1 . I came across an image of a distance runner with a caption (说明文字) that told readers to keep going at all costs. It _________ me of the sunk cost fallacy (谬论), a concept I researched in grad school after realizing I’d been so likely to suffer from it.

In high school, I had _________ five universities. Soon I heard from four, and Southern Utah University was going to give me the best _________. I paid them my $100 commitment fee. Two weeks later, the last school _________ an even better scholarship with full fees. And what did 17-year-old me do? I was still _________ to Southern Utah University due to the _________ $100 investment. It seems obvious to me now that _________ schools, even if it meant admitting I’d “wasted” $100, was a better _________ decision.

I’m not the only _________. People will wear clothes they don’t like because they have paid money for them and stay in unhealthy ____________ because they’ve been together for so long.

That you’ve sunk time, effort, or money into something doesn’t mean you should ____________ more. Our society loves to emphasize ____________ to keep trying. But only you know the right path for you. Sometimes ____________ is the hardest choice of all after all the hard work. You might ____________ a path you’re on is no longer the right one or never was. That’s a ____________ realization.

1.

A．accused

B．convinced

C．reminded

D．informed

2.

A．approved of

B．jumped at

C．taken in

D．applied to

3.

A．reward

B．scholarship

C．celebration

D．welcome

4.

A．offered

B．refused

C．expected

D．explored

5.

A．exposed

B．committed

C．admitted

D．used

6.

A．initial

B．extra

C．minor

D．generous

7.

A．attending

B．skipping

C．switching

D．visiting

8.

A．physical

B．cultural

C．moral

D．financial

9.

A．victim

B．student

C．customer

D．loser

10.

A．competition

B．lifestyles

C．state

D．relationships

11.

A．harvest

B．invest

C．ignore

D．pursue

12.

A．permission

B．curiosity

C．determination

D．freedom

13.

A．breaking out

B．walking away

C．giving in

D．passing down

14.

A．realize

B．doubt

C．prove

D．regret

15.

A．funny

B．stupid

C．relaxing

D．painful

2 . 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。

Self-Portrait

Alia was disappointed to find herself in the drawing studio. She had been sick with the flu during the week when everyone else got to pick their classes. She had hoped for Astronomy or Marine Biology, but they were full by the time she got to choose. She loved everything about science, from the way it used facts and formulas to how it revealed the basic nature of things. But art was so un-scientific.

The first class project was self-portraits. Some students were drawing self-portraits using mirrors. Others were working from photographs. Alia glanced at the incomplete sketches, feeling like a cat in a dog show. But she had no choice. Hesitantly, she lifted a pencil, only to pause before the canvas. Confusion and reluctance were evidently written on her face; she had no idea how to proceed with her strokes.

The teacher came up to Alia’s easel (画架). Seemingly having noticed her trouble, he sat next to her.

“Every portrait begins with a circle,” he said. “Then you create a series of lines.”

To demonstrate, he drew a group of small, quick portraits. He began each one with a circle, some straight lines, and a triangle to determine where the eyes, nose, and chin should go. To Alia’s amazement, each portrait on the paper took form. Alia had never thought about it, but the features of everyone’s face were in the same spots. “Go ahead and give it a try.” The teacher handed the pencil back to her.

Taking a deep breath, Alia began her own self-portrait. She drew the basic form of a head, the way she had been shown. From there, she used lines to plot the features of her face. She had to take note of each detail, with each stroke, line and curve demanding her close attention. One wrong measurement could throw off the whole portrait.

注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

The process took patience and precision.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Admiring her work, Alia suddenly realized drawing was just what she had hoped for.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . By the time he was 24 years old, Imran Nuri quit his job in a bold move, and emptied his savings account to carry out an ambitious ________ he’d been bearing in mind. Nuri would drive his car to every state on a 100-day trip to find 1,000 ________ and ask them to share one thing they wish they’d ________ when they were younger. Nuri was hoping for answers that might help him ________ the rest of his life.

He ________. But to his shock, he chose a ________ person for the first time. He met a man, who had a dark look at Nuri. Nuri thought the man was going to ________ him. Then, doing the most ________ thing he’d done, he introduced himself, “I’m ________ around the country to talk to 1,000 unfamiliar people. I’m asking them for pieces of life advice about things they wish they knew ________.” The man remained silent for a minute or so and ________ said, “We should spend more time with our family.”

