One of my favorite possessions is a little red can. It sits among my collections, looking somewhat old and out of place. But this can is special. It has a history. It was dear to me when I was younger, but mean even more to me now.
I’ve always loved to visit my grandparents in Cleburne, Texas, and as anyone in the family can tell you, there is always a gathering around the dining room table for meals and conversations so that we can keep in touch closely. It is important to keep in touch with the family members since we are busy with our own business, so my family members keep the tradition to have the gathering every month. We enjoy the moment when all of us meet in a place and communication helps us to solve the problem of isolation. As the first grandbaby, though, I was at a slight disadvantage. When I sat in the dining chair, only my nose could reach the table. Cleburne is a small town with a small population, and the phone book could only lift me an inch. So, Grandma and Grandpa came up with the idea of the little red can.
It was about ten inches high, made of tin, and painted a glorious shiny red. It worked perfectly, enabling me to bang away on the table with my little spoon and cup as I tried to keep up with the joyful talks around the table. After I finished a meal, I was placed on the floor, and the can was opened, and all sorts of surprises kept me busy while the adults visited. The can was full of lovely dolls which attracted little girls like me greatly. Besides, there were fresh and novel items that were mysterious to me and left me to explore.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Pretty soon, other grandbabies started to arrive, and each of them had their own turn on the little red can. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Decades later, Grandma proudly pulled out the little red can again when I traveled to Cleburne with my daughter. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 . Emotions are like our best friend. They have always been a part of our lives and have been influencing our personalities from the very beginning. However, this begs the question — where do emotions come from?
Evolutionary (进化论的) psychologists believe that emotions are adaptations that have evolved in response to the challenges faced by our ancestors. They believe that emotions are innate (先天的), meaning that we are born with them wired into our brains.
Some psychologists restrict their claims to a small set of “basic” emotions, which are called the Big Six — happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger and disgust.
Critics of evolutionary psychology argue that emotions are socially constructed. They reject the evolutionary theory of emotions being involuntary; instead, they believe that emotions are voluntary choices we trick ourselves into treating as involuntary.
Defendants of this view believe that our culture influences how we should feel and what we should do in a given situation. When we feel an emotion and act on it, we engage in a behavior that is prescribed by our culture.
People argue that our presumption that emotions are involuntary, such as anger, may just be a convenient illusion (幻觉). To be angry, we need to understand something as offensive (冒犯的), which is likely based on culturally informed moral judgments. In that case, how can anger be an animal reflex (本能反应)?
Moreover, anger is not seen in all cultures. In Inuit culture, people rarely show any signs of anger, probably since threatening responses would be too risky in a small culture surviving in harsh conditions. The Malay language of Malaysia doesn’t even have a word meaning “anger”!
The fact that culture can affect the incidence and intensity of our emotions makes them look less like biological truths and more like the product of social constructs.
From my perspective, evolutionary psychologists underestimate the contributions of culture and learning, whereas social constructionists over-emphasize the same. Basically, we need an explanation that can steer between both these extremes.
The next time you feel a complex emotion bubbling up (冒出), the key is to determine the underlying basic emotions so you can take action that is the most helpful in keeping you balanced and emotionally under control!
1. What do evolutionary psychologists believe?| A．We are born with emotions. |
| B．Personalities influence emotions. |
| C．Emotions are learned. |
| D．Humans have six different emotions. |
| A．Copied. |
| B．Remembered. |
| C．Translated. |
| D．Required. |
| A．Emotions play a major role in survival. |
| B．People in poor circumstances have emotions. |
| C．People solve problems with the help of emotions. |
| D．Emotions are socially constructed. |
| A．Finding out the real core emotions. |
| B．Taking action to ignore basic emotions. |
| C．Striking a balance between life and work. |
| D．Making efforts to build confidence. |
3 . The Power of Insensitivity
Highly sensitive(敏感的)person, or HSP, is a term invented by psychologist Elaine Aron. HSPs can come with many challenges. They may find it hard to adapt to new surroundings, and easily become uncomfortable in response to certain feelings or others’ opinions.
The power of insensitivity can be explained as “slow power”. Usually, people connect “insensitivity” with something bad, but indeed, it stresses the ability to keep doing something difficult without complaining.
There are some ways to practice “insensitivity”: Don’t pay too much attention to the ups and downs of life at the moment.
