1 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t

even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂

In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.

1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?

A．Addiction to smartphones.

B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places.

C．Absence of communication between strangers.

D．Impatience with slow service.

2. What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?

A．Showing good manners.	B．Relating to other people.
C．Focusing on a topic.	D．Making business deals.

3. What does the coffee-shop study suggest about small talk?

A．It improves family relationships.	B．It raises people’s confidence.
C．It matters as much as a formal talk.	D．It makes people feel good.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Conversation Counts	B．Ways of Making Small Talk
C．Benefits of Small Talk	D．Uncomfortable Silence

2 . I was wandering around to look for a cafe where I could sit and have something to drink on a cold day. When I saw one, I walked in, sat at a round table and asked for a coffee.

While I was waiting for my _______, I realized that there were other people in the place, _______ I sensed loneliness. I saw their _______, but I couldn’t feel their souls. That was because their souls _______ to the “Net”, instead of them.

I stood up and walked _______ the tables. I asked a man a couple of times what his name was. “I’m Steve,” he _______ answered. “I can’t talk with you I’m _______,” he said.

I was amazed to find he was _______ online with somebody and, at the same time, he was _______ a computer game—Winner winner chicken dinner. I tried again to________ with him, but not a ________ came out of his mouth. I ________ his shoulder, but there was no reaction. I was getting ________. I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to ________, “Leave me alone!”

I was ________. I wanted to look and see if all those people in the cafe were looking at me, so I ________ head, but there was nobody interested in what was happening. ________ was using the computers.

At the moment, I ________ all of the people there were more interested in having the relationship with the computer, ________ Steve. I wouldn’t want to imagine the future of the human beings if they ________ sharing their lives with machines instead of with people.

1.

A．tea

B．friend

C．beer

D．coffee

2.

A．but

B．or

C．and

D．so

3.

A．thoughts

B．spirits

C．bodies

D．minds

4.

A．belonged

B．attended

C．devoted

D．opened

5.

A．under

B．on

C．across

D．between

6.

A．quietly

B．finally

C．patiently

D．instantly

7.

A．free

B．silent

C．busy

D．careful

8.

A．typing

B．chatting

C．working

D．drinking

9.

A．playing

B．joining

C．making

D．buying

10.

A．communicate

B．argue

C．quarrel

D．cooperate

11.

A．voice

B．notice

C．message

D．word

12.

A．caught

B．touched

C．reached

D．pushed

13.

A．proud

B．excited

C．upset

D．lost

14.

A．explain

B．whisper

C．laugh

D．shout

15.

A．disappointed

B．ashamed

C．puzzled

D．frightened

16.

A．rose

B．lowered

C．raised

D．shook

17.

A．Everybody

B．Nobody

C．Somebody

D．Anybody

18.

A．imagined

B．expected

C．guessed

D．realized

19.

A．usually

B．generally

C．particularly

D．without

20.

A．stopped

B．preferred

C．wasted

D．hated

3 . The UN has recognized the contributions of volunteers on Dec. 5, International Volunteer Day. Here, the four things are offered to consider before taking the leap into overseas volunteering.

Choose your organization carefully

    1     volunteering may be a fundraising mechanism(筹资机制) for a development project. For others, volunteering is fundamental to their programs, and those serving take on professional roles in longer-term development.

    2    

Volunteers want to help and make a difference, but most know this isn’t a purely selfless act. You will learn new skills, broaden your horizons and come to better understand yourself and the world.     3     Reflect on your motivations. You want to help reduce global poverty or protect the natural world, but what else? Have you always wanted to travel, but not as a tourist? Work with kids? When you understand your motivations, you’ll be in a better position to choose the option that is right for you.

Work alongside the local community

Often times, travelers volunteer in isolation(隔离) from the local community in which they are working in.     4     This enables you to ensure you are committing to a project that promotes long term and sustainable change.

A volunteer trip is just the beginning

    5     Further ignite(点燃) the global change maker in you by taking your experience one step further when you return home. Spread the message of your transformative experience to others, helping to spark the change within them.

A．And that’s all OK.

B．Know why you’re going.

C．Don’t assume you know it all.

D．Communities always welcome volunteers.

E．Volunteer travel is a life-changing experience.

