1 . When The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern begins, we meet George Pratt the day before New Year. ______, George finds himself on a bridge outside his small hometown considering his life a complete waste. Suddenly, a ______ man appears. The two characters ______, and we learn that George believes he is just an ______ banker with a family doing the same thing every day, and wishes he had never been born at all. Hoping to teach him a ______, the man grants George his wish.

After the man ______, a confused George Pratt travels back to town. Nothing appears ______ until he walks by Hank Biddle’s tree. The tree should have been damaged from the time George ran his car into it. But in this moment, the tree looks ______. Soon, George discovers the town he knows so well doesn’t know him at all.

As George walks around town, he notices he is a ______ to everyone. Not only that, George learns that the lives of his family have taken a turn for the ______.

First George learns that his beloved brother ______ because George was not there to save him. The loss of George’s brother continues to bring enormous sorrow to their ______ parents. Later George finds out that Mary, his wife, ends up in a difficult ______ to someone else.

George realizes these dark changes may stay forever unless he does something. He returns to the ______ to find the man and ______ for his life back. Once again, his wish is granted. The story closes with George racing back home to embrace Mary and their children on the New Year.

1.

A．Depressed

B．Bored

C．Merciful

D．Sensitive

2.

A．easy-going

B．warm-hearted

C．mysterious

D．committed

3.

A．comment

B．talk

C．complain

D．whisper

4.

A．dominant

B．important

C．incomplete

D．insignificant

5.

A．chance

B．gift

C．family

D．lesson

6.

A．disappears

B．emerges

C．remarks

D．remains

7.

A．out of nowhere

B．out of date

C．out of control

D．out of place

8.

A．awesome

B．awful

C．whole

D．broken

9.

A．acquaintance

B．stranger

C．friend

D．colleague

10.

A．worse

B．tougher

C．more colorful

D．more smooth

11.

A．left

B．returned

C．died

D．resigned

12.

A．growing

B．saddening

C．aging

D．hard-working

13.

A．mistake

B．marriage

C．message

D．mindset

14.

A．bridge

B．town

C．tree

D．home

15.

A．prays

B．begs

C．adjusts

D．applies

2 . How I Freed Up Time to Daydream

I enjoyed Twitter. I genuinely did.     1    . I’d find myself checking it when I should be working, running late to my daughters’ school events because I tried to fit in a quick glimpse or staying up far too late surfing vast oceans of information, tired and barely interested but unable to resist the glowing undertow (漩涡) pulling me in.

So I blocked Twitter. I went from being on it nearly every day to being off it for two months now.

Being offline didn’t make my life a land of meditative happiness. I still have three young loud kids, a job, a church, a spouse and a messy house.     2    . The times when I checked Twitter were often the transition points in my day: when I finished a task, waiting in line or going to the bathroom, the few minutes before I fell asleep. Leaving these small moments of my day unfilled changed how I walk through time.

    3    : Guard the margins — those seemingly unimportant parts of our day and time. We need moments when we get no news, no videos, no opinions. We need moments when we daydream, when our minds go blank.

My friend Timothy is a studied musician. I asked him about the function of small breaks in music — of rests.     4    . They help guide and change the course of a song.

Our days, which are so full of work and thinking, of arguing and learning, of disappointments and confusion, of striving and creating, must have moments when nothing much is happening.     5    . Play the rests. Guard the margins. They matter.

A．My new motto born of this experience is

B．The problem is that I loved it a little too much

C．He said that music, like a living creature, needs to breathe

D．But there is one way that leaving Twitter has benefited my life and my mind

E．He said that rests in music, even short ones, create rhythm, variety and narrative

F．Leaving these small moments empty is what makes the difference between noise and music

G．I enjoyed connecting with others and hearing what people were talking about all over the world

3 . It is William Shakespeare, the great coiner, who is given credit for the word. Coriolanus, one of his characters, compares going into exile (流放) to a “lonely dragon” retiring to his cave. He was talking about a physical state: someone who was lonely was simply alone. Then, thanks to the Romantic poets, the word took on emotional meanings. Loneliness became a condition of the soul. For William Wordsworth, who famously “wandered lonely as a cloud”, the natural world offered an escape from negative feelings of loneliness — a host of flowers could provide “cheerful company”. Today, loneliness is often seen as a serious public-health problem, creating the feeling of disconnection.

