1 . Behavioral scientists have found that good listening is one of the most important things we can do to improve our relationships.
In addition to actively attending to a speaker’s words, good listeners also use questions and body language that indicate their understanding and their desire to understand. This might feel awkward at first, and what’s most effective might depend on your relationship with the speaker.
These might seem like small changes, but together they make a big difference. And when people feel heard, they report more satisfaction, trust, and connection in their relationships.
| A．Finally, don’t be afraid of silence. |
| B．So, what can we do to become better listeners? |
| C．It’s possible to know what truly excellent listening looks like. |
| D．But with time and practice, you can internalize these basic behaviors |
| E．There’s no universally agreed-upon definition of high-quality listening. |
| F．Researchers have found that smiling and nodding at set intervals doesn’t quite work. |
| G．So try to stay present and if you lose focus, don’t be shy about asking the speaker to repeat what you missed. |
2 . Traditional feedback (反馈), which often involves criticizing past actions and performance, can sometimes be discouraging. However, there’s a powerful alternative that has been gaining popularity — feedforward. Feedforward is about sharing constructive and forward-looking comments to help individuals and groups move forward together, building a positive path to collective progress.
Constructive feedback has long been a cornerstone of personal development. It helps individuals identify their weaknesses and areas for improvement, but it can sometimes feel like a constant spotlight on one’s shortcomings. Feedforward, on the other hand, shifts the focus from past missteps to future possibilities. It is a tool that fosters (培养) a culture of growth, emphasizing what can be done to enhance one’s performance and contribute to the overall betterment of a group or organization.
Instead of focusing on past mistakes or weaknesses, feedforward encourages people to recognize their strengths and potential, highlighting the possibilities of what they can achieve. This approach not only boosts confidence but also motivates individuals to struggle for excellence. In a world where negativity can often overshadow positivity, the power of feedforward lies in its ability to uplift and inspire people.
When applied in group settings, feedforward becomes a powerful tool for building unity and cooperation. Teams and organizations that welcome feedforward form an environment where team members feel valued and supported. By focusing on future improvement, teams can collectively work towards their goals, fostering innovation, and achieving better results.
Feedforward can also be valuable in building personal relationships. It can be used in families, friendships, and romantic partnerships to encourage personal growth and strengthen bonds. Feedforward instead of being judgemental increases confidence. By offering constructive and forward-looking comments, you can support your loved ones in their pursuit of happiness and self-improvement.
To successfully implement feedforward, it is essential to foster open and honest communication. It’s about providing advice that is specific, practical, and, most importantly, constructive. The emphasis should always be on helping individuals identify their potential and offering suggestions for growth.
1. How does the author introduce the topic?| A．By analyzing a scene. | B．By stating a phenomenon. |
| C．By providing an example. | D．By making a comparison. |
| A．Developing optimism. | B．Enhancing interaction. |
| C．Focusing on potential. | D．Learning from experience. |
| A．Ask for. | B．Pick up. | C．Carry out. | D．Reflect on. |
| A．Giving Effective Feedback | B．The Power of Feedforward |
| C．Feedback and Feedforward | D．Looking Forward, Not Backward |
3 . If you constantly feel like you “never have anything to wear”, you might be a victim of fast fashion. Constantly purchasing fast fashion clothes means clothes easily break down and lose their shape, causing you to consistently replace them. It’s a challenge on your wallet, not to mention the environment.
Organize a clothing swap.
“One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure.” You might have an item in your closet (壁橱) that you’ve grown less fond of. Organizing a clothing change is one of the best ways to give clothing a second chance at fulfilling their destiny: being worn. Make a night of it!
Rent clothes.
Can you remember that wedding you went to three years ago?
If you own more than 50 articles of clothing, you might forget about each item you own. Purchasing the same or similar items is a common problem with fast fashion victims. Go through your closet monthly or seasonally and take a mental record of what’s in there so you do not risk item duplication(重复).
Invest in timeless pieces.
There is a common misunderstanding that sustainable fashion is expensive. In fact, those items save you money in the long run.
| A．Look for sustainable materials. |
| B．Go shopping in your own closet. |
| C．Does the dress you rent for the day fit you perfectly? |
| D．There are some tips to help you handle the problem. |
| E．Get some tasty food and change clothes with your friends. |
| F．Is the dress you bought specifically for the big day never worn again? |
| G．Divide the cost by the number of times you’ll wear the item and that’s its true cost. |
Academic stress from curriculum-based
5 . Giving thanks is very important in our daily life — and it turns out humans have been doing it for a long, long time. As more researchers dig into the science of gratitude, they’ve found the feeling likely played a key role in helping our ancestors band together and survive.