Everyone can gain the ability to be insensitive.
| A．Insensitivity plays a significant role. |
| B．Rather, you should be looking forward. |
| C．That’s where the need to be insensitive comes from. |
| D．Once you slow down the pace, you will feel more comfortable. |
| E．Those not easily affected are the people who care less about others. |
| F．That is, calmly facing the downtime in life and moving towards one’s own direction. |
| G．One reason why insensitivity allows people to better survive is the strong self-awareness. |
4 . Even the most positive people have negative thoughts. It’s part of being human. But when negative thoughts become the norm, it isn’t healthy. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to change your negative thoughts into realistic thinking — seeing yourself, your relationships and world events as they really are.
Monitor your self-talk. We all have an ongoing dialogue running in our head, which affects how we view our life.
Challenge your unhelpful thoughts.
Repeat. Realistic thinking doesn’t come easy, especially when you are also working on managing anxiety, depression, and other problems.
| A．Identify thoughts that aren’t helpful. |
| B．Plant positive thoughts in your mind. |
| C．Analyse what self-talk is the most beneficial. |
| D．But because it’s constantly running, we often forget it’s there. |
| E．These thoughts can consume your energy or cause physical problems. |
| F．To be more realistic, you need to question whether your thoughts are factual. |
| G．You need to continually return to it even when it feels natural to become negative. |
5 . The journey towards self-improvement and personal success is often paved with challenges and obstacles.
Mindset rests on a fundamental principle: your inner beliefs and thoughts can form your reality.
Factors like talent and hard work are often highlighted in professional success.
To make full use of the potential of your mindset, it is crucial to confront and overcome limiting beliefs. You may never realize it.
| A．This isn’t merely hopeful thinking. |
| B．Effort and ability can equal a positive mindset. |
| C．The growth mindset means continuous improvement. |
| D．In fact, mindset emerges as an equally critical element. |
| E．Such beliefs can act as invisible barriers to your success. |
| F．Mindset plays an important role in building good relationship. |
| G．However, a crucial element that influences this journey is the mindset. |
6 . How to Practice Gratitude (感激) in Your Daily Life
Gratitude is a positive emotion. Learning how to practice it is an effort to remind yourself of the good in life and to show an internal appreciation for yourself and others.
Create a gratitude list. The intense stress of life can get you so caught up that we may fail to recognize the positive events or interactions we encounter on a daily basis.
Make a gratitude jar (罐). Make the jar fun and personable by decorating it and placing it where you can always see it. Every day, write down what you’re grateful for on a slip of paper and put it in the jar.
In conclusion, engaging in daily gratitude exercises can make a great difference. Showing gratitude helps you connect with positive emotions, focus on acknowledging the good, and shift your focus to positive aspects of life.
| A．Share your gratitude with others |
| B．Seek out opportunities to help others |
| C．There are several gratitude activities and exercises |
| D．As you fill it, it serves as a good reminder of good times |
| E．It is better to keep track of whatever happens in your life |
| F．You’ll also harvest the greatest rewards when it becomes a habit |
| G．Writing down the positive moments helps put life into a better perspective |
Silent friends in a life storm
Dear Annalisa,
My dad died unexpectedly a few months ago and I feel angry with some of my oldest friends, who have hardly contacted me since it happened.
Three months on, I’ve finally heard from some of them through text about other matters. I didn’t mention my sad stories, and they didn’t ask.
I understand that death is a frightening subject and that people might worry about saying the wrong thing. Yet I still feel a bit hurt by their lack of contact after my dad’s funeral (葬礼).
Now I don’t want to face them because I don’t want to make them feel guilty (内疚的). Normally they are extremely good friends who I love very much. I have other friends, so I can manage this without their support. I just want to let go of the anger so I can get through this sadness. Hope to receive your advice.
Yours,
Amy
Dear Amy,
I’m so sorry to hear about your dad’s death.
Your anger may come from being unable to ask for the help you need. You also seem worried about troubling your friends too much.
It is likely that your friends are very concerned about you. Perhaps their own fear of the subject is too big to comfort you and, just as you say, they are frightened of saying the wrong thing. Also, people often want to “fix” things, but no one can fix death, so they may feel powerless to help you. In these situations, you have to be brave to break the ice and tell them not only what you need, but also how to offer help.
