1 . As I walked to a convenience store to get a snack last month, there was another customer ahead of me. And he opened the door for himself without bothering to look back. How rude, I thought. Didn’t he see me? Did he do that on purpose?
To help answer the question, I turned to Ethan Kross, psychologist and author of Chatter: The Voice in Our Head. He shares ways to slow down when things feel personal.
If you find yourself in a situation that offends (冒犯) you, pause before reacting, says Kross. Acknowledge your feelings and think about how your response might affect the other person.
Look at the problem from another perspective (视角)
If you still can’t let the personal comment go, you can try distancing yourself from it mentally.
It might seem like an unusual approach, but Kross’ research has shown that it can help people get out of their heads and promote wise reasoning. In a 2014 study, he found that people displayed more wisdom when trying to figure out their own problem if they thought about it in the third person.
Build up your confidence
Self-confidence can go a long way in protecting us from taking things too personally. If we’re grounded in the fact that we’re unconditionally worthy, Kross says, then we’re less likely to take offense when somebody doesn’t treat us that way.
Kross suggests spending time around people who remind us of care and respect we deserve, like close friends and family members.
| A．Pause and take a moment |
| B．Never get stuck in a bad mood |
| C．Then you don’t want to say anything hurtful |
| D．What we do will enable us to put our trust in others |
| E．The practice can help truly strengthen our feelings of self-worth |
| F．One way to do that is by. reflecting on the incident in the third person |
| G．The thoughts consumed me and even continued over the next few days |
2 . How to Turn Your Dreams into a Reality
Do you have dreams, visions or plans about things you’d love to have or achieve? Of course you do! We all do. Unfortunately, dreaming is the easy part.
Turn your dream into a goal.
When you have a goal, you have a true target. For a greater chance of success, your plan should have a deadline and it must be measurable.
Prioritize (优先化) your goal daily.
Difficult goals can rarely be achieved alone; you’re likely to need some help and guidance. Look at the list you made and see what you already have in your life that could help you on your path.
Track your progress.
Measure your progress each day. Use old fashioned paper and pencil or take advantage of the latest smartphone app.
| A．Read and write your goal each day. |
| B．Make a list of negative associations. |
| C．Classify (将……分类) your available resources. |
| D．Tracking is critical to making continued progress. |
| E．Turning those dreams into a reality is the challenge. |
| F．It has been said that dreams are goals without a deadline. |
| G．So make a list of all the negative stuff that slip into your mind. |
3 . Do you have a garden? Would you like to be able to relax in the garden more often? Having outdoor space is a wonderful thing.
Create a sense of privacy.
Use trendy and stylish outdoor lighting.
If you have plans of being able to enjoy your garden in the evening hours, you’ll need lighting.
Garden furniture will also play a big role in how relaxing and welcoming your garden is. First, you should make sure you have enough seating for you and your guests, Second, it needs to be more comfortable so that people are willing to stay and hang out.
A dining table and chairs are usually popular, but you may prefer something more relaxing like an oversized chair or a large sofa.
Pay attention to the atmosphere.
The atmosphere should also be considered in your design plan.
| A．Lessen your garden furniture. |
| B．Upgrade your garden furniture. |
| C．It can be achieved in many ways. |
| D．Creating a private atmosphere costs little. |
| E．One of the hottest trends of the moment is wall lanterns. |
| F．However, it does require creative thinking to make the most of it. |
| G．One complaint that homeowners have about their garden is a lack of privacy. |
4 . Travelling with some of your favourite people is an exciting experience. If done well, group travelling can be the most thrilling experience ever, filled with games, laughter, and unforgettable memories.
Ideas are usually exciting when they are fresh. The longer you delay, the more you’ll find excuses not to go. Let all interested parties meet as soon as possible to decide on dates, locations and budget. It’s best to plan the trip three or four months in advance.
