1 . My brother and I are exactly one year apart. We look like twins, but we are completely _________ . By the time we got to middle school it was clear that my older brother _________ meditation (冥想),while I was a born _________ who preferred the theatrical, even when off stage. I took his relative silence to be offensive. We simply didn't _________.

I didn't _________ having a tense relationship with my brother because I was involved at school. _________, I threw myself into the world of musicals. I practised singing in the bedroom every day to remain at my best and be _________ for roles; my brother would meditate on a window seat. He might feel high school was already hard enough _________ my noisy singing. So space to practise became a（n）_________ between us because we shared a room.

At the start of the semester, I practised “Circle of Life" for a musical. This was the first time I __________ to learn a song, because my voice cracked (破音)as I switched to a head voice. I was annoyed in that period and __________ practising, declaring I had reached the ceiling of my singing career. For the first time in years my brother __________ quiet when I got home.

After two days of this, my brother asked me to __________ him in meditation. Feeling my anger at my inability to manage this song __________,I accepted. My brother said, "When your mind floats away, you simply come back. Don't blame yourself" I got the message, and it soon became my new __________. I kept trying at the song, no longer getting __________ at myself. And just in time for the trial performance, I was able to __________ power in my singing despite the switch to a head voice. It was important for me to learn that you don't have to always get everything __________ the first time and that good things come with continual __________.I now understand why my brother favours the __________.

1.

A．mature

B．different

C．content

D．normal

2.

A．disliked

B．preferred

C．replaced

D．abandoned

3.

A．writer

B．leader

C．painter

D．performer

4.

A．get along

B．drop by

C．show off

D．check in

5.

A．try

B．mind

C．enjoy

D．delay

6.

A．In particular

B．In vain

C．In return

D．In theory

7.

A．humorous

B．ordinary

C．competitive

D．grateful

8.

A．above

B．below

C．near

D．without

9.

A．issue

B．contrast

C．agreement

D．balance

10.

A．struggled

B．expected

C．promised

D．decided

11.

A．began

B．allowed

C．stopped

D．continued

12.

A．hated

B．experienced

C．accepted

D．wanted

13.

A．help

B．invite

C．join

D．admire

14.

A．gracefully

B．suddenly

C．fiercely

D．cautiously

15.

A．limit

B．sentence

C．mistake

D．philosophy

16.

A．rude

B．angry

C．surprised

D．excited

17.

A．lose

B．share

C．reduce

D．maintain

18.

A．wrong

B．right

C．back

D．down

19.

A．luck

B．absence

C．effort

D．fear

20.

A．fight

B．noise

C．quiet

D．safety

2 . 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.

3 . The world that we live in is beautiful because it’s made up of people from a diverse set of backgrounds and cultures.     1     There’s no better way than to acknowledge Global Diversity Awareness Month every October.

During this time, our multicultural world is embraced and celebrated for all of the variety and joy it brings. Can you imagine a world where everyone looks the same, has the exact same hobbies and interests, and even eats the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner?     2     And bringing those differences together makes us better.

To put it simply, our diversity and inclusiveness (包容性)are our biggest strengths. We’ll all profit from a more diverse, inclusive society, understanding, accommodating, even celebrating our differences, while pulling together for the common good. As such, Global Diversity Awareness Month is a great chance for us to learn more about the beliefs, values and customs of other cultures.         3    

    4     For example, we can host a multicultural movie night and watch foreign films, or listen to music from around the world or visit cultural art exhibitions. Another way we can celebrate diversity is by inviting our friends and family to dinner. Everyone can bring traditional dishes from their countries and hometowns.

There is no doubt that diversity and inclusiveness make our world a better place.     5     As Mahatma Gandhi once said, our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization. Hopefully, with each passing day, we get closer and closer to that achievement.

A．There are many ways we can celebrate diversity.

B．How can we make the world a better place to live in?

C．What can possibly be a better way to celebrate that diversity?

D．Respect for world diversity is the key to bridging the differences.

E．It’s our unique differences that make the world so wonderful and interesting.

F．What’s important is that we reach out to other people and appreciate those differences.

G．In this way, we can open our mind to new ideas and ways of thinking to better our society.

