1 . I have a love-hate relationship with 8 o’clock classes. I like to get started that
One day, I was
I lost track of time. I was about to
I
It was none of that. With his
A.fast | B.early | C.direct | D.simply |
A.drag | B.fit | C.break | D.turn |
A.excited | B.curious | C.concerned | D.anxious |
A.wall | B.book | C.letter | D.board |
A.abandoned | B.tried | C.valued | D.sensed |
A.worried | B.serious | C.disappointed | D.blank |
A.remember | B.read | C.start | D.revise |
A.watch | B.desk | C.screen | D.agenda |
A.scheduled | B.final | C.reasonable | D.opposite |
A.suddenly | B.definitely | C.gratefully | D.desperately |
A.found out | B.piled up | C.make up | D.set down |
A.stepped | B.brought | C.watched | D.rushed |
A.regretful | B.discouraged | C.amazed | D.delighted |
A.party | B.programme | C.persuasion | D.performance |
A.slipped into | B.closed up | C.came out | D.knocked on |
A.realized | B.confirmed | C.noticed | D.thought |
A.hand in | B.give up | C.refer to | D.look through |
A.skin | B.eyes | C.mouth | D.cheeks |
A.tiredness | B.pain | C.sorrow | D.anger |
A.behaviours | B.reply | C.courage | D.words |
2 . On an extremely hot summer day, my friend Shelia and I treated our children to some rides at Libertyland, an amusement park. Libertyland
By mid-afternoon, Shelia and I were
Luckily, a show
At the end of the show, the audience gave
That happened over six years ago, and Shelia’s
A.already | B.just | C.still | D.also |
A.worried | B.tired | C.addicted | D.excited |
A.unsure | B.happy | C.proud | D.nervous |
A.accompanying | B.teaching | C.assessing | D.questioning |
A.show | B.sight | C.place | D.time |
A.eventually | B.constantly | C.secretly | D.immediately |
A.finished | B.began | C.continued | D.changed |
A.Instead | B.Besides | C.However | D.Therefore |
A.noise | B.dust | C.heat | D.people |
A.familiar | B.comforting | C.embarrassing | D.half-hearted |
A.listened | B.observed | C.clapped | D.predicted |
A.demonstrated | B.saw | C.created | D.directed |
A.looked down | B.came along | C.turned over | D.stepped forward |
A.kids | B.co-workers | C.students | D.teachers |
A.attract | B.coach | C.impress | D.support |
A.insights | B.chances | C.challenges | D.memories |
A.cautious | B.hard-working | C.curious | D.warm-hearted |
A.stories | B.promises | C.words | D.concepts |
A.convince | B.inform | C.warn | D.remind |
A.educate | B.persuade | C.serve | D.treat |
3 . Five years ago, I wrote about the connection between expectations and happiness—lower your expectations and you will be happier: control expectations and despair won’t be so obvious when life does not go according to plan. And perhaps there is some truth in that idea.
However, with reduced expectations, we chip away at hope. And how can we not hope for a better tomorrow? I consider myself to be someone with spirit. I look forward to experiences and anticipate memorable ones. And while it’s important to cope when such experiences fall through. I think it’s even more important to hold onto what was originally present -that sense of hope.
The Times article, Optimism Bias: Human Brain May Be Hardwired for Hope, offers a perspective with roots in evolutionary (进化的) psychology. Hope can be wired in the human brain to enhance survival. If present during trying times, hope can be a factor that allows some to overcome difficulties and gather positivity for the days ahead.
“Hope keeps our minds at ease, lowers stress and improves physical health,” the article states. “Researchers studying patients with heart disease found that optimists were more likely than nonoptimistic patients to take vitamins, cat low-fat diets and exercise, thereby reducing their overall risk. A study of cancer patients revealed that pessimistic patients under the age of 60 were more likely to die within eight months than nonpessimistic patients of the same initial health and age.”
Life is always going to bring us challenges. Life is always going to be comprised of problems that might pull us down. Is it still foolish to have hope? I say it’s not. Because without hope, what are we left with? I say hope is significant. I say it’s a beautiful part of what it means to be human.
1. What would the author do to deal with disappointments five years ago.A.Raise expectations. | B.Anticipate less. |
C.Stay away from stress. | D.Make fewer plans. |
A.Forget. | B.Weaken. | C.Change. | D.Doubt. |
A.Pessimists tend to live a shorter life. | B.Optimists usually have a better appetite. |
C.Being hopeful helps humans survive. | D.Human brains are designed for hardship. |
A.The methods of achieving happiness. | B.How to cope with difficulties. |
C.The importance of holding on lo hope. | D.How to balance hope and reality. |
4 . Many years ago, Coca-Cola ran a brilliant advertising campaign about “The Pause That Refreshes”. They were on to something. Pauses refresh us because they allow us to stop, refocus, and rest.
