1 . While socializing comes naturally for some, it can be a struggle for others. Shyness is a normal, common personality trait (特征).     1    . If you’re often hesitant to engage in social situations, you may interact with those around you in a more comfortable way. We outline four strategies for overcoming shyness in life.

Get Excited About A New Adventure

You may have been shy most of your life.     2    . Working through shyness and developing increased confidence may seem like a discouraging task for you, but viewing the journey as an exciting adventure to parts unknown can be exciting and, in turn, may boost your self-esteem.

Pay Attention To Your Words

    3    . Talking to yourself in a negative way when describing yourself can damage your self-confidence. Consider replacing phrases like “I am shy” with “I am learning to be more comfortable” in social situations. This can go a long way toward moving from shyness to confidence.

Practice Mindfulness (正念)

Mindfulness involves drawing your attention to the present and being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings.     4    . In one study, participants in a mindfulness program experienced an improved view of their self-worth.

Take Small Steps

Getting started can be the hardest part of learning how to be more social for those who are shy.     5    . You can start out small. Try chatting with the teller at the bank or the person ahead of you in the checkout line. This can help you build confidence and work your way up to more difficult challenges.

A．If so, that’s a part of you that you’re used to

B．Sometimes the best path toward addressing a fear is exposure

C．Mindfulness can help reduce symptoms of social anxiety disorder

D．Taking time to tend to your appearance can make a big difference

E．How we communicate and characterize ourselves can be powerful

F．However, shyness can make it hard for people to connect with others and achieve their goals

G．But engaging with people doesn’t have to be practiced as an important work presentation

2 . Confidence is a feeling of trust in your abilities, qualities and judgment. Building confidence is like building a house. You need to start with a solid foundation, then construct everything else from there. It takes time and effort to improve your confidence, especially if you haven’t had the opportunity to prove your skills in the past.     1     Start strengthening your self-confidence with these how-to guides.

    2     It’s easier said than done, but daily, positive thoughts about what you’re able to do can improve your confidence. Everyone has days when staying positive is tough, but force yourself to remember one good thing you like about who you are every morning until it’s a habit.

Do things you’re good at. What happens when you do things that you are good at?     3    Your strengths become even stronger, which helps improve your belief in yourself. Taking this approach also has another benefit: It can increase how satisfied you are with your life.

Spend time with positive people. The people around you greatly impact how you feel about yourself. If judgmental or critical people surround you, it’ll take a toll(产生负面影响)on your mental strength. If, however, you’re interacting with people who can cheer others on and support one another, you’ll feel much better.     4    

Take care of yourself. Focusing on you and what you need sometimes feel like it’s selfish,but it’s not!     5     Taking care of yourself can help you take care of others, but it can also help boost your self-confidence. Easy ways to start include taking a break when you’re overwhelmed(不堪重负的), wearing your favorite outfit, or doing something you love.

A．Act as if you feel confident.

B．Your self-confidence starts to rise.

C．It’s a necessary part of being human.

D．However, it is something that everyone can do!

E．Think positively about yourself and your skills.

F．Actually, it’s hard to feel good about yourself if you overuse your health.

G．So focus on creating healthier relationships with the positive people in your life.

3 . One of the primary goals of cognitive behavioral therapy (疗法) is finding effective ways to channel your anxiety into productive action. The best possible one is under the care of an experienced mental health care provider. Still, if you are hoping to stop being paralyzed (麻痹) by anxiety and use this energy to fuel and improve your life, you can.     1    

Set a goal. Goal-setting is one way to use your anxiety as fuel. Take notice of your anxious thoughts and worries. What are you most concerned about?     2     Instead of shaking in your boots, get to work developing a plan that allows you to overcome these fears.

Challenge yourself regularly to build resilience. Think of your resilience to anxiety as a muscle.     3     Rather than avoiding those situations that cause anxiety, gradually expose yourself to them more often. When you do this, you will find that, over time, they lose their power. For instance, if you hate public speaking, you might benefit from signing up for a local Toastmasters club. Doing so will allow you to practice speaking in front of a group more often, which will reduce your anxiety.

    4     Anxiety can feel like a live wire in your body. You can’t sit still or focus. Exercise is a great activity to make use of this spare energy. Exercise offers a host of benefits like fighting off illness and helping you manage weight. One of the benefits most helpful to you, however, is its ability to neutralize anxiety and improve your mood.

Perform reality testing. You don’t have to become a slave to your anxious thoughts, giving them permission to get you all worked up.     5     Reality testing involves assessing a situation for errors in thinking. To assess the reality of this situation, you want to ask what evidence is there that says this is true. Did your friends actually call you lame? Are they avoiding you?

