1 . Simple Tips to Increase Self-Confidence

Having confidence begins with having a mind full of confident thoughts. A mind is controlled by you, therefore believing only the things that will bring you things you desire. Almost anyone in the world can have confidence.     1    . It is a matter of following these easy steps.

Set goals

It’s a great idea to keep a “Goals Book” and every time something enters your mind you’d like to achieve, list it in the book. Soon you’ll see a pattern among all your goals.     2    , you begin to see simple changes in your life. There is no greater joy in life than to realize a goal.

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People usually can’t tell you how you should live your life when it’s just an expression of their own shortcomings. Don’ allow the shortcomings of others to affect your life negatively. No one but you knows your interests and ambitions. Work in the direction of your true loves and ignore everything that enters your mind going against your own desires.

Challenge your beliefs

    4    . If they are not, cross them out. You may find it difficult to get rid of some of the deep-rooted beliefs, but with true desire you can abandon negative beliefs about yourself and you will realize enormous benefit in growing self-confidence and self-esteem.

Get started

Don’t expect changes right away and have patience in knowing that it takes time to be the person you wish to be. The wonderful thing about becoming a more self-confident person is that little benefits start taking shape almost immediately.     5     — as long as you continue to keep a positive outlook and display your confidence.

As you achieve confidence, and find little moments of confidence coming closer and closer, all the things you desire will come to you easier than you ever imagined.

A．Follow your heart

B．They keep coming one after the other

C．Believe in a power greater than yourself

D．When you make conclusions about your goals

E．If you maintain a confident position long enough

F．And, it is entirely easier than you may have once believed

G．Examine all of your beliefs and determine if they are in line with the life you desire

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。

Grandfather was a wise and honorable man. His house was not far from ours, and I would visit him often going home after school.

No matter how rotten I had been, 1 could tell Grandpa anything. My secrets were safe. He always understood. He loved me.

I remember a time when a bunch of us were playing baseball in the field behind Mrs. Ferguson's house. I hit one pitch (投) just right and . . . slam! It was a home run that soared (急升) high and away, and ended up breaking Old Lady Ferguson's kitchen window! We all ran!

Walking home, my best friend, Tom, asked, “How will she ever know who did it? She's blinder than a bat!” I decided to stop by Grandpa's. He must have known something was up by the expression on my face. I felt ashamed. I wanted to hide. I wanted to bang my head against a tree a thousand times and make the world just go away- as if punishing myself could undo things. I told him about it.

He knew we had been warned many times about the dangers of playing where we shouldn't. But he just listened.

“I was wrong,   I told him, with my head down. “I hate myself for what I did. I really blew it. Is there a way out? Will she call the police?”

“Well,” he said, “she has a problem, just like you. I'll bet if she knew you cared, she would be sad to know that you're afraid of her. I'll bet she wishes you would give her a chance... a chance to be understanding, It's your decision, ” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Just so I don't say the wrong thing, is the plan to pretend nothing happened? Just keep quiet and carry your little secret around . . . hide what you're not proud of?”

“I don't know, ” I sighed. “Things might get worse. . . . ”

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。

Grandpa asked, “If you were Mrs. Ferguson, what would you do?”

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“Doing what's right is not always easy, ” Grandpa said, handing me the phone.

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3 . What is talent? Are you born with it? Or does it seem to develop over time? Before I start, I’d like to say that one thing everyone agrees on is that the most skilled musicians have worked hard to get there.

While it’s true that a few of us had enough “talent” to avoid extra practice to do just as well as those who did, those who worked hard easily beat us. It is, in fact, very likely that if some of us “talented ones” had actually been practicing and improving our skill, we would have achieved a whole different level.

Another aspect of talent seems to be heart and passion (酷爱). The people I see who are the most talented musicians are crazy about music. They eat, breathe, and live music and they make an extraordinary effort to make it part of their lives. As Remus Badea said, desire for the musician-to-be is significant for them to be successful. This desire is easily found in those considered to be talented. When you want and love something so bad, it drives you and your entire character can be shaped around it. Such determined passion seems to produce incredible skill and talent.

The third aspect (方面) of talent is having talent around you. When surrounded by talented musicians, it only seems natural that you start to catch up to their level Take a look at almost any group of musicians in history. The more talented people in the group the more talented the group is as a whole. A great example of this is the relationship between audio producer and artist. The artist turns up to the studio with their song, and as they work through recording it, the audio producer will often suggest various changes to the song to make it better.

