1 . 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．When are people shy? | B．Ways of beating shyness |
| C．Why is shyness a bad thing? | D．The discoveries about shyness |
2 . Shy Parents, Shy Children — Parent workshop Series
The workshop is designed for shy parents of shy children, with the unique emphasis on teaching specific methods of building your child’s self-respect and social comfort level, while at the same time building your own. Participants are chosen before being admitted to the workshop to help make sure the workshop is a good fit for your needs.
Where: Karman Executive Center, Bellevue, Washington
When: From 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, from November 8th to 12th
Fee: $435
Shake Your Shyness: Intensive Weekend
The workshop is intended to meet the needs of adults who are unable to attend the Parent Workshop Series due to distance or scheduling limits. It’ll help you learn the basic skills that help overcome shyness. Be prepared to come to class early and set aside time for homework on Saturday night.
Where: Karman Executive Center, Bellevue, Washington
When: Saturdays & Sundays in spring
Fee: $1,150
Parenting the Shy Child
Shy children need our help. In this class, we’ll cover the basics — the origins of shyness, methods of overcoming shyness, social skills you can teach in your home, and tips for working with teachers to help your child fit in at school, etc.
Where: Karman Executive Center, Bellevue, Washington
When: From 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, from November 16th to 18th
Fee: $95
Overcoming Shyness: Skills-Training for Adolescents: Workshop
This is a special class for adolescents designed to teach social skills shy people are afraid to use. We’ll cover everything from how to start conversations with strangers to ways to calm your nerves when you do. You’ll learn what makes some people more popular than others and simple things you can do to feel more like you fit it.
Where: Karman Executive Center, Bellevue, Washington
When: From 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm, on December 18th
Fee: $75
1. What are the classes designed for?| A．Overcoming shyness. | B．Building confidence. | C．Scheduling time. | D．Starting conversations. |
| A．It focuses on language skills. | B．It is offered only at weekends. |
| C．It assigns a lot of housework. | D．It is designed for shy children. |
| A．$1,150. | B．$435. | C．$95. | D．$75. |
3 . 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.
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.
● 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.
●
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, “
| 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 |
4 . “Mom!” a girl calls out in a busy store. I turn toward it, so do several other women. It doesn’t matter that I’m in the store alone or that my two daughters are much older than this helpless little voice. When I hear “Mom!” I am ready for action and rescue.
Mom is defined in the dictionary as a female parent. But through the years my children have used the word to mean much more.
Jessica, at 7, screams “Mo-hom” in an accusing tone, for she can’t find a matching sock.
For Sarah, at 13, on a morning when she’s already late for school, “Mom!” means “I am desperate for new clothes. I can’t believe I’ve existed in these rags.”
“Mom?” Sarah is almost 17 and rarely knocks on my door in the morning anymore. Yet I recognize the vulnerability in her voice.
“Do you want some help?” I ask her, sleep-blurred.
She nods, and then bursts into tears. “John’s mad at me, and I don’t know why. He won’t talk tome. What should I do?”
I put my arm around her. I want to protect my child from the cruel beasts who make her weep so, but I’ve got a hot potato of my own just now. I feel the disability of being responsible for myself and for my daughters. I talk to my friends and they empathize(共情). I talk to my brother and he solves problems. I need more.
So I dial the familiar number I once called from college.
“Hello?” The voice is crackly, uncertain. It has lived through so much already that it’s cautious about another blow.
“Mom?” I say.
“Honey, are you all right?” my mother asks.
Somehow, that is everything I want to hear.
1. What does the underlined word “vulnerability” mean in paragraph 5?| A．Tension. | B．Delight. | C．Weakness. | D．Curiosity. |
| A．She has no clue who John is. | B．Her work takes all her attention. |
| C．She is too mentally exhausted. | D．She is too sleepy to stay focused. |
| A．Ambitious and faithful. | B．Enthusiastic and humorous. |
| C．Brave and independent. | D．Sensitive and responsible. |
| A．The mother’s mind is the child’s classroom. |
| B．A mother always cares for the youngest child. |
| C．The world’s all glory and pride all come from the mother. |
| D．The most beautiful voice in the world is the call of mother. |
5 . A broken heart. A sad ending to a love affair. That’s something most of us have experienced, or probably will. The experience can be destructive. You might find yourself listening more to sad music, hoping it can resonate with your feelings of disappointment, and you’ll never heal (治愈) from your broken heart.
