1 . These days, many young people wonder if they would be better served by striking out on their own than pursuing a college education. In this rapidly evolving digital era, narratives of overnight success and entrepreneurial glory have flooded our social media feeds, fascinating the digital natives of Gen Z into questioning the worth of an expensive traditional college degree.
Contrary to popular belief, successful entrepreneurship is rarely seen among the young. Recent research suggests that the average age in the U. S. of founders when they launched their companies is 42, rising to 45 for those within the top 0.1% of earnings based on growth in their first five years. That’s even the case for high-tech startups. Indeed, successful entrepreneurship is frequently the result of years of learning, experimenting and risk-taking—traits cultivated over time.
Campuses create environments rich in intellectual diversity and foster cooperation among their inhabitants, promoting an entrepreneurial mindset. They encourage students to challenge established norms and develop their unique thinking patterns to create value — practices that are also key to entrepreneurial success. Thus, higher education is not just about attaining a degree; it’s more importantly about acquiring the skills and experiences that inspire and enable the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
But some may doubt since formal entrepreneurship itself isn’t typically a course of study, are all college majors capable of instilling entrepreneurial skills? Let’s examine the arts majors, which are often subjected to the most suspicion concerning their career paths. Consider a theater major. That curriculum often includes entrepreneurship-focused capabilities beyond stage direction, lighting, sound systems and performance. Students learn to mobilize resources, lead creative teams and navigate the uncertainties of a theatrical production — skills that are readily transferable to launching any entrepreneurial business.
Like a compass for the future, entrepreneurship guides us toward a society that prizes critical thinking, nurtures intellectual curiosity and champions innovation. Let’s not get swept away by short-lived trends or misleading narratives. Instead, we should appreciate the enduring value of college education.
1. What do the figures in paragraph 2 indicate?| A．The chance of success multiplies with age. | B．Young people dominate high-tech startups. |
| C．Quite a number of enterprises are in the red. | D．Successful entrepreneurship isn’t built in a day. |
| A．Sticking to one’s own principles. | B．Acquiring knowledge from textbooks. |
| C．Developing a startup mentality. | D．Following established norms and traditions. |
| A．To illustrate it is complex and demanding. |
| B．To prove people’s suspicion is reasonable. |
| C．To show entrepreneurial skills can be integrated into all majors. |
| D．To stress it is the launchpad for successful entrepreneurship. |
| A．Arts. | B．Insights. | C．Entertainment. | D．News. |
2 . “Are you all right?” the student asked as she passed me in the hallway. I was in the final stretch of last work before writing my essay. The student, who was 4 years behind me in the same Ph.D. program, went on to say, “I see people from your group working so much, putting in extra hours, even at night.” It set me thinking a lot.
As a first-year Ph.D. student, I was lucky to have kind and understanding advisers. But I felt overwhelming pressure to become a perfect student. I kept finding a million reasons why I was coming into graduate school at a disadvantage compared with my peers. As a student from Colombia, I had been educated at institutions my professors and colleagues had never heard of, I spoke with an accent that was hard to understand, and I was older than most of the people in my cohort.
I noticed that most of the people around me seemed to be working all the time. I began to spend many weekday nights and weekends in the lab. But my strategy didn’t work. I crashed from burnout. The tiredness took a toll on my productivity and motivation. During one of many mindless Sundays in the office, I realized I’d fallen into the trap of assuming my colleagues’ work habits were the standard for belonging and being worthy of respect — and it wasn’t sustainable.
From then on, I stopped counting the number of work hours I was putting in, leaving space every day for exercising and doing activities that I enjoyed. Eventually, I realized nobody was keeping track of the amount of time I spent in the lab anyway and it wasn’t something I needed to worry about.
I noticed that having more time for myself made me more rested and motivated when I went back to work. I continued quietly along this path for years, until that conversation in the hallway. So, when I ran into her again, weeks later, I told her that even though I was feeling a lot of pressure in the final year of my Ph.D., I was putting my mental and physical health first and wasn’t working overtime. I also began to talk with other students about how quality sleep, physical activity, healthy eating, and reasonable work hours were a daily part of my routine.