F．Some organizations require you to pay your own way, and often include a fee.

G．Make sure to travel with organizations that have strong partnerships with local communities.

4 . Nowadays, the Internet is usually one of the first places a lonely heart turns to as the following story shows.

A 63-year-old retired woman in Zhengzhou, made headlines two days after she posted an advertisement on her Wechat(微信) page, in which she said she wanted to find a young female companion for a trip to Sanya, China’s Southern Hainan island, a local newspaper Dahe Daily reported. In the advertisement, the Chinese dama (Chinese term for middle-aged and elderly women) surnamed(a person’s last name) Li said she is in good health, and she was particularly looking forward to a sea trip this winter.

"I have a daughter who works in Canada, and I don't want to disturb her. My husband rarely has time to travel with me. But I’m afraid of traveling alone, so I am looking for a sweet, happy young woman, aged between 19 and 25 to travel with me. Hope she could chat with me, take photos with me."

At the end of the advertisement, Dama Li showed her sincerity by saying she would be responsible for all the costs of the trip, including accommodation(膳宿) and air tickets, plus an iPhone 7 as a gift. Dama Li told Dahe Daily that she did not expect her advertisement to receive so much attention. "My phone keeps buzzing all the time."However, some people question the truth of Li's advertisement. They say it might be organized by travel agencies aiming to promote(促进，推销) Sanya tourism, or even served as a promotional advertisement for real estate（房地产） on the island. Li denied those doubts and said all she wants is just to find a sweet "daughter".

But Li's advertisement for a daughter has also received as many online mockeries(嘲笑) as positive feedback.

1. Which girl may meet Dama Li’s requirements?

A．A girl aged 20 who wants to travel very much but has little money.

B．A girl student aged 18 who is very interested in an iPhone 7.

C．An airsick girl aged 21 who wants to take a train trip to travel.

D．A girl aged 22 who wants to travel alone to Sanya.

2. Dama Li wants to find a girl to go with her on a trip because __________

A．her own daughter has to stay home to work

B．her husband only cares about his work

C．it is easy for a lonely person to find a companion through the Internet

D．she doesn’t want to travel alone but no other family members are free

3. What’s the writer’s tone in writing about this event?

A．Objective.

B．Subjective.

C．Negative.

D．Positive.

5 .    假如你是徐州市某高中学生李华，最近你们班针对徐州市开展的“绿色出行”（Green Transport）计划，倡导市民骑自行车，并且提供了大批量的公用自行车，这一活动展开了讨论。

支持者观点：	1. 目前汽车带来的空气污染和交通堵塞问题
	2. 骑自行车的益处，如节能环保、有益健康等
反对者观点：	1. 骑自行车上学、上班都浪费时间，而且不安全
	2. 现在空气污染严重，骑自行车可能有害健康

请根据以上信息写一篇议论文，并发表你自己的观点。
词数：120 左右
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

6 . Everyone in business has been told that success is all about attracting and retaining (留住) customers. It sounds simple and achievable. But,_______, words of wisdom are soon forgotten. Once companies have attracted customers they often_______the second half of the story. In the excitement of beating off the competition, negotiating prices, securing orders, and delivering the product, managers tend to become carried away. They forget what they regard as the boring side of business—_______that the customer remains a customer._______to concentrate on retaining as well as attracting customers costs business huge amounts of money annually. It has been estimated that the average company loses between 10 and 30 per cent of its customers every years. In constantly changing_______, this is not surprising. What is surprising is the fact that few companies have any idea how many customers they have lost.

Only now are organizations beginning to wake up to those lost opportunities and calculate the_______implications. Cutting down the number of customers a company loses can make a big_______in its performance. Research in the US found that a five per cent decrease in the number of defecting (流失的) customers led to_______increases of between 25 and 85 per cent.

In the US, Domino’s Pizza estimates that a regular customer is worth more than $5,000 over ten years. A customer who receives a poor quality product or service on their first visit and_______never returns, is losing the company thousands of dollars in__________profits (more if you consider how many people they are likely to tell about their bad experience).