Assign roles
For the trip to be successful, it has to be well organized. You’re going on a trip far from home, not the shopping mall. This is why the group should assign a leader who would be responsible for planning and organizing the trip.
Budget pool
Create a flexible itinerary（行程）
An easy way to create and share an itinerary is through Google Docs. Add the group members to the document and give them permission to edit it. Suggest one or two optional activities per day which do not require advance bookings, such as a local hike or museum.
| A．Start early. |
| B．Get fresh ideas. |
| C．So how do you plan for your group trip? |
| D．Collect a set amount from everyone before your trip. |
| E．Don’t forget to create room for something unexpected. |
| F．Also, divide the other responsibilities as they arise so that everyone participates. |
| G．The group leader generally keeps in contact with everyone, handling most of the detailed work. |
5 . How to Budget Your Money When You Study Oversea
Studying abroad can be a great opportunity to meet new people and to expose yourself to an unfamiliar and exciting culture. By challenging yourself to try a new culture, you can make a huge impact on the way you see the world,
Write out a travel budget.
Find a job that you can perform remotely.
See if you can find a job before you go abroad to ensure a constant flow of income. Consider a job as a writer or travel blogger. See if you can find a job that lets you explore the country you're staying in, like by becoming a photographer.
Cook meals at home.
If you are staying with a host family, try to eat as many meals as you can with them.
If you are fluent in the language of the country you're staying in. think about teaching local students your native language. Not only does this let you engage with local students, but it allows you to gain an even deeper understanding the language you'll hear around you during your overseas experience
| A．Look for a part-time job. |
| B．Get a job working as a language teacher. |
| C．Although it may be greats it is often a costly experience. |
| D．Make sure every day you stay healthy while living abroad |
| E．Create a budget for your time abroad to avoid overspending. |
| F．There are jobs specifically intended for employees working abroad. |
| G．It not only cuts down on costs but spends quality time with your hosts. |
6 . At the start of every working week, millions of people around the world get ready for something they do endlessly, joylessly and badly ： a meeting
It was awful before the pandemic (疫情), when research showed there were an average of 55 million meetings daily in the US alone. I fear to think what the figures look like now that Covid-19 and remote working have started the age of the continuous meeting.
It wouldn't be a problem if all meetings did what they were supposed to do and helped busy people make good decisions about important matters. But the evidence suggests otherwise. Studies over the past 15 years have shown about 70 percent of workers have rated their meetings poor or unproductive, writes US professor, Steven Rogelberg, in his 2019 book The Surprising Science of Meetings.
“The root of the rotten meeting is simple," says Madeleine de Hauke, a meeting coach and teacher. “We spend our lives in meetings, but there's very little investment (投入)into helping people run them effectively," she told me last week.
A meeting coach might say that, but I think Ms de Hauke is correct. Running a meeting well takes skills. At a minimum, people need to know in advance why they are meeting； what they are supposed to achieve ； who really needs to be there and how they should contribute. Yet meeting leaders are expected to learn all these on the job.
I thought the pandemic had made things worse. But Ms de Hauke makes a convincing argument that Zoom calls merely strengthen what was going on before. If a meeting was productive and cheerful before, it is probably better now. If it was wasteful and annoying, it is likely to be worse.
Still, a bad meeting is like a virus. By failing to produce good decisions it often requires another meeting to be held, then another and another. Luckily, there is no need for a vaccine (疫苗), just a bit more care and preparation, and an understanding that there is no shame in being taught how to lead a meeting well.
1. What does the passage focus on?| A．Why people hate meetings. |
| B．How Covid-19 affects meetings. |
| C．Recommending experienced meeting coaches. |
| D．Suggesting developing the skills of meeting running. |
| A．Meetings are poor and short. |
| B．Meetings are dull and fruitless. |
| C．Meetings make people less interested in work. |
| D．Meetings cause people to make wrong decisions. |
| A．Invite people to attend the meeting in advance. |
| B．Invest much money to run meetings successfully. |
| C．Set clear goals and make preparations for the meeting. |
| D．Make everybody present at the meeting learn some skills. |
| A．By comparison. | B．By classification. |
| C．By analying causes. | D．By listing examples. |
7 . Five Ways to Fight Depression
If you feel depressed, it’s best to do something about it. In addition to getting help from a doctor, here are five things you can do to feel better.