1. What can we learn about the student?| A．He spent much time in lab work. | B．He had finished the Ph.D. program. |
| C．He was concerned about the author. | D．He was putting in extra hours at night. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Ambitious. | C．Dissatisfied. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．Added fuel to. | B．Had a negative impact on. |
| C．Cast new light on. | D．Depended too much on. |
| A．A healthy work-life balance counts. |
| B．A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. |
| C．Fitting in doesn’t mean working overtime. |
| D．Nothing is difficult to the man who will try. |
3 . Many scholars agree that a meaningful existence comes down to three factors: the coherence of one’s life, the possession of clear long-term goals and the belief that one’s life matters. But we believe there is another element to consider.
Imagine the first butterfly you stop to admire after a long winter or the scenery atop a hill after a fresh hike. Sometimes existence delivers us small moments of beauty. When people are open to appreciating such experiences, these moments may enhance how they view their life. We call this element experiential appreciation, an ability to detect and admire life’s inner beauty as events happen.
To better understand this appreciation, we conducted a series of studies involving over 3,000 participants. Initially, we had participants rate their coping strategies to relieve their stress. Those managing stress by focusing on their appreciation for life’s beauty reported experiencing life as highly meaningful. In the follow-ups, we asked them to rate the extent to which they agreed with various statements, such as “I have a great appreciation for the beauty of life” and other statements related to coherence, purpose, existential mattering. Our results showed that the more people indicated that they were “appreciating life”, the more they felt their existence valuable. In the subsequent experiment, we further explored the phenomenon by asking participants to watch an awe-inspiring video, they also reported having a greater sense of experiential appreciation and meaning in life in these moments, compared with those watching more neutral videos.
The final results confirmed our original theory: appreciating small things can make life feel more meaningful. But applying that insight can be difficult. Our modern, fast-paced, project-oriented lifestyles fill the day with targets. We are on the go, attempting to maximize our output. This makes it easy to miss what is happening right now. Yet life happens in the present moment. We should slow down, let life surprise us and embrace the significance every day.
1. What is the author’s belief in meaningful life?| A．Owning the coherence of life. |
| B．Setting a long-term career goal. |
| C．Valuing what matters just to us. |
| D．Enjoying present beauty of life. |
| A．The approach to conducting the studies. |
| B．The analysis of the specific objectives. |
| C．The necessity of a long-term goal in life. |
| D．The logic behind experiential appreciation. |
| A．Our fast-paced modern lifestyle. |
| B．The lack of employment chances. |
| C．Our focus on individual feelings. |
| D．The ignorance of future outcomes. |
| A．Appreciating the past. |
| B．Living in the moment. |
| C．Finding yourself back. |
| D．Embracing the future. |
4 . One Second Every Day
I’ve been in advertising for eight years and used to work a lot of late nights and weekends for numerous projects.
The first project ends up being something I call “One Second Every Day”. Basically I record one second of every day for the rest of my life, combining these moments into one single continuous video until I can’t record them anymore.
I don’t use any filters (滤镜), just trying to catch the moment as much as possible as it is. I started a rule of the first person view. Early on, I thought I should have a couple of videos where people would see me, but I realized that wasn’t the way to go.
The project has many possibilities. I encourage you all to record just a small piece of your life every day, so you can never forget that day and treasure every moment.
| A．It instantly inspired me. |
| B．The purpose is to remember what I’ve done. |
| C．I’m always energetic when doing things I love. |
| D．People might have different interpretations of it. |
| E．It’s difficult, sometimes, to pick that one second. |
| F．But I never had time for one I wanted to work on on my own. |
| G．The essence of my project should be recording the thing as I actually see it. |
5 . My mother-in-law asked me to climb a mountain in her rural village. We went through tall and weedy expanse of grass, pulling ourselves up with the help of smooth bamboo trees. Weathered gray rocks dotted tracks only visible to an experienced hiker. The view we were rewarded with halfway up the mountain, fixing our eyes upon the colorful pieces of fields and whitewashed homes set against the deep green hills and a sky so blue that it looked digitally polished, was a side benefit of being there.