The logic behind cultivating customer__________is impossible to deny. “In practice most companies’ marketing effort is focused on getting customers, with little attention paid to__________them”, says Adrian Payne of Cornfield University’ School of Management. “Research suggests that there is a close relationship between retaining customers and making profits.__________customers tend to buy more, are predictable and usually cost less to service than new customers. Furthermore, they tend to be less price__________, and may provide free word-of-mouth advertising. Retaining customers also makes it__________for competitors to enter a market or increase their share of a market.

1.

A．in particular

B．in reality

C．at least

D．first of all

2.

A．emphasize

B．doubt

C．overlook

D．believe

3.

A．denying

B．ensuring

C．arguing

D．proving

4.

A．Moving

B．Hoping

C．Starting

D．Failing

5.

A．markets

B．tastes

C．prices

D．expenses

6.

A．culture

B．social

C．financial

D．economical

7.

A．promise

B．plan

C．mistake

D．difference

8.

A．cost

B．opportunity

C．profit

D．budget

9.

A．as a result

B．on the whole

C．in conclusion

D．on the contrary

10.

A．huge

B．potential

C．extra

D．reasonable

11.

A．beliefs

B．loyalty

C．habits

D．interest

12.

A．altering

B．understanding

C．keeping

D．attracting

13.

A．Assumed

B．Respected

C．Established

D．Unexpected

14.

A．agreeable

B．flexible

C．friendly

D．sensitive

15.

A．unfair

B．difficult

C．essential

D．convenient

7 . Researchers who helped discover a new species of Mexican butterfly are offering to sell the naming rights to raise money to fund more research. Co-discoverer Andrew Warren is hoping to raise at least $50,000 by auctioning(拍卖) off the rights to name the 4-inch “owl eye” butterfly, which lives in Sonora, a Mexican state bordering Arizona.
“That would support at least two years of research for our team down in Mexico,” Warren said. “Money goes a long way down here in Mexico.”
According to the scientific tradition, discoverers of a new species have the say in naming it. In recent years, some discoverers have auctioned off their naming rights to raise money.
Warren said the amount being sought for the butterfly is not out of the question, noting that naming rights for a new monkey species brought in $650,000 two years ago. A group of 10 new fish species that went on the naming auction block at the same time earlier this year brought in a total of $2 million.
The butterfly discovered by Warren and researcher George Austin ranges as far north as Mexico.
The butterfly was actually in a collection, misidentified as an example of another new species, at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the Florida Museum of National History in Gainesville, said Warren. They soon began the hard process of determining that it was indeed a “new” model of butterfly.
After checking photos and comparing it with other known species, they determined it was a separate species.
1. Where did the researchers discover the new species of butterflies?

A．In Sonora.	B．In Mexico state.
C．In a place in US.	D．Near the US-Mexico border.

2. Why will the researchers sell the naming rights of the butterfly?

A．To raise money for wildlife protection.

B．To raise money for more research.

C．To cause people’s attention to the new discovery.

D．To cover the cost of the research.

3. When the butterfly was first discovered, people thought ______.

A．it was a new species at once

B．it wasn’t a species of American butterfly

C．it belonged to the monarch branches

D．it belonged to a new species

4. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A．the new species of butterfly live both in the US and Mexico

B．it took the researchers a lot of efforts to determine the new species of butterfly

C．the researchers are not sure whether they can get the money they want from the auction

D．it is the first time that the new species of butterfly has been found

8 . How long can human beings live? Most scientists who study old age think that the human body is ___ to live no longer than 120 years. However, 110 years is probably the longest that anyone could hope to live — if he or she is ___ healthy and lucky. Some scientists even say we can live as long as 130 years! Yet, our cells simply cannot continue to reproduce ___. They wear out, and as a result, we get old and ___ die.

Even though we can’t live forever, we are living a ___ life than ever before. In 1900, the average American life span(寿命)was only 47 years, but today it is 75 years!

When does old age begin then? Sixty-five may be out-of-date as the ___ line between middle age and old age. After all, many older people don’t begin to experience physical and mental ___ until after age 75.

People are living longer because more people ___ childhood. Before modern medicine changed the laws of nature, many children died of common childhood ___. Now that the chances of dying ____ are much lower, the chances of living long are much higher due to better diets and health care.

On the whole, our population is getting older. The ____ in our population will have lasting effects on our social development and our way of life. Some people fear such changes will be for the worse, while some see ____, not disaster. Today, many men and women in their "golden years" are healthy, still active, and young in ____ if not in age.

