1 . Last week, four speakers shared, at the Skoll World Forum, why they find themselves smiling in spite of everything.
Ava Duvernay
I don’t believe that all of the problems are happening to us. I believe they’re happening for us. Lonnie Holley is a wonderful artist who uses waste material to create artworks. He says we shouldn’t think of it as garbage. Rather, it can be turned into something new.
Mahali Hlasa
I love my family. I was brought up in a very close family. Of course we fight, but we also laugh together. We share all the joys and the pains and find comfort in that. When I want to be happy, my family is always there for me. With these people who I love, I know that I am safe.
Rodrigo Paris Rojas
I find optimism in villages and slums (贫民窟). That’s because despite the difficult environment around them, they still come together and celebrate at different times of year. They bring so many smiles and so much joy. When I see that, I say, “I have more money and more education than them, but they’re way happier than me. ”So I find optimism in those ways of celebrating life and building community.
Edgard Gouveia Jr.
I’ve found optimism among kids — Black, white, poor, rich. They play. They enjoy life. They connect. It’s only later that they learn about differences and start to behave differently. But when I see how they interact as children, it’s all about playfulness. Even during war times or in very poor neighborhoods, I see kids finding ways to create joy among themselves.
1. What is Lonnie Holley?| A．An artist. |
| B．A consultant. |
| C．A teacher. |
| D．A waste collector. |
| A．Charity and voluntary work. |
| B．Positive thinking and creativity. |
| C．Money and comfortable life. |
| D．Family life and close relationship. |
| A．Don’t send children to schools. |
| B．Try to grow up as slowly as possible. |
| C．Being playful is still important in adult life. |
| D．It is necessary to help kids affected by wars. |
My dad worked in construction. His day started early and ended late. All he wanted to do was crash on the couch and relax when he got home. For the most part that was what he did. No one complained; we were just happy when he was home.
But one hot and muggy summer, when my parents’ nineteenth anniversary was coming up, they made plans to go out, just the two of them. The big day finally arrived and Dad got home at seven. Mom had fed me early. She was dressed in her finest and wearing her favorite pair of high heels when he came in. He came through the kitchen and headed for the family room. It was obvious he was hot and tired.
“Honey, I just need a thirty-minute nap and then we will go out to eat,” he said as he sat down on the couch. Mom was already on her way over to the couch to give him a fresh cup of hot coffee. She bent over and kissed him on the head and said, “I’ll be ready whenever you are.”
I knew how important this evening was to my mother, but before long Dad was fast asleep. Then I watched my mother do the strangest thing. She reached into the refrigerator and took out eggs and bacon. Soon she had a batch of biscuits baking in the oven.
Before my eyes she piled a plate full of his favorite foods. As she set another fresh cup of coffee on the end table she bent down and kissed him while whispering in his ear. “It’s time to wake up.”
He sat up on the edge of the couch. As he looked up he found my mom standing in front of him with his dinner. “Honey, I promised you I would take you out to dinner and I meant it.” he said sincerely.
Mom sat down beside him on the couch as he took the plate of food. She said, “I know you would, but I also know you’ve had a hard day and you’re tired. What’s important is that we are together. We can go out any time for dinner.”
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。
My dad sat there, holding the plate of dinner prepared by my mom.
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Suddenly, the doorbell rang and I knew my special package for them came.
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3 . It is natural to compare ourselves to others and to get caught in a mental comparison loop, and yet this seldom is beneficial. You may have heard the expression. “Comparison is the thief of joy. “To me, this rings true as I have found it is quite difficult to compare myself to others and feel joy at the same time.
Comparison not only robs us of joy, but it can also fuel self-criticism and a lack of self-acceptance. Typically, comparison leads to perceiving others as superior to you in some way and feeling inadequate or inferior. “I am not as successful, competent, attractive as they are. “Why don’t I have what they have?” We use comparison as an avenue for self-criticism, “What’s wrong with me? I must be an inadequate loser.” This hinders(阻碍)self-acceptance.
