1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. steadily B. predicts C. biology D. temporary E. dramatic F. recovers G. permanent H. grounded I. expansion J. formed K. kindly

Teens Are Still Developing Empathy Skills

The teen years are often full of door-slamming, eye-rolling and seeming insensitivity, even by kids who behaved     1     before. Some parents worry that they are doing something wrong or that their children will never think of anyone but themselves. A six-year study published in Developmental Psychology shows that     2     is partly to blame.

In adolescence, critical social skills that are needed for one to feel concern for other people and to understand how they think are undergoing major changes. Adolescence has long been known as prime time for developing cognitive skills for self-regulation and executive function.

“Cognitive empathy,” or the mental ability to take others’ perspective, begins to rise     3     in girls at the age of 13, according to the study co-authored by Jolien van der Graaff at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. By comparison, boys do not begin until the age of 15 to show increases in perspective-taking, which helps in problem-solving and avoiding conflict.

Adolescent boys actually show a     4     decline, between the ages of 13 and 16, in a related skill—“affective empathy,” or the ability to recognize and respond to others’ feelings. This may be the result, at least in part, of a     5     rise in the primary male sex hormone, during adolescence, which sparks a desire for dominance and power. Fortunately, the boys’ sensitivity     6     in their late teens. Girls’ affective empathy remains relatively high and stable throughout adolescence.

This doesn’t mean, however, that we can do nothing but just wait for teenagers to develop a feeling of empathy. In fact, parents can help instill(灌输) affective empathy into their children. Affective empathy is     7     in marginal region of the brain, which regulates emotions. This capacity begins to develop in infancy. Children learn to practice empathy by watching their parents and by experiencing it themselves—being well treated by adults who sensitively respond to their emotions. While cognitive empathy arises from a different part of the brain, the two abilities are linked. Children’s affective empathy     8     their level of cognitive empathy as teens.

The findings reflect a major     9     in researchers’ understanding of cognitive growth during adolescence. They used to believe that both forms of empathy were fully     10     in childhood. Now, it is clear that “the brain regions that support social cognition, which helps us successfully understand and interact with others, continue to change dramatically” in our teens, says Jennifer Pfeifer at the University of Oregon. Research in her lab also suggests that cognitive empathy rises in teens. The discoveries serve as a new lens for exploring such teen behavior as bullying and drug abuse.

2 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. stillness       B. refuge   C. thundering   D. withered   E. oppressive F. unattended G. gripped       H. creaked   I. approaching J. somewhere   K. hastily

On the morning of the first of September, Scarlett awoke with suffocating sense of dread upon her, a dread she had taken to her pillow the night before. She thought, dulled with sleep: ‘What was it that I was worrying about when I went to bed last night? Oh, yes the fighting. There was a battle,     1    ,yesterday! Oh, who won?’ She sat up    2    , rubbing her eyes, and her worried heart took up yesterday’s load again.

The air was    3     even in the early morning hour, hot with the scorching promise of a noon of glaring blue sky and pitiless bronze sun. The road outside lay silent. No wagons    4     by. No troops raised the red dust with their tramping feet, no pleasant sounds of breakfasts being prepared, for all the near neighbors except Mrs. Meade and Mrs. Merriwether had sought    5    in Macon. And she could hear nothing from their houses either. Farther down the street the business section was quiet and many of the stores and offices were locked and boarded up, while their occupants were somewhere about the countryside with rifles in their hands.

The     6    that greeted her seemed even more sinister this morning than on any of the mornings of the queer quiet week preceding it. She rose quickly, without her usual preliminary burrows and stretches, and went to the window, hoping to see some neighbor’s face, some heartening sight. But the road was empty. She noted how the leaves on the trees were still dark green but dry and heavily coated with red dust, and how     7    and sad the untended flowers in the front yard looked.

As she stood, looking out of the window, there came to her ears a far-off sound, faint and sullen as the first distant thunder of a(n)    8    storm.

‘Rain,’ she thought in the first moment, and her country-bred mind added, ‘We certainly need it.’ But, in a split instant: ‘Rain? No! Not rain! Cannon!’

Her heart racing she leaned from the window, her ear cocked to the far-off roaring, trying to discover from which direction it came. But the dim     9    was so distant that, for a moment, she could not tell. ‘Make it from Marietta,’ she prayed. ‘Or Decatur. But not from the south! Not from the south!’ She    10    the windowstill tighter and strained her ears and the far-away booming seemed louder. And it was coming from the south.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. content B. demands   C. guard     D. depressed   E. prioritized   F. fits G. failure   H. meant   I. competed     J. mere     K. independent

Happiness, as the Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moracs put it, is “like a feather flying in the air. It flies light, but not for very long.”

Humans are not designed to be happy or even     1    . Instead, we are designed primarily to survive and reproduce, like every other creature in the natural world. A state of contentment is discouraged by nature because it would lower your     2     against possible threats to your survival.

