1 . The sun prepared to rest for the evening, and I intended to follow. Looking forward to setting my camera aside for an evening, I
I hoped the boy would find someone else to take his
I
I have learned much about myself and life through photography. The outer
Photography has become my connection to the world. I’m privileged to see others, like that Surma boy,
| A．looked | B．marched | C．headed | D．crawled |
| A．fished | B．dogged | C．foxed | D．petted |
| A．energetic | B．zealous | C．shameful | D．tired |
| A．photograph | B．hand | C．advice | D．place |
| A．happened | B．managed | C．turned | D．agreed |
| A．flashed | B．lifted | C．hid | D．disappeared |
| A．awarded | B．instructed | C．noticed | D．evaluated |
| A．eagerness | B．politeness | C．wildness | D．loneliness |
| A．naturally | B．awkwardly | C．angrily | D．ambitiously |
| A．concern | B．force | C．surprise | D．cheer |
| A．reached for | B．went through | C．broke into | D．acted on |
| A．shots | B．signals | C．exercises | D．copies |
| A．worse | B．better | C．riskier | D．clearer |
| A．adventures | B．memories | C．achievements | D．experiences |
| A．Drawing | B．Passing | C．Reflecting | D．Relying |
| A．taught up in | B．fed up with | C．looking up to | D．making up for |
| A．celebrated | B．remembered | C．seen | D．admired |
| A．captured | B．changed | C．Identified | D．neglected |
| A．other than | B．rather than | C．regardless of | D．as for |
| A．informs | B．accuses | C．warns | D．reminds |
2 . As a university professor, I have been immersed in theory and guess for so long that it recently struck me: I don’t know how to do anything. By “do”, I mean something material, something done with my hands that produce an actual product.
The trades come to mind. Whenever I call an electrician, or a mason, or a carpenter, I look on in wonder as they smoothly employ their skills. For example, I recently had a new kitchen sink nulled by a young man. He kept singing as he worked at the pipes. Minutes later, he turned on the water and it flowed forth with nothing similar to a leak. Is this not a minor miracle?
All of this brought me to a decision: I registered for an adult evening course at a local technical school. The title: Basic Electricity and Wiring (线路). When we began, I felt immediately overwhelmed. So many new terms. In an instant, I was a student again in all respects: The anxiety, the self-doubt, the wondering if I had made a mistake. And then I recalled: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence... Education will not; the world is full of educated failures.” So I worked my way through my basic wiring course. My initial impulse to jump ship gradually gave way to the awareness that I was, indeed, acquiring a useful new skill.
What followed ahead was the course’s climax: Each student was presented with a switch and a lighting fixture (照明设备). The task was to install them-in-a-door-frame and-wire them; but not throw the switch until the instructor was present. There I was, an experienced professor, standing like a fresh-faced schoolboy. I worked away, using my tools to connect wires. When I was done, I raised my hand. The instructor looked over my job and glanced at me. “Hit the switch,” he said.
It’s hard to characterize that moment. But I did feel that learning is not something that ends early in life. I need to widen my horizon through constant learning. The broader the horizon, the more opportunities there are to learn something new.
I hit the switch.
There was light.
In more ways than one.
1. Why did the author register for an adult evening course?| A．Because he met several problems in the daily life. |
| B．Because he wanted to learn the secret of the miracle. |
| C．Because he needed to strengthen his theoretical knowledge. |
| D．Because he desired to make actual products with his own hands. |
| A．Dropping out of the evening course. | B．Ignoring so many new terms. |
| C．Setting a goal and never giving up. | D．Impressing others with his new skills. |
| A．Responsible and sharp-eyed. | B．Determined and self-motivated. |
| C．Creative and well-informed. | D．Considerate and widely-interested. |
| A．There is no end to learning. | B．One good turn deserves another. |
| C．Actions speak louder than words. | D．A fall in a pit, a gain in your wit. |
3 . The message is drummed into us from childhood: forgive people who’ve wronged you, because it’s the right thing to do. Forgiveness is a virtue, we’re told—the only way for us to truly move on and heal, freed from the baggage of bearing ill will.
However, I’m not buying it. Forgiving someone can indeed be a beautiful thing, but it’s not always what’s best for us. In fact, if someone has hurt you deeply and the relationship isn’t healthy, trying to “fix” things can do more harm than good.
Most of us would probably agree that forgiving a wrongdoer means letting go of negative feelings—like anger and resentment—towards them, as if nothing happened. Actually this isn’t helpful. It pressures us to minimize our feelings and revise our boundaries—to say “it’s OK” when for us, it isn’t. While it’s not a good idea to focus on negative thoughts, recognizing and processing all of that pain is an important part of the healing journey. And when someone doesn’t make us feel seen or safe, forgiving them can actually reduce our self-esteem.
