1 . 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. necessarily     B. fade     C. survive     D. expectation     E. harsh     F. treasure    G. quantity     H. dramatically     I. comfort     J. relate     K. reflect

Things I’ve Learned From My First Year Of High School

I just finished my first year of high school, and it has been     1     different from middle school. High school has brought me so many different experiences. Some I am grateful for, yet some have not been beneficial. However, all of them have taught me so many different things, and I would not have been able to     2     my first year of high school without them. The things I have learned have been so helpful to me and can also     3     to things outside of school.

1. You’re expected to demonstrate maturity and responsibility

High school teachers won’t     4     “hold your hand” as much as middle school teachers did. Your teachers may move faster through lessons. When you have questions or meet with     5     challenges, it’s important to speak up. If speaking up makes you nervous at first, you can start by using email to build your     6     level and confidence.

High school teachers enforce higher standards, and most don’t tolerate some of the behaviors that were acceptable in middle school. Again, the goal is to prepare you for college and real life. Even if the     7     seems tough at first, remember that you’re learning helpful and important life skills.

2. Find out who your true friends are

Genuine friends are friends that you can tell everything to and they will not tell anyone else without your permission. They are also there whenever you need them, whether that is to rant or you just need a shoulder to cry on. When you find your true friends, stick with them. The thing about friends is: quality over     8    .

To be honest, high school is not easy at first, but with time, you will get to appreciate and     9     everything around your experiences. The memory will never     10    , because it is the most memorable journey. I have learned so much during my first year of high school, and I am sure that I am going to learn a lot more.

2 . 用方框中所给词的适当形式填空，使短文通顺、正确、连贯(每个单词限用一次)

you   work   be   high   though   imagine   price   dream   towards     once

As a child, I would spend hours dreaming about my future. I imagined having a beautiful home. I also    1    of being a teacher, pianist or world traveler. Dreaming encouraged me to set goals and learn new skills like painting, knitting and cooking. When I dreamed, I realized the chances in life    2     endless.

A dream is something that you    3    might happen. Once you have a dream, you can create a goal. A goal is something that you can work    4    in the future. Goals turn dreams into reality.

Perhaps you want to change something about    5    . Maybe you want to lose weight, exercise more every week or earn    6    grades. You may want to read 10 books this year or travel to another country. These are specific goals.

    7    you have a goal, create a strategy that will help you reach that goal. Dreams are free. But goals have a     8    . You must spend time, money and effort to reach them. If you want to learn an instrument, then you must take lessons and practice. It is not always easy, but your hard    9    will pay off.

Finally, don’t give up your goals. At times, you may get discouraged     10    . Work hard and you can reach your goals!

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

A. waste       B. universal       C. emotional       D. endure       E. expose       F. inspired       G. prize       H. reality

The Blooms of the Blood Thorns

The master said You must write what you see.

But what I see does not move me.

The master answered Change what you see.

—Louise Gluck

The rosebush of life is inevitably threaded with far more thorns (荆棘) than it ever is of blooms. In order to grasp one of those blossoms we come upon on occasion in life, we have to     1     the pain of the pricks (刺伤).

Life is full of pricks. From the loss of loved ones, to the pain of one-sided love, to the hopes we held for our lives that ran up against the cold steel walls of     2    , these pricks have the power to draw oozing (慢慢渗出的) blood from our souls. But the story of our lives is actually not the way in which we suffered pain and injury — but rather how we have found strength to rise up stronger.

The newly-crowned Nobel-winning American poet-laureate (桂冠诗人) Louise Gluck realized, when she was young, the redemptive (救赎的) power that     3     pain can bring. She experienced the “absence” of a sister, whose death before Gluck was born     4     theme of grief and loss in much of the poet’s work. Her teenager years were dominated by a struggle with a severe eating disorder. She later suffered the painful loss of her father, and, after her literary success, saw her marriage fall apart.

The poet, however, used these experiences as a(n) base for her poems. She filled books with the painful lessons her traumas (创伤) taught her. She squeezed the blood drawn by these experiences into her inkwell. She exorcized (驱除) the everyday traumas of her life — loss, desire, sadness and isolation — with the steady scratch of her pen on the page.

The themes of loss are     5     to the human condition. They have shaped us, for better or worse, and made us the fully human beings we are today. While her poems     6     readers to the nerves of a traumatized soul, they are also a tribute to the strength of their creator. They reveal that even in the depths of the greatest suffering, she has found a way to rob the rosebush of its     7    . By doing so, she has drawn us a map by which we may plan our own journey through the thorny pricks of life. Let’s learn from her experiences so that her hard-fought life lessons will not be in waste. As she wrote in her famous poetry collection, The Wild Iris, “At the end of my suffering there was a door.”

