1 . When you look at yourself in the mirror, do you focus on something you wish were different, and hear a critical inside voice?     1    . But if you are ready to be kind to yourself and willing to send that negative voice away forever, how do you begin? There are three steps to overcome our “negativity bias” (负面偏见).

1. Start with Mindful Awareness

Being aware of how you are treating yourself is really the first step.     2    . Use your actual name as you describe what you are doing, seeing, and feeling.

Then, instead of criticizing yourself, be curious about what you did and the reasons behind it. Remind yourself that you are doing the best with what you have. And pay your attention to the positive side of the situation.

2.     3    

We all are worthy of love and we need to show loving kindness to ourselves. That might seem awkward at first, but with a little practice, the process will become easier. Soon the positive feeling you receive from self-kindness will provide you with a sense of happiness.

One of the best practices to build up your self-kindness is called “Note to a Dear Friend”. When you are facing a challenge or difficulty, write a note to a friend as if they were facing the same problem.     4    . Then, take the note and change your friend’s name to your own.

3. Recognize That You Aren’t Alone

Not one of us lives a perfect life. Everyone faces challenges and makes mistakes.     5    . First, you get a little bit less lonely. You are not the only person suffering, and knowing that takes a weight off your shoulders. Second, it becomes a little easier to open up to others, and say, “I need help.” We don’t have to pretend that everything is great when it isn’t. It’s OK to take off our masks and let people know exactly how we feel!

A．Practice Kindness

B．Show Others Kindness

C．It is important to face them

D．Simply name your feeling and inside voice

E．Write down what you think would help your friend

F．When we recognize that, valuable things will happen

G．If so, you may have the tendency to criticize yourself

2 . My quest started when I was on the New York subway. Some children were whining. Four trains came screaming into the station at once. I put my hands over my ears and cowered (蜷缩) — the noise was deafening. In cities, the ever-present dull background roar of planes, cars, machinery and voices is a fact of life. There is no escape from it and it was beginning to drive me mad.

In an attempt to recapture some peace, I decided to go on a mission to find the quietest place on Earth to discover whether absolute silence exists. The one place I was most excited about visiting was an anechoic chamber (消声室) in Minnesota.

Ironically, far from being peaceful, most people find its perfect quiet upsetting. And yet I booked a 45-minute session—no one had managed to stay in for that long before. When the heavy door shut behind me, I was plunged into darkness — all lights were turned off because they could also make a noise.

For the first few seconds, being in such a quiet place felt like heaven, a remedy for my unsettled nerves. Then, after a minute or two, I became aware of the sound of my breathing. As the minutes ticked by, the beat of my heart became apparent. Then I heard a strange, metallic scraping noise. Was I hallucinating? The feeling of peace was spoiled by a sensation of disappointment — this place wasn’t quiet at all.

Then I stopped obsessing about what bodily functions I could hear and began to enjoy it. I didn’t feel afraid and came out only because my time was up. Everyone was impressed that I’d beaten the record, but having spent so long searching for quiet, I was comfortable with the feeling of absolute stillness. Afterward, I felt wonderfully rested and calm.

My desire for silence changed my life. I found making space for moments of quiet in my day is the key to happiness. If you can occasionally become master of your own sound environment — from turning off the phone to taking a trip to the countryside, you’ll become a lot more accepting of the noises of everyday life.

1. What pushed the author to seek a change?

A．The annoying kids.	B．Loud chats in stations.
C．The roar of subway.	D．Endless noises in daily life.

2. Why did the author pick the anechoic chamber in Minnesota?

A．It might give perfect silence.	B．It launched a time challenge.
C．It offered professional guidance.	D．It was the only one of its kind.

3. What happened when the author was in the anechoic chamber?

A．He started talking to himself.	B．He heard sounds from the outside.
C．He made some mental adjustments.	D．He felt scared in the first few minutes.

4. What message does the text convey?

A．Noises stop us from making progress.	B．Moments of inner quiet better our lives.
C．We should bravely overcome our fears.	D．A state of peace and calm is hard to attain.

3 . 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。

I was never very neat. Later in life I learned to attribute (把……归因于)this shortcoming to my creative genius, saying that my disorganization was simply the side of my unique gifts and talents. Yet, back at high school, I hadn’t come up with any impressive reasons for my big messes.

As fate would have it, my teacher paired me with Kim as my roommate. I’m not sure why he stuck us together. I don’t think he could have possibly picked two more different people to room together. Kim was extremely organized. She labeled everything and each item she owned had its place. Well, I think my bits and pieces of paper, odds and ends (零碎物品) would find their ways into places automatically. And apparently, my roommate didn’t seem to be on the same page with me.