Our eyes were mostly on the wild eatable plants that grew on the mountainside. We first came upon the wild mountain bamboo, a plant that was the main part in my mother-in-law’s salted bamboo shoots that, once preserved, could be used all year long in cooking. Along the way, we also encountered another precious wild food — fiddlehead ferns (蕨菜). Those delicate leaves, when stir-fired, were a tasty treat. Once I had purchased fiddleheads at a market in the US. Yet there we were, picking this prized vegetable on our own, with only our labor as the cost.
What we had collected that afternoon looked the same as any other wild mountain bamboo shoots and fiddlehead ferns I had seen before in my mother-in-law’s kitchen. And yet, they felt different to me because I had used my own hands to help pick them and carry them back down the mountain. Spending time and energy gathering these wild plants gave me a deeper appreciation for the food that ends up on the dinner table.
“Many generations have kept this natural lifestyle. We depend on the mountains for our life,” my mother-in-law says. Those mountains and rivers supporting her life aren’t some abstract concept. They are right there, outside her door and within her rural village. Once I saw them through her angle that afternoon, I realized they are closer to me than I ever imagined.
1. Why was the author asked to climb a mountain?| A．To pull some bamboo trees. | B．To enjoy its beautiful scenery. |
| C．To get some wild vegetables. | D．To lake some digital pictures. |
| A．The fresh leaves. | B．The input of labor. |
| C．The rich nutrition. | D．The help from Mother-in-law. |
| A．Nature feeds villagers and sustains their life. |
| B．City people want to settle down in mountains. |
| C．Rural areas are inaccessible to some outsiders. |
| D．Farmers dream of changing the natural lifestyle. |
| A．Humorous. | B．Anxious. | C．Satisfied. | D．Tolerant. |
6 . Bruce is a manager who had a team of around 40 people. Most of them were bright, enthusiastic, and hardworking young fellows. This helps to promote their independence.
For the next round, Bruce told them if any team member found a balloon with a name on it, he or she had to give it to the owner of the name. All started searching, and within a couple of minutes everyone had their own balloon with their name on it. Bruce went to the dais and said, “You see, in the second round, no one was able to find their balloons as they were working on individual targets. But in the final round. within a couple of minutes, everyone had the balloon with them.
Most of the time, people hide information, avoid collaboration, and distance themselves from their team members.
| A．Consequently, no one got their balloons. |
| B．However, he found he was not successful. |
| C．That’s the power of teamwork and sharing. |
| D．So he considered taking his group on a trip. |
| E．Individually, everyone on the team is outstanding. |
| F．This sort of mindset forms obstacles for team growth. |
| G．He decided to address the issue by launching a team activity. |
7 . An important life lesson that I’ve drawn from running is to run at my own pace. It has guided me in many ways. In particular, it made me challenge the fixed expectations of retirement and aging.
Running is a metaphor (隐喻) for life. I realized this while training for a marathon to celebrate my 60th birthday. All the other runners being faster than me made me embarrassed. But my coach shared some valuable advice; run at your own best pace. Setting a goal or target time could be a limitation. He was right. Over time, I ran more easily and faster. I also enjoyed the experience much more.
I have applied this principle to other areas of my life. Finding a rhythm is not about efficiency or how many things I can get done in a day. It has more to do with what I decide to do at this stage in my life.
Running carries its own set of expectations, including what it means to be a strong runner. But expectations also extend to other areas of life, including what people at certain life stages should be doing or not doing. Expectations at my age can center on how leisure time is spent, decisions about employment, and even the role of a grandmother.
I used to think it was young people who bore peer pressure, but it’s easy to view retirement as another occupation with benchmarks (基准) to be met. We often make what someone else does the reference point. It’s a comparison trap.
Forget what others are doing. Their pace is not necessarily the pace you should run at. Run in your own way. It’s not better or worse — only different.