In Colorado Springs, Colorado, a man in his 50s who had stage 4 terminal cancer told Nuri, “Life is about the human ________. There would be no life without social interactions.”

In Tillamook, Oregon, a waitress-a college student told him, “whether it’s changing your major or changing your whole life path, you don’t have to ________ yourself for taking a step back and reevaluating your past choices. Just do what you think to be right.”

Nuri found beauty in every place as well as ________ from the people he met. Those people taught a lot. Now he always puts himself in other people’s shoes even when a person sees the world ________.

1.

A．plan

B．policy

C．initiative

D．trick

2.

A．acquaintances

B．residents

C．strangers

D．peers

3.

A．embraced

B．inquired

C．misunderstood

D．known

4.

A．picture

B．navigate

C．enrich

D．interpret

5.

A．cracked up

B．backed away

C．set out

D．knocked off

6.

A．generous

B．wrong

C．pleasant

D．selfish

7.

A．dismiss

B．accompany

C．consult

D．beat

8.

A．courageous

B．stupid

C．unforgettable

D．glorious

9.

A．sailing

B．hiking

C．driving

D．wandering

10.

A．occasionally

B．permanently

C．later

D．earlier

11.

A．finally

B．excitedly

C．instantly

D．hesitantly

12.

A．potential

B．nature

C．connection

D．competition

13.

A．admire

B．reward

C．forgive

D．fault

14.

A．wisdom

B．fortune

C．confidence

D．perseverance

15.

A．objectively

B．differently

C．selectively

D．randomly

4 . Last Christmas, I volunteered for WNWNB, a charity which takes surplus (剩余的) produce from New Covent Garden Market and ________ it to the local community.

The food was already in containers. So we set up the stand and got ready to distribute some Christmas ________. At first, it was ________. People seemed a bit suspicious of taking food for free. But they gradually ________ us and we had a fun afternoon singing carols and trying to ________ passersby to take our food.

It was then time to deliver meals to those who weren’t able to come. This is ________ things changed for me. The first door I knocked on was ________ by a woman in her 30s. She had children and looked absolutely worn out. I told her I was from WNWNB and gave her the ________ meals. It was probably only about two days’ worth of food but, the way she ________, I felt as if I was handing her gold.

I had similar responses to my next ________. In some cases, when people were elderly or alone, I’d go into their homes and have a brief ________ before heading off. Many felt ________, but I saw how happy they were to have another adult human to ________.

As a local politician I knock on doors and talk to people a lot, but there was something deeper about those ________ on Christmas Day. I finished my day at WNWNB a slightly different person from the one who ________.

1.

A．distributes

B．introduces

C．sells

D．exhibits

2.

A．forgiveness

B．images

C．recipes

D．cheer

3.

A．easy

B．nice

C．slow

D．safe

4.

A．broke away from

B．put up with

C．cut in on

D．warmed up to

5.

A．threaten

B．encourage

C．allow

D．command

6.

A．why

B．how

C．where

D．when

7.

A．opened

B．repaired

C．cleaned

D．guarded

8.

A．costly

B．unfinished

C．deserted

D．ready

9.

A．declined

B．reacted

C．argued

D．traded

10.

A．purchases

B．interviews

C．deliveries

D．schedules

11.

A．meal

B．chat

C．report

D．silence

12.

A．proud

B．free

C．lonely

D．content

13.

A．connect with

B．look after

C．turn to

D．rely on

14.

A．conversations

B．budgets

C．explanations

D．deals

15.

A．hesitated

B．started

C．ignored

D．struggled

5 . Success is often considered to be the opposite of failure. To teenagers, it is the achievement of a goal or completion of something they really need, such as good grades and the ability to get along well with their classmates. Some schools used to agree with most parents who measured (判定) the success of their children according to grades, but now they pay special attention to moral (道德的) education and character-building to make sure teenagers achieve success in building human relationships.

Schools give chances to students to discover their hidden ability so that they can enjoy some form of success. For example, those good at speaking skills are advised to take part in speech competitions while those interested in arts are expected to perform in front of their classmates. Teenagers also get the pleasure of success when they join their favorite clubs.

