1 . In the back of my closet, there is a small cardboard chest that has followed me to every one of my new addresses. Until now, the only
When I was three, my mother learned that she had advanced breast cancer. When I was seven, she had begun
My mother died ten days before our
On the morning of my high school graduation, a
Year after year, my mother
| A．following | B．remaining | C．entire | D．full |
| A．plastics | B．products | C．pieces | D．presents |
| A．working | B．preparing | C．writing | D．receiving |
| A．milestones | B．majors | C．purposes | D．centers |
| A．individual | B．usual | C．shared | D．national |
| A．marked | B．celebrated | C．created | D．made |
| A．read | B．sounded | C．found | D．signed |
| A．called for | B．stood for | C．paid for | D．longed for |
| A．tackled | B．traced | C．revealed | D．confirmed |
| A．list | B．string | C．matter | D．variety |
| A．member | B．problem | C．impression | D．tradition |
| A．put | B．looked | C．traveled | D．stepped |
| A．house | B．box | C．map | D．hunt |
| A．property | B．sorrow | C．comfort | D．value |
| A．deeply | B．temporarily | C．unfortunately | D．simply |
2 . A new study published by Dan Johnson of Washington and Lee University shows experimentally that reading fiction increases empathy (共情).
The participants were asked to read a short story and report their mood. Then, in a staged accident, the experimenter knocked over several pens and recorded whether the participants helped pick them up. They found that the more people were transported into the story, the more likely they were to help pick up the dropped pens. Those who engaged more deeply with the fictional characters also showed more empathy for the real-life person.
Empathy, like patience appears to be a character that can be improved with practice. Study has shown the more students read books, especially storybooks, the better they are at understanding the emotions of others. However, researchers at the University of Michigan reported last year that empathy among college students had declined during the past 30 years, with an especially steep drop in the last decade. The reason is plain to see.
It’s important to understand where empathy comes from in the first place. Looking at the evolution of the human mind, it has been suggested that the ability to process hypothetical scenarios (假设情景) of what another person might be thinking provided an advantage to our early ancestors. Empathy may have arisen from one of the most fundamental human characteristics—the ability to cheat.
Storytelling is essentially just a kind of art. Is Harry Potter real? No, but by projecting ourselves into his story, we’re engaging a very real part of our brain. That sense of escape or social participation often is what makes books so enjoyable. Unfortunately, books are falling out of style. The cause of this is partially due to e book sales, which have arisen greatly over the past few years and taken a share out of the physical book market without necessarily indicating a decline in reading.
Even though some of us would like to, we can’t blame the digital retailers for our decreased empathy. In fact, some people probably read more with their more convenient e-readers than ever before with hard copies. It’s the culture of reading in general that needs to change.
1. What did the experiment show?| A．The participants stressed teamwork. | B．The participants were forced to pick up pens. |
| C．A story might have an instructive effect. | D．A person lost in a story paid less attention to real life. |
| A．Limited patience | B．The lack of reading | C．Diverse emotions. | D．The social practice |
| A．The art of lying. | B．The culture of reading |
| C．The escape from the society. | D．The ability to process real information |
| A．Reading stories can increase empathy. | B．Paper books have edges over digital ones. |
| C．Writers play a trick on readers by cheating. | D．College students tend to lack understanding. |
Like every boy there ever was, what Kyle Hrenwood most wanted in this world was a dog. Unfortunately for Kyle, his mom didn’t think he was responsible enough.
The day before Kyle’s thirteenth birthday, he went to the park and found a woman sobbing. He was immediately worried. Was the woman hurt?
He bent over and said “Miss, Are you OK? Do you want me to call anyone?” The woman shook her head and said, “My husband died two weeks ago, and I feel alone. We’d been together for thirty years. I can’t stand the silence inside that house. I’m Deidre. What’s your name?”
Kyle introduced himself and they talked for a long time. Kyle’s encounter with Deidre left him very sad, and he decided to go home. “Mom,” he said. “I don’t want to get married.” “Why not?” asked Kyle’s mom. “What if you spend thirty or forty years with someone,” Kyle said. “And then he is dead, and you’re alone?” Mom said, “Then you’ll miss out on love. You see, if you protect yourself from feeling pain, you’re cutting yourself off from happiness. You may discover those thirty years alone are not worth living.”
The next day, he had one of the biggest surprises and greatest joys of his life—a puppy! That was when he remembered Deidre was alone in her huge house.
A few hours later, Kyle knocked on Deidre’s door holding the puppy. He said, “Today is my birthday, and my parents gave me this puppy. You need this puppy more than I do.” “Give my heart to an animal just so it can die in a few years’ time?” Deidre asked bitterly. “I don’t think so. I don’t need any more pain in my life!”
“My mom said that if you protect yourself from feeling pain, you’re cutting yourself off from happiness. too,” Kyle said.
“You’re right, Kyle!” Deidre said. “I do need this puppy. Maybe you can visit us both; I’ve never had a dog before and may need some advice!”
