1 . Signs That You Are Growing

Growing is a lifelong process. Here are the signs that show that you are actually growing and not getting stuck in the process.

    1    

Often, we see how badly people look when they get overly upset due to unimportant things. So the first sign of maturity (成熟) is letting the small things go and not getting angry over a tiny detail that didn’t go as you planned.

You start forgiving and understanding other people

When we are young, we are often unforgiving. As we mature, we are better able to understand the world beyond black and white.     2    . It enables us to look beyond the obvious and let go of simple judgments. We begin to understand better that others have complex (复杂的) lives and personalities, and so we become more willing to forgive their mistakes.

You always complete things that matter

Immature people don’t know when to commit (承诺) themselves and their energy or resources are always not well employed.     3    . In this way, they can often keep their promises and honor their commitments.

You accept the possibility of being wrong

    4    . They are always able to accept the possibility that they are wrong, that they don’t know something, because there is always more to learn.

Being mature is knowing that you are always growing up. You are never done learning and developing. This means that you don’t set yourself up as the highest authority.     5    .

A．You follow the crowd

B．You let the small things go

C．Instead, mature people focus on completing things that matter

D．Immature and mature people can both have plans for their lives

E．Rather, you open your mind to other ideas and new possibilities

F．Becoming more understanding is a sign of strength, not weakness

G．Mature people appear more confident, however, they are not overconfident

2 . I live with my husband Jack in Iowa, which is far away from Florida. One day, my husband suddenly decided to play _________ in Florida.

“Why Florida?” I wanted to know. “We are so busy every day with our work. Why not someplace _________?”

“Because,” he said, “Florida is famous for golf. It’s just something I _________ to do.”

_________, I did understand. Just a week or so before, I _________ a diary of mine from my teenage years. What really got me about it was the list I’d _________ on the very first page—Things I’m Going To Do. But until now I haven’t done a third of them!

So when Jack talked about playing in _________, it got me thinking. There were a lot of things I wanted to _________. They were all the same things as I’d decided to do _________ I was sixteen. But always because of some reasons, my plans __________ to be carried out.

In order to make our life without __________, I told Jack, “Now let’s draw up all our life lists and have them __________ one by one together.” That was how our journey to Florida __________.

After many years, our plans were all finished. __________ I’ve learned that the secret is to take life __________. If you’re in too much of a hurry, you need to stop, or you will fly past all the things that are the most fun.

1.

A．football

B．golf

C．basketball

D．volleyball

2.

A．farther

B．closer

C．larger

D．warmer

3.

A．dream

B．hurry

C．refuse

D．afford

4.

A．In fact

B．For example

C．At once

D．In case

5.

A．lent

B．bought

C．missed

D．found

6.

A．called

B．practised

C．made

D．explained

7.

A．Georgia

B．Hawaii

C．Iowa

D．Florida

8.

A．support

B．learn

C．finish

D．prepare

9.

A．where

B．when

C．although

D．because

10.

A．came

B．rose

C．failed

D．happened

11.

A．regret

B．hope

C．difficulty

D．difference

12.

A．turned down

B．taken away

C．put out

D．carried out

13.

A．started

B．changed

C．appeared

D．stopped

14.

A．Simply

B．Finally

C．Quietly

D．Sadly

15.

A．early

B．busy

C．slow

D．fast

3 . There are things we all do, or don’t do, that lead us to waste far more time than we realize in the moment. The biggest time regret, I think, is dwelling on (沉湎于) mistakes and shortcomings.

    1     In a study, researchers asked subjects to spend money during an imaginary trip to the mall. Before “shopping”, some subjects were asked to recall a past financial mistake. They found those subjects were more likely to incur (招致) debt. Dwelling made them feel like a failure and told them there was no need to try, because they already sucked. So, they got further into debt when already feeling like an over spender. Of course, we don’t want to skip over our mistakes or ignore them either.     2    

I also missed too much for fear of my own shortcomings.     3     I wanted to travel after high school, but I went to university close to home instead, because I was too shy to meet new people and was afraid I couldn’t make it in another city. After university, I wanted to be a writer, but I decided to find a more stable, accessible job instead, because that’s easier.     4     I decided to find work I actually enjoyed, travel more and live somewhere else. I made a ton of mistakes along the way, but the bigger mistake was not trying sooner.

    5     So, never beat yourself up over your mistakes and shortcomings. The sooner you learn from them, the sooner you can free up your time and energy to live the life you want.

A．Eventually, I got tired of this.

B．Regret is another big waste of time.

C．I was doing it for the wrong reason that I was afraid to fail.

D．For years, I stayed in a comfortable place, doing things I disliked.

E．The goal is to learn something from them, and then release the failure.

F．When you finally relate it to your own past experiences, it probably becomes easier.