4 . 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. livelihood          B. geographical          C. increasingly        D. exhausted        E. amuse        F. beyond G. unsupported       H. slightly                 I. motivational          J. matters             K. surviving

The mission for explorers, BØrge Ousland, a Norwegian, and Mike Horn, a South African-born Swiss, was to navigate their way across the 600 miles to the South Pole    1    —no dogsleds or airdrops of equipment, no food or fuel along the way. When, in 2006, the two men finally reached their destination, Cape Arkticheskiy in Siberia, in the pitch dark of polar winter, they were utterly    2    , had frostbite(冻疮), but were still in one piece. What they had accomplished stands as one of the most daring polar expeditions in recent memory: setting out in total darkness and     3    physically and mentally. That had been the essence of the trip. Reaching the pole was necessary, but almost irrelevant conclusion.

Why would they have put themselves in this position? This was, actually, exactly what they had wanted. Both men had been adventuring since boyhood, taking    4    high calculated risks. At some point, they left their comfort zones and never went back. For them, going to extremes that may seem insane was actually a logical progression. They discovered that they could earn a living—writing books, taking pictures, making films, and presenting    5    speeches. Now, they have sponsors: outdoor gear manufacturers, construction outfits, an adventure travel agency, a watch company. Extreme adventure is their    6    .

Some people say that the two men have a death wish, but this just seems to    7    Mike and BØrge. They will tell you that it isn’t a desire to be closer to death that attracts them; it’s a desire to be closer to life. They’ve been to the mountaintop. They know that willpower can be built, and that ordinary people, like themselves, have abilities    8    their wildest dreams. They’re just the ones who are out there, searching the wilderness on behalf of the rest of us. They aren’t marking dots on a    9    map anymore. That was accomplished long ago. What they are doing now is exploring the inner map, the mental and emotional map. What will they learn about themselves from being in a position where nothing    10    except staying alive? What, exactly, is the human being capable of? This is what drives them.

5 . Use the words in the box to complete the following excerpt from a student’s speech.

commit            bounce around            rather than            come to a conclusion          define in common            radium            had a great influence on

Probably everyone dreams of having a great career, but first let’s     1    what this means. When thinking about what makes a career great, many ideas may    2     in your head, such as the desire for money, power, or fame. Different people might have different opinions about this, but wouldn’t it be kind of greedy to focus on money and fame     3    on something more meaningful? Please close your eyes and think of someone professional and successful. It could be a famous entrepreneur, a great leader, a scientist or an artist, or a teacher who     4    you. My choice would be Marie Curie, who discovered     5    . For me, she is great not just because she was world-famous, but because she made great contributions to mankind. Being a female scientist was much less common in her time, but in spite of this she devoted her life to her career. So I    6     that if you want a great career, you need to     7    yourself to something meaningful. I believe all great careers have this    8    .

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）

A. source     B. steep       C. irrelevant     D. moderate   E. regrow     F. documented G. motivated     H. equivalent     I. comparatively   J. adapt       K. constantly

Adventure of a Lifetime

I was driving with a friend recently and telling him about a new book I’m working on, an article I'm writing and this new hobby of adventure motorcycling in the desert.

He interrupted me and said, “How do you stay so    1    about things?” I hadn’t really considered the “why” behind my list of activities. But as I thought about it, I realized that the one aspect each of these projects had to make me so excited was the feeling of being in just a little over my head.

It’s easy to wonder how doing stuff that makes you uncomfortable, and might not even work, is a（n）    2    of motivation. I could not get my friend’s question out of my head and wondered whether I'm wired differently. But there’s something about a sink-or-swim environment that excites me.

I posted on Instagram about    3    getting in a little over my head, and my friend Dallas Hartwig told me about this concept called hormesis, a phenomenon by which something that could significantly damage or even kill you in high doses can make you stronger in low doses, or as the National Institutes of Health puts it, an adaptive response of cells and organisms to a（n）    4    stress. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger is not a new concept. It’s well     5    that the way to grow muscle is to split the muscle tissue, and then give it time to    6    .

So what if we did the same thing in other areas of our lives? It makes sense that the business    7    of building muscle is trying new things. When you throw yourself into the deep end of something new, you often face a（n）    8    learning curve. That forces you to grow,    9    , change and develop your skill set. It’s almost    10    if the particular project ends up succeeding, because the very act of taking on something new helps you become better at your work over all.

7 . 选词填空

A. impact       B. pursue       C. superiority       D. address       E. consciously       F. lack G. reluctantly       H. opposite       I. involved       J. specific       K. limited

Although literally hundreds of traps can open a gateway to team disaster, the following traps are among the most common ones that need to be discussed.