If you really can’t ask your “silent” friends for help, maybe you could count more on those other friends. You might find some psychological (心理的) treatment useful as well. Talking to someone with professional knowledge who understands your situation can help you carry the burden of sadness.
Yours,
Annalisa
1. 根据文章内容，使用文章中的原词完成下列表格，每空一词。| Amy’s problem | Some of her oldest friends have seldom contacted her since her dad’s death, making her feel angry and |
| Annalisa’s analysis (分析) | ● Amy’s anger comes from the fact that she is ● The subject of death is so frightening that her friends are at a loss what to say to ● Her friends may feel powerless to help her solve the problem so they choose to keep |
| Annalisa’s | ● Be brave to start a conversation with her friends. ● ● Seek |
2. 假如你是 Amy，请给Annalisa回一封信，表示感谢并告诉她你打算怎么做。写作词数应为40左右。
Dear Annalisa,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Amy
3. 假定你是Amy的朋友，得知她的困扰，你将如何提供帮助？请用英语写出你可以做的三件事。8 . As the trees drop their leaves and frosts advance in, we prepare our homes and ourselves for the winter months.
The phrase “emotional wintering” was popularized by Katharine May. She mentions emotional wintering asks us to see our difficult or uncomfortable feelings as winters which we can get ready for and live through.
Sometimes the emotional winters are caused by an event that makes us feel as though we want to withdraw into ourselves.
With the management, we believe we will be well by the time the next summer rolls around.
| A．It prepares us for the coming spring. |
| B．Different emotions come to all of us. |
| C．Emotional wintering asks us to change. |
| D．We can grow from challenging experience. |
| E．Thick socks and cosy blankets are brought out. |
| F．We expect to always live in our emotional summers. |
| G．At other times we simply use up our supplies of positivity. |
9 . One of the cores of emotional intelligence is self-regulation, an important skill in the workplace. Like any skill, mastery of emotional self-control requires intentionality and practice.
Pause to Mentally Distance
When you notice your typical physiological experiences associated with strong negative emotion, what should you do? Mentally step out of your immediate experience. Asking yourself any question, or imagining what you might look like to others right now, will do the trick. At that point, although still physiologically keyed up, you will be able to ask yourself, “What is the best course of action right now?” or “What advice would I give someone else who is in my shoes?”
Take Control of Your Self-Talk
We’re frequently unaware of how much self-chatter is going on in the background of our minds. Such self-talk might not be in fully articulated (铰接式的) words or phrases, but instead little flashes of thought. Becoming aware of your self-talk can be difficult. Why is this an important skill to develop?
Seek Support from Partners
Ask others you trust to help you recognize when your emotions seem to be getting the best of you.
Cultivate (培养) Curiosity
Our brains are wired to draw conclusions and form judgments at lightning speed, and those are frequently the cause of our negative emotions.
| A．They are comfortable with all emotions |
| B．Those judgments are not necessarily accurate |
| C．Doing so provides you with choices as to how to act |
| D．Explain your developmental goals and sincerely ask for help |
| E．Stay focused on coming up with an answer and following through on it |
| F．Because it is those background beliefs that fuel our emotional responses |
| G．Here are four ways you can develop greater emotional self-management |
10 . WHY A DOSE OF FEAR IS GOOD FOR YOU
Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” She was onto something. Science has shown that feeling fear — in the right doses (量) — has several benefits.
·Feeling fear is fun and exciting. Many people scare themselves on purpose.
When you step outside your comfort zone, it is fear that makes you feel alive, which is fun and exciting. The excitement generated can also help reduce depression by increasing adrenaline (肾上腺素), which in turn increases excitement and glucose (changed into energy).
·
·Fear makes you aware of what’s really important in life. How often have you said to yourself: “When I have more time, I’ll spend it with my family, pursue my passion, eat healthier or exercise more”? Fear makes you realize that “now” is the only time you have to achieve and follow through what is most important.
Some say where fear meets courage is the sweet spot in which mountains get scaled and rivers are run.
| A．Fear helps you succeed. |
| B．“Later” is never ensured. |
| C．Fear allows you to live life to the fullest. |
| D．They watch scary movies, ride roller coasters or go skydiving. |
| E．And every time you come through a challenge, you feel empowered. |
| F．Most of all, fear can be the birth place of change, creativity and innovation. |
| G．Actually, it’s nearly impossible to be thinking of your worries when you are experiencing fear. |