As time went by, she got neater, while I got messier. She would complain about my dirty clothes. I would complain about Lysol (杀菌消毒剂) headaches. She would push gently my clothing over to one side and I would lay one of my books on her tidy desk.

One October evening, things got ugly. Kim came into the room and lost her temper right away after seeing one of my shoes had found its way beneath her bed. She picked it up, cast it toward my side of the room angrily and managed to knock the layer of clothes onto the floor (by the way, I had planned to fold them later). I jumped off the bed and immediately started yelling about her rudeness. She yelled back, “Look at the mess you’ve made! Could you at least clean up your own table!” I was sitting on my bed, fuming (发怒). She was sitting on hers, fuming. The room was thick with anger. It could have ended a with a violent fight if it hadn’t been for the phone call she received.

注意：续写词数应为150左右。

She picked the phone up and I could tell it was bad news from her family.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I found myself lost for words and I decided to do something.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . Sitting on the sofa in Xiao Jia’s apartment, I learned how difficult it was to apply makeup（化妆品）to a face you cannot see.

I visited Xiao on a winter day. She greeted me with a big smile and then _______ me her multi-layered makeup box. With the help of friends, she has _______ everything with special tape and braille (盲文).

As we sat next to each other, she touched my face to _______ its shape and suggested I get bangs (刘海). After _______ my cheeks, nose, and forehead, she found bottles of makeup that _______ well with my skin, and _______ patted them onto my face and neck. That finished, she went on to pencil my eyebrows, line my eyes..., slow but with amazing accuracy!

“Though many people don’t think it’s _______ for blind people to put on makeup, since it’s difficult and we wouldn’t even ‘see’ the _______, I consider the whole process a way for me to enjoy the moment,” Xiao told me.

Xiao studied painting for six years before being diagnosed with an eye disease, which left her without _______ after just two years. Xiao has never seen her own makeup. All her __________ comes from her teacher Ji Chunli’s feedback over the years. They met at a beauty event in 2015 after Xiao __________ a makeup tutorial video featuring a blind British girl, which gave her __________ to master the skill. Ji had no experience __________ the blind, but was touched by Xiao’s resolve. Every week for a year, Xiao took a one-hour bus ride to __________ classes at Ji’s beauty studio.

Finally Xiao chose from different shades of lipsticks to match my skin color, which I__________ to her. Considering the shape of my lips too, she __________ the “flame red” to my lips.

When she finished all, I was __________ anticipation(期待)and had my face nearly pressed against the mirror to see the result. I didn’t see much difference with the makeup I wore __________ I sat down, but that was probably the __________. In any case, it is the process that really __________.

1.

A．showed

B．awarded

C．returned

D．threw

2.

A．explained

B．decorated

C．connected

D．labeled

3.

A．determine

B．calculate

C．transform

D．paint

4.

A．making

B．imagining

C．feeling

D．observing

5.

A．cooperated

B．mixed

C．went

D．lived

6.

A．gently

B．violently

C．casually

D．suddenly

7.

A．interesting

B．fortunate

C．necessary

D．dangerous

8.

A．outcome

B．movement

C．beauty

D．surroundings

9.

A．income

B．vision

C．doubt

D．hope

10.

A．inspiration

B．power

C．equipment

D．experience

11.

A．uploaded

B．copied

C．produced

D．found

12.

A．responsibility

B．determination

C．patience

D．freedom

13.

A．teaching

B．curing

C．tending

D．evaluating

14.

A．give

B．attend

C．manage

D．skip

15.

A．committed

B．described

C．brought

D．assigned

16.

A．conveyed

B．introduced

C．applied

D．treated

17.

A．exposed to

B．stuck in

C．known for

D．filled with

18.

A．until

B．before

C．after

D．once

19.

A．solution

B．goal

C．achievement

D．point

20.

A．lasts

B．differs

C．counts

D．ends

5 . As I work in the garden, I take my time. And the garden is ________ me about working with the earth. I recognize that there will be both successes and failures and there are many factors that ________ them both. The ________ of the seeds can affect the growth of the plants. The ________ can be too hot, too cold, or ________ right. Weeds need to be ________ and thrown away to ________ that the fruits, vegetables, and flowers we have planted grow well.