In his book Solitude, Netta Weinstein, a psychology professor wonders the rewards of time spent alone. He begins with an account of stories of solitude created by figures such as Michel Montaigne, a writer, and Edward Hopper, a painter. Netta then draw on laboratory work, interviews and surveys to clarify how being alone really affects the human mind.

It is common to treat loneliness and solitude as synonyms (同义词), but they are not. The author suggests that what is negatively described as one state can be positively expressed as the other. Loneliness, often perceived as negative, can potentially be transformed into a positive experience of solitude. To this end he emphasizes how being alone can help restore people and offers practical advice. In a noisy world, he argues, people should make time to be alone, away from attention-grabbing motives.

The book’s interviewees mostly regard a lack of company as a contributor to autonomy. But this depends on whether solitude is desirable or not. Enforced solitude, such as that experienced by prisoners, typically leads to nothing but suffering. Elective solitude, by contrast, affords space for self-reflection. It can open the door to “peak experiences” such as wonder, harmony, and happiness. In a highly-connected digital age, however, many readers do not fancy their chances of ever taking a long enough break to have such experiences.

1. How does paragraph 1 introduce the concept of loneliness?

A．By tracing its development.	B．By analyzing causes.
C．By making a point to be argued.	D．By sharing a romantic story.

2. What does Netta Weinstein’s book Solitude focus on?

A．The various terms of solitude.

B．The societal impact of solitude.

C．The long-standing history of solitude.

D．The psychological benefits of solitude.

3. Netta describes the state of loneliness as __________.

A．stressful

B．essential

C．changeable

D．never beneficial

4. What does Netta most probably agree with according to the last paragraph?

A．Enforced solitude is a matter of choice.

B．Enforced solitude contributes to autonomy.

C．Elective solitude is rare in the digital world.

D．Elective solitude interrupts peak experiences.

4 . I’m in a coffee shop in Manhattan and I’m about to become the most disliked person in the room. First, I’m going to interrupt the man reading quietly near the window and ask for a drink of his latte. Next, I’m going to ask the line of people waiting to pay if I can cut to the front of the queue. This is how I chose to spend my last vacation. Here’s why.

Growing up, all I ever heard about was “EQ.” It was the mid-1990s, and psychologist Daniel Goleman had just popularized the concept of emotional intelligence. Unlike IQ, which tracked conventional measures of intelligence like reasoning and recall, EQ measured the ability to understand other people — to listen, to empathize (共情), and to appreciate.

My mother, an elementary school principal, prized brains and hard work, but she placed a special emphasis on Goleman’s new idea. To her, EQ was the elixir (万能药) that separated the good students from the great after they left school. She was determined to send me into the adult world with as much of this elixir as possible.

But when I finally began my first job, I noticed a second elixir in the pockets of some of my colleagues. It gave their opinions extra weight and their decisions added impact. Strangest of all, it seemed like the anti-EQ: Instead of knowing how to make others feel good, this elixir gave people the courage to do the opposite — to say things others didn’t want to hear.

This was assertiveness (魄力). It boiled down to the command of a single skill: the ability to have uncomfortable conversations. Assertive people — those with high “AQ”— ask for things they want, decline things they don’t, provide constructive feedback, and engage in direct confrontation (对峙) and debate.

A lifetime improving my EQ helped me empathize with others, but it also left me overly sensitive to situations where I had to say or do things that might make others unhappy. While I didn’t avoid conflict, I was always frustrated by my powerlessness when I had to say or do something that could upset someone. This is my problem and I’m working on it.

1. Why did the author act that way in the coffee shop?

A．To improve a skill.	B．To test a concept.
C．To advocate a new idea.	D．To have a unique vacation.

2. What do we know about the author’s mother?

A．She thought little of IQ.

B．She popularized Goleman’s idea.

C．She was a strict mother and principal.

D．She valued EQ as the key to greatness.

3. What does the word “it” underlined in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A．EQ.

B．AQ.

C．Empathy.

D．Courage.