G．Dwelling on mistakes wastes time and, worse still, makes us more likely to repeat mistakes.

4 . As I walked onto the soccer field I had a knot(结) in my stomach. I was too shy to _________ the year before but decided to go for it this year.

When the coaches came, I felt as if I was going to pass out. With no _________ ability I began to wonder why I was _________ here. Everyone immediately took a ball and began to _________. I stood there, not knowing what to do. My friends came over to _________ me a few quick moves and drills. I had fun and _________ enjoyed playing. Every other girl on the team was far more skilled than I. The moment I _________ that to myself, I was fine.

This _________ has stuck with me all through high school. Without _________ it, I learned a valuable lesson about myself. __________ I tried out for the soccer team, I always wanted to be __________ at everything. Previously(以前), I would do anything to achieve the high __________ I set for myself. I was so stressed out over schoolwork that I never had fun. I decided it was time for a (n) __________.

Like most high school students, my __________ with more responsibilities and worries, began to change as I got older. Balancing school and sports has not been easy. But through it all, I have become a __________ person. No longer do I __________ that I have to be perfect. Although my athletic ability doesn’t __________ a ticket to universities, I have other good __________ that make me important. Knowing that I have put 100% __________ into everything I do and am honest with myself, I am completely __________ with the person I am.

1.

A．give up

B．pass by

C．try out

D．walk away

2.

A．logic

B．sports

C．language

D．communication

3.

A．just

B．even

C．never

D．always

4.

A．warm up

B．make up

C．calm down

D．turn around

5.

A．ask

B．pass

C．show

D．throw

6.

A．nearly

B．really

C．hardly

D．partly

7.

A．kept

B．expressed

C．proved

D．admitted

8.

A．match

B．activity

C．experience

D．performance

9.

A．checking

B．realizing

C．practicing

D．considering

10.

A．When

B．After

C．Unless

D．Before

11.

A．quick

B．clever

C．perfect

D．pleased

12.

A．speed

B．record

C．position

D．standard

13.

A．break

B．escape

C．change

D．holiday

14.

A．life

B．team

C．friends

D．coaches

15.

A．better

B．kinder

C．warmer

D．quieter

16.

A．beg

B．feel

C．pretend

D．imagine

17.

A．add

B．buy

C．deserve

D．promise

18.

A．ideas

B．attitudes

C．creations

D．qualities

19.

A．effort

B．money

C．brain

D．trust

20.

A．happy

B．strict

C．careful

D．patient

5 . A girl is smiling at me from a picture on my desk. She is one of my sponsor (资助) children. I didn’t spend much money helping her. The joy from helping her gives me, however, is over the picture.

I can still remember the first time that I decided to help a child. It was many years ago, I was only a middle school student. I had a little extra (额外的) money each month. I didn’t feel like buying anything, though. A few years ago, we lost everything in a house fire. That fire bought me a lot. I cleared that I didn’t need a lot of things to be happy. From then on I began to care about the suffering of children in poor countries. With my mom’s help, I soon found a few groups and joined them. They were helping others around the world.

It felt so good being able to reach out and help others in need. It felt so good being able to make even one life better. I could feel the love growing in my head and beginning to change me. This feeling makes us into better people with bigger hearts. It helps us to love, to be kind, and to make this world a better place.

1. The writer began to sponsor a child ________.

A．when he studied in the middle school	B．before his house had a fire
C．when he felt like buying something	D．before he had a little extra money

2. What’s the Chinese meaning of the underlined word “suffering”?

A．苦难

B．经验

C．情绪

D．要求

3. What’s the third paragraph mainly about?

A．Why the writer helped poor children.	B．How the writer found a few groups.
C．When the writer began to care about others.	D．How the writer felt after helping others in need.

4. Which of the following is true?

A．The writer needed a lot of money to be happy before.

B．The writer spent much money on his sponsor child.

C．The writer spent lots of money doing shopping every month.

D．After joining the groups, the writer changed a lot in his heart.

5. From the passage, we can learn that the writer is a ________ person.

A．rich

B．lucky

C．kind

D．careless

6 . 幸福是什么，幸福是父母为你营造的温馨的家，幸福是老师望向你的赞许的目光，幸福是孤独时朋友送来的一杯奶茶，请你以“My happiness”为话题，写一件曾经发生过的令你感到幸福的事情。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . As a PhD student, I went through many difficulties in my research. When I graduated, I wasn’t willing to _________so many hours away from my young children with so _________ to show for it. Instead, I accepted my love of teaching by working as a _________.

A decade later and with my kids in school, my scientific _________ came out of hibernation (冬眠) and I _________ a position at a new arts college. In my undergraduate classes, I asked my students to complete controlled experiments that were _________ guaranteed to produce reasonable data. But after a few years, I grew _________ with the gap between those _________ experiments and my own research projects.