Humans are social animals. That’s how we’ve lasted so long; not by being the biggest or the strongest, but by figuring out how to work together. A key part of building relationships is the idea of give-and-take. The animal kingdom has some similar behaviors, said Malini Suchak, an animal behavior researcher at Canisius University. In experiments with capuchin monkeys (卷尾猴) and chimpanzees (黑猩猩), Suchak found the primates (灵长类动物) became more willing to help out a partner if that individual had helped them in the past.
Thousands of years later, gratitude has taken root in humans. Studies have found gratitude may show up in a few spots in our genes and brains. And the feeling comes out early on during growth. Children as young as 2 and 3demonstrate they want to return favors.
In a study, Vaish found that when kids got help completing a task — in this case, finding a key to unlock a box of stickers — they were more likely to share their sticker reward with a new person. It’s that kind of behavior that shows gratitude is more than simple exchange. Schnitker said. It can make us more generous with other people in general — even if they didn’t help us first.
Giving thanks might be good for you, too: A 2016 study found that people who wrote letters of gratitude reported better mental health and saw changes in their brain activity. But Nelson pointed out that recognizing the giver, not just the gift, is key. So, if thanksgiving has you in a mood for gratitude, she suggested focusing on thanking the people in your life, rather than just making “gratitude lists” of the stuff you have. This is more in line with why the feeling evolved in the first place, she said. “It’s not just about stuff and materialism,” Nelson said. “It’s about relationships and the things that people do for you, and then the things that you can in turn do back for other people.”
1. What is crucial in strengthening human connection according to the passage?| A．Being grateful. | B．Being creative. |
| C．Being social. | D．Being intelligent. |
| A．To show kids like to play with stickers. |
| B．To prove humans like to share with others. |
| C．To demonstrate kids are willing to help others. |
| D．To stress gratitude extends beyond give-and-take. |
| A．Cherish the gifts you receive. | B．Write more letters of gratitude. |
| C．Offer more help to people around you. | D．Value the giver and express appreciation. |
| A．Gratitude: Part of How We Evolved | B．Gratitude: Children’s Inborn Nature |
| C．Gratitude: A Significant Human Virtue | D．Gratitude: Way to Develop Relationships |
6 . Effective Tips to Help You Stay Motivated
Staying motivated is crucial for achieving success.
Set clear and specific goals — Having clear and specific goals is essential for maintaining motivation.
Celebrate milestones and progress — Acknowledging your achievements, no matter how small, is crucial for staying motivated. Observe each milestone and progress along the way. It could be treating yourself to something you enjoy or taking a moment to reflect on how far you've come.
Visualize success — Visualization is a powerful tool for maintaining motivation. Take a few moments each day to visualize yourself successfully achieving your goals.
Staying motivated is a continuous process. I’m sure by following these tips, you can create a solid foundation for staying motivated and achieving your goals.
| A．Stay inspired with role models. |
| B．Stay hungry and keep learning. |
| C．Imagine the positive emotions and a sense of accomplishment. |
| D．It can provide valuable insights and help you face challenges. |
| E．However, it’s common to experience change in motivation levels |
| F．These positive enhancements will keep your motivation levels high. |
| G．Define what you want to achieve and break it down into smaller tasks. |
7 . Many people think that courage is equal to fearlessness, but that’s a faulty interpretation.
Building your courage muscles requires that you push yourself to step outside of your comfort zone. Therefore, practice being courageous by overcoming little fears like meeting new people or eating alone in a restaurant before you deal with something like taking the lead on a project.
Sometimes people experience fear or feel like they lack courage simply because they are worn out and the thought of doing anything more makes them at a complete loss. It’s hard to feel courageous when you are feeling tense.
Every courageous act should be celebrated — especially if living courageously is something new for you. So, it’s important to pa t yourself on the back and recognize the effort it took to overcome your fear.
| A．You should also learn to welcome failure. |
| B．Fear doesn’t stop you from moving forward. |
| C．Consequently, look for ways to relax and release stress. |
| D．In fact, courage is taking action in spite of the fear you feel. |
| E．Of course, you don’t have to shout it from the rooftops or post it online. |
| F．Additionally, knowing what you’re good at helps you find your courage. |
| G．By starting small, you can get used to being courageous without many risks at first. |
8 . Want to know how the people around you see the world? You have to ask them. Here are a few tips on how to become a good communicator.
•
When a person is talking, you can listen actively rather than just being silent to give him enough room to talk. I have a friend who continually responds to my comments with encouraging words like “aha” and “yes”. I love talking to him.
