1 . It’s rare that you see the words “shyness” and “leader” in the same sentence. After all, the common opinion is that those outgoing and sociable guys make great public speakers and excellent net-workers and that those shy people are not.
A survey conducted by USA Today referred to 65 percent of managers who believed shyness to be a barrier to leadership. Interestingly, the same article stresses that roughly 40 percent of leaders actually are quite shy — they’re just better at adapting themselves to situational demands. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Charles Schwab are just a few “innies”.
Shy people take a cautious approach to chance. They listen attentively to what others say and absorb it before they speak. They’re listening so they can learn what to say. Along the same lines, shy people share a common love of learning. They are intrinsically (内在地) motivated and therefore seek content regardless of achieving an outside standard.
Being shy can also bring other benefits. Remember being in school and hearing the same kids contribute, until shy little Johnny, who almost never said a word, cut in? Then what happened? Everyone turned around to look with great respect at little Johnny actually talking. This is how shy people made good use of their power of presence: they “own” the moment by speaking calmly and purposefully, which translate to a positive image.
Shyness is often related to modesty. Not to say that limelight-seekers (引人注目的人) aren’t modest, but shy people tend to have an accurate sense of their abilities and achievements. As a result, they are able to recognize mistakes, imperfections, knowledge gaps and limitations.
Since shy people have a lower desire for outside rewards than outgoing ones, they’re more comfortable working with little information and sticking to their inner desires. Shy people are also more likely to insist on finding solutions that aren’t primarily apparent. Albert Einstein once said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s that I stay with problems longer.” Obviously, finding certainty where uncertainty is typically popular is a huge plus for any successful person.
1. What is the traditional belief to the shy people?| A．They are good at making friends. |
| B．They are not popular with people. |
| C．They like making speeches in public. |
| D．They are unlikely to become leaders. |
| A．Shy people. | B．Public speakers. |
| C．Net-workers. | D．Survey conductor. |
| A．They focus on achieving themselves outside rewards. |
| B．They make the best of the power of presence actively. |
| C．They realize their abilities and imperfections clearly. |
| D．They perform more confidently than outgoing people. |
| A．By making contrasts and giving examples. |
| B．By quoting authorities and making evaluations. |
| C．By explaining problems and providing solutions. |
| D．By giving definitions and presenting research results. |
| A．Her classmate. | B．Her son. | C．A doctor. |
3 . It is commonplace to come across instances of students or young professionals of the same age groups renting together.
Intergenerational housing whereby Gen Zers and Millennials rent a room from an elderly homeowner is not limited to a particular region.
In recent years, the high cost of living makes it nearly impossible for young adults to find affordable accommodations in major urban areas.
The elderly find renting their homes to young people a win-win proposition. They have someone able and energetic for company and the additional income helps them offset (抵消) the cost of home ownership.
| A．It is now widespread in many parts of the U.S. |
| B．Living with the elderly is challenging for the young. |
| C．However, recently, a different trend has been observed. |
| D．It drives the demand for intergenerational housing arrangements. |
| E．Nowadays, many young people prefer to live independently after finishing school. |
| F．The students find living with seniors better than sharing rooms with several roommates. |
| G．Another person in an empty home also relieves the loneliness many old people experience. |
4 . People in most countries have stopped wearing masks (口罩). In Japan, many people are still covering up. Some of those who have gone maskless, or who want to, are taking lessons in how to smile. A lot of adults say they have “forgotten” how to smile naturally after three years of wearing a face covering. They are taking lessons from “smile coaches” to relearn how to smile with confidence. One coach, Keiko Kawano from a “smile education” company, spoke to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper about her work. She said: “Mask wearing became normal, so people had fewer opportunities to smile. Many people developed a complex (情结) about smiling. I want people to smile for their physical and mental wellbeing.”
Smile coaches in Japan may be busy for some time to come. A recent survey(调查) by Laibo Research found that 27.8% of company employees in their 20s to 50s would continue to wear masks. Just over two-thirds of people said they would wear a mask depending on the situation. Only 5.5% said they would go mask-free. Ms. Kawano is well known in Japan. She has coached more than 4,000 people in the art of smiling. She has also trained hundreds of “smile specialists”. She said: “Smiling makes a good impression on others and helps communication. It also has the effect of making yourself feel more positive.” She added: “Moving and relaxing the facial muscles is the key to a good smile.”
