1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Are You Ready to Hug a Robot?

Getting hugged tends to be a powerful positive emotional experience. Hugs have been shown to enhance social bonding and emotional well-being. However, not everyone can get a hug     1     they need one. Some people are lonely and do not have anyone to hug them. Others may be in long-distance relationships     2     it is not easy to get physical affection from their partner. In this case, they     3     receive fewer hugs than they like.

How can this problem be solved?     4     scientists have proposed is to develop hug robots. This could offer lonely people the positive effects of getting hugged without the need     5    (seek) a person who could hug them. Nevertheless, designing a hug robot is not an easy task. For example, if the robot is very large and made mostly of metal, people might be frightened of it,     6     happily hugging it. Therefore, psychological research is needed.

A new study, which     7    (publish) in International Journal recently, focuses on the development of Moffuly-II, a newly developed hug robot, which can move its arms to perform different small gestures during the hug. When two people hug, they often do specific things with their hands, such as clapping the     8    (hug)person on the back to signal sympathy. It is important that a hug robot can perform similar gestures, too. In the study, the scientists wanted to know whether these gestures would make a robot hug     9    (appealing). Volunteers who Moffully-Il hugged generally preferred hugs with gestures to gesture-less hugs. They felt that the robot was more friendly when    10    (perform) gestures.

The findings of the study indicate that it is possible to design a robot that people enjoy to hug. Details matter here, as the intra-hug gestures played a significant role in determining how much the human volunteers enjoyed the hug.

2 .

I grew up hearing that it is better to give than to receive, and the older I get, the more I aim to take this message to heart. Nevertheless, here I am, in the midst of the holiday season stressed out about gifts I have not yet purchased.

How did gift buying become an emotionally fraught chore (苦差事)? For a moment, it’s easy to question if it’s worth it. But science tells me that giving makes us feel good.

“The act of giving actually does improve your happiness,” says Michael Norton, a psychologist at Harvard Business School. He has published several studies on the effects of giving.

In one experiment that included about 700 people, the researchers randomly assigned participants to make either a purchase for themselves, or for a stranger. Afterwards, the participants reported how happy they felt. Turns out, giving to others led to a significant happiness boost, whereas spending on oneself didn’t move the needle.

“If you take $5 out of your pocket today, the science really does show that spending $5 on yourself doesn’t do much for you,” Norton says. “But spending that $5 on somebody else is more likely to increase your happiness.”

Take a scarf. If you buy one for yourself, it’s just another thing you don’t necessarily need. But if you buy a scarf for someone else, “you’ve shown them that they’re important to you,” Norton says. Either way, it’s just a scarf. “But it can either be a throwaway object or something that enhances a relationship between two people,” he says.

So, there’s evidence that generosity promotes happiness, but the process of shopping, wrapping and schlepping (搬) gifts can be tiresome — or even extremely annoying considering all of our day-­to­-day demands and other holiday stressors.

Studies also show when people are given something they are more likely to give back. Reciprocity (互惠) is a foundation of good relationships and when we surround ourselves with generous people, we tend to feel the same. Feeling that spirit of giving and the connection it can bring is what the holidays are all about.

1. Why does the author mention his own experience in paragraph 1?

A．To make a prediction.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To present a reason.	D．To clarify a concept.

2. How does Norton illustrate his opinion in paragraphs 5 and 6?

A．By listing data.	B．By giving examples.
C．By making comments.	D．By telling personal experiences.

3. Why is preparing a gift sometimes an emotionally fraught chore?

A．It’s difficult and expensive.	B．It happens frequently.
C．It’s not valued by others.	D．It requires much effort.

4. What can we learn about giving gifts from the text?

A．It is not worth the effort.

B．It is a must to enhance a relationship.

C．It brings about emotional benefits.

D．It gains popularity during holidays.

3 . How Using A Mood Tracker App Could Help Your Mental Health

You track your nutrition and your workouts, but why wouldn’t you track your mood?    1    They can be used by everyone, from those dealing with mental health conditions such as depression or mood anxiety to those who just want to keep an eye on their stress levels.

    2    .

Many of them allow you to record factors that may be affecting your mental health, such as sleep, nutrition, and exercise. You can also see how changes are affecting your mental health. Mood trackers can also keep you honest about your self-reporting bias.

How Does a Mood Tracker App Work?

Firstly, research shows that mood tracker apps can help people better identify their moods and in turn, understand them. Awareness of one’s mood has been linked to better mental health outcome.    3    By recording the data that someone can refer back to during an appointment, apps can also help people feel more empowered rather than be a passive consumer.

Who Should Use Them?

Generally speaking, a mood tracker app can be helpful to most people.    4    Research shows at the mood tracker apps that are the most helpful in reducing symptoms are the ones that provide education on things like cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and tools, rather than ones that only record symptoms.

Mood tracker apps are one of the most popular categories or smartphones app stores, so you have no lack of choices with a simple search for mood tracker.    5    

A．Why Use a Mood Tracker App?

