1 . My plan to learn to play the cello (大提琴) was a health y choice. So I took the next innocent step of going to a shop that sells and rents string instruments, especially violins, violas, and cellos. The place was a hole-in-the-wall, up a steep flight of stairs. Instruments left a narrow path to the counter where a woman with grey hair and warm eyes greeted me. Since I couldn’t form a question about what I wanted, I just stood there exploring the scene, which felt immensely pleasurable.

I rented a cello, a bow, and a case to hold them. What attracted me to the cello was its enormous size and its soft, smooth, and memorable sounds. It’s an instrument made of beautifully polished wood that I could wrap my arms around and feel its powerful vibrations when the strings were played. That was a good starting point for me. The only problem was that I didn’t know how to play it.

There’s a popular belief that the cello is a particularly difficult instrument to learn. Another is the admonition, “Don’t bother if you are a beginner over age 10!” Well, I was 70, and what others thought no longer influenced me. And besides, I thought of the words of Dr. Cohen, who suggested that learning causes physical changes in the brain.

So I found a teacher who had respect for older adult beginners and I practiced diligently, daily for years, and sometimes disheartened, but I kept up. I’m happy to report that now, more than a decade later, I can hold my own in a string trio and two quartets （two violins, a viola, and me, the female cello）and even a senior community band. Of course, I’ll never sound like Yo-Yo Ma but you could recognize a Mozart piece if you heard me play it. And, more importantly, I don’t need to please anyone but myself.

Whether it’s a pleasurable pastime or a new career, the starting point is the same: wonder, curiosity, determination, and the desire to keep your brain sharp.

1. How did the writer feel in the shop?

A．Amused by the shop assistant.

B．Anxious for a live performance.

C．Pleased at the nice music atmosphere.

D．Curious about where to find a teacher.

2. What does the underlined word “admonition” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Approval.	B．Criticism.
C．Puzzlement.	D．Warning.

3. Why does the writer mention Dr. Cohen in paragraph 3?

A．To recommend a reliable doctor.

B．To provide proof for common belief.

C．To add another reason for her decision.

D．To stress the crucial function of the brain.

4. Which of the following can best convey the writer’s idea?

A．Art is man’s second nature.

B．One is never too old to learn.

C．Education is the key to success.

D．Happiness is the best form of health.

2 . I was born two months premature with underdeveloped lungs and a heart condition. The doctors said I wouldn’t live long enough to ________ it out of the hospital. As the days went by, doctors couldn’t ________ I was still alive. They told my mom I was defying (克服) the odds. With each new day came new struggles and challenges, but also more ________. Everybody began to see I was a ________. I exceeded (超越) everyone’s expectations and was ________ from the hospital one month later.

Years went by and I was pretty much just like every other kid, though I went to the doctor once a month for ________ and that became part of my normal ________. However, things started to ________ when I was in twelfth grade. I had a constant ________ in my chest and I’d have to start a treatment program right away. The program was very ________ to the chemotherapy cancer patients go through. Should I do the treatment and ________ not graduating with class for missing too many days of school or should I put it off till the summer and possibly cause irreversible (不可逆转的) damage? I thought back what my grandpa always told me, “There’s always an exception, and you’re usually it”, then I had my ________.

I finished all the work brought to me while I was ________ in bed. Once again I defied the odds; I was the ________ to the rule. Just like that baby in the hospital all those years ago, I ________— even to this day — to have that same fight in me…that will to not only survive, but to succeed in everything I set my mind to as well.

1.

A．put

B．make

C．leave

D．get

2.

A．expect

B．tell

C．believe

D．suspect

3.

A．luck

B．trouble

C．regret

D．hope

4.

A．victim

B．survivor

C．fighter

D．patient

5.

A．released

B．deserted

C．protected

D．saved

6.

A．checkouts

B．checkups

C．callbacks

D．callins

7.

A．routine

B．activity

C．duty

D．business

8.

A．go alright

B．go downhill

C．show up

D．build up

9.

A．care

B．attention

C．tension

D．pain

10.

A．similar

B．helpful

C．effective

D．urgent

11.

A．try

B．admit

C．allow

D．chance

12.

A．way

B．desire

C．decision

D．feeling

13.

A．awake

B．stuck

C．sleeping

D．lying

14.

A．witness

B．winner

C．exception

D．servant

15.

A．plan

B．work

C．happen

D．continue

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

In Chinese tradition, the autumn season is associated with the color white, the sound of weeping, the emotions of both courage and sadness. Autumn, however, for westerners, is considered to be the direction of dreams and visions.