1. Who needs to take lessons in how to smile in Japan?| A．People who are still covering up | B．People who have gone maskless, or who want to |
| C．People who knows how to smile | D．People in most countries |
| A．A basketball coach | B．A football coach |
| C．A tennis coach | D．A smiling coach |
| A．1/3 | B．2/3 | C．27.8% | D．5.5% |
| A．Learn again | B．no more study | C．teach | D．rewrite |
| A．A good impression on others and helping communication. |
| B．The effect of making yourself feel more positive. |
| C．Moving and relaxing the facial muscles. |
| D．A complex about smiling. |
1. How did Eric get hurt?
| A．He got hit by a ladder. |
| B．He tripped over a rock. |
| C．He fell from the height. |
| A．His arm. | B．His ankle. | C．His head. |
| A．Lift Eric on to the bed. |
| B．Apply ice to the injured part. |
| C．Send Eric to the hospital for an X-ray. |
A Day Out at the City Farm Come and join us for a day of fun! Get in touch with nature and learn about the importance of growing our own food. Bring back your own mini garden to start your urban farming journey! Date:28 May 2023 (Sunday) Time:8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Venue: City Farm GUIDED TOUR 9 a.m. or 3 p.m. Free registration (registration ends 5 minutes before tour starts) Our friendly guide will share interesting facts about some common local plants and their uses. You will have an opportunity to touch, smell and taste some of the vegetables and fruits. Our guide will also highlight some farming methods that are environmentally friendly. WORKSHOPS   |
| A．Trying out new farming methods. |
| B．Tasting some vegetables and fruits. |
| C．Visiting the farm without registration. |
| D．Sharing knowledge of plants with the locals. |
| A．$40. | B．$55. | C．$65. | D．$80. |
| A．To instruct visitors to prepare gifts. |
| B．To advocate the protection of the farm plants. |
| C．To publicize the sale of organic produce. |
| D．To encourage people to grow their own food. |
7 . Gleaning (拾穗，拾遗) is not a new concept. It dates back to ancient times, when farmers would leave the edges of their fields unharvested or leave produce looking imperfect for the poor which was either to rot in the field, or was rolled over.
Gleaning offers fresh, healthy food to food insecure people. That is where gleaners come in. Gleaning addresses farm waste and food poverty by providing free healthy food donated straight from farm to table. Interest in gleaning is growing; in 2017,there were five gleaning groups in the UK, while today there are 25.
Holly Whitelaw, an organizer for the Cornwall Gleaning Network, reported to Positive.News that her volunteers send around 300 boxes a week to food banks and community kitchens in her area. The boxes come complete with recipe (食谱) ideas and the kitchens love the fact that this fresh food is so highly nutritious.
Gleaners find the work very fulfilling. “It’s a really jolly atmosphere,” Whitelaw told Positive. News.”Any time I go gleaning, I am lifted up. For the volunteers, it’s so good for mental health, getting outside and doing something practical that’s good for the needy people.”
Adding technology to this age-old practice, a digital map of the 734 fruit trees available for gleaning was provided. This produce is going to the Orcas Island Food Bank which has witnessed a 227 percent increase in demand since the pandemic (疫情), with numbers still on the rise.
To assist the increasing amount of hungry people, produce is being rescued from fields around the world. A prime example of a successful organization is Leket Israel. In 2021, Leket rescued 40,758,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables from farmers’ fields and packing houses.
Hopes are that awareness will continue to grow. To make this happen, more unions need to be established with farmers and more people need to volunteer their time to help. This form of helping may soon become as commonplace as local charity walks, predicts Positive.News.
1. How does the author introduce the topic?| A．By telling a story. | B．By giving a definition. |
| C．By raising a question. | D．By making a comparison. |
| A．The highly nutritious food is good for mental health. |
| B．He fulfilled his dream of building a gleaning network. |
| C．New recipes create a happy atmosphere in the kitchen. |
| D．Gleaning offers benefits to both givers and receivers. |
| A．To show the growing success of gleaning. | B．To praise the help of a new technology. |
| C．To stress the problem of food wasting. | D．To tell the number of hungry people. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Doubtful. | C．Negative. | D．Unclear. |
8 . The US tech giant Microsoft Corp and the leadership consulting firm DDI worked together on a new project on Thursday, with the goal of helping more than 1 million women in China improve their digital skills and embrace the digital future.