We often tell ourselves we are acceptable only if we meet certain standards, and we evaluate how we measure up by looking at others. The tendency is to conclude that we are not measuring up, particularly if we have a low sense of self-worth, and we worry that others are going to judge or criticize our perceived failures. We don’t just ask ourselves. “What’s wrong with me?” We worry what others will think: “What’s wrong with them?” The looming(迫近的)sense of possible rejection creates uneasiness and anxiety.
Comparison is deceptive(造成假象的). It tells us that if we meet the expectations, lose weight, get a promotion, or buy the house, we will feel better, calmer, more self-assured, and stop comparing ourselves. This may be temporarily true, yet, a comparison is an internal process that is ultimately based on our thoughts and sense of self, not external circumstances. We can always find something else to compare, another expectation we tell ourselves we are not meeting.
To stop comparing ourselves to others, we have to recognize that the comparison game is unwinnable and exhausting and stop playing. We should shift from being guided by comparison to being guided by personal values.
1. What is the author’s attitude towards comparison?| A．Supportive. | B．Tolerant. | C．Negative. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．The significance of comparison. | B．The joy of self-acceptance. |
| C．The necessity of self-criticism. | D．The consequences of comparison. |
| A．It is rooted in our inner thoughts. |
| B．It makes us become better. |
| C．We will stop it if we achieve our goals. |
| D．It is a reliable measure of success. |
| A．How we can change personal values. |
| B．Why personal values are important to us. |
| C．How personal values help stop comparison. |
| D．What impact technology has on comparison. |
4 . “To have passed through life and never experienced solitude(独处) is to have never known oneself,” writes Joseph Krutch in his memoir, The Desert Year.
It’s important to distinguish solitude from loneliness—the latter is a negative experience of isolation(隔离), and research shows that one need not literally be alone to feel lonely.
It encourages a screen-free moment. When you choose to spend some time in solitude, that means you are prepared to step away from text messages and social media for a time. Taking even a small break from your attachment to those bottomless activities will refresh you.
You have space to reflect on your priorities. “I find that the whole point of solitude is that you can not only enjoy your own company, but also review, change and improve who you are as a person,” writes the blogger Kirk Pineda. “If you already have a person in mind who is ideal, why don’t you become that person?”
| A．Your attention is only your own. |
| B．Solitude is a gift we can choose to give ourselves. |
| C．However, for others, solitude represents a desirable time of comfort. |
| D．Solitude gives time and space for reflection on the course and path of life. |
| E．And it gives you a moment to notice your own thoughts and feelings in the meantime. |
| F．Solitude, by contrast, is the intentional activity of spending time in your own presence. |
| G．When you are in a self-reflective moment of solitude, you can see yourself with fresh eyes. |
5 . Everyone has a moment in history, which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person “the world today” or “life” or “reality” he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.
For me, this moment — four years in a moment in history — was the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. America is not, never has been, and never will be what the song and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because there isn’t very much to buy. Trains are always late and always crowded with “service men”. The war will always be fought very far from America, and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people who are always either leaving or on leave. People in America cry often. Sixteen is the key and crucial and natural age for a human being to be, and people of all other ages are ranged in an orderly manner ahead of and behind you as a harmonious setting for the sixteen-year-olds of the world.
When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future: fighting for them. You do not foresee it. To waste anything in America is immoral. String and tinfoil are treasures. Newspapers are always crowed with strange maps and names of towns, and every few months the earth seems to lurch (突然倾斜) from its path when you see something in the newspapers, such as the time Mussolini, who almost seemed one of the eternal leaders, is photographed hanging upside down on a meat hook.
1. Which statement best depicts the main idea of the first paragraph?| A．Reality is what you make of it. | B．Time is like a river. |
| C．Emotions are powerful. | D．Every person has a special moment. |
| A．Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President. |
| B．It was his personal reality and part of his life. |
| C．There was not much to buy. |
| D．The war would never end. |
| A．It was ever real for him, yet he was not actively involved. |
| B．It was real for him because he was a soldier at that time. |
| C．It was very unreal to him. |
| D．The war was very disruptive to the people at home. |
| A．Adults would like to be young. |
| B．Sixteen-year-olds do not waste things. |
| C．Sixteen-year-olds read newspapers. |
| D．They will be fighting soon for adults. |
内容包括：
1. 你对该名言的理解；
2. 举例说明你的观点。
要求：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
My Understanding of Home
Bing Xin once said, “I don’t know what ‘home’ is, but unhappiness and worries melt away once there.”