The older I get, the more I’ve intentionally added pauses to my day. Some pauses are only a few minutes long; others are hours. It may be a walk to a faraway copier at work instead of the one in my department. Or driving an alternate route home. Or a day at the beach. The idea is to relax and rest by changing my thoughts from what stresses me to what refreshes me.
Rest refreshes us. And I rest best by doing nothing. I recently read a little book by Sandy Gingras called How to Live at the Beach. I love this light-hearted, five-minute read. It’s a clue that helps conjure up images of the mentality we have when we’re at the beach—and why we need to transport this beach mentality to our non-beach lives.
My son, his wife, and my grandson live near the beach in Santa Barbara, California. Next to Hawaii, it's one of the most beautiful places in the United States. When I head to the ocean with them, I'm awed by the benefits of the beach. For me, a day at the beach epitomizes (成为缩影) the discipline of doing nothing. It’s a pause. It’s also an example of a simpler life. I’m learning how to bring a beach mentality, and all its benefits, back home with me. A beach mentality slows me down, allows me to think over only what’s in front of me and allows me to fully appreciate what surrounds me in my nine-to-five world.
During the time of “country closure”, I’ve noticed what I typically fail to notice. Who says doing nothing is boring? Doing nothing calms and refuels me.
I’ve realized that by pausing more, I’ve seen more, listened more, heard more, and felt more. Yet, pausing is a discipline all its own. By developing the discipline of doing nothing, I’ve learned that a life of clarity, simplicity, and rest awaits.
1. Why is the advertising campaign run by Coca-Cola mentioned?A.To make a prediction. | B.To explain a concept. |
C.To introduce the topic. | D.To illustrate an argument. |
A.Transform. | B.Imagine. | C.Withdraw. | D.Polish. |
A.Follow suit. | B.Keep watch. | C.Pursue perfection. | D.Slow down. |
A.The Discipline of Doing Nothing | B.Being Intentional About Self-Care |
C.The Price of Every Decision | D.Choosing Joy over Sadness |
5 . How do I change my life? If you’re asking this question, remember that the one constant thing in our life is change.
Spend some time trying to sort out what is important in your life to make a life change. What is it that you want to achieve in your life? What are your dreams? What makes you happy? Your meaning in life sets the direction of how you want to live your life. Without meaning, you will spend the rest of your life wandering aimlessly.
Let go of regrets.Regrets will only hold you back in life. You cannot change what you did or did not do in the past, so let it go. The only thing you have control over now is how you choose to live your present and future life.
Learning new skills helps us to be more adaptable in new situations.
A.Change your beliefs. |
B.Find your life meaning. |
C.Remember that your goals may change. |
D.The more we resist it, the tougher our life becomes. |
E.The only person who is going to change your life is you! |
F.It also encourages us to be more creative and innovative in our thinking. |
G.Each time you experience a negative thought about your past, challenge it. |
6 . Britain’s toughest grandmother cheated death three times to become a champion powerlifter and is still pumping iron in her 70s. Pat Reeves has
She
But in December, 1993, she was
In September, 2018, she was involved in a high-speed
We may meet many
A.suffered | B.survived | C.recovered | D.treated |
A.took up | B.saved up | C.kept up | D.drew up |
A.rejected | B.examined | C.adopted | D.experienced |
A.fantasy | B.innovation | C.interaction | D.bodybuilding |
A.enhance | B.stop | C.attack | D.inspect |
A.coach | B.judge | C.athlete | D.teacher |
A.missing | B.accepting | C.securing | D.beating |
A.competing | B.accelerating | C.charging | D.hiding |
A.puzzled | B.designed | C.embarrassed | D.shocked |
A.hesitated | B.refused | C.attempted | D.claimed |
A.active | B.lazy | C.popular | D.boring |
A.bigger | B.longer | C.smaller | D.stronger |
A.occasion | B.crash | C.event | D.adventure |
A.eye | B.skin | C.heart | D.lung |
A.broken | B.clean | C.healthy | D.strong |
A.walk | B.work | C.connect | D.live |
A.protect | B.support | C.affect | D.scold |
A.arguments | B.records | C.media | D.devices |
A.successes | B.opportunities | C.pleasures | D.difficulties |
A.barely | B.instantly | C.eventually | D.slightly |
7 . Shortly before he turned 60, Mark Fuhrmann realized what he wanted. He, now, at 65, has just returned from a second voyage. His 6,835 mile-round trip from Nova Scotia took in the great lakes of the US, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.
Fuhrmann started these journeys “to kickstart retirement” from the maritime PR business he ran in Oslo for the past 30 years. Before he set off, in June last year, he swapped (交换) his house for a flat, and greatly reduced his possessions. “It was good to get rid of all of those things and say: ‘This isn’t a phase; this is a new season,’” he says.
Amazingly, he didn’t plan his trip, beyond committing to fundraise for Medecins Sans Frontières. “I thought: ‘I’ll try to do 40km each day.’ But I never knew where I was going to lay down my head.”
