1 . Have you ever felt nervous or afraid to take time off from work to look after your mental health?
Marisa Kabas, a writer and political strategist, recently posed a similar question on Twitter (推特网), inspired by Simone Biles, who stopped taking part in Olympic events this week to protect her mental health.
“It was so shocking to so many people,” Ms. Kabas said on Wednesday in an interview. “Because the whole mentality (心态， 思维方式) is to be strong, and push through the pain.”
If you’re unlikely to use sick days for mental health reasons or are scared of being punished for doing so, I experts say it’s time to start thinking about how to protect your mental well-being. You should take a “sad day”.
There’s no official definition for a “sad day,” also known as a mental health day. Typically, it is paid time off drawn from sick days(or personal days) to help employees who aren’t feeling like their usual selves, offering an opportunity to refresh their minds, do something meaningful; or simply take a break from daily stressors. The “sad day” is only a temporary (暂时的) fix, and not meant to address deeper problems, but sometimes a little time away can make a big difference.
In most situations, just say that you need to take a sick day, and leave it at that, the experts advised. “I think the safe advice is not to be honest and frank,” said Andrew Kuller, a clinical psychologist. Not everybody values mental health, he added, and “unless you’re close with your boss, it is a risk. But say you work at the type of organization where you can tell the truth without fear of being punished. In that case, you still don’t need to reveal why you want to take a sick day.”
Whatever you do, don t spend the mental health day feeling guilty. So instead of thinking, “I should be at work right now, try to reframe your thinking in a more positive way. For example, try saying: “It would be great; if I could be at work right now. But today is a day that I need to take care of myself, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
1. Why were so many people shocked in the eyes of Ms. Kabas?| A．Simone Biles posed questions on Twitter. |
| B．Simone Biles was interviewed by Ms. Kabas. |
| C．Simone Biles inspired sports fans greatly in the Olympics. |
| D．Simone Biles pulled out of Olympic events due to mental health. |
| A．It is only short-term relief. |
| B．It has an official definition. |
| C．It is of no value in reducing stress. |
| D．It is a perfect solution to big problems. |
| A．Face punishment bravely. |
| B．Try your best to please your boss. |
| C．Ask for a sick day without much explanation. |
| D．Tell your boss about the importance of mental health. |
| A．Don’t be too serious about a “sad day” |
| B．When work weighs you down, take a “sad day” |
| C．Don’t be afraid to talk about your mental health |
| D．When you feel burnt out, tell your manager openly |
2 . Exams are nerve-racking, especially for those already of an anxious disposition. The silence of the hall; the ticking of the clock; the beady eye of the invigilator; the smug expression of the person sitting at the neighboring desk who has finished 15 minutes early. It therefore seems hardly surprising that those who worry about taking tests do systematically worse than those who do not.
What is, perhaps surprising, according to the research published recently in Psychological Science by Maria Theobad at the Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education and her colleagues, is that it is not the pressure of the exam hall which causes the problem. It is the pressure of revision.
What Dr Theobald found was that anxiety on the day of the test did not predict exam performance at all. What did predict it was the level of knowledge a student displayed in the mock exam and the earlier digital learning activities. Those who performed well in these also did well in the real thing, regardless of how anxious they were on the day.
What actually hampered students, it turned out, were high levels of anxiety during the weeks before the exam took place. The greater a student’s anxiety in the days before the exam the lower his or her knowledge gain was during that period, leaving that student with less helpful material in mind during the exam itself.
And this is a positive discovery, for it suggests a change of approach to revision by the anxious might help improve their results.
Dr Theobald notes that test-anxiety is at its worst when students have low expectations of success and simultaneously know that passing the exam is exceedingly important. To reduce this anxiety, she proposes a two fold strategy for students to consider as they revise.
First they can raise their belief in their own abilities by reminding themselves of just how much they know. Second, they can weaken the significance of the test by reminding themselves that, while it is important, it is not a life or death situation.
1. According to the research, which of the following can help to predict a student’s bad results in exams?| A．The exam hall is silent during the exams. |
| B．He is very much afraid of the exams. |
| C．He feels great pressure from his classmates. |
| D．He displayed low-level knowledge gain in his revision. |
| A．The level of his anxiety on the exam day. |
| B．His scale of knowledge shown in the mock exam. |
| C．His digital learning abilities during the exam. |
| D．His good performance in the real exam. |
| A．helped. | B．encouraged. |
| C．stimulated. | D．blocked. |
| A．Have more confidence in their abilities. |
| B．Value the importance of passing the exam. |
| C．Have low expectations of success. |
| D．Deny the significance of the text. |
3 . We are all social emotional beings and throughout our lives, we all continue to shape our behaviours and relationships. However, for lifelong well-being, the development of social emotional skills should be shaped wisely as a child opens its eyes to this world. Here are some strategic actions that will help you guide your child in improving their social emotional learning skills.
Approve your children’s feelings. Instead of saying “Stop shouting and calm down, it’s not a big deal” try to say “I know you are really angry right now but we can talk about it.”
Give your kid some space and let them experience uncomfortable feelings. Everyone feels alone or bored sometimes.
Accept emotions & correct behaviors. It’s okay to feel angry sometimes. Eventually, we need to feel that anger in some specific situations.
Support other cognitive skills.
Every parent should keep in mind that all kids can shape and develop their social and emotional skills differently. Trying to find ways that suit your kids’ needs, interests and according to learning styles is always a better solution than blaming yourself or the kids.
| A．Cognitive skills can only be acquired from classroom learning. |
| B．Define and put into words your children’s emotions. |
| C．However, it is never acceptable to show aggressive behaviors. |
| D．Teach them how to handle those feelings instead of avoiding them. |
| E．This way you can show them that it’s sometimes okay to have big feelings. |
| F．Social emotional learning also improves students’ attitudes towards school. |
| G．Improving mathematical and problem-solving skills will also support children’s social emotional development. |
The Feel-Good Shoebox
Catherine sat on her bed with her chin in her hands. “Why aren't you getting ready for Grandma's birthday party?”asked Mother.
“I can't bake like Sylvia or knit like Anne,” Catherine grumbled. “They made good presents. All I made for her is an ugly card.” “It's a lovely card. And no one can be good at everything,” said Mother. She sat on the bed next to Catherine. “When I was your age, I felt sad when I couldn't do certain things. But one day Grandma showed me the shoebox game, and it made me feel a lot better.” Catherine frowned （皱眉）. “How can a shoebox make me feel better？”“You＇ll see，” said Mother. She disappeared down the hall, then came back carrying a shoe box, a pencil, paper, and scissors.
Catherine watched as Mother cut several pieces of paper into squares. “Nôw, I want you to write down all the things you can do,” said Mother. “Like what?” asked Catherine. “Why not start with things you've learned in school? Give it some thought while I ice Grandma's birthday cake.”
Catherine sat for a while wrinkling （起皱纹） and unwrinkling her eyebrows.Slowly Catherine began to write and write. Before long she had written on every square of paper. She was so busy that she didn't hear Mother come into the room.“My goodness!"said Mother.“Do you think they'll all fit in the shoebox?”“I hope so,” said Catherine. “It was fun thinking of all the stuff I can do.”“And the next time you feel sad because you can't do something, your feel-good shoebox will remind you of how much you can do-just as mine did when I was a little girl,” said Mother,“Now let's finish getting dressed for Grandma's party.”
注意：
1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
“Happy birthday！” yelled（欢呼） the children when they arrived at Grandma’s house.
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Then Catherine gave her card to Grandma.
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