3 . When I was young, my understanding of life was simple. This made it easier for me to deal with the world around me. As I grew up, things seemed more ________, which made life more challenging. Now, middle-aged, I find my ________ of the world is returning to the simple.

When I try to teach my daughter important ________ about life, I will ________ complicated things into small pieces. One of those basics is ________, for yourself, and for others. I teach my daughter to ________. To fail makes us feel bad, certainly, but not to have tried contributes to feeling ________, because you can’t respect yourself for it. And as the saying ________, if you don’t respect yourself, no one else will.

When I was seven or eight, I played at my cousin’s house with his toys. His family was better off, and he had many more toys. There was one in particular that I’d always desired, and I ________ it into my pocket. But a moment later, I ________, even at that age, that I would never enjoy playing with the toy. I would always know I had ________, and my evaluation of myself would ________. When his mother dropped me off later that day, I shamefacedly ________ out the toy and gave it back. She knew, I’m sure, what had happened, but she thanked me and never spoke of it again.

I hope to help my daughter ________ similar mistakes. She first has to gain self-respect before she can start respecting others. I believe in respect, because without it we’re all ________. I’m far from perfect in this regard. But I try my best, and I respect others for trying their best in this changing world.

6 . The designer, Charles Frederick Worth (1825-95), was the first to sew labels into the clothes that he created. Because of this and his international fame, Worth is generally considered to be the father of _________ , which started in the late 19th century. Before then, making clothes was mainly done by _________ dressmakers whose clothes were influenced by what people were wearing at the French royal court. Worth, originally from England, moved to France in 1846, where he enjoyed considerable success with the nobility. Since then, there have been even greater successes for other designers, such as Chanel and Armani and those _________ the younger, trendier market, for example, Tommy Hilfiger. Currently the fashion industry relies more on mass-market sales than on _________ designs. Some well-known designers have even teamed up with international high street shops who want to add a luxury product to their range. _________ , the London branch of H&M, a clothing company from Stockholm, has started selling cut-price clothes by high-fashion designers. Recently, hundreds of people _________ outside for up to 12 hours to buy clothes designed by Lanvin! Some camped there overnight, even though at the time England was experiencing an extremely cold winter. Is this _________ to labelled goods really worth all the trouble?

An article in The Economist suggests labelled clothes really do _________ the wearers. It quotes research from Tilburg University, in the Netherland, which explains that such clothes bring status and even job recommendations, but only when the label is _________ ! The university’s first research experiment involved photos of a man wearing a polo shirt. The photos were digitally __________ so that one shirt had no logo, another had a luxury-designer logo and the third had a non-luxury logo. On a five-point scale for status, the luxury designer logo rated 3.5, no logo rated 2.91 and the non-luxury logo came last, rated 2.84. It seems it may be better to have no logo at all than to have the __________ logo! In another experiment, people watched one of two videos of a job interview of the same man. In one, his shirt had a luxury logo on it, in the other it didn’t. The man with the logo was rated more __________ the job and even received a recommendation for a 9% higher salary!

The research concluded that like a peacock’s tail, designer labels are seen as __________ of superior status: ‘the peacock with the best tail gets all the girls’. But while a peacock can’t make his tail look more attractive, it seems humans can __________ their status by using design labels. And by doing so, the way we __________ each other’s status may be seriously wrong!

11.

A．special

B．luxurious

C．wrong

D．untold

7 . Next week, as millions of families gather for their Thanksgiving feasts (大餐), many other Americans will go without. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than 12 million households _________ enough food for everyone in their family at some time during the year — including _________.

Hunger is surprisingly widespread in our country — one of the world’s wealthiest — yet the government estimates that we waste almost 100 billion pounds of food each year, more than one-quarter of our total supply.

Reducing this improper distribution of _________ is a goal of America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. Last year, it _________ nearly 2 billion pounds of food to more than 23 million people in need.

America’s Second Harvest is a network of 214 inter-connected food banks and other organizations that _________ food from growers, processors, grocery stores and restaurants. _________, the network distributes food to some 50,000 soup kitchens (施食处), homeless _________ and old people’s centers in every county of every state.

A great deal of work is involved in distributing tons of food from thousands of _________ to thousands of small, non-profit organizations. Until a few years ago, America’s Second Harvest lacked any _________ way to manage their inventory (存货). Without accurate and timely information, soup kitchens were sometimes empty while food was left to __________ in loading places.

In 2000, America’s Second Harvest began to use a new inventory and financial-management system — Ceres. It is a __________ designed specifically for hunger-relief operations. It is used by more than 100 America’s Second Harvest organizations to __________ food from donation to distribution.

Ceres has helped __________ the spoiling of food and improve distribution. An evaluation found that the software streamlined (精简) food banks’ operations by 23 percent in the first year alone.

With more accurate and timely reports, Ceres saves time, frees staff members to focus on finding new donors, and __________ more efficient use of donations.

Hunger in America remains a(n) __________ social problem. Technology alone cannot solve it. But in the hands of organizations such as America’s Second Harvest, it is a powerful tool that is helping to make a difference — and helping more Americans to join in the feast.

8 . Speed-reading is a crucial skill in the Internet age. We skim over articles, e-mails and tweets to try to _________ key words and the essential meaning of a certain text. _________ with information from our electronic devices, it would be impossible to cope if we read word by word, line by line.

But a new trend calls on people to _________ and enjoy reading slowly, using the linear (线性的) pattern, left-to-right sequence.

