1 . Climbing, I once thought, was a very manly activity, but as I found my way into this activity, I came to see that something quite different happens on the rock.
Like wild swimming, rock climbing involves you into the landscape. On the rock, I am fully focused. Eyes pay close attention, ears are alert, and hands move across the surface. Unlike walking, where I could happily wander about absent-mindedly, in climbing, attentive observation is essential.
As an arts student studying English literature, I discovered a new type of reading from outdoor climbing. Going out on to the crags (悬崖), I saw how you could learn to read the rocks and develop a vocabulary of physical movements. Good climbers knew how to adjust their bodies on to the stone. Watching them, I wanted to possess that skillful “language”.
My progress happened when I worked for the Caingorms National Park Authority. Guiding my explorations into this strange new landscape was Nan Shepherd, a lady too. Unlike the goal-directed mindset of many mountaineers, she is not concerned with peaks or personal achievement. Shepherd sees the mountain as a total environment and she celebrates the Caingorms as a place alive with plants, rocks, animals and elements. Through her generous spirit and my own curiosity, I saw that rock climbing need not be a process of testing oneself against anything. Rather, the intensity of focus could develop a person into another way of being.
Spending so much time in high and stony places has transformed my view on the world and our place in it. I have come into physical contact with processes that go way beyond the everyday. Working with gravity, geology (地质学), rhythms of weather and deep time, I gain an actual relationship with the earth. This bond lies at the heart of my passion for rock climbing. I return to the rocks, because this is where I feel in contact with our land.
1. Why does the author like rock climbing?| A．It challenges her to compete with men. | B．It allows her a unique attitude toward rock. |
| C．It teaches her how to possess a new language. | D．It makes her feel connected wth the earth. |
| A．Balance. | B．Concentration. |
| C．Determination. | D．Perseverance |
| A．Climbing goes together with nature. | B．Every mountain top is within reach. |
| C．The best climber is the one having fun. | D．You can not achieve high unless you change. |
| A．Time. | B．Transformation. | C．The world. | D．My view. |
2 . There is always a lot of talk about what is fair, and what is not.
We definitely have no choice about how we come into this world. We have little choice early in life. But as we grow older, choices exist around. I have long believed that while we have no control over the beginning of our life, the majority of us have the ability to influence the outcomes we attain. Fairness is a state of mind, and most often, an unhealthy state of mind. Our state in life cannot, or at least should not, be blamed on our parents, our teachers, or our society.
I agree that challenges exist. I agree that many have an uphill battle due to the challenges they face.
| A．Most people tend to insist that life should be fair. |
| B．There is no absolute fairness in life, but it’s relatively fair. |
| C．Life is full of examples of people who complain about life being unfair. |
| D．In fact, it’s largely based on the choices we make, and the attitudes we adopt. |
| E．But I disagree with the attempt to use fairness to solve all problems in the world. |
| F．Stories like this are all around us-they are not miracles, nor are they the rare exception. |
| G．It doesn’t matter whether we are born with a silver spoon, plastic spoon, or no spoon at all. |
3 . Success is often considered to be the opposite of failure. To teenagers, it is the achievement of a goal or completion of something they really need, such as good grades and the ability to get along well with their classmates. Some schools used to agree with most parents who measured (判定) the success of their children according to grades, but now they pay special attention to moral (道德的) education and character-building to make sure teenagers achieve success in building human relationships.
Schools give chances to students to discover their hidden ability so that they can enjoy some form of success. For example, those good at speaking skills are advised to take part in speech competitions while those interested in arts are expected to perform in front of their classmates. Teenagers also get the pleasure of success when they join their favorite clubs.
Teenagers are often told that success is not easy to achieve and that success lies in hard work. Great efforts have to be put into project work. Doing things much later than planned should be avoided as this will lead to a mountain of work which finally makes them nervous. Another good quality (品质) is a sense of responsibility which makes them remember that a task has to be completed.
Sticking to moral values is the key to success too. Honest teenagers will win the trust of friends leading to good relationships. Self-motivation (自我激励) is another quality to be developed, for self-motivated teenagers will have the strong will and drive to perform a task and finally get to enjoy a sense of achievement.
1. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 1 refer to (指代)?| A．Their classmates. | B．Some schools. |
| C．Most parents. | D．Their children. |
| A．Project work makes teenagers nervous. |
| B．Good qualities will lead to a happy life. |
| C．Teenagers are advised to complete tasks in time. |
| D．Taking responsibility will make work much easier. |
| A．Honesty. | B．Self-motivation. |
| C．Communication. | D．Friends’ trust. |
| A．The Value of Moral Education |
| B．The Key to Discovering Hidden Ability |
| C．The Meaning of Success to Teenagers |
| D．The Way to Communicate with Others |
4 . This month I finally lived my dream: I visited behind the scenes at Disneyland, “the happiest place on Earth.” Watching thousands of smiling employees rushing, around the park, completely absorbed in their work, I suddenly understood the magic behind the park and why joy had escaped me for so long.
When I was younger, I tried to pursue happiness directly by creating as many happy moments as I could. However, no matter how many happy moments I had, they could not protect me from sadness. The sadness would unexpectedly arise when it shouldn’t when I was with friends or family, when I had achieved success, and when I tried to create art. It was the persistence (持续) of this sadness that finally made me realize the truth: the Happy/Sad model was wrong.
I updated my mental model to the Pleasure/Pain model. I saw that what I had called happiness was simply emotional pleasure, which was anything that confirmed the way I saw myself and the world. As I removed emotionally and physically painful moments from my life, I established a mental image of myself as a “happy person.” However, I was stuck in a one-dimensional emotional world.
Wandering down the 19th street and waving to the 100th friendly costumed character, I finally found the words that completed my third model — Joy/Fear, one that gives real depth to life. Disneyland, with its immersive (沉浸式的) world and perfect performances, goes beyond creating happiness and lessening pain. It is carefully getting rid of fear. It removes the possibility of anything going wrong, of disappointing us. And behind the scenes, Disneyland works tirelessly to ensure that everything always run the way it should.
Life is not Disneyland, however. Try as we might, we can’t control the world around us or completely erase our fearful moments. But we can control how we approach life and how we understand our fears. And in the absence of that fear, joy arises.
1. What gives the author a deep insight into happiness at Disneyland?| A．The beautiful scenes of Disneyland. |
| B．The relaxing working environment. |
| C．The smiling and committed staff. |
| D．The magical life principle. |
| A．had no close friends |
| B．didn’t get along well with family |
| C．achieved no success in the art creation |
| D．misunderstood the true meaning of happiness |
| A．It is entirely subjective. |
| B．It gives real depth to life. |
| C．It focuses on temporary joy. |
| D．It highlights the external state. |
| A．Disneyland is a magical and joyful place. |
| B．Emotional pleasure is the key to happiness. |
| C．Fear is inevitable for all of us in the whole life. |
| D．Approaching life with devotion brings genuine joy. |
5 . Standing on a hill at Cliveden Gardens on a sunny winter day, its dark-green lake surrounded by centuries-old trees took my breath away.
“The English landscape is more beautiful because its beauty is understated,” my friend Will said to me later as we walked through an exhibition at Tate Britain. He pointed to a painting of a peaceful countryside. “This is the landscape I grew up with”, he said. Unlike grand waterfalls or wild forests, this scenery doesn’t shout about its beauty.
I wonder if Chinese tourists will explore beyond London.
Experiencing both cultures, I’ve realized that the English and Chinese both express achievements with understatement.
| A．Cliveden isn’t a famous holiday place. |
| B．Rather, its beauty is reserved for the locals only. |
| C．I’ve been impressed by British humor all the time. |
| D．They tend to prefer places with a strong reputation. |
| E．But the more I looked, the more I saw its quiet elegance. |
| F．Over the years, I’ve become familiar with British modesty. |
| G．This mix makes me appreciate the unusual beauty of Cliveden. |
6 . In our information-driven society, shaping our worldview through the media is similar to forming an opinion about someone only based on a picture of their foot. While the media might not deliberately mislead us, it often fails to provide a comprehensive view of reality.
Consequently, the question arises: Where, then, shall we get our information from if not from the media? Who can we trust? How about experts — people who devote their working lives to understanding their chosen slice of the world? However, even experts can fall prey to the allure of oversimplification, leading to the “single perspective instinct” that prevent our ability to grasp the intricacies of the world.
Simple ideas can be appealing because they offer a sense of understanding and certainty. And it is easy to take off down a slippery slope, from one attention-grabbing simple idea to a feeling that this idea beautifully explains, or is the beautiful solution to, lots of other things. The world becomes simple that way.