Teenagers are often told that success is not easy to achieve and that success lies in hard work. Great efforts have to be put into project work. Doing things much later than planned should be avoided as this will lead to a mountain of work which finally makes them nervous. Another good quality (品质) is a sense of responsibility which makes them remember that a task has to be completed.

Sticking to moral values is the key to success too. Honest teenagers will win the trust of friends leading to good relationships. Self-motivation (自我激励) is another quality to be developed, for self-motivated teenagers will have the strong will and drive to perform a task and finally get to enjoy a sense of achievement.

1. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 1 refer to (指代)?

A．Their classmates.	B．Some schools.
C．Most parents.	D．Their children.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

A．Project work makes teenagers nervous.

B．Good qualities will lead to a happy life.

C．Teenagers are advised to complete tasks in time.

D．Taking responsibility will make work much easier.

3. What is important for making students strong minded?

A．Honesty.	B．Self-motivation.
C．Communication.	D．Friends’ trust.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．The Value of Moral Education

B．The Key to Discovering Hidden Ability

C．The Meaning of Success to Teenagers

D．The Way to Communicate with Others

6 . My knees started shaking, yet my body froze. It felt as though my soul left my body and I had no _______ of it. I looked through the list posted on the wall _______. My heart sank as I saw all my friends’ names on that list but was _______ to find mine.

Tears filled my eyes. Just then, a group of students _______ to see the final team list. Every one of them jumped with _______ after seeing that they made the basketball team. Trying to _______ about the situation, I walked home. However, I walked _______ and it felt as if I had a100-pound weight tied to my backpack. My mind was also _______.

Noticing my _______ facial expression, my father asked me what was wrong. “I didn’t make the basketball team,” I replied. “What are you going to do about it? Are you just going to sit there?” he asked.

I just shook my head and ________ myself in my room. Being alone in my room, I thought hard about what my dad said, and it started ________ to me. Nobody was going to give me a(n) ________ on that team. I would have to ________ it. Then I decided to take action. Conveniently, there was a ________ near my school, and I biked there after school every day and trained hard for two hours. I wasn’t sure if I could finally make it, but I ________ it.

After almost a year of ________, I tried out for my seventh-grade team. ________ the result, I knew I’d worked hard and learned about mental ________. The next day, I found out I made the team. As the saying goes, “The greater the ________, the sweeter the reward.” I couldn’t ________ with it more.

1.

A．sight

B．control

C．memory

D．record

2.

A．angrily

B．indifferently

C．aimlessly

D．anxiously

3.

A．unsure

B．unnecessary

C．unable

D．unwilling

4.

A．crowded

B．pretended

C．hesitated

D．announced

5.

A．regrets

B．confusion

C．sadness

D．excitement

6.

A．talk

B．forget

C．worry

D．argue

7.

A．heavily

B．bravely

C．quickly

D．smoothly

8.

A．open

B．wild

C．blank

D．clear

9.

A．irregular

B．unsuitable

C．irresponsible

D．unusual

10.

A．treated

B．locked

C．relaxed

D．comforted

11.

A．making sense

B．showing off

C．coming over

D．turning back

12.

A．excuse

B．account

C．spot

D．comment

13.

A．quit

B．earn

C．hide

D．share

14.

A．museum

B．library

C．supermarket

D．gym

15.

A．stuck to

B．focused on

C．cared about

D．admitted to

16.

A．waiting

B．planning

C．practicing

D．learning

17.

A．Regardless of

B．Thanks to

C．Apart from

D．According to

18.

A．health

B．toughness

C．attitude

D．weakness

19.

A．courage

B．patience

C．effort

D．confidence

20.

A．shake

B．agree

C．fix

D．deal

7 . Out in the woods stood a nice little Fir Tree. It was the sun shining on him and the fresh air surrounding him that made him gorgeous. In summer, children often came and sat down near him and said, “What a nice little fir!” In winter, when the snow lay glittering on the ground, a hare hopped over the little tree. But he never felt any pleasure. What the little Fir wanted so much was to grow into a big tree as his neighbors.

“Oh! Were I but such a high tree as the others are,” thought he. “Then I should be able to spread out my branches, and with the tops to look into the wide world!”