I decided to _________ a new course that would give our students experience performing __________ experiments, ones that had the __________ to fail. Then after a solid hour of __________ and some leading questions on my part, one student finally __________, “It doesn’t make __________.” Hallelujah! One of them had stepped back from seeing what they __________ to see and described what the data __________ showed. The breakthrough helped the classmates start to look at the results with more __________ eyes. Within minutes, they were overflowing with questions and __________ about what could have gone wrong. My students were thinking like scientists.

Research is __________ and full of failed attempts. Trying to protect students from that reality does harm to them. I hope my students will bring an __________ with them that success doesn’t always come easy.

1.

A．hide

B．sacrifice

C．hold

D．knock

2.

A．little

B．much

C．deep

D．far

3.

A．volunteer

B．programmer

C．librarian

D．lecturer

4.

A．major

B．achievement

C．curiosity

D．evidence

5.

A．created

B．left

C．secured

D．shared

6.

A．hardly

B．sometimes

C．lately

D．almost

7.

A．popular

B．uncomfortable

C．satisfied

D．unconcerned

8.

A．useful

B．meaningful

C．perfect

D．impressive

9.

A．develop

B．cancel

C．follow

D．take

10.

A．difficult

B．unique

C．diverse

D．uncontrolled

11.

A．significance

B．potential

C．goal

D．sign

12.

A．decoration

B．struggle

C．description

D．improvement

13.

A．held on

B．handed over

C．spoke up

D．gave in

14.

A．room

B．sense

C．space

D．art

15.

A．expected

B．promised

C．refused

D．decided

16.

A．frequently

B．generally

C．previously

D．actually

17.

A．serious

B．innocent

C．objective

D．respectful

18.

A．jokes

B．regrets

C．memories

D．ideas

19.

A．complicated

B．logical

C．limited

D．conventional

20.

A．advantage

B．ambition

C．awareness

D．aim

8 . A friend of mine recently said something nice to me.

“Those sunglasses just don’t _________ you,” she told me.

What was nice wasn’t the _________into my sunglasses, but my friend’s honesty. She wasn’t being _________. She wasn’t trying to hurt me. She really wanted what was best for me, and so she _________causing offense to tell me what I needed to hear.

It is rare, this kind of honesty. And it’s getting rarer.

We live in an age when social media is changing our _________communications. We post highly considered status updates on Facebook. We “like” the pictures of people we may not like _________, and leave comments on other people’s posts that are _________ and meaningless.

We are _________how to be real with each other.

We chat with a (an) _________ who has lipstick on her teeth and we pretend not to notice. We see our friend wearing an awful outfit and reassure her it’s fine. We ignore phone calls, or pretend to be busy, __________telling someone we don’t want to see them. And when we get our feelings hurt, we __________it down, because it’s far less difficult than facing the person who hurts us.

And we also refrain (避免) from being honest about ourselves when we are with friends. Sure, we might write about our emotional problems later, once the __________ is over.

We don’t talk about these problems __________ we’re deep in them, because they’re scary and make us weak. We keep the facade (假象) up and the smiles wide and the Instagram photos nice. And then when things __________-when we end up in hospital, or unemployed-our friends are shocked, because they didn’t see it coming.

We didn’t let them see it coming.

Honesty is difficult, but without it, we can’t connect with each other.

Start small. Let someone know if they have lipstick on their teeth. Tell your friend that no, the outfit isn’t the best, maybe consider something else. Tell your friend __________ that you won’t be at her party, but you wish her all the best. Let your loved ones know when they’ve hurt you, and be prepared to hear the same from them. Be a little more real on social media, for your sake as much as for everyone else’s.

1.

A．fit

B．suit

C．adapt

D．attract

2.

A．certainty

B．anxiety

C．worry

D．insight

3.

A．critical

B．practical

C．frank

D．professional

4.

A．minded

B．risked

C．avoid

D．enjoyed

5.

A．direct

B．interpersonal

C．private

D．public

6.

A．at first

B．at once

C．at all

D．at last

7.

A．incorrect

B．insincere

C．instant

D．indifferent

8.

A．losing

B．caring

C．forgetting

D．considering

9.

A．acquaintance

B．stranger

C．staff

D．foreigner

10.

A．more than

B．less than

C．other than

D．rather than

11.

A．lay

B．eat

C．swallow

D．set

12.

A．story

B．crisis

C．case

D．task

13.

A．and

B．so

C．while

D．or

14.

A．fall apart

B．take apart

C．break apart

D．draw apart

15.

A．frankly

B．regretfully

C．briefly

D．exactly

9 . A friend of mine called me at 2 am. I usually worked through the_________, so I was awake. She was_________some problems and wanted to talk to me about them.