A．Put them to the test instead.

B．What are your biggest fears?

C．Burn off nervous energy with physical activity.

D．When you find yourself becoming anxious, check your thought patterns

E．Just transform anxiety into action by using positive strategies.

F．How can you deal with getting fired if it does happen?

G．The more you use the muscle, the stronger it becomes.

4 . There’s no single best way to cheer someone up when they are feeling down.    1    Some people might prefer socializing while others might like relaxing. They may even want you to simply send them helpful articles or funny pictures online without actually seeing you in person. Here are four ways to cheer someone up after a bad day.

Write them a handwritten note. If you want to cheer someone up, you don’t have to write a six-page letter detailing every happy thing you can think of.    2    Try writing out positive things like good memories you have together, or even an encouraging quote (名言).

Have a movie night. Perhaps you won’t be talking a lot during the movie, but it’s an excuse to come together with the person you’re trying to support. Sometimes they just need a little company when they’re feeling down.    3    Therefore, turn on the TV and find a movie that you’ll both enjoy.

    4    Your normal routine (日常事务) can feel dull and remind a person of what’s troubling them. Try doing something new with the friend you want to cheer up. It could be getting some fresh air by going hiking you’ve never tried or visiting your local museum. Any of these ideas can help build some memories together and lift your friends’ spirits.

Bring them their favorite food. Surprising someone with their favorite meal is an act of kindness that many like. They’re called our “comfort foods” for a reason, and sharing them will help your friends feel better.    5    

A．Try something new together.

B．Talk about interesting things.

C．It shows them that you value them.

D．Often, it just depends on the person.

E．Being close to someone can help them feel less alone.

F．A simple note with a supportive sentence or a little card will be OK.

G．Plus, sharing a meal together is a good chance to chat about whatever they want.

5 . The characteristic (特征) of shyness is to feel frightened and nervous in new social situations or when being the center of attention. Whether shyness is part of your children’s personality or just something they feel when they are in front of a group of strangers, it is a common experience, according to a study.

To look at shyness, researchers brought 152 children aged 7-8 into a lab and told them they would give a speech, which would be filmed and shown to other children. The study showed that about 10% of the children showed a level of stress over time when giving the speech. About 25% of the children were not reported to be shy in the eyes of their parents, but in fact showed a level of social stress from giving the speech. This finding provides the fact that shyness may be a part of these children’s temperament (性情).

For children at this age, shyness may be a quite common and normal experience when they face a speech task. For a smaller group of shy children, however, being the center of attention may be stressful at different times and environments.

A shy temperament isn’t always valued by society like an outgoing personality, but that doesn’t mean there is something wrong. Everyone can feel shy at times depending on the environment. And those who are particularly shy often have happy social lives—they just aren’t likely to be the liveliest people in a crowded room.

Although shyness itself may not necessarily be a problem, parents should pay attention to signs of worry, particularly in their shy children. Importantly, however, we know that not all shy children are the same, and that many shy children grow up to be well-balanced adults.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?

A．Shyness is not an unusual characteristic.

B．Shyness is born with personality.

C．Shyness will appear when one is in public.

D．Shyness means not communicating with others.

2. What is the finding of the study?

A．Few kids like to give a speech to others.

B．Some kids can get shy while giving speeches.

C．Some kids appear less shy with their parents.

D．Some kids are stressed when being separated.

3. What does the author advise parents to do when facing shy children?

A．Bring them to crowded space.

B．Care for them and give them confidence.

C．Keep them away from shyness.

D．Let them be alone.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．When are people shy?	B．Ways of beating shyness
C．Why is shyness a bad thing?	D．The discoveries about shyness

6 . Soothe the Sunday Scaries

As the weekend comes to an end, many of us are missing out on Sunday Funday and anxious about the upcoming week. Experts have nicknamed this worry the “Sunday scaries”.     1    

Here’s how you can ease your end-of-weekend anxiety.

When structuring your Sunday, try not to arrange too many errands and chores. If you’re feeling more stress, it’s important to make space for some activities to relax yourself. And there’s no right way to do so — maybe a midafternoon shower or bath, maybe an engaging movie or show.     2    

Anxiety is a normal human experience, and one of the main ways to manage it is to identify your personal triggers.     3     Is it a deadline, meeting, or presentation? Even if there’s not a single reason behind your Sunday anxiety, organizing the stress you expect from the week ahead into small pieces can help it.

