2 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. addicted        B. pleasing        C. limited     D. baggage     E. conscious     F. quotation G. operating   H. imposed     I. strings     J. informative     K. sinking

Who’s in control of your life? Who is pulling your     1    ? For the majority of us, it’s other people—society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of     2     when we were very young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it. “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a(n)    3    .”

So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug—we are     4     to it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and     5     lives, failing to do the things we really want to do. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix, we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.

But just as with any drug there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom—the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think. People have their own agenda, and they come with their own     6     and, in the end, they’re more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will be building our life on     7     sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably     8     no one in the process.

So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way—make a(n)    9     decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values—not values     10     from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic, effective, purposeful and happy life.

5 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. commit       B. confused       C. fuel            D. interacting        E. genuine        F. leap G. poison       H. setbacks   I. stream   J. upgrading        K. unplug

With so many investments required of us to succeed – time, resources, talents, responsibilities, even finances for our retirement – it’s easy to lose sight of the most difficult investment of all to     1     to: ourselves.

Getting to the point where you’re ready to start     2     to you 2.0 isn’t easy. But it doesn’t mean dropping the ball everywhere else. It's not about omissions, but admissions. Come clean with yourself to kick-start your personal growth.

Unstuck starts with “u”

No one purposely chooses to stop learning and growing again, it just kind of happens in a lot of daily responsibilities and life. And if it were easy to just kick it into gear (挡位) again, you would have already done it. But the truth is inescapable. If you want to get off that place to higher ground, it’s up to you and only you. No one will just hand you a steady     3     of opportunities for growth.

You’ve been working in your life, not on it

Activity is often     4     with acceleration (忙碌). I was guilty of this for years in working place – staying always busy but not admitting I was bored. I was lost in activity and not stepping back to take time to question what I wanted my life to be. Once I began working on my life – quitting corporate, becoming an entrepreneur, restructuring to my life – I started growing once again. And I’ve never been happier.

Things aren’t happening to you, they’re happening for you

A victim mentality (心态) is the enemy of personal growth. Lamenting over everything that has gone wrong in your life only wastes energy from working to make more things go right. If you want to kick-start growth, you must view     5     as having a purpose, and then put them in their place. The past shouldn’t run or define you – only     6     you.

The perfect time to start doesn’t exist

I had so many things that had to be just right before I could make my long-planned     7     from corporate. I’d tell myself, “I’d love to go for it right now, but practically speaking.” Well, guess what? Practicality is     8    . It’s the convenient excuse stopping you from what you’re meant to become.

It’s time to     9     others’ opinions

Grow where you want to grow. Learn what you want to learn. Wherever you are on the scale of what you want to learn next – be it beginner or near-expert own it, be proud of it. Pretences are for pretenders. You’re just trying to become a better version of your     10     self.

6 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. contribute B. flows   C. fundamental   D. lays   E. notes   F. outline    G. reflect     H. respectively   I. shared     J. serve   K. uncertainty

Leadership Traits (特质)

My job puts me in contact with extraordinary leaders in many fields. So I tend to     1     a lot on leadership and how we can inspire successful teamwork, cooperation, and partnerships. In my experience, it is clear that the most successful leaders—both men and women—always demonstrate three     2     traits.

Trustworthiness

Leaders must set an example of honesty and justice and earn the trust of their teams through their everyday actions. When you do so with positive energy and enthusiasm for     3     goals and purpose, you can deeply connect with your team and customers. A culture of trust enables you to empower employees and     4     the foundation for communication, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Compassion (共情)

You can’t forget that organizational success     5     from the hearts and minds of the men and women you lead. Rather than treating your people as you’d like to be treated, treat them as they would like to be treated. Small gestures like choosing face-to-face meetings or sending personal     6     can have an enormous impact on the spirits of the teams. In addition to thanks and praise, you must also understand people’s needs, pressures, and individual goals, which will allow you to lead them more effectively and     7     to their personal ambitions and professional development.

Decisiveness

In times of     8    , employees long for clarity. As a leader, you won’t always have all of the answers—no one expects you to—so you must be open to listening and learning from others. Once you understand a particular challenge and     9     the options, you have to be confident in making bold and optimistic decisions.

Successful leadership demands a lifelong commitment to sharpening these three basic skills. Wherever you have the opportunity to     10    , the qualities of trustworthiness, compassion, and decisiveness are the keys to leadership and organizational success.

7 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. sympathetically B. inevitable   C. rarely     D. guided     E. natural   F. right G. misunderstood   H. travelling   I. offered     J. regularly     K. possession

The year of wandering

Between the preparation and the work, the traineeship and the actual dealing with a task or an art, there comes, in the experience of many young men, a period of uncertainty and wandering which is often     1     and considered as time wasted, when it is, in fact, a period rich in full and free development.

It is as     2     for passionate and courageous youth to wish to know what is in life, what it means, and what it holds for its children, as for a child to reach for and search the things that surround and attract it. Behind every real worker in the world is a real man, and a man has a     3     to know the conditions under which he must live, and the choices of knowledge, power, and activity which are     4     him. In the education of many men and women, therefore, there comes the year of wandering; the experience of     5     from knowledge to knowledge and from occupation to occupation.

The forces which go to the making of a powerful man can     6     be adjusted and blended (融合) without some disturbance of relations and conditions. This disturbance is sometimes injurious, because it affects the moral foundations upon which character rests; and for this reason the significance of the experience in its relation to development ought to be     7     studied. The birth of the imagination and of the passions, the perception(感知) of the richness of life, and the consciousness of the     8     of the power to master and use that wealth, create a critical moment in the history of youth, — a moment richer in possibilities of all kinds than comes at any later period.