1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．Pride goes before a fall.

B．It’s never too old to learn.

C．Practice contributes to talent.

D．Talent determines achievements.

2. What is the key to success according to Remus Badea?

A．Passion.

B．Character .

C．Skill.

D．Talent.

3. Why is the example mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．To introduce what real talents are.

B．To explain how a song is composed.

C．To prove talents need team spirit.

D．To show the benefits of being with talents.

4. What might the author probably agree with?

A．Music has no limits.

B．Musicians are born with talent.

C．Music favors the talented.

D．Musicians are created, not born.

4 . All left-handed humans have not had it easy in the world. In many cultures and in the dark ages, left-handed people have generally been seen as the devil.

The word “left” in English comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “lyft”，which means weak or broken. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “left-handed” as meaning defective, awkward or clumsy.     1     A “left-handed compliment” and a “left-handed marriage” can be set as examples. The former does not mean sincere praise but indicates an insult. The latter, as you may notice, refers to an illegal or informal marriage, which, in particular, involves one side of royal or noble birth and the other of lower rank.

In some certain cultures, things go beyond that.     2     In Nigeria, for instance, taking or giving anything to anyone with your left hand is assumed that you lack home training.

    3     Many people around you in China, if asked, would tell you they were forced by their parents or teachers, to write with their right hand. Strangely enough, none of those elders can say what an actual problem there is with left-handedness. If it has to do with the fear of that child not being prosperous, there are a lot of left-handed personalities doing well and breaking grounds. The possible explanation here maybe lies in their long- held prejudice.     4    

Two-thirds of the world still view left-handedness as a shortcoming but it isn't.     5    That is what C. R. Manske points out, “Life without left-handed people wouldn't be right. ”

A．And that is not the only case.

B．The following two examples can best reflect this point.

C．A tiny gesture or movement with the left hand can mean a lot.

D．Namely, people tend to believe in common ideas instead of the reality.

E．The way forward for the left-handers is for them to be accepted as they are.

F．Certain phrases in English suggest a rather negative view of “left-handedness”.

G．In other words, different deep-rooted beliefs originate from different cultures.

5 . In 1910, the Los Angeles Times ran a story about a boy charged with staring at many pieces of metal and opening a valve (阀门) to release the built-up pressure all day. Needless to say, he got incredibly bored. One day, the boss walked in and the boy was nowhere to be found. Yet the pump ran just as it should. The “lazy” boy had designed a mechanized (机械化的) release and won his freedom. The first generation of the automatic steam engine was born. The boy's behavior reflects a deeper truth—laziness can drive innovation.

However, our culture teaches by example that our worth depends on how industrious we are, so we work even harder to produce even more. Until ten years ago, daydreaming and mind- wandering were still associated with unhappiness. This judgment has an almost ancient history. Laziness was declared a moral failing, and its cure lay in hard work.

But recently, there's one big paradox (悖论): The harder we work，the less productive we are. “The trouble is that, without any time to refresh and recharge, we are less efficient, make more mistakes, and get less engaged with what we're doing, ” says Tony Schwartz, head of the Energy Project. This forced sustained focus leads to selective attention, which can prevent you from generating fresh solutions and ideas. Studies show that taking breaks and allowing your thoughts to wander can help you refocus, gain fresh perspective, and make new connections between ideas.

During this epidemic of overwork, how can we make our labor more meaningful and our lives more fulfilling? Perhaps we could do with a healthy amount of deliberate day-dreaming. So maybe this week，notice when you have some downtime in your day, or some white space in your calendar. Instead of filling the space with more work or more digital distractions, step back, and be, in the words of poet Mary Oliver, “idle and blessed.”

1. What do we know about the boy in paragraph 1?

A．He played games every day.

B．He was charged with his laziness.

C．His behaviour made his boss annoyed.

D．His boredom contributed to his invention.

2. What does the underlined word “industrious” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Intelligent.	B．Hardworking.
C．Determined.	D．Straightforward.

3. What can be inferred from paragraph 3?

A．Extra breaks bring trouble.

B．More efforts boost productivity.

C．Proper relaxation inspires creativity.

D．Forced sustained focus improves efficiency.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Go ahead, take a break	B．Daydream less, do more
C．Failure results from laziness	D．Hard work leads to innovation