What does all this mean? It’s the very system     1     describes how nature works. To the Chinese, nature means more than just the cycling of the seasons. Nature is within and around us, in all things. The basic cycles of nature, as understood by the ancient Chinese,     2     (be) easily comprehensible by Western students of nature. They ring true. After all, Chinese civilization flourished for many centuries before the Roman Empire     3     (come) to be. Today we know it’s part of Chinese culture to maintain and add to ancient     4     (wise).     5     contrast, the Western world tend     6     (replace) old ideas with new ideas.

Here is     7     simple example. While summer is associated with the emotion of joy, autumn is associated with both courage and sadness. You can     8     (probable) feel the truth of that association for yourself, because, in autumn, things are dying. The light is dying, as Earth’s orbit around the sun and tilt(倾斜) on its axis(轴) combine to carry us in this hemisphere further away from     9     (receive) the sun’s rays most directly. The days are getting     10     (short). Plants and trees are winding down their cycle of growth. Sadness and courage are natural emotions as these changes are taking place.

4 . There’s a pattern going like this: it’s late, but instead of going to bed, we stay up. The next day we’re tired and _______ ourselves an early night. Then it _______ again. Why do we insist on an action that’s _______ messing up our life?

Through childhood, night-time seemed _______. From our dark room, we saw grown-ups chatting around the table and _______ some things we weren’t supposed to know. In adolescence (青春期), the night was filled with _______. It was when poets drew inspiration, parties got wild, and our friends became most _______, describing their plans to reform the world. Thus, we have a sense that to go to bed early is to _______ joys.

In fact, such _______ in our memories were only an accident. These great things aren’t specific to ________. The deep communication with friends, the determination to ________ the work that wore you out: these aren’t ________ of late night, but tasks of our daytime selves — ________ well-rested minds.

We should be able to let ourselves go to bed early, not when we consider our search for happiness ________, but when we relocate (迁移) our longing and seek ________ where it can more realistically be found: in the bright and energetic hours of the new day.

1.

A．refuse

B．prepare

C．promise

D．spare

2.

A．works

B．helps

C．responds

D．happens

3.

A．clearly

B．surprisingly

C．naturally

D．deliberately

4.

A．dangerous

B．secret

C．free

D．harmonious

5.

A．caught

B．discussed

C．believed

D．recorded

6.

A．uncertainties

B．impossibilities

C．fantasies

D．excitements

7.

A．curious

B．anxious

C．sensitive

D．talkative

8.

A．miss out on

B．come up with

C．go in for

D．break away from

9.

A．limitations

B．devotions

C．associations

D．decisions

10.

A．darkness

B．memory

C．youth

D．reality

11.

A．undertake

B．land

C．quit

D．continue

12.

A．features

B．demands

C．challenges

D．bonuses

13.

A．training

B．requiring

C．affecting

D．disturbing

14.

A．hopeless

B．primary

C．complex

D．urgent

15.

A．fortune

B．pleasure

C．company

D．support

5 . Peyton Manker, an 18-year-old girl from Illinois, has been getting a lot of attention on social media lately. In order to _________ this year's Stuck at Prom (舞会) contest, in which participants can have a chance to _________ a $10,000 scholarship, she used dozens of rolls of _________ to make a unique prom dress.

“I decided to make the dress _________ the pandemic, because I knew no one in the _________ was going to be able to recreate it,” Manker said. “I knew I would _________ in that way and I wanted to base it off of what was happening in the world.” The pandemic infects many people, causes deaths, and has widespread social and economic _________.

_________ COVID-19, her prom and graduation ceremony were canceled this year, but this didn't stop Peyton Manker from _________ just under 400 hours of work and 41 rolls of duct tape into her prom dress. The amazing dress __________ various coronavirus-related scenes, __________ front-line medical personnel wearing face masks, people fighting with a giant coronavirus and a(n) __________ graduation ceremony.

“The entire dress is supposed to represent the pandemic in a __________ light,” Peyton said. “I don't want people to think about the dress as just trying to __________ a moment in history. It is a __________ that we go through it.”

1.

A．organize

B．attend

C．hold

D．conduct

2.

A．accept

B．offer

C．create

D．win

3.

A．tape

B．mask

C．cotton

D．tissue

4.

A．belonging to

B．responding to

C．composed of

D．based on

5.

A．performance

B．ceremony

C．competition

D．joint

6.

A．show off

B．stand out

C．turn up

D．dress up

7.

A．results

B．interests

C．cases

D．impacts

8.

A．In spite of

B．In memory of

C．Because of

D．Instead of

9.

A．sinking

B．wasting

C．absorbing

D．taking

10.

A．attracts

B．sets

C．features

D．dominates

11.

A．including

B．exploring

C．promoting

D．filming

12.