A 2010 research paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that folks who forgave partners that didn’t make them feel valued had less respect for themselves. Letting minor offences that happen now and again slide can be great for any relationship, but repeatedly forgiving bad behavior can encourage that person to keep hurting you.
At least, that’s what 2011 research by psychology professor James McNulty argues. He found that when a partner was more likely to forgive those acts, the aggressor was more likely to keep committing them. McNulty suggests that this is because facing the consequences of their actions is what motivates people to change their ways, and being offered a clean slate can be a kind of pass to avoid making changes. So forgiving frequent and major offences, like verbal or physical abuse, can do more harm than good.
For me, this speaks to the core tension in the idea. Instead of looking to forgiveness like a magic medicine, we can focus on recognizing what happened and coming to terms with it, however that looks for us and without any sense of obligation towards our offender.
1. What does the author think about the message in paragraph 1?| A．It’s reasonable. | B．It’s debatable. |
| C．It’s convincing. | D．It’s unquestionable. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By giving statistics. |
| C．By quoting researchers’ views. | D．By sharing his own experiences. |
| A．A repeated offence. | B．A magic medicine. |
| C．A terrible consequence. | D．A complete forgiveness. |
| A．Forgiving is always a virtue. | B．Forgiving can change everything. |
| C．Forgiving others sometimes depends. | D．Forgiving others always seems impossible. |
4 . I was then in my early twenties. Even though I was armed with a degree in Education, finding a
This year, when a golden opportunity
One day when the kids were
That experience showed me the
| A．first-rate | B．well-paid | C．labor-saving | D．full-time |
| A．escaped | B．demanded | C．arose | D．arranged |
| A．jumped at | B．thought about | C．waited for | D．dreamt of |
| A．occupied | B．amused | C．concerned | D．contented |
| A．familiar | B．positive | C．strict | D．consistent |
| A．evaluating | B．supporting | C．instructing | D．congratulating |
| A．graded | B．dismissed | C．tested | D．taught |
| A．note | B．gift | C．parcel | D．book |
| A．judged | B．indicated | C．emphasized | D．accompanied |
| A．hardened | B．touched | C．broken | D．gladdened |
| A．simply | B．casually | C．carefully | D．eagerly |
| A．reminder | B．treasure | C．proof | D．secret |
| A．comfort | B．fortune | C．fantasy | D．privilege |
| A．target | B．application | C．power | D．principle |
| A．clarify | B．find | C．feel | D．spread |
Never in my wildest imagination did I picture myself standing on the back of a running horse. I’m not a cowgirl and don’t even ride horses for pleasure.
But I was doing a television fitness show, and someone in the group had the bright idea that we should go to the rodeo (牛仔竞技表演) grounds and ask the trick rider if they could teach me a stunt (特技表演) to do on camera. We could use this short video as the new opening to the show. I agreed the stunt would be eye-catching and prove how flexible a fit person can be.
That was how I ended up at the rodeo grounds with a camera group, watching the remarkable performances of three talented young cowgirls. Once their show was over, we approached them, detailing our ideas for the television show.
The cowgirls asked me which particular stunt I was interested in learning. I especially liked one stunt — one of the girls led a horse to continuously and slowly run around the grounds while one of the other girls ran across the grounds toward a small trampoline (蹦床). It was timed perfectly so that she jumped onto the trampoline, up into the air, and then onto the horse’s back. As she landed on its back, she stood up and stretched her arms outward as the horse continued slowly running. It looked impressive.
They talked me through the necessary moves, stressing the timing since I would need to be in the air at the correct time when the horse ran past. I alone would judge the speed of the horse and my own speed to jump onto the horse on time.
It was clearly difficult. I was a little hesitant, afraid of being unable to do that well and slowing down the filming. But I knew the most important thing for me was to concentrate on the task at hand.
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。
The first time out, I hit the horse’s back part and fell to the ground.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
At 6: 00 pm, we completed the stunt filming, with my knee injured.
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A lady named Ela lived in a small, pretty town surrounded by gentle hills and big. green forests. Her favorite place in the whole world was her kitchen. It was like her special art studio, but for making delicious food. Ella loved cooking, especially for her mom, who really enjoyed old-fashioned, tasty dishes. Every night, they would sit down together and enjoy the tasty food that Ella made with lots of care and love.
Ella’s mother always said, “Cooking is not just about feeding my body; it is about feeding my soul. ” Ella kept these words close to her heart, and cooking became a spiritual bond between her mother and her. They shared joyful times, with Ella carefully measuring each cooking material and making her mom’s favorite while her mom told stories of her own childhood kitchen adventures. On cold evenings, they would laugh together as they added spices to a hearty stew, the steam making the kitchen windows foggy and turning it into a warm, comfortable place.