You might go through a strong feeling of sorrow, as in Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, or the pain of a lyric from Bob Dylan’s “Love Sick”: “I’m sick of love. I wish. I’d never met you.”
But research shows listening to sad music can help you begin to feel joy and hopefulness about your life again. Sad music can help heal and uplift you from your broken heart. Or, from any negative, disappointing life situation. It can activate empathy (共情) and the desire to reach out for others — both pathways out of the prison of heartache and hopelessness.
A recent study from Germany found the emotional impact of listening to sad music can lift the feelings of empathy, compassion, and a desire for positive connection with others. That, itself, is psychologically healing. It draws you away from anxiety with yourself, and possibly towards helping others in need of comfort.
Another experiment, from the University of Kent, found that when people were experiencing sadness, listening to music that was “beautiful but sad” excited their mood. In fact, it did so when the person first consciously understood the situation causing their sadness before beginning to listen to the sad music. That is, when they intended that the sad music might help, they found that it did. But that wasn’t true if they just listened to sad music without first thinking about the sad situation.
Then, you may be answering the question raised in the old Bee Gees’ song, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?”
1. What does the underlined word “resonate” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Communicate. | B．Cooperate. | C．Contrast. | D．Correspond. |
| A．To present the sad feelings from their songs. |
| B．To celebrate their achievements in the music field. |
| C．To compare the difference between their music. |
| D．To convince others of the healing effects of music. |
| A．Shared feelings might enable people to help others. |
| B．Sad music can strengthen relationship between people |
| C．Showing empathy does good both mentally and physically |
| D．Sad songs can benefit people with the intention of lifting spirits. |
| A．What does music bring to us? | B．How can sad music heal a broken heart? |
| C．Why is sad music so popular? | D．When can we turn to others for help? |
6 . As winter arrives, people often complain that it feels like the longest season, and for many, it’s the fact that they feel trapped indoors and down that contributes to it.
Increase your social activities
Ride roller skating indoors
Winter is also a great excuse to check out the many exciting indoors sports. There are typical and traditional sports.
While it may be cold outdoors, fresh air is important to your mental and physical health. When the sun is shining, you can go outdoors to take advantage and get vitamin D, as it’s not always so easy to come by in winter. Even if you just go for a 15-minute walk, it still helps.
Get enough sleep
All these tips will help you get through the long and cold winter, improving your physical and mental health.
| A．Go hiking everyday. |
| B．Ensure your outdoor time. |
| C．How to improve your mood? |
| D．How can you get enough sleep? |
| E．However, they may not attract you. |
| F．Make efforts to be with others to avoid feeling down. |
| G．The amount of sleep has a huge impact on your health. |
7 . Like many writers, I’m a supreme expert at procrastination (拖延症). When I ought to be working on an assignment, with the clock ticking towards my deadline, I’ll sit there watching pointless interviews or cat videos on YouTube.
According to traditional thinking — I, along with my fellow procrastinators, have a time management problem. By this view, I haven’t fully appreciated how long my assignment is going to take and I’m not paying enough attention to how much time I’m currently wasting on videos. With better scheduling, I will stop procrastinating and get on with my work.
Increasingly, however, psychologists are realizing this is wrong. Experts in the UK have proposed that procrastination is an issue with managing our emotions, not our time. The task we’re putting off is making us feel bad — perhaps it’s boring, too difficult or we’re worried about failing — and to make ourselves feel better in the moment, we start doing something else, like watching videos.
One investigation to inspire the emotional view of procrastination was published by researchers at Case Western Reserve University. They first prompted people to feel bad (by asking them to read sad stories) and showed that this increased their tendency to procrastinate by doing puzzles or playing video games instead of preparing for the test they knew was coming. Subsequent studies by the another team also showed low mood only increases procrastination if enjoyable activities are available as a distraction.
This fresh perspective on procrastination is beginning to open up exciting new approaches to reducing the habit. An approach, which is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, seems especially suitable. It argues that prioritizing choices and actions that help you get closer to get things done can keep you away from the unpleasant feelings. So the next time you’re going to procrastinate, make your focus as simple as “What’s the next action?”. Focusing on this one-step question takes your mind off your feelings and onto easily achievable action. “Our research and lived experience show very clearly that once we get started, we’re typically able to keep going. Getting started is everything.”