1. What does the author intend to tell in paragraph 2?| A．The origin of a life principle. | B．Her misunderstanding of running. |
| C．The importance of life expectations. | D．Her unpleasant training experience. |
| A．They are vital for retired people. | B．They vary at different life stages. |
| C．They cover every decision in life. | D．They are usually too high to fulfill. |
| A．Young people often compete with old people. | B．Retired people take up bad occupations. |
| C．Retired people are also under peer pressure. | D．A comparison trap makes young people stronger. |
| A．Retirement can’t stop old people’s dreams. |
| B．People should live life to the fullest. |
| C．People should live at their own speed. |
| D．Running at a fixed pace is beneficial to retired people. |
8 . When you learn how to set intentions, you may tap into your inner drive and reach your dreams. Just remember that motivation is not a constant. Like the tide, it rises and it falls ,so be prepared for this.
Finish a small task early on.This can be as simple as making your bed.
Write a journal.
Be optimistic.
| A．Talk to your negative voice. |
| B．Optimism is fuel for achieving goals. |
| C．You can divide your task into small pieces. |
| D．Optimistic people often have higher goals. |
| E．Put down your goals in your journal and read them every day. |
| F．Here are some tips to keep you focused on your meaningful projects. |
| G．Completing a task right when you get up can set the tone for the rest of the day. |
9 . Kala has deep ties to her Hawaiian roots. Her ancestors navigated (航行) the oceans for centuries using their knowledge of the stars, the sun, the currents and the wind. It’s not that she does it in a canoe without technology, but rather uses the natural technology around her. It’s called Way finding, and was taught to her by her father.
“My father was my foundation, my rock.” she says of her first voyage with him from Oahu to Lahaina in a traditional canoe. He taught her how to read the stars, the ocean swells and how to use them to hold the course. “Over 200 stars have specific names and purposes when you are Way finding. You have to look at each and determine if they are rising or setting. You know this star and the direction it represents. If you can do that, you can use it as a tool to orient (确定方向).” Kala added.
Kala Tanaka sailed the canoe in the ocean for up to three weeks. During the day, Kala used the sun until it hit a certain height. When she got closer to land, she looked for certain species of land birds and clouds that indicated there was land below. When Kala sailed she felt “I feel very connected to the crew and the canoe. We’re a family.” The longer voyage required Kala to spend hours studying the day and the night skies. It was demanding physical work. But it also had its moments of awe. For Kala, the beauty was in tying together the past and the present to enjoy the moment. So when she was not sailing, she was teaching Way finding skills to school-aged children in hopes of preserving the skills her ancestors relied on.
It’s easy to be lost in the immediacy of the technology of our day, to be consumed by screens and miss the nature that unfolds around us. But if we will take the time to look up, to see the stars and the sun, the way the clouds move, the miracle of life beneath and above us, we will discover something deep inside us, something that will always lead to happiness.
1. How does Kala navigate the ocean in a canoe?| A．By observing the natural elements around. |
| B．By following the course of ocean currents. |
| C．By using hi-technology navigation devices. |
| D．By recalling the first voyage with her father. |
| A．It was a heroic adventure. | B．It brought great joy to her life. |
| C．It was school children’s favorite. | D．It represented a kind of innovation. |
| A．Enjoy the screens. | B．Explore the universe. |
| C．Get close to nature. | D．Keep the earth clean. |
| A．Finding Our Way | B．Navigating the Ocean |
| C．The Wisdom from Ancestors | D．An Unforgettable Journey |
10 . Choice, we are given to believe, is a right. But for a good many people, choice gives birth to anxiety. Interested in the idea “too many choices are dizzy”. I have been conducting an experiment.
When presented with a menu in a restaurant, I’ll only consider the first few options on each page. I know, it sounds crazy.
This devotion to a simpler set of possibilities came in handy when our summer holiday to America was COVID-canceled. I didn’t go through a million TripAdvisor reviews for the best replacements. I simply went on Airbnb, saw what in England was still available and immediately booked the one I could afford.
| A．It was delicious. |
| B．It never proved worth a try. |
| C．But it’s actually quite liberating. |
| D．It interprets a lifestyle: less is more. |
| E．The same applies to home entertainment. |
| F．In doing so, I saved myself days of travel anxiety. |
| G．I’ve been expanding the choices I allow myself to have. |