Getting rid of the Sunday scaries isn’t just about minimizing the gloom of the week ahead, either. Having something to look forward to gives you something pleasing to think about, rather than only focusing on the anxiety you feel.     4     Instead of focusing on the awful things you expect from the week, build excitement over a lunch date with a friend.

Make Sunday nights about doing something for yourself to reduce your anxiety about Monday. Plan some favorite foods to enjoy or go all in for some self-care.     5     Do your best to honor this time and make Sunday night all about you—leave the work emails for Monday morning.

A．It’s a form of shifting your thoughts.

B．This is an opportunity to give yourself a refreshing time.

C．Try to figure out what’s really causing you to fear the week.

D．It doesn’t mean you have to shift your thoughts to something fun.

E．But even though the Sunday scaries are common, they are manageable.

F．It can be whatever feels like a helpful distraction to relieve from the stress.

G．Instead of sitting on the sofa and watching the clock, do something that you enjoy.

7 . I am a big laugher. I’ve been told that even in a room of a thousand people, you can always hear me laughing over the crowd. For me, laughter is the ultimate form of embodied joy. And by “embodied”, I mean that my whole body is involved when I laugh. On the inside, it’s like a bubbling fountain of joy spilling out all over the place.

But what is joy, anyway?

Life can be terrible, but if you decide to follow the sound of the joy-fountain, you will find joy showing up in all kinds of places: pets playfully bouncing around, kindness, or even in nothingness.

How can joy be found? A friend moved into a new apartment and needed some help, so I helped him. Afterwards, he was obviously so much happier and at ease. I noticed that playing even a small part in his happiness brought me great joy, and I took a moment to let this feeling of embodied joy in. We can practice letting joy in by noticing how it feels to smile. Where does your body light up when you smile? When I smile, it makes me want to take a deep breath, and I notice my shoulders and belly relaxing. When I embody caring and loving, it feels great!

Sadly, many of us are unaware of joy, or suspicious of it. Maybe you are afraid to open up to joy, or maybe you are so unfamiliar with what joy feels like that you ignore or resist it when it comes knocking. No one, other than you, owns your happiness, but you might unknowingly block feelings or experiences that help you embody joy. The fact is that when you can’t embody joy, you miss out on one of life’s essential vitamins.

Want more joy? Don’t be afraid to look silly. Silliness helps us take things less personally. It helps us see the world the way a kid does. When we can find more joy in the smalls of everyday life, we can embody happiness, rather than just pursuing it.

1. How is the topic of joy introduced at the beginning of the passage?

A．By highlighting a joyful experience.

B．By stressing the importance of laughing

C．By sharing the author’s understanding of joy.

D．By presenting an ultimate form of satisfaction.

2. What might be the author’s advice on finding joy?

A．Taking a deep breath.	B．Smiling to your friends.
C．Reflecting on nothingness.	D．Doing small acts of kindness.

3. What might be the reason for many of us missing out on joy?

A．That many of us refuse it on purpose.

B．That many of us are insensitive to joy.

C．That many of us lack life’s essential vitamins.

D．That many of us are likely to take joy for granted.

4. What message does the author convey in this text?

A．He who laughs last laughs best.

B．Happy people are happy in childhood.

C．Worry does not seek, but man seeks it.

D．Love of joy is belief; the creation of joy is life.

8 . Tricks To Becoming A Patient Person

Here’s a riddle: What do traffic jams, long lines and waiting for a vacation to start all have in common? There is one answer.     1    .

In the Digital Age, we’re used to having what we need immediately and right at our fingertips. However, research suggests that if we practiced patience, we’d be a whole lot better off. Here are several tricks.

●Practice gratitude (感激)

Thankfulness has a lot of benefits: Research shows it makes us happier, less stressed and even more optimistic.     2    . “Showing thankfulness can foster self-control,” said Ye Li, researcher at the University of California.

● Make yourself wait

Instant gratification (满足) may seem like the most “feel good” option at the time, but psychology research suggests waiting for things actually makes us happier in the long run. And the only way for us to get into the habit of waiting is to practice.     3    . Put off watching your favorite show until the weekend or wait 10 extra minutes before going for that cake. You’ll soon find that the more patience you practice, the more you start to apply it to other, more annoying situations.

●     4    .

So many of us have the belief that being comfortable is the only state we will tolerate, and when we experience something outside of our comfort zone, we get impatient about the circumstances. You should learn to say to yourself, “    5    .” You’ll then gradually become more patient.