However, this bond was broken when her mother passed away. The kitchen, once filled with warmth, the smell of spices and the sound of laughter, turned into a place that just reminded Ella of her mom and made her very sad. She avoided the recipe books, as they brought back memories of their cooking sessions- like the time they accidentally used salt instead of sugar in cookies, but ended up laughing it off and making it once again together. With her mom gone, the joy of cooking faded, leaving Ella with a heart heavy with loss.
Months turned into years, and Ella’s interest in cooking faded into a distant memory. But life had other plans for her. One day, Ella came across a volunteer group that attended to seniors in her community. Moved by their dedication, she decided to join them.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
As Ella spent more time with the seniors, she noticed their longing for home-cooked meals.
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Ella finally found herself on the path to recovery and rediscovery.
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7 . Ten years ago, the professors Brian Lucas and Loran Nordgren encountered a contradiction. On the one hand, we recognize that other people are more likely to make creative breakthroughs when they persevere. On the other hand. when we feel stuck on a problem, most of us fail to sec how successful we’ll be if we just keep trying. We tend to believe that our creativity drops over time — that if our best ideas don’t come to us immediately, they won’t come at all.
Lucas and Nordgren call this misunderstanding the “creative cliff illusion”, which refers to the false belief that our creativity sharply declines after an initial period of effort, leading us to underestimate our ability to generate new and innovative ideas with continued perseverance. In one experiment, they asked participants to spend 10 minutes generating “as many original ideas for things to eat and drink at a Thanksgiving dinner as you can. ” Afterward, participants were asked to guess how many ideas they would come up with during a second 10-minute period. Most expected to generate far fewer ideas the second time around, but in fact they produced just as many during that second period — 66 percent more than they had guessed. And those were rated by other people as more creative than the initial ideas.
Though we tend to think our ability to come up with ideas is easily consumed, we actually get more creative the longer we focus on a problem or task. One major reason for this is known as the “serial-order effect”. Each next creative idea we have is likely to be better than the one that came before.
The serial-order effect isn’t always easy to see. Most of us have adopted the belief that creativity should feel easy, or “fluent”. And so we associate mental difficulty with pointlessness. But working through bad ideas is a necessary step in the creative process. The first solutions that come to mind tend to be either preexisting ideas or popular wisdom. These are the paths of least resistance. Though avoiding them requires some work, it’s the surest way to find original ideas that aren’t immediately manifest.
The serial-order effect applies to tasks that last minutes or days, but creativity also improves across years, decades, and even careers. The life’s work of most successful entrepreneurs proves it.
1. What does the contradiction mainly tell us about?| A．Two professors’ wonder. | B．The best ideas for failures. |
| C．People’s mental tendency. | D．Immediate solutions to creativity. |
| A．Humble. | B．Surprised. | C．Hopeful. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Obvious. | B．Effective. | C．Attractive. | D．Acceptable. |
| A．People can be more creative with age. |
| B．Creativity comes from creative approaches. |
| C．Creativity actually increases with continued effort. |
| D．People can avoid misunderstandings about creativity. |
8 . When I started Social-Engineer, I just left a company that was amazing. It was like a family. The pain of leaving was real for me and like all family separation, it wasn’t 100% smooth. I was heartbroken to leave but wanted to take every lesson I learned to my new company. I was determined to also take all the good memories with me. Yes, there were mistakes from both sides of the fence but instead of focusing on those, I went away remembering all the great times, life lessons and growth I had gifted to me.
I figured I would grow my company by being a nice man and working hard, and never demanding more from my people than I was willing to give, believing this approach would earn respect and effort in return. I would say things to myself like, “Well, I did this, so they should do that.” Or “I am this way, so they should be that way.”
And to be honest, it felt real. It felt like it was an honest evaluation.
But... But... But...
I started to have people problems. I am a very strong, direct communicator and although in many ways that is a strength, it can be a weakness in other ways. I often hurt people’s feelings. Even though I was very self-aware of this, I still messed up. Now this is odd to admit out loud for a company that basically focuses on helping dozens of companies make huge changes.
I went to see a psychologist. Natasha actively listened to all I said and then every now and then presented a thought as a question or a mild statement. She wanted to challenge me to change, challenge me to expand my thoughts. I was in my session with Natasha and I was saying things like this:
“I gave this person tens of thousands of dollars in a raise in one year, they should be more appreciative.”
“I have a great salary, benefits and support package, this person should have been more thankful.”
Natasha stopped me and said, “Well, you just SHOULD all over yourself, didn’t you? Did you pay for devotion? Did you pay for honor? Did you pay for appreciation?”
The sad answer was NO.
“You want to see the change that you so desire — then be the change,” Natasha said. She then mentioned Bruce Lee, who said “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle... Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
I know what I should do. Will you join me?