4. According to the passage, those with high EQ but low AQ are likely to be ______.

A．successful leaders	B．people pleasers
C．terrible complainers	D．pleasure seekers

5 . 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 remember that I was worn out when I got home that afternoon. I'd had to be at the theatre for the audition (试演) at nine that morning, and then I'd been waiting around for about three hours before the director finally saw me. I performed my song and almost at once he told me I could go home. “I am very sorry,”he said,“but your voice isn't quite right for the part.”It had been a similar story at all the auditions that I'd done over the past few weeks.

It had been my dream for years to be in a famous musical like The Sound of Music or Mamma Mia, so I'd taken lessons in singing and dancing, and had come to the city to try and get a part in a show. I'd been really pleased when I'd managed to set up no fewer than ten auditions, but so far all of them had gone the same way. As I arrived back that afternoon at the little apartment where I rented a room, I really wondered whether I should bother going to the eleventh the next morning. It was a show I'd have loved to be in — but really, what was the point? Someone I knew had told me about a job at a local coffee shop, and had said that if I called in for a quick chat at ten the next day, I'd almost certainly get the job. It meant missing the audition, but right now, it seemed like a much more sensible thing to do.

I always sing when I need to cheer myself up, and because there was no one else in the apartment, I slipped off my shoes, went and stood in front of the mirror and started singing.Quite quickly I found myself belting out (大声唱) one of my favourite songs, Bridge over Troubled Water. As I finished the song, I suddenly heard applause. I looked around the room thinking that my roommate had perhaps slipped in without me noticing — but there was nobody. Then I went over to the open window of the apartment, and saw an elderly woman standing on the far side of the pavement below, looking up at me.

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。
Paragraph 1:

She reached her arms up towards me with a great smile on her face.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

The next day I went to the eleventh audition.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . A few days before my high school ended, I was sitting in my English class. My classmates were talking about who would be the first person to shed tears at _________ . Then, everyone looked at me, and I began to ________ right then and there. I am not an emotional person,but the _________ of leaving this place hit me hard. I never knew how much this building and the people in it ________ to me, until my last days.

High school isn’t for everyone, but there is something for everyone in high school. You just have to ______ out what your“thing”is. I ______ found my “thing” in high school and that was Student Government. For once I had a(n) ________ . I served as the representative of my class, and it gave me a ________ to convey not only my own, but my classmates'_______ to teachers and our school.

But there were a lot of times when I felt ______ . I sat in the classroom looking at the clock, ______ for the end of school day. I ______ the days until summer like it was my job. But now I ______ I could take back all of those moments.

My biggest ________ to anyone still in high school is to make your school a place where you want to go. High school goes by very quickly. You only get one chance to be a high schooler, so take ________ of it.

1.

A．school

B．graduation

C．break

D．random

2.

A．cry

B．lie

C．sing

D．sigh

3.

A．proposal

B．option

C．possibility

D．thought

4.

A．meant

B．replied

C．reacted

D．faded

5.

A．bring

B．figure

C．cross

D．carry

6.

A．anxiously

B．bravely

C．luckily

D．initially

7.

A．organization

B．impression

C．voice

D．discovery

8.

A．benefit

B．chance

C．challenge

D．purpose

9.

A．objectives

B．principles

C．concerns

D．updates

10.

A．disturbed

B．sheltered

C．alarmed

D．inspired

11.

A．applauding

B．searching

C．fighting

D．longing

12.

A．counted down

B．went through

C．set aside

D．put off

13.

A．promise

B．assume

C．pray

D．realize

14.

A．support

B．advice

C．rule

D．warning

15.

A．account

B．notice

C．control

D．advantage

7 . 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。

My best friend, Cocoa, and I live in a senior-citizen apartment complex in a lovely small town. Cocoa is a ten-year-old poodle(卷毛狗) and I am a sixty-nine-year-old lady, so you can see we both qualify as senior citizens.

Years ago, I promised myself that when I retired I would get a chocolate poodle to share my golden years. From the very beginning, Cocoa has always been exceptionally well-behaved. I never have to tell him anything more than once. He is extremely neat—when taking toys from his box to play, he always puts them back when he is finished. I have been accused of being obsessively neat, and sometimes I wonder if he mimics me or if he was born that way, too.