Yet, when we embrace a singular cause for or a solution to all problems, we risk oversimplifying complex issues. For instance, depending the concept of equality may lead us to view all problems through the lens of inequality and see resource distribution as the cure-all medicine, However, such rigidity prevents us from seeing the multidimensional nature of challenges and hinders true comprehension of reality. This “single perspective instinct” ultimately clouds our judgment and restricts our capacity to tackle complex issues effectively. Being always in favor of or always against any particular idea makes you blind to information that doesn’t fit your perspective. This is usually a bad approach if you would like to understand reality.
Instead, constantly test your favorite ideas for weaknesses. Be humble about the extent of your expertise. Be curious about new information that doesn’t fit, and information from other fields. And rather than talking only to people who agree with you, or collecting examples that fit your ideas, consult people who contradict you, disagree with you, and put forward different ideas as a great resource for understanding the world. If this means you don’t have time to form so many opinions, so what?
Wouldn’t you rather have few opinions that are right than many that are wrong?
1. What does the underlined word “allure” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Temptation. | B．Tradition. | C．Convenience. | D．Disapproval. |
| A．They meet people’s demand for high efficiency. |
| B．They generate a sense of complete understanding. |
| C．They are raised and supported by multiple experts. |
| D．They reflect the opinions of like-minded individuals. |
| A．Simplifying matters releases energy for human brains. |
| B．Constant tests on our ideas help make up for our weakness. |
| C．A well-founded opinion counts more than many shallow ones. |
| D．People who disagree with us often have comprehensive views. |
| A．Embracing Disagreement: Refusing Overcomplexity |
| B．Enhancing Comprehension: Simplifying Information |
| C．Understanding Differences: Establishing Relationships |
| D．Navigating Complexity: Challenging Oversimplification |
7 . Recently, I accidentally found a set of Hanfu l only wore once from the bottom of the cupboard. I remember buying them simply to match the ancient-style hair accessories (配饰) a friend gave me. It occurred to me that 1 had been trapped in the “birdcage effect”.
“Birdcage effect” means that when you get an item one day, you will prepare more things to match it. Weeks ago, I was in the company of friends engaged in shopping. One said that she wanted to buy a good writing pen to match the delicate notebook that her sister gave her, so that she would fall in love with taking notes on reading, and thus love reading, not just reading. I joked that she must have fallen for the “birdcage effect”. But the friend said with a smile: “Why not use the ‘birdcage effect’ instead?”
For the first time, I heard that the “birdcage effect” can be used in reverse (逆向). However, this can’t help but remind me of middle school, and I seem to have used the “birdcage effect”. Passing by a bookstore one day, I purchased a magazine and saw the call for contributions published in the magazine, so I started writing with eager hands, and then I fell in love with writing.
After shopping with my friends that time, I began to proceed to use the “birdcage effect”. I bought a small fresh tablecloth to decorate my desk, and a beautiful notebook to record my inspiration. When everything was ready, I started writing again.
But how can we get rid of the “birdcage effect” in many things, and even use the “birdcage effect” in the opposite way? Various “birdcages” unavoidably appear in life, but we can distinguish them. If it is not in line with the actual situation, it is a “negative birdcage”, then we must learn to stop losses in time and maintain a heart of abandonment and separation. If it is a “positive birdcage” that motivates us to develop upward, we can clarify our goals, shop or decorate appropriately, and motivate ourselves to move towards our goals. At this time, you will find that the “birdcage effect” is actually not so terrible!
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The application of the “birdcage effect” in life. |
| B．The necessity of using the “birdcage effect” in life. |
| C．The turning point of the author’s idea on the “birdcage effect”. |
| D．The author’s conflict with her friend over the “birdcage effect”. |
| A．To recall her delightful days at school. |
| B．To explain the reason for her love with writing. |
| C．To confirm the positive of the “birdcage effect”. |
| D．To prove her knowledge of the “birdcage effect”. |
| A．By realizing this effect has two sides. |
| B．By promoting our personal consumption. |
| C．By recognizing this effect is not so terrible. |
| D．By guiding our acts to go with reasonable goals. |
| A．Getting Rid of the Birdcage Effect Confidently |
| B．Motivating Ourselves to Move Towards Our Goals |
| C．The Birdcage Effect: Influence on Consumer Behavior |
| D．The Birdcage Effect: How to Use It to Your Advantage |
8 . When everything goes wrong, always look at what you have, instead of what you have lost. Because it’s not what the world takes away from you that counts; it’s what you do with what you have left.
Pain is part of growing.