Over the next few years, Kyle and Deidre, and Max (that was the dog’s name) became great friends. Then Kyle’s dad was offered a job in another state, and the family moved away.
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。
Kyle grew up and fell in love, and his wedding was drawing near.
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“This is Gemma, Max’s daughter,” Deidre said.
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4 . Today, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health issues in the US, affecting 30% of adults. In 2021, a survey of 8,000 children led by Oxford University Press named anxiety as the Word of the Year. “It’s the word on everyone’s lip, the challenge of the moment,” Dr. Tracy Dennis Tiwary says, a professor of psychology, immersed in research — evaluating which mental health treatment worked and why.
The idea that anxiety is something to manage or eradicate, a habit to be broken, is wrong and actually doing us harm. It’s literally a recipe for more anxiety. This is central message in Dennis Tiwary’s new book, Future Tense. She concludes that the problem isn’t anxiety itself, but our belief about it and our attempts to avoid it, which are not only destined to fail, but make us weaker and more fragile. It’s a vicious cycle.
To help reframe anxiety as an ally not an enemy, Dennis takes a deep dive into the emotion itself. Anxiety is different to fear, which is the certainty that something bad is happening to you. Anxiety is about uncertainty; it’s the feeling that something bad could happen, but might not. Unlike fear, anxiety contains hope. Anxiety can focus the mind, drive you to revise harder, to see a doctor, to seek new pathways towards your chosen career.
Anxiety helps us forge forwards with creative solutions, but there are times when there is little we can do to address a future uncertainty. Dennis suggests many ways of coping with it. Connecting with friends and family is a soothing first step. Cultivating things that immerse you in the present moment is also helpful. Our emotional systems are like immune systems. If it isn’t exposed to germs, it remains weak. It’s only by feeling our anxiety, listening and acting on it that we cope better next time.
1. What is a common misunderstanding of anxiety?| A．Anxiety is wrong and doing us harm. |
| B．Anxiety is the challenge of the moment. |
| C．Anxiety is difficult to change, as a habit. |
| D．Anxiety is something to manage or eradicate. |
| A．Panic. | B．Complex. | C．Difficult. | D．Severe. |
| A．By giving an example. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By making a definition. | D．By making a suggestion. |
| A．How to Cope with Anxiety. |
| B．Anxiety can be Good for You. |
| C．Anxiety should be managed |
| D．Dennis Tiwary’s New Book — Future Tense. |
5 . A sunny afternoon before Christmas, a little girl was decorating a box with a gold wrapping paper to put it under the Christmas tree. Money was tight, so the girl’s father
However, the next morning the girl
The father was extremely
Each of us have been
| A．praised | B．punished | C．admired | D．contacted |
| A．expensive | B．common | C．cheap | D．lovely |
| A．emailed | B．sent | C．brought | D．put |
| A．beautiful | B．full | C．amazing | D．empty |
| A．box | B．gift | C．paper | D．package |
| A．anxiously | B．fluently | C．seriously | D．calmly |
| A．excitement | B．tears | C．fire | D．stars |
| A．designed | B．exchanged | C．filled | D．arranged |
| A．surprised | B．proud | C．shy | D．annoyed |
| A．ears | B．hands | C．eyes | D．arms |
| A．forgiveness | B．carelessness | C．kindness | D．blindness |
| A．alone | B．happy | C．sad | D．excited |
| A．heart | B．love | C．anger | D．stress |
| A．given | B．requested | C．attracted | D．impressed |
| A．source | B．topic | C．confidence | D．treasure |
6 . Worry is a natural emotion. Whether it’s health, a job, or a relationship, everyone has something that stresses them out and keeps them awake at night.
Keep your mind busy with activities you enjoy.
Maybe it’s playing an instrument, cooking, writing, or going for a walk in nature.
Worrying is often a result of taking something out of context and blowing it up in your mind to be more than it actually is. So take a moment to objectively analyze the situation, look at the facts and weigh them against how things could turn out. Your worries and anxieties are only as powerful as you give them permission to be.
Learn how to manage your time more effectively.
One of the best ways to get rid of worries is to learn how to manage your time better.
| A．Focus on the Present Moment. |
| B．Judge things in a reasonable way, |
| C．These activities are meaningful and fulfilling. |
| D．It can take over your life and hold you back from truly living. |
| E．This will help you make more time for yourself and reduce stress. |
| F．You can challenge your worries and anxieties by taking them apart. |
| G．Worrying does not rid tomorrow of its troubles but rids today of its strengths. |
Cody always knew his family was different. While other kids went to the beach for summer vacation, he and his mom visited the world’s largest basket, or the world’s largest baseball bat, or the world’s largest fork. These are real things. And Cody’s mom had photos of them during those trips hanging on the wall.
As a little kid, Cody thought these vacations were the best ever. But with time going by, he started to feel embarrassed. When his classmates would ask where he’d gone for vacation, he’d say, “No place special.”