4 . Over the last few weeks, I have been back and forth to the hospital and working with my doctors and medical technicians. I feel very _________ and appreciative of all the great minds and effort involved in _________ my illness. I found I have become _________ grateful to those human beings who invented the many medical _________ that have saved so many lives and _________ so much pain.

With everything I _________, I couldn’t help thinking about many life-changing _________ that we humans have come up with, from the fairly simple stethoscope (听诊器) to more _________ inventions like X-rays, and other great devices. Of course, one of the biggest, most basic inventions was the _________. It changed the world in all kinds of ways. Without wheels, we’d have no __________, such as bikes, cars, trains, or airplanes.

__________many inventions human beings have invented through the ages, I __________ some very popular inventions. It is __________ to imagine what if we live without them. These __________ things like tape, nails, Post-it notes, DNA testing, the Internet, vaccines, and medical imaging.

Some inventions were accidental __________ but many were matter of simply trying to solve a problem. If we pay attention to what we experience and really put our __________ to it, there is no reason why we couldn’t come up with some new inventions ourselves. Maybe make a list of __________ items, systems, and habits we all have, and then go up and down the list and see if we can put two or three items together in a way to come up with a new __________ or better way to handle life and the __________ in it. Give it a try and see what we can come up with, We could __________ ourselves, and others as well!

1.

A．regretful

B．grateful

C．severe

D．pure

2.

A．ignoring

B．concerning

C．curing

D．swapping

3.

A．painfully

B．specially

C．frequently

D．particularly

4.

A．devices

B．antiques

C．curtains

D．manuals

5.

A．gathered

B．threatened

C．relieved

D．detected

6.

A．suffered from

B．set down

C．packed up

D．went through

7.

A．inventions

B．shadows

C．editions

D．proofs

8.

A．pure

B．complex

C．adorable

D．contradictory

9.

A．wheel

B．train

C．airplane

D．car

10.

A．structures

B．labels

C．vehicles

D．assumptions

11.

A．Drafting

B．Reviewing

C．Adapting

D．Seizing

12.

A．switched

B．pirated

C．leaked

D．found

13.

A．hard

B．steady

C．funny

D．safe

14.

A．mean

B．expand

C．include

D．indicate

15.

A．discoveries

B．statistics

C．patents

D．observations

16.

A．principles

B．policies

C．minds

D．effects

17.

A．distinct

B．strange

C．legal

D．common

18.

A．current

B．product

C．powder

D．criterion

19.

A．challenges

B．directions

C．privacies

D．conclusions

20.

A．puzzle

B．frighten

C．annoy

D．surprise

5 . Natural disasters may claim thousands of lives or destroy millions of homes. What can we learn from disasters?

Sometimes, there are no real answers. Everyone has lost something and someone, and they keep on asking what they have done to deserve this cruel fate. It’s okay to hold on to these questions, but no matter how hard and painful it is, you should keep moving, breathing and living.     1    

Even strangers can teach you kindness. There may be millions of selfish people in the world.     2     There is still kindness out there, waiting to be discovered. You will find it everywhere, at the most unexpected places—even among the wastelands left by the disaster.

Family is everything. Sometimes we forget to love our family, just because we’re too busy with our own lives.     3     We will not realize their value until we arrive at an empty house, an abandoned and forgotten place that you once called “home”.

    4     Sure, reality can be harsh and unforgiving but it doesn’t mean that we should blame ourselves and feel like a victim forever. We have to strive and thrive; we have to fight and do whatever it takes to resist and rise up. Not everyone will have a happy ending or an interesting plot, but we can always decide how to write the ending.

Every day of your life should be spent loving and living. Don’t be angry at the world for letting you live an unbearable life of heartbreaks and frustrations.     5     So just love deep and love hard. Live as if it’s your only chance to find the happiness that you deserve.

A．You’ll find your way someday.

B．Your money won’t matter in the end.

C．Life is too short to live in its imperfections.

D．However, it’s not a reason to lose hope in humanity.

E．You shouldn’t be a victim forever——be a survivor.

F．You have to help yourself first before you can help others.

G．At times, we take them for granted because we think they’ll always be there.