1. Which is true according to the traditional view of procrastinators?| A．They are usually irresponsible people. |
| B．They have difficulty in concentrating. |
| C．They enjoy watching videos while writing. |
| D．They can get work done with better schedules. |
| A．Procrastination boosts your moods. |
| B．Procrastinators prefer puzzles to sad stories. |
| C．Test-takers can not escape bad emotions. |
| D．Negative emotions promote procrastination. |
| A．It shortens the process. | B．It inspires the wildest imagination. |
| C．It may relieve unpleasant feelings. | D．It can fix time management problem. |
| A．Prioritize Your To-do List | B．New Studies on Work Performance |
| C．Quit Watching Cat Videos | D．Tremendous Damage of Procrastination |
The Right Thing
My mother worked as a housekeeper and she was often given used toys as well as many other goodies by her clients. My elder sister and I always loved sharing the recycled books and board games brought home by my beloved mom, which we considered great gifts life presented us.
The long-awaited Christmas finally approached. One December day, an old model toy car arrived in the load of goods. It was as long as my forearm and took both hands to lift. My sister didn’t want it, so it was all mine. I immediately set down to wiping it clean and polishing it to a bright candy-apple red. It turned to be a thing of beauty, and I became overjoyed at possessing it. My elder sister was amazed at the newly-polished, refreshing toy car, with a hint of regret and envy in her eyes.
As was planned, our relatives from France came to visit us that Christmas. It was a time when the family bond got strengthened. I shared the prized toy car with Alex, my young French cousin. Eyes glued to it, he fell in love with the wonderful, shiny red automobile the instant he saw it. It was a rare moment to see him feeling so relieved and happy. He’d been unlucky so far in life, suffering severe, life-threatening illnesses as a child, leaving him mentally and physically stuck and the family starved of cash. Of course, such lovely toys like my dear model car were unreachable dreams for him.
Seeing Alex’s consuming thrill brought by the red car, I was seized by immense joy as well. But contrary to Alex’s excitement, a voice inside me constantly reminded, “Watch out! He’d keep it for himself.”, which got me faintly worried. I followed my cousin for fear of something.
My mother also noticed Alex’s fondness for the car. Approaching me, she asked gently in a low voice, “Would you like to give it to Alex?”
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。
Giving or keeping? I struggled with myself.
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In the moment of parting, my model car went with Alex.
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9 . Kids have a lot on their minds. Dealing with school, family, activities, and all of the other big parts of life is hard enough. The recent rise in Omicron cases in the US is causing more stress on them. It can be difficult to think of how to cheer themselves up.
Connect with people you love. Reaching out to friends and family can make a huge difference.
Talk to a trusted adult. If you’re feeling down. Dr. Murthy suggests confiding (倾诉)in a trusted adult.
Help others.
| A．Take care of your body |
| B．Regular exercise helps body building |
| C．It is a good chance to speak out how you feel |
| D．This might be a family member, a teacher or a doctor |
| E．You don’t have to discuss anything sad with your loved ones |
| F．Service is one of the best ways to get out of sadness and loneliness |
| G．Vivek Murthy, the country’s top doctor, offers some advice for this purpose |
10 . Shyness is normal and it is not considered as a mental problem. All people have been shy at one time or another. Even the most confident people experienced being shy.
You probably are wondering why you are shy. It may be because of the environment you were used to or the way you were brought up. Certain events or incidents in the past may also lead to the reason why you are shy now.
One of the negative sides of being shy is having the tendency to be passive. Most of the time shy people can’t stand up for themselves and what they believe is right.
While shyness has negative aspects, it has positive sides. Shy people are usually good observers and do not get themselves into too much trouble because they try to observe their environment or any situation before they act.
| A．But in most cases, shyness proves to be genetic. |
| B．They are sensitive and accustomed to getting suspicious. |
| C．Because some people are born to be shy, they let it go hang. |
| D．So if you’re feeling shy, don’t worry because you are not alone. |
| E．They are not hot-headed and think twice before making any decisions. |
| F．Although shyness is something from birth, it can be improved over time. |
| G．They avoid crowds by nature and stay away from groups and social interactions. |
