1 . It was dinner time, yet I hadn’t finished my work for the day. Cheery people who were enjoying their holiday time buzzed around me. But with my head down and headphones in, I had interacted with very few of them. The day passed more like a fast-forwarded video than something that I actually fully experienced.     1    

This was my first week living the digital nomad lifestyle. I had left my corporate role and found freelance (自由职业的) writing work online to afford me the freedom to travel.     2     With enthusiasm, I expected my attitude would also change. Instead, the first surprising realization of my travel journey had hit: despite changing my formal suits to casuals, I was the exact same person I had been at home.

I had prepared excitedly, surfing online about digital nomadism.     3    While you might expect finances to be the biggest killer of this lifestyle, unrealistic expectations are the death blow that I hear about most often. After six years abroad, realism is now the primary message I share.

    4     Instead of an office room, you’ll work from a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean or a sunny rooftop in the heart of Marrakesh. Instead of waiting at the coffee machine next to complaining colleagues, your daily coffee run will lead you down dusty cobblestone streets into tiny cafes. These dreams exist and are waiting for you once you clear customs.

But that’s not all that’s waiting for new digital nomads.     5     At-home life and life on the road can at times feel shockingly similar, or, if bad work habits take over, even worse. It’s an important expectation to understand before you set out on your digital nomad lifestyle: your surroundings will change, but you take you everywhere that you go. No matter how ultra-light you pack.

A．And my surroundings looked different.

B．But this wasn’t at a tiring nine-to-five office job.

C．This was a typical day back in my office I managed to escape.

D．New surroundings may also make you fully engaged in your work.

E．Should you choose to become a digital nomad, your environment will change.

F．You’ll still wake up with emails in your inbox and to-dos begging to be handled.

G．Yet somehow I unknowingly over-consumed expectation and under-consumed realism.

2 . It wasn’t until I got into college and took a class on creative writing that I began to trust my own madness. The professor encouraged us to color outside the lines and trust our abilities as a writer. We had weekly sessions where we read each other’s work and had to give constructive criticism.

On our first assignment, I struggled with getting my ideas onto paper. I knew that kind of story I wanted to tell, but as a reserved young man, I was terrified of judgement from my peers. I was afraid they would think my writing was too dark or really messed up. But finally, after spending hours thinking of making the writing more socially acceptable, I decided to write it like I felt it.

In the next critique session, I was shocked at the reaction from my peers. There was some constructive criticism, which really helped me improve, but overall, they loved how realistic and convincing my writing was. At the end of the class, the professor asked me if she could use my assignment as a sample for her other classes to know that they can trust their own madness with their writing.

For the final we had a huge paper for which we had to write on Henry V. The professor encouraged me to write it in the voice I had developed in the creative writing class, so I did. The consequence was that she called it a graduate level paper and asked to use it as another sample.

That year I ended up winning a writing award. I also entered a writing contest online and out of hundreds of entries, got an honorable mention. And that was when I decided to have a shot at fiction.

1. What does the underlined phrase “color outside the lines” mean in the first paragraph?

A．Stress the words.	B．Generate new ideas.
C．Add color to the lines.	D．Take risks.

2. What happened with the author’s first assignment?

A．He messed it up.	B．He didn’t know how to do it.
C．He felt insecure about it.	D．He adjusted it in an acceptable way.

3. What can we know from paragraph 3?

A．His peers thought his writing was persuasive.

B．His peers criticized his writing style.

C．The professor asked him to teach others to write.

D．His writing reached graduate level.

4. What was the secret of the author’s success in writing?

A．His persistence in writing.	B．Trust in his own madness.
C．His professor’s encouragement.	D．Constructive criticism from his peers.

3 . Pythagoras was a philosopher and mathematician who revolutionized the world. He’s best known for the Pythagorean Theorem.     1     Here we mention some famous sayings from Pythagoras.

“Do not be ambitious and stingy; the just measure is excellent in such cases.”

    2     That’s because excessive ambition can turn you into a person who doesn’t know how to enjoy the little things in life. In fact, it sows the seed of continuous dissatisfaction.

“Listen, you will be wise.     3    ”

Do you know how to listen to others? Do you balance out your speaking and listening? Although this may seem easy to answer, in reality, you usually tend to talk more than listen. However, this is a serious mistake to make.

Pythagoras was aware that so much can be learned by listening to others. There’s no rush to respond or to challenge an opinion with which you don’t agree.     4     That’s the key.