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7 . During the 2020-2021 school year, due to a special event, I was one of two fully remote fourth-grade teachers in my school. We each taught the required disciplines: English language arts, math, social studies, and science. Given the reduced distribution time on camera with students, the flexibility of focusing on additional topics was almost impossible. Yet, while I was virtually teaching a life sciences unit, a “teachable moment” on news literacy came up.
The skill being taught was supposed to be to compare and contrast, a requirement in fiction and nonfiction texts — a lesson that all literacy educators are familiar with and have tools in their toolboxes to address. My students were intrigued by a sidebar (侧边栏) that said the crabs have a plant-based diet, eating such items as leaves, fruits, and flowers. One of the kids — an experienced social media user — then said something wild: crabs eat their babies.
They all perked up (活跃起来). Suddenly it seemed everyone was interested in the lesson. I hadn’t planned on teaching news literacy skills, but it became clear that we needed to take that detour (绕道而行). It was almost time for a break, so I asked my students to see if they could figure out what red crabs eat.
When we returned, we started a list of what we’d found. The first few students said it was true: red crabs do eat their babies. One especially thoughtful student found a video with over 600,000 views that seemed to corroborate the notion that crabs eat their babies. During the break, however, I found a website disagreeing with the exact video my student had shared. Like so much misinformation, there was some truth to the video, but it was highly misleading.
Rather than teach another lesson on comparing and contrasting, I engaged my students in a discussion about sourcing and how to know what to trust. We focused on famous news organizations and how to spot signs of bias. We engaged in “lateral reading”: a method of going to other sites to learn about those sources that we weren’t sure about.
1. How did the special event have an effect on the author’s teaching?| A．He was the only one to teach disciplines online in the school. |
| B．The length of an online course was reduced. |
| C．He was not allowed to talk about additional topics. |
| D．The disciplines he taught became fewer. |
| A．Interesting and open. | B．Relaxing and noisy. |
| C．Serious and quiet. | D．Lively and competitive. |
| A．Oppose. | B．Doubt. | C．Ignore. | D．Prove. |
| A．The ability to compare and contrast is valuable. |
| B．A teacher should be knowledgeable enough to answer questions from students. |
| C．Gather more information when we have no idea of what to trust. |
| D．Critical thinking and the courage to question are key to finding the truth. |
8 . In the campus bookstore, I shop for the items on Morrie’s reading list. I purchase books that I never knew existed, titles such as Youth: Identity and Crisis, I and Thou, The Divided Self.
Before college I did not know the study of human relations could be considered scholarly. Until I met Morrie, I did not believe it.
But his passion for books is real and contagious. We begin to talk seriously sometimes, after class when the room has emptied. He asks me questions about my life, then quotes lines from Erich Fromm. Martin Buber, Erik Erikson. Often he defers to their words, footnoting his own advice, even though he obviously thought the same things himself. It is at these times that I realize he is indeed a professor, not an uncle. One afternoon, I am complaining about the confusion of my age, what is expected of me versus what I want for myself.
“Have I told you about the tension of opposites?” he says.
The tension of opposites?
“Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.”
“A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.”
“Sounds like a wrestling match,” I say.
“A wrestling match.” He laughs. “Yes, you could describe life that way.”
“So which side wins,” I ask?
“Which side wins?”
He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth.
“Love wins. Love always wins.”
1. Which of the following is the relationship between the author and Morrie?| A．Uncle and nephew. | B．Teacher and student. |
| C．Friends. | D．Classmates. |
| A．The author’s college time is amazing. |
| B．We should love everyone in life. |
| C．Morrie is a senior full of wisdom. |
| D．There is always surprise in the campus bookstore. |
| A．To express that Morrie is unreliable. |
| B．To show the confidence and pride of Morrie. |
| C．To show how funny the author’s question is. |
| D．To contrast with the author’s disappointment. |
| A．Two forces in life limit our development. |
| B．We need to take anything for granted if we want to go on. |
| C．We are sandwiched between two forces in our lives. |
| D．Sincere and loving heart can heal the life. |
9 . It’s said that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at what’s on their bookshelves. What do my bookshelves say about me? Well, I’d always thought of myself as a cultured person, but my bookshelves told a rather different story.