6 . Whether it's the slow drifting apart from a childhood friend, the sudden, sharp distance created by a disagreement, or one of the many relationships that have quietly fallen away during the pandemic, losing someone that you thought would always be in your life is deeply jarring.

But friendship breakups will happen over the course of our lives, and we need to start learning how to deal with them in healthy ways, says friendship coach Danielle Bayard Jackson.

The most significant thing we need to do, says Jackson, is normalize the fact that sometimes friendships do end and that can actually be healthy. However, we haven't been taught to carry this expectation into our friend relationships.

“We’re not looking at our friends through a lens (透镜) of ‘Gosh,I hope this works out’, but we’ll do that with a romantic partner for sure,” says Jackson. “ With a partner, we wonder if they're going to be the one. But with friends, we assume they' re the one from the minute we establish that we like each other.”

And because we don't view the loss of a friendship as a normal occurrence, it feels like a personal failing when it happens and something we should be ashamed of. Or, as Jackson puts it, “If friendship is supposed to be easy and yours ended, what did you do wrong?”

But that isn't the case.

Friendships, like any relationship, sometimes aren't meant to be and even if they are, maintaining them takes real work. Kristen Newton has been interested in this work for years and founded HEART Convos, which aims to help people who feel stuck in unsatisfying friendships have the kind of open and honest communication that keeps a friendship healthy.

“I think we feel blindsided because we belittle the value and significance of our social connections and friendship. Yet we recognize the weight that they carry when they don't work out, and we experience that hurt and disappointment,” she says.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A．How to regain a friendship that has ended.

B．The loss of a friendship is a normal occurrence.

C．Why friendship breaks up over the course of our lives.

D．Many relationships have fallen away during the pandemic.

2. What does the underlined word “jarring” possibly mean?

A．Disturbing.	B．Inspiring.
C．Exciting.	D．Disgusting.

3. According to Jackson, a romantic partner is different from friends in that___________.

A．friends are much harder to get than a romantic partner

B．your romantic partner will be apart from you but friends never

C．you are more afraid of losing a friend than losing a romantic partner

D．you are sure who will be your friend but not sure of a romantic partner

4. Which of the following proverbs can best interpret Kristen Newton's opinion in the text?

A．All good things came to an end.

B．A life without a friend is a life without a sun.

C．We don't know what we've got until we lose it.

D．Everything is good when new, but friend when old.

7 . Last week I wrote about how giving to others can and does lift your life and brings more happiness, contentment, and even better health and a longer life. It must have _________ me to practice what I was preaching (宣扬) because later I _________ myself in my car driving to the high school that all my kids attended and going _________ to the office where I made a pretty sizable donation.

As I walked out of the building, I felt so good and happy in the _________ of my heart and brain that I _________ another school. I made a couple more _________ that day and felt like I was on top of the _________. It’s very _________ that when I make donations, including all those $2 bills that I _________ give to kids, I always feel that I __________ much more out of it than the recipient (接受者). What a great __________ it gives me! As science has proved, there is a great __________ between the brain and the __________. This allows us humans to help and __________ our entire physical being by what we run through our heads. __________ is one of those things that can set off a lot of good __________ feelings in our bodies.

Most of us, when we talk about giving, tend to think __________ in terms of giving money. But there are so many other ways and things to give. With very little __________, I came up with this list of things we can give to others that can be a __________ help to those people and, at the same time, can give a __________ to our brains, souls, and bodies.

1.

A．attracted

B．prohibited

C．motivated

D．allowed

2.

A．found

B．devoted

C．committed

D．dressed

3.

A．suddenly

B．specially

C．well

D．straight

4.

A．presence

B．center

C．edge

D．absence

5.

A．got through

B．registered for

C．rolled over

D．headed for

6.

A．donations

B．experiments

C．predictions

D．decisions

7.

A．voice

B．building

C．-world

D．mountain

8.

A．surprising

B．interesting

C．annoying

D．convincing

9.

A．often

B．purely

C．simply

D．deliberately

10.

A．make

B．share

C．get

D．change

11.

A．shock

B．feeling

C．gift

D．reward

12.

A．difference

B．restriction

C．gap

D．connection

13.

A．body

B．heart

C．muscle

D．ankle

14.

A．handle

B．improve

C．spread

D．block

15.