He is a wonderful companion. When I throw a ball for him, he picks it up in his mouth and gives it back to me. He does many amusing things that make me laugh, and when that happens, he is so delighted that he just keeps it up. I enjoy his company very much.

But almost two years ago, Cocoa did something that challenged comprehension. Was it a miracle or a coincidence? It is certainly a mystery.

One afternoon, Cocoa started acting strangely. I was sitting on the floor playing with him when he started pawing and sniffing at the right side of my chest. He had never done anything like this before, and I told him, “No.” Usually, one “no” is sufficient, but not that day. He stopped briefly, then suddenly ran toward me from the other side of the room, throwing his entire weight—eighteen pounds—at the right side of my chest. He crashed into me and I yelled in pain. It hurt more than I thought it would have.

Soon after this, I felt a lump (肿瘤). I went to the doctors, and after X-rays, tests and lab work were done, they told me I had cancer.

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。

When cancer starts, a wall of calcium(钙) builds to which the lump or cancer attaches itself.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Was Cocoa just aware of what he was doing?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . Self-love

We all have the thought of having satisfactory relationships, which will bring some meaning to our lives and make us happy.     1     However, we often forget that true happiness lies right within us, that is, we needn’t go anywhere to find it.

    2     By now we have heard more than a million times that true happiness lies within ourselves. You have to love yourself first in order to love someone else. Many people say self-love is the foundation of a happy life. But have you ever wondered that with so many preachers (传道者) of self-love, why haven’t we been able to love ourselves?     3    

We have been taught to be selfless from the start of time. The minute we start thinking about ourselves, everyone around us makes it their personal mission to remind us of how selfish we are. But there is nothing wrong with putting your needs and yourself first.     4     It only helps us better understand which sacrifices are worth making!

    5     The stronger your roots are, the more difficult it will be for winds to knock down the branches. Before exploring this view, it is very important to understand what self-love truly means. With such a thin line between being ruthless (冷酷无情的) and self-loving, it is too easy to trip over the darker side.

A．Self-love is not selfish.

B．Yes, that’s right.

C．No, that’s ridiculous.

D．Self-love is always criticized.

E．We are busy in finding true happiness everywhere.

F．Self-love is the root of all your healthy relationships.

G．Below is one of the reasons for our failure to love ourselves:

9 . 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

10 . I have discovered that I have a second shadow these days as I go outside. This one, however, has four legs instead of two. It is my daughter’s adopted, black cat: Miss Alice. Every time I go out the door she is waiting on my front porch, meowing to be petted. Then she follows me down the hill to my car sometimes running in front so she can get in my way for even more petting. And when I finally return home she is there asking for attention again.

It wasn’t always this way. The very first time I saw Miss Alice she was hiding under my house just having had a family of kittens. When I looked under there I got an angry hiss (嘘声) from her, warning me I was in for a clawing if I got near her kittens. It took a lot of time, patience, kindness, love, and cat food from my daughter to tame her. At first she didn’t want to be touched at all. Then she would only allow an occasional petting. Now my daughter can pick her up and carry her up the road to her house like a little baby. It still makes me smile to see how my daughter’s loving, caring and sympathetic spirit tamed this wild cat and made her as lovable as the most affectionate dog.

I guess that is the power of love. It can heal a hurting heart. It can save a broken spirit. It can uplift a sunken soul. It can free you from fear. It can transform your life. It can even take a violent, wild cat and turn her into a puppy dog in a cat suit.

Embrace (拥抱) the love in your own life then. Welcome the love of your family and friends into your life. And let your own love flow through everything you think, everything you say, and everything you do.

1. What do we know about the cat from the first paragraph?

A．It enjoys staying with the author.	B．It tends to be in the author’s road.
C．It is often ignored by the daughter.	D．It gets well along with the daughter.

2. What does the underlined word “tame” probably mean in Paragraph 2?

A．Feed her up.

B．Make her mild.

C．Arrange for her.

D．Dress her up.

3. What makes the author still smile?

A．The lovely dog.

B．The daughter’s love.

C．The cat’s babies.

D．The harmonious family.

4. What message does the text convey?

A．Where there is life, there is hope.

B．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

C．Love is life in its fullness like the cup with its wine.

D．Do what you fear, and fear that nature will fade away.