The Women Digital Future project came as reports show that women have been more negatively impacted by the COVID-19 than men, and an improvement in digital skills is expected to help them better deal with the bad results from it.
Microsoft said it will partner with a number of companies and organizations to help women in multiple ways, as COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation worldwide and women are faced with more challenges in both life and work.
Alain Crozier, chairman and CEO of Microsoft Greater China, said, “Microsoft has always placed a high value on the development of our female employees and strongly promoting the power of women to drive the world forward.”
Mindy Yeh, managing director of Greater China, said the company’s global survey shows that there are nearly double the number of female leaders at the top 20 percent of well-performing companies than in the bottom 20 percent. Moreover, they have clear advantages in terms of teamwork and interaction.
Cecilia Qi, general manager of GSK China, said, “Digital transformation is both an opportunity and a challenge for women. This is especially the case in the new era, which requires companies to provide women with more support to help them achieve better work-life balance and continue to gain success as they continue forward in their career. Success belongs to everyone, and I believe that, in the future, society will be more supportive of women and provide them with more equal career opportunities.”
1. What is the main purpose of the new project?| A．To help women fight against COVID-19. |
| B．To reduce the bad impacts from COVID-19 on women. |
| C．To help women better prepare for the digital future. |
| D．To promote the products of Microsoft Corp. |
| A．speeded up | B．lived up to | C．influenced | D．prevented |
| A．Women are more popular in good companies. | B．Women receive more support from society. |
| C．Women leaders have more advantages over men. | D．Women leaders perform better in some fields. |
| A．Women have no chance to succeed in the digital age. |
| B．Women are treated unfairly in pursuing a successful career. |
| C．Women need support to achieve a balance between work and life. |
| D．The world is too complex for women to achieve their dreams. |
9 . One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we threw away is e-waste—electronic items that are broken and not recycled.
Millions of tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are abandoned each year.
As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another solution is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting these materials from electronic gadgets.
These projects make total sense, but collections of e-waste for recycling are decreasing.
| A．The demand for waste is on a high level. |
| B．Now two solutions can give them a new life. |
| C．Because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them. |
| D．It’s impossible that people practice e-waste recycling. |
| E．Doing it could be more profitable than traditional mining. |
| F．And in countries without law on e-waste, much of it just goes to landfill. |
| G．However, there’s a growing trend for repair events to solve such a problem. |
10 . The slogan of a University of Northern Iowa clothing exchange also serves as the perfect description of a fashion currently popular among students: thrifting-trading clothes with friends informally or through campus events and websites such as Swapstyle or at a thrift store.
Students are becoming increasingly vocal champions of this creative and commercial effort and the culture it represents. The act of thrifting is at the heart of the rise in students’ do-it-yourself (DIY) fashion shows and themed parties in which clothes must be handmade-composed of older, organic or recyclable items.
More broadly, the thrifting movement represents a generational switch built on five basic beliefs: old is new, mixing is far better than matching exchanging beats shopping, the best things in life are free (or incredibly cheap), and social responsibility is the new black.
According to recent campus and professional press reports, more students are thrifting so they can remain fashionable during the economic downturn.
They are giving up brand loyalty. They are also increasingly unwilling or unable to buy things at full price. Instead, they are seeking discounted ways to stand out stylistically, including making certain classic clothes the next big things.
“It’s often hard to find two of the same clothing items in a thrift store. You can leave knowing that the special outfit you are getting for your major event, no one will have,” Saint Xavier University rising senior Sydney Bennett confirms. “Because a lot of the items in thrift stores are classic, you will have a chance to showcase a ‘recycled style’ that is just like new for our generation.”
To this end, Bennett calls thrifting “a treasure hunt and shopping experience rolled into one ”.
1. Which item of the following will disqualify you for DIY fashion shows?| A．A newly-bought dress. | B．A pair of washed-out jeans. |
| C．An out-dated sweater. | D．A second-hand cotton jacket. |
| A．It’ll damage economy. | B．It’s a temporary success. |
| C．It was started by the government. | D．It reflects a change in philosophy of life. |
| A．Getting anything for nothing. | B．Staying loyal to the brand. |
| C．Seeking out unique items. | D．Buying as many clothes as possible. |
| A．To evaluate a rule. | B．To clarify a concept. |
| C．To introduce a new trend. | D．To recommend a way of life. |