Anxiety and excitement of soul are     9     in that wonderful moment. There are times when anxiety is as normal as is self-control at other and less critical times. The year of wandering is not an indication of aimlessness, but of aspiration, and that in its excitement and uncertainty youth is often     10     to and finally prepared for its task.

8 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box.   Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. qualities	B. benefits	C. network	D. completely	E. disappointed
F. improving	G. motivate	H. required	I. effectively	J. essential	K. surveyed

Don't abandon the written Word

Way back in 2012, Kyle Wiens. CEO of IFIX wrote in a blog post for Harvard Business Review that he wouldn't hire anyone who used poor grammar. In fact, he     1     all applicants to take a grammar test before moving forward.

According to Wiens, he’s found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something     2     unrelated to writing ― like stocking shelves or labeling parts. What's more, he believes that grammar skills indicate several other valuable     3    , including learning ability, professional credibility (信用) and attention to detail. Another CEO named Brad Hoover noted that good grammar is a predictor of professional success.

Honestly ask yourself whether you'd hire someone with a poorly written resume. Will this person be able to deliver on your business plan? How     4     will they be able to communicate your goals and expectations? How likely is   it that they will be able to successfully     5     with others and build your brand? In short, if you want to succeed ― as a boss or an employee ― good grammar is     6    .

“Great leaders can understand how to use it well in context,” wrote Kevin Daum in an Inc.com article. As a leader, you must be able to manage, organize,     7     and support your team. Strong communication skill both written and verbal, allow you to accomplish that. If you sent an employee poorly written instructions, how probable is it that you'll both be     8     in the outcome and   each   other?

Writing, specifically by hand has numerous     9     for your health and well-being. Researchers have also found that handwriting, in particular the forming of letters, is the key to not only     10     your memory but also forming new ideas and learning. In fact, if you want to slow down mental aging, writing by hand is your best bet because it forces you to use more of your motor skills.

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. certainly   B. challenges   C. shape   D. nearly   E. impossible   F. painful G. serves   H. space   I. representing   J. happens   K. commitment

Life is filled with challenges. As we get older we come to realize that those challenges are the very things that     1     us and make us who we are, it is the same with the challenges that come with friendship.

When we are faced with a challenge, we usually have two choices. We can try to beat it off, or we can decide that the thing     2     the challenge isn’t worth the trouble and call it quits. Although there are     3     times when calling it quits is the right thing to do, in most cases all that is needed is     4     and communication.

When we are committed to something, it means that no matter how     5     or uncomfortable something is, we will always choose to face it and work through instead of running away from it. Communication is making a     6     for discussion and talking about how you feel as opposed to just saying what the other person did wrong. If you can say to a friend, “I got my feelings hurt,” rather than “You hurt my feelings.” You are going to be able to solve the problem much faster.

In dealing with many     7     that friendship will bring to you, try to see them for what they are: small hurdles(障碍) you need to jump or get through on your way through life. Nothing is so big that it is     8     to get over, and hurt only     9     to make us stronger. It is all part of growing up, it     10     to everyone, and some day you will look back on all of this and say, “Hard as it was, it made me who I am today. And that is a good thing.”

10 . Directions: Complete the following passages by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. overnight 　　　B. flash 　　　C. share 　　　D. enormous　　　 E. endured　　　 F. rise G. lengthy 　　　H. places　　　 I. pursue 　　　J. reflected 　　　K. plentiful

Robert Frost had aimed to be a poet since he was a teenager. But the American literary icon would not publish his first book of poetry until he was 39, and his best works would not follow until he was well into middle and old age. “Young people are good at discovering. They have a     1     here and there. It is like the stars coming out in the early evening,” he     2     at age 63, but “it is later in the dark of life that you see forms, patterns”

Frost’s     3     journey to fame during the dark of life, however, is far from the road less taken. Despite science society and silicon valley’s common belief that creativity, innovation and excellence are the near-exclusive province of the young, a surprising number of late bloomers mark the records of human history — women and men who     4     years of hardship, failure and missed opportunities before making an impact in the later stages of life. And once you move past the impressive stare of history’s Mozart-like geniuses, you find that late bloomers are quite     5    : in fact, there are many more roads to becoming an old master than a young prodigy.

Sometimes you don’t discover your passion in life until you’ve done some other things first. Sometimes you don’t get the opportunity to make the most of your experiences until relatively late in life. Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, didn’t start building his business empire until he was 53 years old. Until that point, the former Red Cross ambulance driver was a traveling salesman, peddling milk shake machines and paper cups. “I was a(n)     6     success all right,” Kroc wrote in his autobiography, “but 30 years is a long, long night.”

Sometimes, instead of opportunities, life     7     obstacles on the road to success. It wasn’t until Laura Ingalls Wilder turned 65 that her epic Little House on the Prairie series was published. By then, she had already devoted decades to being a farm wife and mother, schoolteacher, loan officer and newspaper columnist, and she had endured more than her fair     8     of hardship, from droughts to house fires. Another influential writer, Miguel de Cervantes, wrote Don Quixote in his late 50s after an eventful life in which he spent years behind bars and as a captive of Barbary pirates.

Therefore, unlike the youthful genius, whose rocket-fast     9     impresses as well as depresses the rest of the world, the late bloomer demonstrates what is possible as people     10     their own versions of full bloom.