I take time to stand back and rest, and to ________ the plants. Each plant is ________ and develops in the way that is best for them. Some have large broad leaves to ________ their fruit from the rays of the sun, while other plants are more ________, their fruit needing the ________ to grow and ripen.

Getting my hands ________ and feeling the sweat on my forehead, as I work under the summer sun, reminds me I am ________ in the ways I wouldn't have remembered sitting on the couch.

I feel attracted to move things around to transplant and to ________ the natural order of how plants grow. The garden teaches me the importance of knowing when to disturb things and when to let them be. The garden's life cycle ________ a pattern that is repeated according to the ________ of nature. Birth, growth, and then death and it teaches me to accept this fact.

Perhaps life is like the ________, successes and failures, time to be active and time to ________ to let go of what is no longer needed, to cultivate what helps us to grow into our light and power, and to readily ________ life from beginning to end.

1.

A．telling

B．concerning

C．worrying

D．teaching

2.

A．destroy

B．affect

C．promote

D．exchange

3.

A．quality

B．color

C．shape

D．weight

4.

A．water

B．air

C．weather

D．wind

5.

A．approximately

B．constantly

C．exactly

D．occasionally

6.

A．pulled

B．planted

C．guarded

D．provided

7.

A．make sense

B．find out

C．work out

D．make sure

8.

A．tend

B．observe

C．count

D．examine

9.

A．beautiful

B．average

C．amazing

D．unique

10.

A．prevent

B．separate

C．shade

D．remove

11.

A．open

B．delicate

C．straight

D．vivid

12.

A．energy

B．light

C．soil

D．space

13.

A．empty

B．dirty

C．broken

D．free

14.

A．awake

B．tired

C．alive

D．independent

15.

A．disturb

B．find

C．enjoy

D．guide

16.

A．discovers

B．transforms

C．draws

D．follows

17.

A．changes

B．reflection

C．laws

D．development

18.

A．plant

B．sun

C．fruit

D．garden

19.

A．rest

B．quit

C．offer

D．fight

20.

A．expect

B．accept

C．picture

D．receive

6 . Being able to travel the world is truly an accomplishment of the modern society. _________, many people take it for granted and miss out on it. I _________ that travel is an efficient way to experience life and _________ the mind.

Many people think that travel is a(n) _________ hobby. But that's not the _________. Travel is, in fact, what you _________ it. If you're planning to fly around the world and live in a 5-star hotel, then sure, it is. However, travel can be cheap, too. This means that _______ you're on a tight budget, there's no problem. The _________ is to know what you're looking for before the trip and plan everything _________. In some situations, travelling can be __________, such as with hitchhiking (搭顺风车).

When travelling to another country, we __________ get out of our comfort zone and __________ new experiences. Talking to strangers, sleeping in new places, or even eating food you are not __________ all can be the source of __________ for some shy people. However, such experiences can make a big __________, taking a person onto a whole new level of being and bringing great changes to the mind.

Moreover, travelling is also a process of ________ .The best history class is the one that you can experience for yourself. Of course you can't ________ to go back in time, but to be there where "big things" happened is truly breathtaking. When I went to Berlin and saw all the areas where battles __________, I was completely shocked. It's as if the __________ of the event crawls (爬) inside of me and __________ me to experience a piece of it the way it was back then.

1.

A．Naturally

B．Unfortunately

C．Surprisingly

D．Obviously

2.

A．admit

B．agree

C．suppose

D．realize

3.

A．expand

B．clarify

C．bend

D．refresh

4.

A．ordinary

B．relaxing

C．wonderful

D．expensive

5.

A．matter

B．question

C．case

D．point

6.

A．make up for

B．make off with

C．make over

D．make of

7.

A．if

B．unless

C．once

D．since

8.

A．truth

B．key

C．reason

D．problem

9.

A．on time

B．on purpose

C．in patience

D．in advance

10.

A．casual

B．free

C．simple

D．challenging

11.

A．occasionally

B．hardly

C．unavoidably

D．merely

12.

A．remember

B．expect

C．create

D．imagine

13.

A．blind to

B．accustomed to

C．bored with

D．concerned with

14.

A．complaint

B．disappointment

C．confusion

D．anxiety

15.

A．difference

B．deal

C．mess

D．hit

16.

A．self-education

B．self-awareness

C．self-assessment

D．self-acceptance

17.

A．afford

B．wait

C．manage

D．stand

18.

A．settled in

B．settled down

C．took off

D．took place

19.

A．atmosphere

B．consequence

C．course

D．impact

20.

A．encourages

B．enables

C．forces

D．reminds