Leader Abdication (退位)

Some managers, in their sincere efforts to be good team leaders, make a serious mistake: they withdraw from their group and     1     avoid interacting with team members. They wrongly assume that the best way they can help the team become more self-directed is by personally becoming less     2    .

Team Arrogance (自大)

A team can become so focused on achieving its own goals that it does not consider the     3     its actions may have on other groups or organizations. Outsiders see the team as arrogant and cruel. Insiders see the team as effective and misunderstood. Overall, the team’s belief in its own     4     has a damaging effect on the performance of the organization as a whole.

Undefined Responsibility

In this trap, a team may regularly make decision on which no following action is ever taken. Members are then frustrated by the collective     5     of responsibility. In instances where action is taken and the execution is poor or a mistake is made, no one takes responsibility. It is rarely clear who is responsible for     6     action items, and when an action item is regarded as the responsibility of the entire team, nothing happens.

Short-term Focus

Failure to see the “big picture” can lead a team to     7     strategies that help improve its own performance but leave the rest of the organization in a mess. Not having the information that allows seeing the forest rather than the trees can lead to suspect plans and poorly reasoned decision.

Decision by Default (默认)

Teams that have a tendency to repeatedly postpone difficult decisions will find that their options become increasingly     8    . Ironically, by hesitating, the team finally makes a decision—by default rather than by informed choices.

Participation Tricks

Tricks to increase employee involvement and participation—like suggestion boxes—can actually have the     9     effect. When individuals are rewarded for contributing suggestions through cash, there is little incentive (激励) for team members to work together to     10     problems and implement solutions.

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. emphasis B. compliments C. attempt D. current E. create F. reverse G. confidently H. fades I. simplify J. positively

The business of beauty is shining everywhere. Women are spending much of their time and money on buying beauty products in order to get     1    from others. Even in the third world countries, women living below the poverty line, buy cheap wig and substandard beauty products, which do more harm to their skin than good.

Youthful beauty     2     with time, but, with cultivation, inner beauty grows rich. The good news is that it’s never too late or too soon to lay much     3     on your inner beauty. A good place to start is to     4     self-awareness by locating your passions and using them     5    . Then your dinner beauty will grow and radiate to your outer self.

Believe that you have an inner self to explore and that you are willing to let yourself develop your innate talents and gifts. Here are a few quotes about     6     ideas to consider carefully.

“Go     7     into the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you     8     your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler!”--Henry David Thoreau.

“Often people    9     to live their lives backward: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the     10    . You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.”--Manager Young.

9 . 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.definitely；B.suffering；C.acceptance；D.discouraged；E. supposedly F.terms；G.optimism；H.sustained；I. punishing；J.favored；K.obstacle

Happiness is not natural.It is a here human construct. A state of contentment(let alone happiness) is     1     by our genetic design because it would lower our guard against possible threats to our survival.

Chasing happiness is like chasing an elusive ghost, but the positive thinking industry claims to know its secrets.Self-help was popularized by Norman Vincent Peale, a colorful American pastor,       2    by several Republican presidents, including Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. He invented “positive thinking'", a concept now deeply embedded in our culture and steadily growing in influence.The global personal development industry was valued at S38.28 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1%.

Popular films and books are full of     3     inspirational statements about how all you need to do is believe in yourself and then you'll be able to achieve anything in life. This is simply, and obviously, not true. I don't think there is a need to explain that many obstacles and misfortunes in life are inevitable, or unsurmountable. Our ancestors knew this, and many philosophical and religious traditions are based on the     4     that being alive is a very challenging task,which comes with significant amounts of suffering. It goes without saying that we should do all we can to maximize our sense of well-being and minimize our suffering, but the end result cannot be a state of     5     happiness.We are not designed that way.

The self-help genre is not a homegeneous beast, however. It is,in fact, ironie how self-help books on happiness and those on how to make it big in life are lumped together in the same bookshop shelves, given that many of the former tell us that caring too much about the latter is the main     6     to happiness.

The inevitable clash between mandatory     7     and the realities of our existence comes with a heavy psychological price. It could be argued that positive psychology blames those who are suffering for their     8     ,as it is based on the misconception that unhappiness is entirely avoidable.It follows therefore that an unhappy person must be inadequate and incompetent.Positive psychology encourages people who are struggling with a particular goal to persevere in the face of unfavorable odds, which is much more     9     psychologically in the long run than accepting defeat.

I believe that coming to     10    with life as it is,and not the happiness industry tells us it could be, will make us happier, and we will feel more at peace with ourselves and with the world. Unfortunately, the devil always has the best tunes.