative things as bigger and more important than positive things, but this also does tremendous damage to your self-esteem.     5     Look for the positive side even when bad things happen to you. For example, if you lose your job, it can be easy to spiral into thinking that you were terrible at your job and no one will ever hire you again. Instead, you might think that now you have the opportunity to find something that’s a better fit for you.

A．Focus on your effort rather than the result to control perfectionism.

B．Challenge those thoughts with logical observations to reframe your conclusion.

C．Instead, you can simply drown them out with more positive, affirmative thoughts.

D．When you love yourself, you love all of you because you wouldn’t have the good without the bad.

E．Here are some strategies that can help you embark on a journey of treating yourself with kindness.

F．Negative thoughts often come from outside people whose opinions we value.

G．When you focus on the negative, try to name some things that you can be grateful for.

4 . Everyone can experience loneliness from time to time, which causes concern about our health and well-being.     1    ? There are some possible courses of action, depending on who you are and where you live. Below are some suggestions on how to fight loneliness.

    2    

Some of us are lonely because we don’t have close relationships in our lives. But if that’s not the case for you, by all means let your friends or family know how you’re feeling and ask for support. Calling or texting can be an active way to shift your mood and help relieve loneliness.

Adopt a pet

There are many reasons to have pets.     3    . And these are especially helpful for people who may be isolated from other humans and feel lonely. One study finds that people who walk dogs are considered friendlier — something that's bound to help you connect if you’re looking to meet new people.

Try loving-kindness meditation (冥想)

Not everyone likes to engage in loving-kindness meditation. But it has been found to reduce loneliness, perhaps because it helps you to accept negative emotions more easily.     4    . Even when they are not around, loving-kindness meditation could help fight feelings of loneliness.

Count your blessings

    5    , its also possible to practice gratitude on your own and feel less lonely. In one study, older adults who were assigned a daily gratitude journaling exercise felt less lonely over time — and felt healthier, too.

A．Reach out to friends or family

B．Be kind to the relatives around you

C．What can you do when you feel lonely

D．Even though this practice can help you feel much happier

E．It can also help you increase a sense of connection to others

F．While expressing gratitude toward others can fight loneliness directly

G．One of them is that they can provide companionship and unconditional love

5 . 假定你是李华，你被你心仪的大学录取了。请你给你在高中期间的外教Mr Potter写一封邮件表达对他的感谢，内容包括：
1.对老师的辛勤工作表示感谢；
2.感谢老师对自己的教导和帮助；
3.表达对老师的祝愿。
注意：1.可适当补充信息，以使行文连贯；
2.词数为80左右。
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What does the woman give the man first?

A．Her passport.

B．Her ticket.

C．Her name.

2. Where does the woman ask to sit?

A．In first class.

B．By the washroom.

C．Near the walkway.

3. What time is it now?

A．9:20.

B．9:30.

C．9:40.

4. How does the woman feel in the end?

A．Rushed.

B．Grateful.

C．Confused.

7 . A happy-sad state can be as confusing to people as to psychologists. This is not about “smiling depression” where someone feels emotional pain, but_________those feelings with a happy face. Rather, it’s _________ experiencing those two _________ emotions at once.

When Jeff Larsen, a psychology professor, simply asks people if it’s_________to feel such mixed emotions, most people immediately say “yes” showing how_________the experience is. But Larsen takes a more_________approach.In his experiments, he asked people to watch a clip (电影片段) from a bittersweet movie and press one button if they felt_________another if they felt happy,or_________at the same time if they felt both emotions at once.It_________about half pressed both happy and sad buttons at once, __________not for very long.Larsen__________the experience is rare, but possible.

Yale University psychology professor Laurie Santos__________it’s possible for people to feel both positive and negative emotions at once. Situations that often__________a happy-sad state include bittersweet events like__________or a move to a new city for a job--situations when you’re sad about__________, but happy about new opportunities, she noted. Endings that are also beginnings make these emotionally-rich events, Larsen added.

1.

A．bottles up

B．talks about

C．gets over

D．cares about

2.

A．hardly

B．occasionally

C．suddenly

D．truly

3.

A．disturbing

B．conflicting

C．positive

D．powerful

4.

A．possible

B．strange

C．necessary

D．acceptable

5.

A．valuable

B．abstract

C．universal

D．interesting

6.

A．traditional

B．theoretical

C．scientific

D．creative

7.

A．awkward

B．worried

C．angry

D．sad

8.

A．both

B．neither

C．either

D．each

9.

A．stood out

B．let out

C．pointed out

D．turned out

10.

A．until

B．though

C．if

D．once

11.

A．believes

B．predicts

C．remembers

D．doubts

12.

A．expects

B．agrees

C．wonders

D．imagines

13.