“Assist a man in raising a burden, but do not assist him in laying it down.”

Sometimes, you want to help others. Maybe they have problems with their partner or they’re just feeling sad.

Being there for these people and supporting them is something that’ll help them a lot. However, if you help them, it should be because you want to. Remember, you’re not required to completely assume their problems for them. More than anything, this is because you won’t solve anything by doing so.     5    

A．It is better to express your ideas.

B．The beginning of wisdom is silence.

C．Listen first then respond wisely later.

D．Such behaviour can lead to endless quarrels.

E．Indeed, this is still studied in philosophy today.

F．In fact, you’ll just add more weight to their load.

G．You are bound to maintain moderate positions in life.

4 . 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。

In New England, a few years ago, a party of boys decided to start a grand sleigh (雪橇) ride. The sleigh was a large one, pulled by six gray horses.

The next day, as the teacher entered the schoolroom, he found his students in high spirits, chattering excitedly about their journey. One of the boys recounted their trip and its various incidents. As he reached the end of his story, he exclaimed, “Oh sir, there was one thing I had almost forgotten. As we were coming home, we saw a strange sight on the road. It turned out to be a rust y old sleigh attached to a covered wagon (四轮运货车), moving at a very slow pace and taking up the entire road.”

The boys had grown impatient with the slow-moving vehicle ahead of them and decided to take action. They threw snowballs at the wagon and shouted, making the old horse start to run quickly. The old man in the wagon cried out, asking why they were frightening his horse. A boy replied, “Why don’t you turn out, then?” and gave him three more loud cheers. His horse was frightened again and ran into a loaded wagon, almost making the old man fall over.

The teacher listened carefully to the boy’s story before responding, “Take your seats, boys, and I will tell you a story about a sleigh ride, too.”

Yesterday afternoon, a very elderly man was traveling from Boston to Salem to spend the winter at his son’s house. He had brought his wagon for the journey and his sleigh for the winter. His vision and hearing were not what they used to be due to his age. He was traveling slowly, as his horse was old and weak like himself. Suddenly, he was frightened by loud cheers and rapid snowballs hitting his wagon. In his panic, he dropped the reins and his horse ran wildly. Amidst his troubles, a large group of boys in a sleigh pulled by six horses rushed past him, shouting and demanding that he give them the road.

注意：续写词数应为150左右;请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph1
The old man begged them not to frighten his horse.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph2
The boys listened quietly, reflecting on their actions.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . In a world filled with misconceptions about happiness, I was one of those people who ________that happiness lay in big things, like a big house, a fancy car, a steady career and so on. But life had a ________ in store for me.

One weekend, my husband, Alex, ________ me to make some creme brulee (焦糖布丁). Excited by the idea, I________ and set out to create the delicious dessert. As we sat down for dinner, I ________ served the creamy masterpiece I had prepared. To my surprise, Alex reached into his pocket and magically ________ a delicate spoon with a small bear on it, which is my ________ decoration—I have a lot of bear things around the house. With a twinkle in his eyes, he handed the spoon to me. ________ it as my special spoon for creme brulee —just for me.

During the dinner, I was happy. And he, after ________ the creme brulee, was also happy. In that moment, I realized that the truest form of happiness lies in the ________ moments and contentment.

We started to appreciate the simple joys in life. We took ________ in parks, cooked meals together, and shared laughter in face of challenges. As time went on, the bear spoon became a ________ of our love. It reminded us to ________ the everyday moments and to appreciate the beauty of ________. True happiness isn’t a destination to be ________ but a state of mind to be cultivated.

1.

A．doubted

B．believed

C．proved

D．imagined

2.

A．joke

B．story

C．surprise

D．challenge

3.

A．asked

B．instructed

C．ordered

D．persuaded

4.

A．hesitated

B．complained

C．refused

D．agreed

5.

A．cautiously

B．proudly

C．shyly

D．finally

6.

A．made up

B．picked out

C．pulled out

D．put away

7.

A．unique

B．charming

C．priceless

D．favorite

8.

A．regarding

B．claiming

C．insisting

D．promoting

9.

A．finishing

B．preparing

C．serving

D．watching

10.

A．breathtaking

B．significant

C．grand

D．small

11.

A．walks

B．chances

C．notes

D．risks

12.

A．record

B．signal

C．symbol

D．reward

13.

A．avoid

B．treasure

C．dismiss

D．encounter

14.