A．Purchasing

B．Organizing

C．Giving

D．Changing

16.

A．official

B．foreign

C．familiar

D．positive

17.

A．fortunately

B．constantly

C．primarily

D．eventually

18.

A．effort

B．contribution

C．requirement

D．chance

19.

A．real

B．legal

C．formal

D．huge

20.

A．terminal

B．lift

C．train

D．rest

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式，并将答案填写在答题卡相应的位置上。

I truly believe the secret to a successful quit lies in the desire to quit. No     1     (program) work when you don’t really want to stop     2     (smoke). If your desire to quit is     3     (great) than your need to smoke, you will     4     (success). We all deserve.     5     smoke-free life. No matter what causes us     6     (quit) smoking or spurs (鞭策) us on, we deserve health and     7     (happy) that being smoke-free provides. You’ll have a     8     (wonder) existence without nicotine addiction. If you still struggle with the desire     9     you have to continue smoking after you’ve quit, I believe you need to re-examine your reasons     10     quitting in the first place.

9 . The Happy Man

The happy man lives objectively, and has free love and wide interests, through which he secures his happiness. To be the receivers of love is a vital cause of happiness, but the man who demands love is not the man to whom it is given.     1     But it is useless to attempt to give love as a calculation, for it is not sincere and is not felt.

What then can a man do who is unhappy because he is enclosed in self? If he is to get out of the vicious (恶性的) circle of unhappiness, it must be by true interests. But before that, he should analyze his trouble first.     2     If fear is his trouble, let him practice exercises designed to give courage.

Admit to himself every day at least one painful truth.     3     Exercises of this sort will enable him to admit facts and will free him from the fear to a large extent.

    4     Do not say to yourself in advance, “I should be happy if I could become interested in stamp-collecting,” and thus set to work to collect stamps, for it may well happen that you will altogether fail to find stamp-collecting interesting. You may be pretty sure that true objective interests will grow up as soon as you have learnt not to be self-centered.

All unhappiness depends upon lack of integration (融合). There is disintegration within the self,consciously and unconsciously or between the self and society.     5     Such a man feels himself a citizen of the universe, enjoying what it affords, untroubled by the death because he feels not separate from those who will come after him.

A．There is much he can do about it.

B．The man who receives love is the man who gives it.

C．The interests will arise when you overcome being self-centered.

D．The happy life is to an extraordinary extent the same as the good life.

E．Teach himself life is worth even not having great virtue or intelligence.

F．Self-denying leaves a man self-absorbed and aware of his own sacrifice.

G．Neither divided against the self nor the world, the happy man never fails to unite.

10 . We all have memories of what our fathers enjoyed, and all the fun we had with him: travelling, reading, or exploring the neighborhood hiking trail. Each of us has treasured stories and memories of times with dad.    1    

The charm of storytelling,the fun of traveling, the immersion in a book...these are the gifts of a lifetime my father helped me unwrap.    2    All the stories he narrated to engage us and all the travels we took with him opened up a whole new world to me which was like a breath of fresh air in my life.

My father, turning 75 this year, is still a storyteller, but his exploration of the world has turned virtual. Like almost all children, I spent my twenties walking away from his stories since I was always “occupied with my work.”    3     August all expectations, I hear the unsaid health concerns and the frustration at no being able to do everything the way he used to. In contrast, I have travelled farther than he could take us, and read books much more than he ever had time outside his working hours.

    4    That lies in the things he points at and in the activities he helps us manage. He gifts us expediences of strength and courage that power us forward into the big wide world — a world he walks with us so as to better assure that we will be able to explore and navigate its nettles (荨麻) without being held back by our fears or worries.

Have you ever put your ear to a seashell and heard the waves whooshing in there? On the outside, it is a hard shell — pitted, untidily edged and boldly patterned.    5    They seem to have a tough shell, and you have to put them to your heart and listen for the waves of what they feel and whatever it is that they have left unsaid.

A．I am no exception.

B．A father brings the world to us.

C．In some ways, this describes fathers.

D．However, a father can sometimes be hard on us.

E．Inside are some valuable contents that should be treasured.

F．Now older and wiser, I restarted listening attentively to his tales.

G．As I look back on my childhood, I see loads of books and miles of travel.