A．virtual

B．genuine

C．influential

D．traditional

13.

A．dynamic

B．dim

C．historic

D．positive

14.

A．explain

B．declare

C．show

D．track

15.

A．foundation

B．representation

C．memorial

D．breakthrough

6 . We all have things that we want to achieve in our lives-getting into the better shape, building a successful business, raising a wonderful family, and so on.    1    , At least, this is how I approached my life goals until recently.

What I’m starting to realize, however, is that when it comes to actually getting things done and making progress in the areas that are important to you, there is a much better way to do things. It all comes down to the difference between goals and systems.    2     Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week. Now for the really interesting question: If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system,would you still get tcstilts? I think you would.

    3     In the last 12 months, I’ve written over 115, 000 words. The typical book is about 50, 000 to 60, 000 words, so I have written enough to fill two books this year. All of this is such a surprise because I never set a goal for my writing. I didn’t measure my progress in relation to some benchmark.     4     1 never said, “I want to write two books this year.” What I did focus on was writing one article every Monday and Thursday. I focused on my system and the process of doing the work. And after sticking to that schedule for 11 months, the result was 115, 000 words. In the end,I enjoyed the same (or perhaps better) results.

Goals are good for planning your progress and systems are good for actually making progress.Goals can provide direction and even push you forward in the short term, but eventually a well-designed system will always win. Having a system is what matters.     5    

A．None of this is to say that goals are useless.

B．If you’re a writer, your goal is to write a book.

C．Forget about predicting the future and build a system.

D．I never set a word count goal for any particular article.

E．Committing to the process is what makes the difference.

F．And for most of us, the path to those things starts by setting a specific goal.

G．As an example, I just added up the total word count for the articles I’ve written this year.

7 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

When my little brother Tom was four, Mom said something like “I’d give anything to have a few more hours in the day.” And Tom said, “Why don’t we buy a bigger clock?” If time worked that way, I could have used an extra-big clock last week!

Our teacher had asked us to make an art project showing how plants eat, “I can’t believe we only have two nights to finish it,” Noah said with a sigh. “I have no idea how I’ll get mine done.”

I didn’t say anything. Not because I was nervous—I wasn’t nervous at all. 1 love art projects! In fact, I was so relaxed that I didn’t work on the project at all on Monday night. I planned to start the minute I got home from baseball practice on Tuesday. But there was just one thing.

I forgot baseball would run later than usual because it was the day of Baseball Buddies, which happens every month, and it’s a chance for us older students to practise baseball with the adorable younger kids. The second I got home, I threw the entire craft box (手工盒) onto the kitchen table, took out my “How Plants Eat” paper, and started to work. But just then, the telephone rang.

It was my friend Ollie, who said his grandmother Abuela had just made cookies and wanted to know if I’d come help decorate them. I love decorating cookies, and I love, love, love Abucla’s world-famous Thanksgiving cookies that only happen once a year!

I had no choice. I had to go. Ollie and I put all the star cookies with red jam filling in one group, and all the snowflakes with white cream-cheese filling in another. It was 7 o'clock when I finally got home.1 planned to work on my project right after we ate. But then another interruption hit me.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Just as I was about to start, Dad said, “Joanna, it’s your turn to do the dishes.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Looking at the big “F” on my paper, I started to reflect on what I had done these days.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . When evaluating people on various psychological tests, psychologists often distinguish between markers of absolute performance and relative performance. Absolute performance reflects the raw measurement of something, like the time it takes to run a mile. Relative performance is how a person rates in relation to their peers, as in what place a runner gets in a race.

The standards we use to evaluate ourselves are almost always relative, as we compare ourselves to our peers and the standards that are most familiar to us. For instance, in my private practice, I have one patient I will call “Omar” who is dependent on social services and makes less than $30,000 per year at his job. While this level of poverty would lead most people to wake up depressed each day, Omar is one of the most optimistic and appreciative individuals I know. Why? Because most of his closest peers — his siblings and friends from childhood — have lives far worse than his.

In contrast to Omar, I have another patient, an adolescent I’ll call “Lena”, whose family has property over $5 million. Lena, however, lives in an upper-class neighborhood where her family is at the lower end of the income level. Though Lena's family allows her to enjoy possessions and experiences that less than I percent of her peers across the world can share, she consistently feels “less than”. Why? Because Lena doesn't compare herself to the rest of the world; This is too abstract an exercise for her, as it would be for most of us.

Accordingly, whether a psychologist is psychodynamic or cognitive-behavioral, therapy (疗法) with individuals struggling with situational or psychological depression aims to solve the problems associated with basing one's self-worth on comparisons with others. Psychologists try to help people focus on personal growth around the achievement of concrete goals in line with their values. independent of the achievement of others. For all of us, defining these goals, especially during Periods of emotional calm, can go a long way in helping us to avoid the trap of relativity that often leads to situational and psychological depression.