A．change

B．cause

C．determine

D．reflect

14.

A．accidents

B．adventures

C．celebrations

D．graduations

15.

A．leaving

B．forgetting

C．failing

D．losing

8 . Have you ever started your day feeling unbeatable, only to feel worn down by the time you get into bed?     1     Try the following routines to help you sail through your day.

Practise gratitude. As you wake up, whether naturally or through your alarm, pause for a few seconds.     2     It may be a photograph of someone you love, your stylish new bedside table, or just being alive and being offered a new day. Take in the positivity and bathe in it for a few moments before continuing your day.

Exhale(呼出) your tension. If you feel anxious or stressed as you wake up, take a few minutes to do an exercise to deal with the tension. Stand tall and bring both hands to your chest. Inhale, and then exhale as you open your arms and reach down to touch the floor. This will stretch your body and oxygenate your brain.     3    

Check in with yourself. On your way to work, take a minute to “check in” with yourself. Think through your goals for the day.     4     Allow yourself to feel the positivity associated with those achievements. This visualization exercise is a simple way to build positive intention, create focus, and boost your motivation and confidence for the day.

    5     Be aware of not automatically reaching for your phone to check emails or social media as it can put you into a reactive mode rather than keeping your mind clear to choose how you want to go about in your day, and how you intend to respond instead of just reacting to events and people. The more you are able to stay centered and connected to yourself, the less likely you will stress out.

A．Brighten your day.

B．Respond, don’t react.

C．Teach the body to sense it is safe.

D．And imagine yourself completing them well.

E．Thus you process your tension feeling more positive.

F．Look around the room for something you are grateful for.

G．The daily ups and downs weaken your resolve and leave you low.

9 . You might have heard of the expression “a guilty pleasure”—maybe it’s the chocolate bar you buy on the way home from work, or the new clothes that you don’t really need.     1     . Perhaps we don’t feel we deserved it, or we don’t think it was a responsible way to spend our money. But should we feel like this? Do we really have to feel guilty about treating ourselves?

Perhaps not. Psychologists have suggested that buying things for yourself can make you feel better as it provides an opportunity to take control of your situation.    2     . It may be that as well as lifting your mood, when you buy a treat, you might just be looking after yourself.

Of course, there are also examples of people turning to destructive behaviour when faced with stressful circumstances. People might spend money that they don’t have or turn to dangerous addictions. Psychologist Leon Seltzer considers the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurturing.    3     , while self-nurturing is taking responsible decisions to satisfy our needs and take care of ourselves in ways that don’t have a significant impact.

    4    . So, many universities publish guides with advice for coping with exam stress. Reflecting the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurture, they recommend rewarding yourself for your efforts, doing things that you enjoy and are good at so that you can feel accomplishment.    5     . Thus, perhaps, as long as we make responsible decisions, we shouldn’t feel guilty about our guilty pleasures.

A．Exams are vital for students.

B．Self-indulgence can have negative consequences

C．The difference becomes evident when students manage exam pressure

D．They also recommend embracing activities that could dampen your spirits

E．Besides, you should avoid things that may make you feel worse afterwards

F．It comes from the idea that when we treat ourselves, it can sometimes leave us feeling guilty

G．It can give you social contact as well as a confidence boost from changes you make to your self-image

10 . Based on his own research at Washington University in St. Louis and other scientific studies, psychology lecturer Bono offers the following tips for getting and staying happier in your life.

    1     Looking forward to an enjoyable experience can make it all that much sweeter. Wait a couple of days before seeing a new movie that just came out, plan your big vacation for later in the summer, and try to take time to enjoy each bite of dessert. On the opposite, get negative tasks out of the way as quickly as possible — any delay will only make them seem worse.

People who focus more on process than outcome tend to remain motivated in the face of setbacks. They’re better at sticking with major challenges and prefer them over the easy route.     2     Because it celebrates rewards that come from the work itself. Focusing only on the outcome can lead to premature burnout if things don’t go well.

    3     Find an activity that allows you to get together with friends on a regular, ongoing basis. A weekly happy hour, poker night, or TV show ensures consistency and motivation in your social interactions. People with high-quality relationships are not only happier, but also healthier.     4    

The next time you are attracted to use your phone to look through social media, look through your list of contacts instead.     5     The happiness you get from a real connection with another person will be far greater than any comments or likes you get on social media.

A．Anticipation itself is pleasurable.

B．Decrease unnecessary socializing.

C．Find someone to call or FaceTime.

D．This “growth mindset” helps people stay energized.

E．Facebook and Instagram often overstate how much better off others are.

F．Nothing is more important for our psychological health than high-quality friendships.

G．They recover from illnesses more quickly, live longer, and enjoy more enriched lives.