1. Why was the author confident about his company management?| A．He believed he was gifted for it. |
| B．His employees were well qualified. |
| C．He had lessons and work principles. |
| D．His previous mistakes had been removed. |
| A．The rigid rules. | B．The lack of vision. |
| C．The company’s focus. | D．The author’s social skill. |
| A．The author fell into a thinking trap. |
| B．The employees expected too much. |
| C．The author was not really committed. |
| D．The employees were victims of management. |
| A．Read Bruce Lee. | B．Learn to change. |
| C．Take more duties. | D．Desire less for more. |
9 . Even now, I have vivid memories of my last day of high school. In my mind’s eye, I’m cleaning out my locker, and then staring at the emptiness for a few extra beats before slamming it shut for the last time. I’m roaming the halls with my best friend, blissfully ignoring the bells going off every 50 minutes on schedule because, just today, we’re allowed to break the rules. I’m sitting on my desk, swinging my feet, and shooting the breeze (闲聊) with my English teacher, Mr. Carr, in a way that makes me feel almost grown up.
It was maybe my favorite day of the whole year. Like the final layer of watercolor, the freedom and lightness I feel seeps (渗透) into the rest of my memories of that day and turns them just a shade rosier.
If the school year hasn’t yet ended for you, consider what you can do to make the finale count. Why? Because when it comes to human memory, not all moments are created equal. Instead, our remembered experiences are disproportionately (不成比例地) influenced by peaks(the best moments as well as the worst)and endings (the last moments). Nobel Prize winner Danny Kahneman, who discovered this phenomenon, called this the peak-end rule. It suggests that our judgment of a past experience is largely based on its most extreme point and its endpoint.
I took advantage of the peak-end rule years ago, when my girls were young enough to want a bedtime story each night. I remember thinking that whatever strife (冲突) and stress had occurred that day, I could make the last moments count. I could end on a note of calm and act like the patient mom I hadn’t quite managed to be just hours before.
Don’t mistake all moments as equal in significance. There’s a reason why yoga classes end with savasana (挺卧式). There’s a reason we eat dessert last. Do orchestrate (精心安排) endings. As Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll might say: Finish strong. Last impressions are especially lasting.
1. What does the underlined word in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Calmly. | B．Surprisingly. |
| C．Happily. | D．Curiously. |
| A．Peaks in life can be remembered better than endings. |
| B．The last moments matter the most in our memories. |
| C．Our judgment of the past is determined by first impressions. |
| D．The peaks and ends of experiences are easier to remember. |
| A．How the author applied the rule to daily life. |
| B．How the author treated her daughters. |
| C．What struggles the author had in life. |
| D．Why the author read stories to her kids. |
| A．To prove the peak-end rule can be used in sports. |
| B．To encourage readers to value the last moments of an experience. |
| C．To explain why last impressions are lasting. |
| D．To show the importance of doing sports. |
10 . I started a “question of the day” section in a family text group. We’d talk about everything from movies to politics. But despite several warnings from loved ones that some of my responses were judgmental and that I was too quick to attack an opinion, I all but killed that group text. It had a good 12 people in it. We’d shared laughs, encouragement, and funny memes (表情包). It took only one conversation — which I was in the middle of — to end it.
I realized that I had a problem. The medium for my problem is the smartphone. Before smartphones enabled instant communication, people talked on the telephone. In person, you could cut in a “What do you mean by that?” to correct a misunderstanding before it got out of hand. Don’t get me wrong: I love a good group text. It makes me feel connected to people in a way that I just can’t seem to anymore, now that I have a wife and kids.
I’m learning, but I had a relapse (复发) recently. I joined a new text group. I introduced my “question of the day” feature. I fooled myself into thinking that I was encouraging a healthy debate on current events. No. Others in the group saw it as me trying to prove that my way was the right way. Then I made the mistake of sharing some personal information that one friend had told me during a phone conversation. I thought everyone knew. Then this friend started referring to me as a snitch — not terms of kind word. So I asked him about it — in person. That’s when he told me I’d shared sensitive information he hadn’t told anyone else. I apologized plentifully and came away from the conversation more determined to slow down my texts.
My new resolve seems to be working. You should be pleased to know that I have avoided making a few points that I was tempted (鼓动) to make in individual and group texts. In some cases, I didn’t even respond. I haven’t lost any more connections by doing this.
1. How does the author introduce the topic?| A．By making judgments on politics. | B．By responding to some text messages. |
| C．By presenting a personal experience. | D．By starting a funny conversation. |
| A．Ignoring the need to listen to others. | B．Making quick and sharp responses. |
| C．Failing to express himself timely. | D．Focusing on the issues of his own. |
| A．He gave away the privacy of his friend. |
| B．He always made mistakes on current events. |
| C．He made a fool of himself in chatting. |
| D．He liked enquiring personal information. |
| A．Hurry makes waste. | B．Understanding each other is vital. |
| C．Sometimes fast is just too fast. | D．Trust is the bridge of communication. |