As our society grows old, we need the ____ of our older citizens. With long lives ahead of them, they need to ____ active and be devoted.

1.

A．designed

B．selected

C．improved

D．discovered

2.

A．completely

B．generally

C．apparently

D．extremely

3.

A．rapidly

B．harmlessly

C．endlessly

D．separately

4.

A．eventually

B．hopelessly

C．automatically

D．desperately

5.

A．busier

B．longer

C．richer

D．happier

6.

A．finishing

B．guiding

C．waiting

D．dividing

7.

A．stress

B．damage

C．decline

D．failure

8.

A．survive

B．enjoy

C．remember

D．value

9.

A．problems

B．fears

C．worries

D．diseases

10.

A．poor

B．young

C．sick

D．quiet

11.

A．changes

B．recovery

C．safety

D．increases

12.

A．dreams

B．chances

C．strengths

D．choices

13.

A．mind

B．appearance

C．voice

D．movement

14.

A．protection

B．suggestions

C．contributions

D．permission

15.

A．sound

B．appear

C．turn

D．stay

9 . Kids with Special Needs

Kids with special needs refer to any kid who might need extra help because of medical, emotional, or learning problems. For example, disabled kids need wheelchairs. They not only need the equipment that helps them get around, but they might need to have ramps(斜坡) or elevators available.     1    

Kids with an illness would have special needs, too.     2     Kids with sight problems might need Braille books to read. Kids with hearing problems might need hearing aids.

    3     It might be harder to do normal things—like learning to read or just getting around school. The good news is that parents, doctors, nurses, teachers, and others can help. The goal is to help kids be as independent as possible.

Other kids also can be a big help. How? By being a friend. Kids who use a wheelchair or have lots of health problems want friends just as you do. But meeting people and making friends can be difficult.     4    Be sure to tell a teacher if you see someone being bullied(欺侮) or teased.

    5     You might carry the person’s books or do something simple, such as asking him or her to join you and your friends at lunch. It’s also important not to be “overly helpful” when no help is needed. Why? Because just like you, kids with special needs like to be as independent as they can be. Being friendly to kids with special needs is one of the best ways to be helpful. As you get to know, they may help you understand what it’s like to be in their shoes. And you’ll be helping fill a very special need, one that everybody has—the need for good friends.

A．Some kids might laugh at or make fun of them.

B．They also might need to get a special bus to school.

C．Life can be challenging for a kid with special needs.

D．It’s good manners to try to offer help to kids with special needs.

E．Also try to be helpful if you know someone with special needs.

F．Kids with special needs usually live a harder life than normal kids.

G．They might need medicine or other help as they go about their daily activities.

10 . Many kids and teenagers have mobile phones in their hands. However, is it really necessary for them to have phones at school? Here are the pros and cons.
Pros
They can get in touch when necessary. The main benefit of having a phone is that your child can get in touch with you whenever you need to.    1    .
They can call ring the emergency services if necessary. If your child is in immediate danger, they can use their phones to call not only you but the emergency services. This is of great benefit and could potentially save your child’s life.
    2    As long as your child remembers to do this, their phones won’t cause distraction(分心) in class. Giving them a standard instead of a smart phone will also reduce the risk of distraction.
Cons
The latest smartphones can almost double as a computer. It means they offer far more of a distraction to kids than they used to.
    3    All these characteristic could disturb your child’s concentration if they play with them in class.
Mobile phones could interrupt lessons. Many children, even through they are asked to do so, forget to turn off their phones during lessons and their phones may make sounds.    4    . Besides the distraction problem, mobile phones can also be used to look up answers on the Internet.    5    . The possibility of children having access to these during exams could be too attractive for pupils not to take advantage of.

A．Mobile phones can be turned off or on to silent.

B．Children use ordinary phones instead of smartphones.

C．This allows you to feel they are safe and easy to reach.

D．Without mobile phones, campus life would be less colourful.

E．They have some other functions—a calculator and the ability to save notes.

F．This not only annoys other pupils but also prevent them from learning well.

G．Nowadays, children can not only text and make calls with their mobiles, they can also play games, surf the Internet and listen to music.