On a Sunday morning, his mom said, “I was reading this article about the world’s largest gathering of people dressed as turkeys. It was in Texas, and it was only 661 people! Five times as many people live in our town. I want to hold a similar event here around Thanksgiving Day, which is a few weeks away.”
“Mom,” Cody said. “No.”
“Yes!” Mom said. “I just called the newspaper. The announcement runs tomorrow. The day after Thanksgiving, everyone will meet in the town square — dressed as turkeys!”
A few days before Thanksgiving, Cody and his mom sat down for dinner. Cody set down his fork. “Do you have any idea what the kids at school think about the turkey dress-up?”
“No,” Mom said.
“Well, they have a lot to say.”
Mom looked down at her fingernails, then looked at Cody. “I’m afraid it’s too late to call it off, sweetie.”
At last, it was the day of the great turkey dress-up. But instead of bouncing around the house as she’d been all week, Mom was sitting on the living-room floor, shoulders slumped (耷拉着). “I can’t believe the DJ is sick,” she said. “What am I going to do? Music is what makes a festivity festive! I don’t know how to work all this stuff.”
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。
Mom sighed and leaned back against the couch.
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With the happy memories brought back by the photos on the wall, Cody said, “I’ll do it.”
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8 . Imagine that you’ve just experienced something unpleasant—your friend has forgotten your birthday, you’ve been rejected for a new job, or you’ve just woken up after a long holiday and remembered you need to go to work. How would you typically respond to those feelings? You might try to tell yourself that it doesn’t matter, and not to let it get to you. This tendency could be described as “mood shame”: The belief that having bad feelings is a personal failing.
Continually looking on the bright side of life might seem strong, even courageous. While it’s natural that we might prefer to avoid uncomfortable feelings like disappointment, worry, anger, or sadness, recent psychological research supports the idea that they serve useful purposes in our lives. By learning to see that value and accept those feelings without judgement, we may enjoy better physical and mental health.
Consider anxiety. We may assume that anxious feelings destroy our concentration and reduce our performance on difficult tasks—that we can only succeed on an exam or in an interview if we learn to relax. Alternatively, we can see the feeling as a source of energy. Besides, disappointment may feel unpleasant—but you could recognize that the emotion helps us to learn from our mistakes. And by assigning a more positive meaning to the feeling and acknowledging its potential uses—rather than feeling it is somehow unhealthy—you might change the brain and the body's responses to an upset.
Rather than judging yourself harshly for bad feelings, you might lean into that bad mood, and allow yourself the self-care you need to get through it. Without fighting the emotions themselves, you could start to question whether those feelings have value. Perhaps they’ll help you to identify an important change you can make in your life.
1. What do the underlined words “get to” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Bother. | B．Cheat. | C．Scare. | D．Inspire. |
| A．Bad moods lead to bad health. |
| B．Exercise will keep people in high spirits. |
| C．Positive feelings help improve people’s working efficiency. |
| D．Negative feelings can have positive effects if handled properly. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By following the order of time. |
| A．The causes of bad feelings. | B．The consequences triggered by bad feelings. |
| C．The suggestions of dealing with bad feelings. | D．The preventative measures against bad feelings. |
9 . Do you experience worries that get stuck in your head? Do these thoughts come with physical symptoms such as restlessness, muscle tension, or a racing heart?
Your parents may help you move past anxiety by telling you “You don’t feel safe, but you are safe” and giving you space to experience discomfort and coming out the other side of it.
● Practise mindful noticing. Mindfulness is the exercise of being aware in the moment and noticing your thoughts and feelings without judgment. Practising mindfulness can help shift your focus away from anxious thoughts and toward self-regulation. Try focusing on an object in the environment and giving it all your attention.
●
● “Silence, Bruno!”
| A．Recite numbers in order. |
| B．Count numbers randomly. |
| C．The best way is to talk back to anxiety. |
| D．If so, you may be suffering from anxiety. |
| E．The response is to look away from your anxiety. |
| F．And there are other techniques that can be helpful. |
| G．Do this by describing all the details of some object within your view. |
10 . My mom taught me songs. However, she never taught me how to sing. Of course I never really learned the English
When I came to the UK I realized that music has
People use
| A．interaction | B．gesture | C．club | D．language |
| A．hope | B．plan | C．want | D．need |
| A．enjoy | B．catch | C．create | D．remember |
| A．history | B．life | C．home | D．story |
| A．change | B．express | C．hide | D．record |
| A．essential | B．initial | C．outstanding | D．appropriate |
| A．persuaded | B．helped | C．forced | D．employed |
| A．nature | B．protection | C．hobby | D．habit |
| A．dancing to | B．performing | C．listening to | D．writing |
| A．Seldom | B．Sometimes | C．Strangely | D．Suddenly |
| A．similar | B．suitable | C．wonderful | D．different |
| A．poems | B．movies | C．videos | D．sounds |
| A．hosted | B．discussed | C．celebrated | D．missed |
| A．peace | B．creation | C．instruments | D．police |
| A．made | B．considered | C．united | D．shared |