I was_________with work, under a lot of pressure._________my work, I also had a lot on my mind. But I_________to stop what I was doing, put it all_________and talked to her. It did the trick because we managed to find some kind of clarity to the_________after the conversation.

I felt happy. I know that sometimes what_________is not really what you talk about or whether you have found a(n)_________solution to the problem. What really counts is knowing that when you are going through a（n）__________time, you have a shoulder to lean on. Just knowing that somebody__________enough to give you time, support and__________, without any judgment, is enough to__________much of the weight that you are carrying.

I've ever been in situations where I've had to__________through things by myself, with no support at all. Living like this makes you very__________. But it also makes you cynical, and leaves you feeling like you can only depend on yourself.

I have had__________from people at times, totally__________when I have really needed it. And I realise what a(n)__________it can make, having someone to talk to.

I really hope that I was able to give my friend support. Even though we did not__________the problem, I hope that I was able to__________her of some of the weight that she was carrying.

1.

A．day

B．night

C．year

D．dusk

2.

A．going through

B．backing up

C．lining in with

D．making up for

3.

A．equipped

B．contrasted

C．provided

D．overloaded

4.

A．Given

B．Including

C．Besides

D．Without

5.

A．regretted

B．decided

C．hesitated

D．dedicated

6.

A．on hold

B．out of control

C．at hand

D．within reach

7.

A．program

B．situation

C．life

D．fortune

8.

A．takes

B．determines

C．understands

D．matters

9.

A．clear

B．fancy

C．severe.

D．equal

10.

A．additional

B．fortunate

C．tough

D．great

11.

A．gets

B．leaves

C．lets

D．cares

12.

A．criticism

B．profit

C．presentation

D．encouragement

13.

A．stress

B．complain

C．remove

D．remember

14.

A．see

B．put

C．struggle

D．depart

15.

A．independent

B．discouraging

C．admirable

D．reliable

16.

A．result

B．advocate

C．ignorance

D．support

17.

A．privately

B．unexpectedly

C．roughly

D．unfairly

18.

A．proposal

B．similarity

C．difference

D．acknowledgement

19.

A．solve

B．benefit

C．rule

D．keep

20.

A．inform

B．relieve

C．convince

D．remind

10 . I don’t own a camera anymore. I know my computer has one and my daughter is ________ taking photos with her smart phone. However, I rally miss those ________ cameras. I can remember taking a roll of film, mailing it out, and then ________ for two weeks to get the pictures back. And half of them were either overexposed by the sunlight or all of us had red eyes in them from the flash on the ________.

I can also remember the ________ when we finally saved up enough money to get a Polaroid (一次成像的) camera. It was more exciting to ________ the camera and have a photo ________ in only a minute. Even then, though, we only used it for special ________, such as birthdays and family gatherings.

Nowadays everything seems to be ________, saved and posted online. I wonder ________. Maybe a part of it is that we all want to stop, freeze and ________ these moments in time that fly by so fast. I have to ________ that sometimes I do. Just the other day I ________ some dusty photo albums about my ________. In one there was a picture of me just a few years old, laughing in my front yard. How I longed to go back to that ________, see my mother’s smiling face and be held in my grandmother’s ________ arms once more. Still, I know that does live on in my heart, and one day we will all be ________ again.

The truth is that hard as we try we can’t ________ time. All the photos can’t keep it in place, either. Perhaps we should really ________ our lives instead of just filming them. Perhaps it is best to smile with joy instead of smiling for a ________.

1.

A．unwillingly

B．hesitantly

C．barely

D．constantly

2.

A．expensive

B．advanced

C．old

D．popular

3.

A．relaxing

B．advertising

C．hiding

D．waiting

4.

A．watch

B．phone

C．camera

D．computer

5.

A．thrill

B．confusion

C．terror

D．peace

6.

A．replace

B．click

C．send

D．return

7.

A．ready

B．destroyed

C．posted

D．still

8.

A．accidents

B．occasions

C．challenges

D．adventures

9.

A．ignored

B．deleted

C．filmed

D．combined

10.

A．why

B．where

C．when

D．how

11.

A．judge

B．transform

C．bury

D．preserve

12.

A．forget

B．admit

C．doubt

D．predict

13.

A．looked through

B．broke down

C．mixed up

D．swept away

14.

A．adulthood

B．childhood

C．birth

D．adolescence

15.

A．thought

B．debate

C．moment

D．ceremony

16.

A．cold

B．unfamiliar

C．shaky

D．loving

17.

A．awake

B．asleep

C．together

D．away

18.

A．spend

B．stop

C．count

D．kill

19.

A．waste

B．assess

C．record

D．live

20.

A．photograph

B．game

C．mail

D．face