When Christmas came, quite young trees with the finest looking were cut down. And so was the Fir Tree. He found himself, in the middle of the living-room, stuck upright in a bucket that was filled with sand and decorated with the most splendid things-apples, colorful lights and at the very top a large golden star, which made him incomparably beautiful.

“What a splendor!” thought the Fir Tree, believing he would take root here and forever stand covered with decorations!

However, the splendor never came back again. After the Christmas, the servant dragged him out of the room, and up the stairs into the loft in a dark corner, where no daylight could enter.

“If it only were not so dark here, and so terribly lonely. Not even a hare!” he sighed. “They surely stored me here for the next Christmas.”

One day, the tree was pulled out and a man drew him towards the stairs, where the daylight shone. Feeling the fresh air and the first sunbeam, now he was out in the courtyard. Seeing all the beauty of the flowers and the freshness in the garden, he firmly believed he would be replanted there.

“Now a merry life will begin again,” thought the tree, spreading out his branches only to find they were all withered and yellow！When seeing the gardener getting close with an axe (斧头), he recalled his first youth in the wood and sighed so deeply! Each sigh was like a shot.

1. What can we know about the Fir Tree?

A．He was willing to be a small tree.

B．He was satisfied to be a Christmas tree.

C．He was mad at the hare jumping over him.

D．He was eager to be the tallest tree in the woods.

2. Which word can best describe the Fir’s feeling when pulled out into the courtyard?

A．Hopeful.

B．Lonely.

C．Free.

D．Anxious.

3. What can be inferred about the Fir’s fate?

A．He would be treated as firewood.

B．He would be replanted in the garden.

C．He would be taken back to the forest.

D．He would be stored for the next Christmas.

4. What can we conclude from this story?

A．If you’re failing to plan, then you’re planning to fail.

B．Live for today because tomorrow is not promised.

C．Life is not about falling down but getting back up.

D．If you dream and believe it, then you can achieve it.

8 . Did you know that swimming can provide you with the tools you need for achieving success later in life? The following life lessons aren’t things you can be taught in a classroom. They are drawn from the count-less hours we spend swimming in the clean water.

Having big goals is necessary to achieve success in the pool. Sometimes those big goals can be our worst enemy, however. You need to start with short-term goals. Sometimes taking baby steps can be too slow for some people, making them annoyed, but successful swimmers know that this slow progress provides an accumulated effect that has a huge impact in the mid and long term. Success in the pool — and life — is achieved step by step, mistake by mistake, small win by small win.

Swimming tests your mental limits. I cannot count how many times I watched the coach write a set of training plans on the board and felt myself holding back deep inside, mind racing, with thoughts of how badly I was going to die over the course of the set. But then what happened? I pulled it off. I started the set, and talked myself through it. “Hey, this isn’t so bad.” A little bit later, “Okay, halfway done.” And finally, “I am going to achieve the goal!”

The reality is you never know how tough you are until you are in the race, reaching that goal even though a few minutes earlier you were mentally shaking in your swimming suit. This carries really well into the other challenges you will face in your life. We always think we aren’t capable, that swimming or life finally beats us, but believe it or not, you will always be as strong as you need to be.

1. Why does the author think that sometimes big goals can be harmful?

A．Swimmers will feel annoyed at their slow progress.

B．Big goals need a long annoying term to achieve.

C．Small but necessary steps can be easily ignored.

D．More mistakes are needed to achieve bigger goals.

2. What was the author nervous about when seeing the set on the board?

A．Losing his life in the race.	B．Failing to reach the goal.
C．Drinking the water in the pool.	D．Finishing the race halfway.

3. What does the phrase “pulled it off” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Left the place.

B．Took it off.

C．Made it.

D．Gave it up.

4. What Can be the best title for the text?

A．Confidence is what you need to reach your goal

B．Life lessons you will learn from swimming

C．Swimming can make you tough in life

D．Small goals add up to big success

9 . I once took a wonderful vacation in Italy. On the bus tour I gave away some of our newspapers. A woman named Florence came up to me and said, “Do you understand what the two of you are talking about in your newspaper? It happened to me. Do you want to hear about it?” I said that I did. The following was her story.