B．Mood tracker apps are gaining in popularity.

C．And those who are dealing with mood disorders will benefit most from it.

D．Research on apps using predictive technology is incredibly encouraging.

E．Mood tracker apps are often more than just a place to record your emotions.

F．Additionally, apps can help people better communicate with mental health professionals.

G．If you don’t have as art phone or don’t want to download an app, there are web-based trackers to consult.

4 . 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

5 . Cheerfulness is a powerful way to deal with a world that will always be tough and unjust in one way or another. It is a sign of strength in the face of difficulties. Different from fear, joy, or anger, cheerfulness isn’t something that overcomes you.     1     As such, you can include it into your life once you make the right mental switch. Here are four ways to do so.

◎Acknowledge the difficulties.

Cheerfulness is an honest emotion because you’re not hiding from reality.     2     Instead, it’s extremely important to be honest with yourself about the problems you’re facing. Only by first acknowledging that things are tough will you be able to find ways to cope.

◎Don’t focus on the negative.

Whether in your personal life or in society, it’s easy to focus on what’s going wrong. But whatever you focus on, it grows. If you decide to focus on what’s going wrong, those problems will grow in your mind until they consume you.     3    

◎Be grateful for what you have.

    4     Usually, they’re the things we take for granted until they’re no longer there, such as good health, a loving family, or even something as simple as a beautiful sunrise. Being grateful will shift your perspective and make it easier to see the silver linings of your problems.

◎    5    

No cheerfulness without laughter. So you can watch comedies, browse memes, or joke around with friends. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts your mood, makes you feel less pain, and protects you from stress. Laughter is cathartic (精神宣泄的) and infectious. Laugh and brighten the room.

A．Find your sense of humor.

B．Deal with difficulties seriously.

C．Focus on the good things you have.

D．To a large degree, cheerfulness is a choice.

E．You’re not covering your eyes and looking away.

F．Acknowledge the problems, but don’t give them too much attention.

G．Being cheerful will make you see the world and your own life in a different way.

6 . The nature of compassion fatigue (同情疲劳) means that many working in traditional care-giving roles are likely to experience its symptoms. This includes first responders, medical professionals, social workers, journalists, and lawyers specializing in family law or criminal law.

Kelli Collins, a licensed family therapist, remarks “Think about muscle fatigue—if you work out too hard, your muscles might simply give out. In the same way, compassion fatigue means your ability to offer compassion to others is dramatically affected.”

Collins herself experienced compassion fatigue as a young therapist working in a community mental health setting, where she “had the strong desire to help” but quickly realized some things were out of her “rang of influence”. She felt herself becoming easily annoyed with loved ones, sleeping very little, and fantasizing about changing careers. It was an overwhelming time, during which she felt she was failing her clients.

“I thought that by giving endless compassion to my clients, I was ‘leaving it all on the field’. In fact, bearing the responsibility for my clients’ pain without consideration for my own needs and limits meant that I wasn’t a particularly effective therapist,” she says.

Lynne Hughes, who founded Comfort Zone in 1999 and now serves as CEO, lost both her parents as a child, experiencing first-hand the lack of resources and support for grieving children. Hughes expresses similar feelings about the challenge of compassion fatigue, stressing the importance of looking inward.

“Suffering from compassion fatigue does not mean you’re bad at helping or caring, it only means the scale between caring for others and caring for yourself is no longer balanced,” she says. “When you’re in a role where you’re nurturing and caring for others — it’s crucial to extend that nurture and care to yourself so that ‘your well’ does not run dry.”

But both Hughes and Collins emphasize that it’s not only traditional caregivers who experience compassion fatigue. “It is applicable to anyone in a caring role,” says Hughes, while Collins believes it is a uniquely human condition, occupational or not.

1. Why does Collins mention the muscle fatigue?

A．To describe she is in a bad mood.

B．To show she is eager to give a hand.

C．To suggest she has limited pity for others.

D．To explain she is much tired of her customers.

2. Which of the following do Hughes and Collins agree with?

A．Care for yourself while caring for others.

B．Compassion fatigue has nothing to do with career.

C．Those with compassion fatigue are poor at helping.

D．Shy persons always tend to suffer compassion fatigue.

3. What does “your well” in Paragraph 6 refer to?

A．Pity.

B．Nurture.

C．Symptoms.

D．Occupation.

4. How does the author develop the text?

A．By giving examples.	B．By quoting arguments.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By analyzing reasons and causes.

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 . “Anxiety.” The very word invites discomfort. Its effects—shortness of breath, pounding heart, muscle tension—are outright upsetting. But, as a clinician, I find that we tend to miss out on many valuable opportunities presented by this human emotion. In and of itself, anxiety is not deadly, nor is it a disease. Quite the contrary: it is an indicator of brain and sensory health. Once we accept that it is a normal, though uncomfortable, part of life, we can use it to help us.