• Storify the responses whenever possible.
I never ask people “What do you think about that?” Instead, I ask “How did you come to believe that?”
• Turn your partner into a narrator (叙述者) .
• Don’t be a topper.
If somebody tells you they are having trouble with their teenage son, don’t turn around and say “I know exactly what you mean. I’m having problems with my daughter Susan too.” You may think you’re trying to build a shared connection.
• Respect really matters.
If we let a sense of threat enter our conversation, our motivations will be ruined quickly.
| A．Be a loud listener. |
| B．Respond as quickly as possible. |
| C．We won’t talk to understand but to beat someone. |
| D．This is a common mistake that people make in conversations. |
| E．However, what you are really doing is drawing attention to yourself. |
| F．Generally, people don’t go into enough detail when telling you a story. |
| G．That gets them talking about the people and experiences that shaped their values. |
9 . What if — and it is a big what if — you could meet your future self? What a very strange question, but one that is worth asking.
I’m a psychologist, well aware that talking about the theoretical consequences of traveling in a time machine can sound strange, coming from someone like me, but my research in the last 15 years has not been too far from this topic. I have explored the reasons why people have such a hard time making long-term decisions, and how they can finally make better choices.
People often imagine their future self as another person, which creates problems. To make sense of why, think about someone in your life who you barely know: a neighbour or a co-worker, for instance. If that stranger asked you to make a sacrifice (牺牲) for him, for example, to lend him money, you might politely decline. If we treat our future selves the same way, then it makes sense why we sometimes give in to short-term desires rather than do something we’ll feel better about in the long run.
If only we could try to make our future selves seem more like people like our partners, loved ones, or best friends. One way is to think of future selves in more concrete and vivid ways. In one recent study on the willingness to save for the post-working life, I cooperated with a bank and found that when customers were shown age-progressed images of themselves alongside encouraging messages about saving, their willingness was about 16% higher than people who merely received the encouraging messages.
You don’t need to wait for time travel or advanced AI for answers that you can act on. Simply taking a bit of time to picture this meeting can help you make better choices now, closing the divide between who you are today and who you’ll be tomorrow. All you need is a little imagination, and the willingness to put yourself in the shoes of a person you currently treat as a stranger.
1. What does the author indicate about time travel?| A．It’s relevant to psychology. | B．It’s too unrealistic to explore. |
| C．It’s a key part of his research. | D．It’s an unscientific topic for him. |
| A．They lack decision-making ability. | B．They barely consider future selves. |
| C．They view future selves as unfamiliar. | D．They focus more on short-term desires. |
| A．Save for their family. | B．Put money into their retirement. |
| C．Think of future selves frequently. | D．Give future selves some messages. |
| A．Put ourselves in the shoes of someone else. |
| B．Use technology to get future selves visualized. |
| C．Try to have a meeting with our future versions. |
| D．Improve emotional connections with future selves. |
10 . Right at this moment, cockroaches (蟑螂) are doing more to save the environment than you are. A big overstatement? Not if you’ve ever thrown away leftovers from your plate or bought more food than you could manage to cook in a week. You’re part of the food waste problem. But just like cockroaches, you can also be part of the solution.
For example, some farmers in Asia and Africa collect tomatoes in big bags, which means that many of them get crushed out of shape and spoiled before they can be sold or eaten. Switching the bags for large wooden containers already lowers the amount of food lost. Similar successes can and have been achieved in various regions with weather-protected storage facilities.
Let’s focus on China for a second. It’s one of the few countries with an innovative approach to minimizing the environmental impact of food waste. How does it do it? Cockroaches. Millions of the tiny creatures are kept in farms in the suburban districts of big cities. Every morning, food waste is delivered by the tonnes and fed to the cockroaches. Just like tiny pigs, they’re not picky and devour everything quickly. After they die, they’re processed into protein-rich feed for animals such as cows or sheep, or used for cosmetic products and Chinese medicine. It’s an efficient and environmentally-friendly alternative to dumping leftover food in a landfill. Cockroaches aren’t going to solve the problem with food waste, but they can serve as an inspiration for finding other similar solutions on a wider scale.
To avoid food waste completely, improvements are needed at every step of the food supply chain, from production to retail. These take time and are often out of your hands as a consumer. But a meaningful reduction of food waste is definitely in your hands. You can not only buy less and shop more often, but also cut down on animal products.
What does the text mainly talk about?| A．Some solutions to food waste. |
| B．The current state of food waste. |
| C．Cockroaches’ help to save the environment. |
| D．Some factors contributing to food waste. |