Evolution has     3     the development of a big frontal lobe(脑叶)in our brain (which gives us excellent executive and analytical abilities) over a natural ability to be happy. Different geographical locations and circuits in the brain are each associated with certain neurological(神经系统的)and intellectual functions, but happiness, being a(n)     4     idea with no neurological basis, cannot be found in the brain tissue.

In fact, experts in this field argue that nature’s     5     to eliminate depression in the evolutionary process is due precisely to the fact that depression as an adaption plays a useful role in times of difficulty, by helping the     6     individual get away from risky and hopeless situations in which he or she cannot win.

Our emotions are mixed and at times contradictory, like everything else in our lives. Research has shown that positive and negative emotions can coexist in the brain relatively     7     of each other. This models show that the right hemisphere processes negative emotions preferentially, whereas positive emotions are dealt with by the left-sided brain.

It’s worth remembering, then, that we are not designed to be consistently happy. Instead, we are designed to survive and reproduce. These are difficult tasks, so we are     8     to struggle, seek safety, fight off threats and avoid pain. The model of competing emotions offered by coexisting pleasure and pain     9     our reality much better than the unachievable bliss(极乐)that the happiness industry is trying to sell us. In fact, pretending that any degree of pain is abnormal will only develop feelings of inadequacy and frustration.

So, if you are unhappy at times, this is not a shortcoming that     10     urgent repair. Far from it. This fluctuation(波动)is, in fact, what makes you human.

4 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. grounded B. thrives C. taper off D. absent E. vulnerability F. fantasizing G. hang out H. illusion I. digestive J. compromised K. survive

Many people seek love or to be in a relationship , but that involves growth which can at times be painful, compromised and vulnerability. Love demands that we constantly improve, be more understanding and practice patience. Here are 5 signs you were never in Love.

One, you move things fast with your partner. Infatuation (obsession)     1     on speed while love takes time to develop. Relationship expert Susan Winter says “Infatuation lives in     2    . Love can survive reality”. When you’re quick to jump in a relationship with someone, you base it off your dreams more than whose really in front of you. Common examples include     3     about your future with them, lusting after them, and obsessing about them, all done only after a few weeks of knowing them.

Two, you expect them to be flawless, and then you get angry or disappointed when they show you their true colors. Winter states that, ‘Infatuation needs perfection in order to     4    . ‘When you expect your partner to be consistently well dressed, good with their words or impressive with their accomplishments, you’re not giving them space to be honest with you. Love, on the other hand, is     5    . When you love someone, you accept their imperfections, work through the bad and enjoy the good together.

Three, you’re not comfortable enough around them. Okay, who has not felt self conscious about saying the wrong thing or making a bad impression? But when you truly fall in love in someone, that’s when you can let loose and stop caring so much. Doctor Brennade Brown research expert on     6     discovered that those who have a strong sense of love and belonging are more open to vulnerability. Whereas those who feel disconnected with their partners consistently build their walls up. When you don’t share your emotions and struggles, nor secrets with someone, you haven’t fully loved.

Four, you become more distant. It’s normal for passion to intensify initially only to     7     into a steady relationship. But two people in love will still want to be around each other frequently. If you find yourself wanting to get away from your partner more and more these days, cancelling dinner plans often because you’d rather go     8     with your friends or family or cat, then something’s up.

Five. You’ve developed anxiety. Have you been experiencing     9     problems or have trouble sleeping? Psychologist K. Bylist say that anxiety can show in this bodily dysfunctions. You might have something you need to get off your chest and dread how to break the news off to your partner. Remember, you can only run away from the truth for so long before it catches up to you. Forcing love when it’s     10     will only hurt the two of you. Both of you deserve to find love elsewhere if it cannot be found in your relationship.

5 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. adopting	B. delight	C. differently	D. employ	E. help	F. instructed
G. predicted	H. regulate	I. orderly	J. shifting	K. surprisingly

All Weekends Can Be Holidays

There is a reason most people return to work Monday feeling no better than they did Friday afternoon. Exhaustion and stress on the job are problems for two out of three workers, and weekends usually aren’t much    1    , studies shows.

New research suggests a rather    2    simple solution: Pretend your weekend is a vacation.

People    3    to adopt a vacation mindset on the weekend returned to work feeling happier and more refreshed, without spending any additional money or time off, according to research on nearly 1,000 full-time workers. Although participants spent a little more time eating and staying with loved ones, researchers found after controlling the results for specific behaviors that just one factor — their increased focus on the present moment, or mindfulness —     4     greater happiness. Cassie Holmes, a researcher on the project, said, “Merely    5    how you’re thinking can have these wonderful effects on your emotional experience and your time.”

This doesn’t always require changing your    6     weekend routine. It may mean just thinking about and prioritizing activities    7    . Interviews with a dozen people who consciously cultivate mindfulness on the weekend offer insights into the time management and planning skills they    8    .

Mindfulness has been shown in research to improve self-control, helping people    9    their emotions. Those who enjoy vacations tend to take great    10    in positive emotions, expanding feelings of joy and happiness, according to a 2018 study.