Every time you get hurt, you heal. After darkness there is always light – you are reminded of this every morning, but still you often forget, and instead choose to believe that the night will last forever. It won’t. Nothing lasts forever.
Complaining changes nothing.
Those who complain the most, accomplish the least.
The best thing you can do is to keep going.
Don’t be afraid to get back up -- to try again, to love again, to live again, and to dream again. Don’t let a hard lesson harden your heart. Life’s best lessons are often learned at the worst times and from the worst mistakes. There will be times when it seems like everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong.
| A．And even if you fall short, keep going. |
| B．Everything in life is temporary. |
| C．Here are a few tips to inspire you when you need it most. |
| D．Your scars are symbols of your strength. |
| E．When you feel like quitting, remember that sometimes things can be right eventually. |
| F．It’s always better to attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed. |
| G．Sometimes life closes doors because it’s time to move forward. |
9 . Alexa von Tobel, a successful entrepreneur(企业家), learned an important lesson during her time at Harvard University: Money alone doesn’t bring happiness. Despite achieving financial(财务的) success by selling her startup for millions of dollars, Alexa believes that true happiness comes from things that money can’t buy.
During her undergraduate studies in psychology, Alexa had the opportunity to study at Harvard’s Leadership and Happiness Laboratory, also known as the “Happiness Lab”. This experience gave her a new understanding on what truly brings happiness. She discovered that it’s the simple routines and daily actions that create a sense of community and connection, rather than material wealth.
Alexa’s mindset(思维模式) still influences her work. She believes that finding happiness is more important than just making money. Alexa thinks it’s important to take pride in the process of building a company, rather than only focus ing on the financial outcomes.
She applies this attitude to her personal life as well. Alexa and her husband value celebrating the journey rather than just the end results, even when it comes to raising their kids.
While at Harvard, Alexa was greatly inspired by Tal Ben-Shahar and Shawn Achor, who taught a popular course on “Positive Psychology”. This field emphasizes finding joy and satisfaction by connecting with others, being grateful, and having a positive mindset.
For Alexa, the lessons from her time at Harvard still remind her to focus on whatever brings her joy in her life, rather than obsessing over money or materials. “The daily effort drives happiness, not the outcome,” she says.
1. When did Alexa have a new understanding of happiness?| A．After she graduated from college. |
| B．After she married her husband. |
| C．When she studied at Harvard. |
| D．When she was 30 years old. |
| A．The result isn’t important at all. |
| B．The richer you are, the happier you are. |
| C．The more successful you are, the happier you are. |
| D．The process is more important than the outcome. |
| A．Her psychology teacher. | B．Her literature teacher. |
| C．Her physics teacher. | D．Her PE teacher. |
| A．Referring to. | B．Caring about. |
| C．Getting along with. | D．Taking over. |
10 . When I was 12 years old, I already knew that my teen years were going to be the worst years of my life. I was a total outsider, bullied (欺凌) at school. I felt completely alone in my small town.
But by starting to do volunteer work when I was 14, I turned my problem into a passion for helping others. The opportunity to practice kindness made me feel like my life had a greater purpose. The more positive energy I shared, the more kindness and appreciation I received. I realized that my purpose in life would be to reach out to people, specifically teenagers, and help them feel less alone.
Books were my true friends back then. I was so thankful that the authors wrote those books. The kindness they offered me with their books saved my life. One of my biggest dreams was to become an author so I could write books that would help other teenagers the way those books helped me.
After surviving terrible experiences at school and at home, I made a choice to take the optimistic, positive road in the next steps of my journey. My dream career, one I thought was only possible for the authors I loved, is what I am doing now. I have been a full-time author of teen novels since 2007 and am grateful for this amazing opportunity to reach out to readers every single day.
Kindness saved me when I needed help the most. Even small acts of kindness can change someone’s life. You never know what someone else is going through. But by practicing daily kindness, you become an architect of positive change.
1. What was the author’s life like when he was 12?| A．Boring. | B．Peaceful. | C．Painful. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．It made him popular in his town. | B．It helped him find the meaning of life. |
| C．It helped him understand others’ lives better. | D．It helped to shape his dream career. |
| A．He was inspired by his teacher. | B．He could pass positive energy to readers. |
| C．He wanted to share his school experiences. | D．He found he had a talent for writing. |
| A．Say “no” to bullies bravely. | B．Make positive changes in their lives. |
| C．Treat others with kindness in daily life. | D．Learn to care more about others’ feelings. |