We all know working out at the gym is hard. By nature, a “good workout” is uncomfortable, since it involves pushing our physical strength past what we can easily do. The sweet spot of exercise is always a somewhat challenging experience. Similarly, if you want to be emotionally stronger, you need to face some tension. For example, one effective treatment for fear is exposure therapy (疗法), which involves gradually encountering things that make one anxious, reducing fear over time.

Humans are social creatures. When my patients learn to open up to their partners about their anxieties, they almost always report a greater sense of emotional closeness. Also, as international relationship expert Sue Johnson teaches, when we express our need for connection during challenging moments (e.g., “I’m having a hard time right now and could really use your support”), it creates greater connection and turns our anxiety into love.

From time to time, we find ourselves at the end of our rope. Our responsibilities pile up, our resources break down, and we feel uncomfortably anxious—what we’re experiencing is called stress. Simply put, the demands placed upon us outweigh our available resources, just like a set of scales (天平) going out of balance. Focusing on work and pretending everything is OK only leads to disastrous results. Medical treatment for stress may function for a while, but it tends to make things worse in the long run. The only solution to deal with stress is to do the mathematics to balance the scales.

1. What does the author say about anxiety?

A．It is an invitation to diseases.

B．It indicates stable mental health.

C．It costs us many valuable chances.

D．It is a natural emotional expression.

2. Why does the author mention “good workout” in paragraph 2?

A．To prove how exercise influences emotions.

B．To suggest an effective way to challenge limits.

C．To explain how anxiety builds emotional strength.

D．To show a positive connection between mind and body.

3. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The key to closeness is partners’ support.

B．Sharing anxieties improves relationships.

C．Humans are defined by their social nature.

D．Expressing feelings keeps us off anxieties.

4. According to the last paragraph, how can we deal with stress?

A．Devote more energy to our work.

B．Increase resources available to us.

C．Seek professional medical treatment.

D．Master advanced mathematical skills.

9 . We all want to know what happiness means and try to find ways to help make our life better. Happiness — you know it when you see it, but it’s hard to define. You might call it a sense of well-being, optimism or meaningfulness in life, although those could also be treated separately.     1     we know that we want it, and that is just somehow good.

We also know that we don’t always have control over our happiness. Research suggests that genetics may play a big role in our level of happiness, so some of us may start out at a disadvantage. On top of that, environmental factors can bring down mood and dry up our thirst for living.     2    . Many studies have found a connection between psychological and physical well-being.

A 2022 review of more than 200 studies found a connection between positive psychological features, such as happiness, optimism and life satisfaction, and a lowered risk of heart disease.

    3    . If you have a good sense of well-being, it’s easier to maintain good habits: exercising, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep.

    4    , and they do not provide hard evidence of cause and effect. But some researchers believe that positive mental states do have a direct effect on the body, perhaps by reducing damaging physical processes. For instance, they found that optimism is associated with lower levels of inflammation (炎症).

If what you mean by happiness is specifically “enjoyment of life”, there’s newer evidence to support that, too. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that people aged 60 and over who said they enjoyed life less were more likely to develop disability over an 8-year period.     5    . This study does not prove that physical problems are caused by less enjoyment of life, but suggests a relationship.

A．But whatever happiness really is.

B．It might take more work if your mood is low.

C．For now these studies can only show associations.

D．That refers to the person, and the situation he or she is in.

E．Being able to travel around was also related to enjoyment of life.

F．To manage our emotions is important for both our body and mind.

G．It’s not as simple as “you must be happy to prevent heart attacks”, though.

10 . It’s hard to please everybody all the time. Whatever you do, and no matter how hard you try, there will always be certain people who dislike you. There are often times you can overlook them and go on with your life. Sometimes, however, a person’s negative feelings for you might affect your grades or your ability to meet and get along with other people.     1     .

Have an open conversation

This might be awkward, but sometimes the only way to know what is going on or why someone has a problem with you is to speak out straightforwardly.     2     . That means instead of saying “Why don’t you like me? ”, say something like “I feel like there is some tension between us. Is there anything I have done or anything I can do to help? ”

    3    

If you’ve done something to hurt or offend someone and that is the reason why the person dislikes you, the best course of action is to try to make it right. Clearly say the words, “I’m sorry. ” Be sure not to say “I’m sorry you were offended. ” or “I’m sorry you felt that way. ” or anything else that places the blame on the other person for misinterpreting your intentions.     4     .

Learn to let it go

    5     . Importantly, you have to choose not to allow the person who dislikes you to influence you or get you down. It is OK to be disliked. Remember that even the most popular and well-loved celebrities are disliked by some people!

A．Build self-confidence

B．Apologize and make it right

C．Try to redirect feelings of anger by breathing deeply

D．In these situations, it might be time to deal with the problem

E．Instead, be humble and own to the fact that you’ve hurt someone

F．It’s OK to be disliked if you’ve done everything and are still disliked

G．Try to express your ideas with “I-phrases”, which focus on your feelings