So, in October 2011, I registered my blog, ayearofreadingtheworld.com, and posted a short appeal online. I explained how narrow my reading had been and asked anyone who cared to suggest what I read from other parts of the planet. I had no idea whether anyone would be interested, but within a few hours, people started to get in touch.
Books came from surprising sources. My Panamanian read, for example, came through a conversation I had with the Panama Canal on Twitter, which advised I try the work of the Panamanian author Juan David Morgan. I found Morgan’s website and sent him a message, asking if any of his Spanish-language novels had been translated into English. And he said nothing had been published, but he did have an unpublished translation of his novel “The Golden Horse”, and he emailed it to me.
Morgan was by no means the only wordsmith to share his work with me in this way. From Sweden to Palau, writers and translators sent me self-published books and unpublished manuscripts (手稿) of books that hadn’t been picked up by Anglophone publishers or that were no longer available, giving me privileged glimpses (初步的感受) of some remarkable imaginary worlds.
The books I read that year have opened my eyes to many things. That can be an uncomfortable experience, particularly when I’m reading a book from a culture that may have quite different values to my own. But it can also be really enlightening. Wrestling with unfamiliar ideas can help clarify my own thinking and show up blind spots in the way I might have been looking at the world.
When I looked back at much of the English-language literature I’d grown up with, I began to see how narrow a lot of it was, compared to the richness that the world has to offer. Little by little, that long list of countries that I’d started the year with changed from a rather dry, academic register of place names into living, breathing entities.
1. Why did the author create the blog “A Year of Reading the World”?| A．To learn from others’ bookshelves. |
| B．To broaden her cultural horizons. |
| C．To get recommendations from readers. |
| D．To find out the literary works she lacked. |
| A．They presented a challenge to the author. |
| B．They blocked the author’s reading journey. |
| C．They offered unique access to literary worlds. |
| D．They inspired confidence in the author’s project. |
| A．Provide her with unfamiliar topics. |
| B．Make her absorbed in other cultures. |
| C．Show fields she needs to learn more about. |
| D．Reveal areas she lacks insight in her worldview. |
| A．Exploring the Global Literary Landscape |
| B．The Challenge of Reading the World |
| C．Uncovering Stories from Every Country |
| D．The Impact of Culture on the Worldview |
James Bradley had developed a strong passion for skiing. On a freezing cold Sunday in 2019, James, then a 16-year-old boy, headed to Aspen Mountain with his father to go skiing. They took a cable car to the top of the mountain and conquered the most challenging part of the long trail. Afterwards, they decided to follow different trails to go down the mountain respectively. That was when everything started to veer off course.
In the late afternoon, after finishing the final run through the side trial, his father arrived at the parking lot. Anxiously, he had waited here for his son for several hours. However, James never showed up.
It turned out that a fierce snowstorm had swept into the area as James was on his way down. Unable to see far and clearly, he turned off the path by accident and got lost. The dreadful snowstorm coupled with strong winds gained strength and enveloped everything, blocking his way back to the ski trails.
Before long, James slid down the mountain slope on his skis and stopped at the bottom of the mountain in the valley. Thanks to the thick snow, James didn’t get hurt and the winds weren’t as strong in the valley as they were up on the mountain. Looking around, he saw nothing but the branches of trees and the pure white snow. James had no idea where he was. Worse still, the sun began to sink and he was getting colder by the minute. Most worrisome of all was that he didn’t have any food or water with him, let alone his mobile phone or other supplies.
Standing alone in the wild and holding his large skis, cold and thirst, he couldn’t help thinking about the survival show Man vs. Wild that he used to watch. In the show, Bear Grylls was abandoned in a wild area like this and had to help himself out by using all sorts of survival skills. Yes! It was time to put the tips he had learned to use.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为 150 个左右； 2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Without hesitation, James took action immediately.
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Two days later, James saw several figures approaching his shelter.
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