A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a cafe and turn off their smartphones. They _________ comfortable chairs and read in silence for an hour.

Unlike traditional book clubs, the _________ of the Slow Reading Club isn’t exchanging ideas about a certain book, but to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, _________ environment. According to the Journal, the Wellington Book Club is just one example of a movement _________ by book lovers who miss the old-fashioned way of reading before the Internet and smartphones.

Slow readers, such as The Atlantic’s Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, _________ stress levels and deepens the ability to empathize (有同感).

Some of these benefits have been backed up by science. _________, a study of 300 elderly people published by the journal Neurology last year showed that regular engagement in __________ activities like reading slowed the rate of memory loss later in life.

Another study published last year in Science showed that reading novels helps people understand others’ mental states and beliefs, a crucial skill in building __________.

Slow reading means a(n) __________ to an uninterrupted, linear pattern, in a quiet environment free of __________. Aim for 30 minutes a day, advises Kelly from The Atlantic. “You can squeeze in that half hour pretty easily if only during your free moments — whenever you find yourself __________ firing up your laptop to check your favorite site, or scanning Twitter for something to pass the time — you pick up a meaningful work of literature,” Kelly said. “__________ your e-reader, if you like. Kindles make books like War and Peace less heavy, and also ensure you’ll never lose your place in the book.”

9 . Each stage of life has different major demands mainly because our needs change. As children, a period of deep uncertainty and sensitivity,___ and   family   are   the   top   needs although we may not think of them in those terms. As teenagers, we are__the waters of adult life, preparing ourselves for the exciting unknown and as young adults, we search for a__. The drive to fulfill each stage is so strong that sometimes we have to hold the breath to___.

At each stage, although everyone may___in dreams, we will all try to   take hold of the means to achieve our particular dreams. Some will be driven with   almost   tunnel vision,   others take a(n)____attitude to getting there. Anyway,   without dreams it is   hard to direct   life. If   you   are   fortunate   enough   to   achieve   your   current   dreams,   you   can   move   forward   for___desires and prepare yourself for a new conquest.

For each period of life,   the   needs are   decided by that stage,   and as we grow older, whether we like it or not, we gain___, which, on the basis of former facts and information,   permits us to see a broader view if we are wise enough to take on board what is there. As we mature,   the sharpness of the___of youth, the black and white approach to life, will be tempered by what is possible, kind, just and fair.   Ageing helps us to grow if we allow it.   So often   we___that process, holding on tightly to   rooted beliefs   which do not do us   any favour, yet our needs change and in result we will___be different.

Physically,   even when we stay fit and able, the body cannot deliver in quite the   same way as youth. This comes as a(n)___to most of us who start life in the belief that we are unbeatable and will live forever. Again, coming to terms with this fact helps us to___anxiety, and finally realize the unexpected benefits which come along with___face and slowed body.   What was important when we were young can be seen now in a new light, and a different list of importance emerges. In the end, extreme age can be as demanding and sensitive as babyhood, so while ones need changes through life, it seems to come___.

10 . This is Warsaw, where lunch is usually a slab of meat with a side order of sausage. But at Krowarzywa — which means “cow alive” and _______ the word warzywa, meaning vegetables — no animals were harmed in the making of food. The bestselling “vegan pastrami” is made of seitan, a wheat-based meat _______.

Warsaw has almost 50 vegan restaurants. That does not mean it has all that many vegans. Kassia, a 20-something professional in the queue, says she has no ethical _______ to eating meat. She comes to Krowarzywa because she likes the food. Kornel Kisala, the head chef, thinks that most of Krowarzywa’s clients eat meat, but it does not worry him. “Animals don’t _______ whether you eat a vegan burger because it is fashionable or because it is tasty.” According to the survey, 60% of people _______ say they plan to cut back on meat this year. Eating vegetarian and vegan meals now and then is one of the ways some choose to do so.

Two years ago Eric Schmidt, a Silicon Valley figure, called plant-based meat substitutes the world’s most important future technology, he foresaw them improving people’s health, reducing environmental degradation and making food more _______ for the poor. The founder of the first vegan society said in 1944 that “In time people will view with disgust the idea that men once fed on the products of animals’ bodies.” Ever since the number of people _______ his hope has been increasing. Perhaps their time is coming at last.

If so, it is a _______ coming. Meat consumption worldwide has been _______ consistently by almost 3% a year since 1960, mostly because people get richer. In the early 1970s the average Chinese person, __________, ate 14 kg (31lb) of meat a year. Now they eat 55 kg a year.

In America, Nielsen found in 2017 that 3% of the population called themselves vegans and 6% vegetarians(people who avoid meat, but eat eggs and/or dairy products). But more detailed research by Faunalytics puts the numbers at just 0.5% for vegans and 3. 4% for vegetarians. Fully a quarter of 25-to 34-year-olds in America claim to be either vegan or vegetarian, __________ studies by Faunalyties find the median age of American vegans to be 42. It seems that a fair amount of ambitious self-discipline, terminological inexactitude (术语的不准确) or simple hypocrisy (伪善) is at play.

Overall, though, it seems __________ to say that the number of people sometimes or regularly choosing to eat vegan food is growing much faster than the growth in people deeply __________ to a meat-free life. Patrice Bula, a vice president at Nestle, says that a __________ proportion of the people buying his company’s vegan meals are true vegetarians or vegans. People in this larger group are often called “flexible vegetarians”, who __________ back and forth between omnivorous (杂食的) and vegetable diets. The true vegan trend lies in casual, part time veganism.