“It was a black cat that helped me find myself again. When my husband died young, I was very upset. I took a job as a teacher. The job didn’t work out well and I felt _________. I knew I needed a _________, but what? I decided that I wanted a black cat, just like the black cat, Duke, I had in childhood.

Duke was part of my _________. One day we were driving on our summer vacation. The windows of the car were open, and Duke jumped out of the car and _________. After _________ of searching, my dad said, ‘Let’s go back to the house _________ we can start out really early tomorrow morning to look for Duke.’ We drove twenty miles back to the house. As we _________, there was Duke, sitting on the front porch looking at the door. He had walked twenty miles while we were looking for him. He knew where he was _________.

So, that’s the story of Duke. I guess I had to find that _________ from my past to get myself back. A friend found a black cat for me. As I held it, I knew that it was love. From that day forward, I felt that my life was __________ again. I found __________ again. I felt more sure of myself. I don’t think a lot of people could understand how a __________ helped me that much, but now having read your newspaper, I wanted to __________ this with you.”

I was very moved by Florence’s story of her cat. __________, the memories from our childhood are extremely important, not only for __________ positive states of well-being, but for giving us a sense of self-esteem.

1.

A．unsatisfied

B．worried

C．difficult

D．down

2.

A．chance

B．motto

C．change

D．husband

3.

A．neighbourhood

B．family

C．vacation

D．decision

4.

A．disappeared

B．lost

C．hid

D．passed away

5.

A．minutes

B．hours

C．seconds

D．days

6.

A．so that

B．in case

C．as though

D．unless

7.

A．watched

B．traveled

C．started

D．approached

8.

A．sitting

B．born

C．going

D．playing

9.

A．imagination

B．description

C．selection

D．memory

10.

A．good

B．familiar

C．comfortable

D．challenging

11.

A．love

B．myself

C．relief

D．state

12.

A．newspaper

B．friend

C．cat

D．tour

13.

A．introduce

B．share

C．connect

D．explain

14.

A．Moreover

B．Therefore

C．Indeed

D．However

15.

A．inspiring

B．discovering

C．digging

D．recovering

10 . Every summer vacation, I work as an assistant to my dad in his plumbing (管道) business. My job often causes physical and mental ________ and it demands an attitude of toughness that I frequently ________ to adopt. Nevertheless, I choose to go on.

Each morning, I started the day by ________ a pair of old jeans that most teenagers of my age would ________ to wear in public. During my work, I ________ jump over a jungle of tools and extension cords (线). There are pipe paint ________ on my pants. As I observe the chaos around me, a sense of ________ sweeps over me. Nothing I see is beautiful or tidy. I feel ________.

From time to time, I cannot help ________ why I have to bear the dust and sweat when I could be in my air-conditioned house. I could even find another job, a(n) ________ one that more closely resembles the work of my peers.

Yet, I hate myself for being so easily ________ by things as small as the mess of plumbing. ________, the world is built by people willing to get their hands dirty. ________ the uncertainties of my teenage brain are far more complex than any extension cord, I keep trying hard to sort them out.

Life is a process of accepting the messes and cleaning them up, and plumbing work is quite ________. Each time when customers express ________ for our work, I understand that the unpleasant feelings caused by plumbing are worth it.

1.

A．discomfort

B．development

C．relaxation

D．instruction

2.

A．long

B．offer

C．pretend

D．struggle

3.

A．turning in

B．pulling on

C．setting aside

D．picking out

4.

A．refuse

B．wait

C．prefer

D．tend

5.

A．regularly

B．constantly

C．naturally

D．particularly

6.

A．doubts

B．spots

C．circuits

D．errors

7.

A．responsibility

B．neatness

C．confusion

D．belonging

8.

A．powerless

B．ridiculous

C．tough

D．jobless

9.

A．determining

B．explaining

C．understanding

D．questioning

10.

A．stable

B．challenging

C．normal

D．important

11.

A．characterized

B．annoyed

C．attracted

D．distinguished

12.

A．As usual

B．In Brief

C．After all

D．In addition

13.

A．While

B．If

C．Because

D．Since

14.

A．flexible

B．simple

C．similar

D．promising

15.

A．prejudice

B．sympathy

C．concern

D．appreciation