1. What is the function of Paragraph 1?

A．To show the significance of evaluating people.

B．To motivate readers to study psychological tests.

C．To help people perform well in psychological tests.

D．To provide some background information on evaluating people.

2. Why does the author mention his two patients?

A．To measure different achievement.

B．To introduce the standards to evaluate people.

C．To explain relative performance with examples.

D．To contrast relative performance and absolute performance.

3. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Setting goals in life is essential for everyone.

B．It's important to avoid unhealthy comparisons.

C．A sense of achievement can affect one's happiness,

D．Improving self-worth can help get rid of depression.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Happiness: Is it all relative?

B．Self-worth: Is it measurable?

C．Self-worth: Is it based on efforts?

D．Happiness: Is it associated with achievement?

9 . Happiness is the most sought-after emotion. It is the reason for the existence of all beings. Happiness is not confined to the human world alone.     1    

A young child is happy when it is well fed and becomes sad when it is hungry. Even adults cannot resist the pleasures of food and associate this with happiness. A bar of chocolate, an ice cream treat, or a fancy spread at a buffet all bring happiness.     2     Plants that are watered and given enough nutrients will grow happily.

    3     Toys and gadgets, presents, and red packets bring unexpected joy. Even a pet cat or dog will show its happiness at being given a toy or plaything. A ball of wool or a plastic bone is all it takes.

Then, there is the house and the car, holidays abroad, a simple picnic, or even a movie that evokes happiness. Happiness is found in obtaining material things or indulging in recreational activities.     4     Why? Well, it all boils down to the individual. Money can buy happiness to a certain extent but when all is achieved, obtained, and bought, there comes a time for the true sense of happiness.

Many have sought it in ashrams and from wise men, but all it takes is an act of kindness and sharing. True happiness is eventually not in the receiving, possessing, and getting but in the giving. Giving time, things, labor to those around us, loved ones or strangers is the true happiness that lives on in our lives.     5     It doesn't have to be grand or expensive but has to be sincere and thoughtful. As Mark Twain once said, “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” So, go out there and cheer someone up!

A．Clothing and accessories bring happiness.

B．Making others happy is the core of being happy.

C．Animals and even plants seem to display happiness.

D．People are happiest when they are having a meal and some drink.

E．Everything we do is aimed at letting other people live more happily.

F．Different individuals have different definitions of happiness, though.

G．However, many are still not happy with all these trappings of luxury.

10 . With age, and the experience of achieving great success, it has become clear that physical wealth, power, fame and possessions（财产）do not add anything significant to the actually happy life. I find having ________ is nice and allows me to do many ________ things like travelling a lot.

I always buy many things, but I find things that make a life worth living cannot be ________. They can only be found in the ________ I have. They can be what I give to others, what I accept, and the way I ________ to view the world. It's many small steps that ________ the journey that determines the true importance of the destination, not the ________ itself.

In my opinion, if the destination is great wealth, I think we will feel happier after ________ that wealth if we struggle hard, and ________ our small successes along the way. As for those lottery（彩票）winners, there is no journey, no sense of success, and no memories that make up the path to their wealth. The money just becomes a condition of their life, not something that ________ them the sense of personal achievement.

I enjoy the wonderful ________ of giving to others. ________ and kind acts will fill my life with the kind of treasures（珍宝）that I could never buy—they can only be attained through giving help to others. In fact, when you give, you'll often ________ that even more is given back to you. So please do remember to be ________ on the way to wealth, and always keep up the kindness, and you will ________ a happy life you want.

1.

A．memory

B．fame

C．wealth

D．success

2.

A．awful

B．grateful

C．peaceful

D．wonderful

3.

A．folded

B．contained

C．bought

D．recycled

4.

A．exercises

B．experiences

C．performances

D．expressions

5.

A．pretend

B．prove

C．fear

D．choose

6.

A．pick up

B．make up

C．make out

D．hold up

7.

A．destination

B．defeat

C．honesty

D．conclusion

8.

A．keeping

B．begging

C．quoting

D．getting

9.

A．celebrate

B．control

C．entrust

D．replace

10.

A．tells

B．posts

C．gives

D．throws

11.

A．act

B．security

C．prediction

D．liquid

12.

A．Curious

B．Previous

C．Romantic

D．Generous

13.

A．request

B．find

C．worry

D．complain

14.

A．frank

B．energetic

C．kind

D．pleased

15.

A．lead

B．gather

C．claim

D．organize