The challenges were psychological, physical, and sometimes life-threatening. In Florida, he was chased by an alligator (短吻鳄), but narrowly escaped from it. In the Boston area, he saw “a black fin moving towards me like a snake”. He lay his oar (划桨) across his lap and waited. “If a great white shark can swim leisurely, that’s exactly what it did. It just passed me,” he says. Ten minutes later, Fuhrmann pulled his kayak (小艇) into a cove, where he ran into a man who invited him into his home for coffee and apple pie. His whole trip was filled with these switchbacks and moments of connection with strangers, which Fuhrmann experienced as “a call to authenticity”.
What does he mean? “Nature is born within us. If you avoid that, you avoid experiencing something that is vital to who you are as a person. I want real things — life isn’t about having more. I think we need to accept where we are at this stage of life, at 60 or 65.”
“I look at retirement as a season,” he says. He started his latest voyage because “I wanted to have a better understanding of who I was. I wanted to have time for my thoughts to wander, to restart, to discover the value and power within myself.”
1. Why did Fuhrmann get rid of most of his possessions?A.To make donations to charity. | B.To start a new life in retirement. |
C.To make up for his business loss. | D.To collect money for the journey. |
A.Blessings. | B.Ambitions. | C.Defeats. | D.Challenges. |
A.The meaning of life is achieving more. |
B.Old people should take things as they are. |
C.It is good to have nature-based experience. |
D.It is advisable for aging people to play safe. |
A.To reflect on his past. | B.To discover his true self. |
C.To relax his mind and body. | D.To be free from the noisy world. |
8 . There are things we all do, or don’t do, that lead us to waste far more time than we realize in the moment. The biggest time regret, I think, is dwelling on (沉湎于) mistakes and shortcomings.
I also missed too much for fear of my own shortcomings.
A.Eventually, I got tired of this. |
B.Regret is another big waste of time. |
C.I was doing it for the wrong reason that I was afraid to fail. |
D.For years, I stayed in a comfortable place, doing things I disliked. |
E.The goal is to learn something from them, and then release the failure. |
F.When you finally relate it to your own past experiences, it probably becomes easier. |
G.Dwelling on mistakes wastes time and, worse still, makes us more likely to repeat mistakes. |
9 . Have you ever considered starting over? Ten years ago I did just that. I'd worked in advertising throughout my
Our son became
Was I
Working in the NHS over the past four years has not only made me
Now, I'm in my 40s. I couldn't be happier to finally call myself a doctor.
A.study | B.research | C.working | D.volunteering |
A.consider | B.quit | C.take | D.offer |
A.severely | B.regularly | C.gradually | D.hardly |
A.appointed | B.devoted | C.invited | D.admitted |
A.strange | B.fortunate | C.clear | D.meaningful |
A.respect | B.optimism | C.kindness | D.sympathy |
A.lost | B.buried | C.followed | D.showed |
A.refused | B.continued | C.agreed | D.decided |
A.regrets | B.curiosity | C.challenges | D.adventure |
A.grateful | B.prepared | C.sorry | D.known |
A.belief | B.support | C.effort | D.inspiration |
A.found | B.suggested | C.observed | D.stopped |
A.imagine | B.remember | C.realize | D.doubt |
A.opportunities | B.standards | C.right | D.fame |
A.ignore | B.identify | C.prove | D.enhance |
A.apply to | B.see to | C.keep to | D.turn to |
A.predict | B.explore | C.declare | D.comment |
A.objection | B.introduction | C.access | D.clue |
A.Due to | B.As for | C.Rather than | D.In spite of |
A.surprised | B.amused | C.puzzled | D.honoured |
10 . The loss of a loved one is difficult to bear. Over time, we adapt to life without the person we lost and miss dearly.
Recently, my wife and I
A few days later, I received a letter from a friend, a(n)
My dear friend wrote, “I am in a
In times of
A.celebrated | B.attended | C.watched | D.visited |
A.life | B.career | C.plan | D.promotion |
A.stopped | B.fought | C.hit | D.impacted |
A.surrounded | B.carried | C.lifted | D.covered |
A.completely | B.sadly | C.desperately | D.differently |
A.sacrifice | B.encouragement | C.sympathy | D.laughter |
A.young | B.official | C.former | D.regular |
A.introduced | B.presented | C.announced | D.shared |
A.father’s | B.parents’ | C.friend’s | D.husband’s |
A.mental | B.painful | C.thick | D.watery |
A.married | B.qualified | C.retired | D.involved |
A.feeling | B.friendship | C.relation | D.love |
A.angry | B.surprised | C.excited | D.aimed |
A.extraordinary | B.common | C.temporary | D.wonderful |
A.sweetness | B.comfort | C.pleasure | D.thankfulness |
A.trouble | B.hardship | C.sorrow | D.unfairness |
A.light | B.frustration | C.darkness | D.pressure |
A.argue with | B.deal with | C.work out | D.figure out |
A.hardship | B.loss | C.disaster | D.misfortune |
A.afford | B.defeat | C.tolerate | D.strike |