A．nature

B．diversity

C．kindness

D．simplicity

15.

A．chosen

B．reached

C．discovered

D．judged

9 . What will you do when you feel like a failure? Feeling like a failure is part of the human experiences. Treat yourself with kindness and understand that failure does not define you, but it is a stepping stone on your journey. When you’re ready, take action and challenge yourself.

As some friends were deeply lost in the world of yoga and mindfulness, I’ve personally struggled with the feeling of failure, not on the yoga mat, but on the road to my entrepreneurship(创业). It all began several years ago when I threw myself into the business, driven by my passion and a dream.

In the early days, optimism flowed freely, but financial struggles and sleepless nights soon followed. I questioned my decision and felt like the biggest failure. However, every difficulty became a stepping stone towards growth. I learned more from my failures than from my successes, adapting and growing stronger with each obstacle. I reached out to instructors, friends and family, sought advice and slowly saw a ray of hope. One defining moment came when I gained my first long-term coaching partnership. It was a breakthrough, and my hard work paid off. Over the years, I faced many more failures, but I refused to let them define me.

Today, looking back at my journey, I realize that moments of feeling like a failure were essential to my success. They taught me humility, perseverance and the value of hard work. They shaped me into a successful entrepreneur I am today—someone who doesn’t fear failure but embraces it as a necessary part of the path to success. As we approach the end of the year of graduation, remember that success is not about avoiding failure, but about how we rise after we fall. Let’s support each other on this journey called life. Stay positive, stay inspired and stay true to ourselves.

1. What is the function of paragraph 1?

A．To give the definition of failure.

B．To list some examples of failure.

C．To introduce the topic of the story.

D．To stress the importance of experience.

2. What made the author start a business?

A．Internal motivation.	B．Advice from a coach.
C．Family financial crisis.	D．Encouragement from friends.

3. What can be concluded from the author’s entrepreneurial experience?

A．To teach is to learn.

B．A word spoken is past recalling.

C．Constant dropping wears away a stone.

D．Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.

4. What does the author want to do in the last paragraph?

A．Inspire us with his lessons.

B．Persuade us to major in business.

C．Recall the key moments of his entrepreneurship.

D．Advocate avoiding obstacles on the way to success.

10 . Emest Owusu was 13 in 1980 when he was given the opportunity to appear in the audience of a BBC show, and ask Thatcher how she felt about being called the Iron Lady. This encounter re-emerged in a BBC’s programme recently.

At the time of their meeting, Owusu was on free school meals, living on a public estate in Brixton, south London, where he and his sister were being raised by their mother Rose, a struggling hairdresser.

Now 57, Owusu looks remarkably similar even with a greying beard. But his life has been transformed. The father of three is a human resources director, and the first black captain of the Addington golf club in its 110-year history. As a black guy, it is about breaking the glass ceiling.

Speaking in its clubhouse, Owusu describes his rise in social status (地位) as a “Thatcherite Journey”. And he says it began by asking the woman herself. “To this day it still has an impact. My confidence changed from that sliding-door moment. Something about her connected with me.”

Thatcher told Owusu she enjoyed being called the Iron Lady. “I think it’s rather a praise, don’t you?” she said, “Because so often people have said to me if you’re in your job you’ve got to be soft and warm and human, but you’ve got to have a touch of steel.” Owusu recalls the moment, “I just remember her eye contact. She was answering me, not the camera. She welcomed the question saying you’ve got to be firm in this world. And that stuck with me.”

After the show was broadcast, Owusu said he became “a little hero in Brixton for a good three months”. Owusu added, “It all gave me extra confidence. Doors might not have opened so quickly. It was one of those key moments to make you do things maybe you wouldn’t otherwise have done.”

1. What do we know about Owusu when he was 13?

A．He met with Thatcher twice.

B．He joined a famous golf club.

C．He hosted a BBC’s programme.

D．He lived at the bottom of society.

2. What do the underlined words “sliding-door moment” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Turning point.	B．Important decision.
C．Social status.	D．Remarkable achievement.

3. Based on the text, what made a big difference to Owusu?

A．Others’ treating him equally at work.

B．Others’ voting him a hero in Brixton.

C．Thatcher’s efforts to preserve his dignity.

D．Thatcher’s faith in the necessity of toughness.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．The Art of Dialogue	B．The Power of Confidence
C．A Life-changing Meeting	D．A Status-improving Tale