A．Find your causes

B．Start with small tasks

C．Accept the uncomfortable

D．All this adds up to a state of hurry

E．It can also help us practice more patience

F．This is merely uncomfortable, not intolerable

G．They’re all situations where we could use a little extra patience

9 . Everyone gets angry. If you’re experiencing huge anger, though, it could be damaging your mental and physical health as well as your relationships with others. Uncontrolled anger can be potential problems, such as anger management issues or mental disorder.     1     To control your anger, you can try to take the following measures.

Take a break as soon as you recognize that you’re angry. You can take a break by stopping what you’re doing, getting away from what makes you annoyed or just take a deep breath.     2    

Visualize a happy place. If you still have a difficult time calming down, imagine yourself in a scene you find incredibly relaxing.     3     Focus on imagining every detail of this place: the light, the noises, the temperature, the weather, the smells. Keep thinking of your happy place until you feel completely immersed(浸没于) in it, and hang out there for a few minutes or until you feel calm.

Practice positive self-talk. Change the way that you think about something from negative to positive.     4     After you have given yourself a moment to calm down, “discuss” the situation with yourself in positive and relieving terms.

    5     Sometimes sharing your concerns with a close friend might help you vent(发泄) your anger. Clearly express what you want from the other person. If you just want to vent your anger, state at the beginning that you don’t want help or advice, just sympathy. If you’re looking for a solution, let the other person know.

A．Ask for the support of someone you trust.

B．Positive thinking can help you relieve your anger in a healthy way.

C．Keep exercising until you feel that you have regained control.

D．It could be any place that makes you feel at home and peaceful.

E．So it’s important to control your emotions and calm yourself down.

F．Remember that you do not have to respond to a situation immediately.

G．Getting away from what is upsetting you will make it easier to calm down.

10 . Finland was known as a rather quiet country. Since 2008, the Country Brand Delegation (国家品牌代表团) has been looking for a national brand that would make some noise to market the country as a world-famous tourist destination. In 2010, the Delegation issued a “Country Brand Report,” which highlighted a host of marketable themes, including Finland’s famous educational system. One key theme was brand new: silence. As the report explained, modern society often seems intolerably loud and busy. “Silence is a resource,” it said.

Silence first appeared in scientific research as a control or baseline, against which scientists compare the effects of noise or music. Researchers have mainly studied it by accident, as physician Luciano Bernardi did in his study of the physiological (生理学) effects of music. “We didn’t think about the effect of silence,” he said. Bernardi observed two dozen test subjects while they listened to six musical tracks. He found that the impacts of music could be read directly in the bloodstream, via changes in blood pressure, carbon dioxide, and circulation in the brain. “During almost all sorts of music, there was a physiological change with a condition of arousal (兴奋),” he explained.

This effect made sense, given that active listening requires attention. But the more striking finding appeared between musical tracks. Bernardi and his colleagues discovered that randomly added stretches of silence also had a great effect, but in the opposite direction. In fact, two-minute silent pauses proved far more relaxing than either “relaxing” music or a longer silence played before the experiment started. The blank pauses that Bernardi had considered irrelevant, in other words, became the most interesting object of study. Silence seemed to be heightened by contrasts, maybe because it gave test subjects a release from careful attention. “Perhaps the arousal is something that concentrates the mind in one direction, so that when there is nothing more arousing, then you have deeper relaxation,” he said.

This finding is reinforced by neurological (神经系统的) research. Relevant research shows when our brains rest quietly, they integrate external and internal information into “a conscious (意识的) workspace.” Freedom from noise and goal-directed tasks, it appears, unites the quiet without and within, allowing our conscious workspace to do its thing to discover where we fit in.

Noora Vikman, a consultant on silence for Finland’s marketers, knows silence well. Living in a remote and quiet place in Finland, she discovers thoughts and feelings that aren’t detectable in her busy daily life. “If you want to know yourself, you have to be with yourself, and discuss with yourself, and be able to talk with yourself.”

1. Why does the author mention the Country Brand Report in Paragraph 1?

A．To present how Finland viewed silence.

B．To highlight the need of noise in Finland.

C．To explain why Finland issued the brands.

D．To indicate the authority of the Delegation.

2. What can be inferred about Luciano Bernardi’s discovery?

A．It challenged the calming effect of music.

B．It emphasized the role of silence between sounds.

C．It illustrated the loss of attentiveness after silence.

D．It stated brains’ information processing in the quiet.

3. As for Noora Vikman’s attitude to silence, the author is ________.

A．doubtful

B．supportive

C．disapproving

D．unconcerned

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Silence: A Limited Resource	B．Silence: A Misunderstood Tool
C．Silence: The Unexpected Power	D．Silence: The Value by Contrasts