Exercise.
Nurture yourself with good nutrition（营养）. One person may not feel like eating at all, but another might overeat. If depression has affected your eating, you’ll need to be extra mindful of getting the right nutrition. Proper nutrition can influence a person’s mood and energy.
Identify troubles. Try to identify any situations that have contributed to your depression.
Express yourself. With depression, a person’s creativity and sense of fun may seem blocked. Exercise your imagination and you not only get those creative juices flowing, you also loosen up some positive emotions. Take time to play with a friend or a pet, or do something fun for yourself. Find something to laugh about — a funny movie, perhaps.
| A．Laugh at it anyway. |
| B．Try to notice good things. |
| C．Laughter helps lighten your mood. |
| D．Take a 15-30 minute walk every day. |
| E．So eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and get regular meals. |
| F．As we know, depression has a bad and lasting influence on us. |
| G．When you know what's got you feeling blue and why, talk about it with a caring friend. |
8 . After nearly a decade of being in love with yoga, I made a courageous decision. I decided that I wanted to become a yoga teacher. Meanwhile, I made a list for those who will chase or are chasing a dream.
Remember that it’s meant to challenge you.
Be careful who you ask for advice.
While chasing your dream, you will get to a point where you want to give up. You’ll question the cause of your dream and question whether you should continue.
Believe in yourself.
The only way you’ll be able to follow through with your commitment to your dream is by believing that you can do it.
It takes a lot of courage to give everything that you have to achieve a goal when it might be criticized, judged or rejected. Many see failure as an ending, when it could be a beginning of another journey that leads to your dream.
Starting trying today.
In a year, you’ll wish you’d started today what you hope to achieve. If you don’t try today, how will you feel in a year? Time passes quicker than we can sometimes grasp, and today will eventually lead to the following year.
| A．Be open to failure and rejection. |
| B．Yes, your dream needs to be big. |
| C．Others can tell you that you’re capable. |
| D．Everything begins in the heart and mind. |
| E．Don’t just sit around and think about what you want. |
| F．During this time, be cautious with where you seek advice. |
| G．Growth doesn’t happen by living in stability, comfort or at ease. |
Never Over-Study
When you spend too much time studying you will quickly lose focus and the time spent in studying will become ‘junk time’. You think you're studying but you're just sitting there re-reading the same sentence about 100 times and you're not getting anywhere. Instead, take regular breaks.
Top students don't just randomly sit down and complete work. They actually plan what they are going to do: They actually plan the time they will study and they set goals for what will be achieved. If you want to be successful, do as successful people do. Set a plan and, set a goal and stick to it, which will create a routine and a routine is the first step towards developing a habit.
Front Up To The Toughest Work First
Many of us like to do the easy things first to build our confidence. That’s fair enough. The only challenge with this approach is that you use up your primary energy at the start of any study period and so if you are dealing with the easy parts with your primary energy your batteries will be low when it comes the time to deal with the hard part. So what happens then?
Do we really have to explain this? Just turn them off for an hour, we promise the world will still be there when you log back in! Don't text your friends, don't chat while doing memory activities，don't make phone calls, just focus on what you're doing. Even if you focus on work' for 15 minutes followed by 5 mins of chatting, it’s better than 30 minutes of work while also chatting! You get that right?
| A．Plan Your Study |
| B．Achieve Your Goal |
| C．Positive habits decide future success. |
| D．Taking breaks can make you get everywhere. |
| E．You get tired and impatient and just give up. |
| F．Get Off Social Networking Sites And Turn Off The Phone |
| G．Taking breaks will make you energetic again and refresh your mind. |
