1 . Man’s Existential Dilemma

We always knew that there was something peculiar about man, something deep down that characterized him and set him apart from the other animals.     1     For ages, when philosophers talked about the the core of man they referred to it as his “essence”, something fixed in his nature, deep down, some special quality or substance. But nothing like it was ever found and man’s peculiarity still remained a dilemma. The reason it was never found, as Erich Fromm (艾瑞克·弗洛姆，精神分析心理学家和人本主义哲学家) put it in an excellent discussion, was that there was no essence, that the essence of man is really his paradoxical(悖论的)nature, the fact that he is half animal and half symbolic.

We might call this existential paradox the condition of individuality within finitude (有限性). Man has a symbolic identity that brings him sharply out of nature. He is a symbolic self, a creature with a name, a life history.     2     He can place himself imaginatively at a point in space and contemplate bemusedly his own planet. This immerse expansion, this competence, this self-consciousness gives to man almost the status a small god in nature.

    3     This is the paradox: he is out of nature and hopelessly in it: he is dual, up in the stars’ and yet housed in a heart-pumping, breath-gasping body that once belonged to a fish and still carries the gill-marks to prove it. His body is a material fleshy casing that is alien to him in many ways - the strangest and most unpleasant way being that is aches and bleeds and will decay and die. Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever.

The lower animals are, of course, spared this painful contradiction, as they lack a symbolic identity and the self-consciousness that goes with it. They merely act and move reflexively as they are driven by their instincts. They live in a world without time, pulsating, as it were, in a state of dumb beings. This is what has made it so simple to shoot down whole herds of buffalo or elephants. The animals don’t know that death is happening and continue gazing while others drop alongside them. The knowledge of death is reflective and conceptual, and animals are spared it. They live and they disappear with the same thoughtlessness: a few minutes of fear, a few seconds of anguish, and it is over.     4    

Quoted from Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death

A．But to live a life with the fate of death haunting one’s dreams makes a huge difference.

B．He is a creator with a mind that soars out the speculate about atoms and infinity.

C．Man’s body was a curse of fate and culture was built upon repression not because he was a seeker of pleasure, but because he was primarily an avoider of death.

D．Yet at the same time, man is a worm and food for worms.

E．Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

F．It was something that had to go right to his core, something that made him suffer his peculiar fate, that made it impossible to escape.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

My friend Brett had just got a motorbike and a lot of other kids in my neighborhood knew how to ride. I also wanted to ride, but all the guys told me I couldn’t do    1     because I was a girl. I decided     2     (prove) them wrong, so Brett let me try his bike. It wasn't one minute     3     I fell off. He came over to see if I was okay, but then started laughing.

That night I told my dad the whole story about how I wanted to be as good as the boys. He asked    4     much I really wanted to learn and I told him I had wanted to ride for a year. A few days later my dad told me he     5     (find) a nice bike at a reasonable price. He brought it home. My dad spent four weeks teaching me everything    6     I needed to know about the bike and the basics of riding. No one    7     (true) believed I could learn to ride except my dad. Day after day he worked with me, and I began to make progress. It meant so much to me that he would take time     8     his busy schedule to help me fulfill this dream.

My dad taught me so much that will stay with me for the rest of my life,    9     (include) that I shouldn’t let others put me down. I also learned that I can do anything with enough     10    (determine) and practice. I would have never achieved my dream of learning how to ride a motorbike without my dad.

3 . Something interesting happened at my home recently. In a hillside suburb, I am lucky to be _________ by a lot of trees, and even luckier that those trees are home to a _________ of birds.

One of those birds is called the laughing kookaburra, a big kingfisher, which certainly does like to _________ snakes and lizards in its strong and powerful beak (喙).

The kookaburra’s head and chest are white _________ its wings and back are brown. What I love most is that the kookaburras laugh at sunset. My bird book _________ their call as a “loud chuckling laugh.” Often they laugh in _________ with each other so that their laugh _________ around the trees a bit like the “wave”. How wonderful it would be.

I was inside my home when there was a loud _________ against a window one day. I _________   out the door and around the veranda (走廊) to see what had happened. A kookaburra was __________ on the wooden floorboards of the veranda, looking extremely scared. As I __________ back a little distance, wondering what to do, the __________ kookaburra shook its head, raised its beak in the air, opened its mouth, and __________ into a loud, hearty laugh. I thought what a __________ thing it would be to learn how to __________ your head up and laugh after such a frightening surprise.

1.

A．blocked

B．surrounded

C．caught

D．attracted

2.

A．picture

B．kind

C．variety

D．story

3.

A．catch

B．track

C．bury

D．choose

4.

A．since

B．while

C．because

D．unless

5.

A．approves

B．remembers

C．proves

D．describes

6.

A．relationship

B．common

C．chorus

D．cooperation

7.

A．spreads

B．turns

C．disappears

D．falls

8.

A．voice

B．knock

C．laugh

D．shout

9.

A．figured

B．worked

C．walked

D．pointed

10.

A．waiting

B．flying

C．sleeping

D．grounding

11.

A．stood

B．pushed

C．sat

D．looked

12.

A．excited

B．frightened

C．desperate

D．annoyed

13.

A．spelt out

B．broke out

C．burst out

D．spoke out

14.

A．familiar

B．hopeful

C．ridiculous

D．wonderful

15.

A．lift

B．shake

C．clear

D．fill

4 . My father was a horse trainer. As a kid, I often ___________ from ranch（大牧场）to ranch with him. ___________, my school career was constantly ___________. One day, when I was a senior, our teacher asked us to write about what we wanted to be when we ___________. I did not ___________ a minute and wrote a seven-page paper about my dream of ___________ a horse ranch, with many details, including a location of buildings and stables（马厩）and even a detailed house plan.

___________, two days later I got my paper back with letter “F” on the front page. After class I came to the teacher and asked, “Why did I ___________ an F?” The teacher responded, “This dream is so ___________ for a boy like you. With no money, no resources and who comes from itinerant（流动的）family. There is no ____________ that you will reach your great goal one day.” Then the teacher advised me to ____________ the paper with a more realistic attitude.

I went home and asked my father how I should ____________. My father answered, “This ____________ is very important for you. So, you have to make up your own mind on this.”

At last, I brought the ____________ paper to my teacher. No changes were ____________. I said, “You can keep the F and I will keep my dream.”

Now ____________ a 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of a 200-acre horse ranch, I still have that school paper, which now is ____________ over the fireplace.

Remember, you have to ____________ your heart, never give up, ____________ with determination and persistence, and never let anyone ____________ your dreams away.

1.

A．rode

B．moved

C．left

D．came

2.

A．Thus

B．Instead

C．However

D．Luckily

3.

A．inspired

B．ignored

C．interrupted

D．inspected

4.

A．cheered up

B．brought up

C．raised up

D．grew up

5.

A．hesitate

B．take

C．require

D．use

6.

A．supporting

B．training

C．owning

D．sponsoring

7.

A．Surprisingly

B．Delightedly

C．Embarrassedly

D．Hopefully

8.

A．accept

B．receive

C．deserve

D．mark

9.

A．impractical

B．uncertain

C．typical

D．doubtful

10.

A．choice

B．potential

C．possibility

D．change

11.

A．rewrite

B．remove

C．approve

D．abandon

12.

A．correct

B．act

C．respond

D．think

13.

A．restriction

B．suggestion

C．decision

D．comment

14.

A．same

B．proper

C．official

D．formal

15.

A．corrected

B．made

C．revised

D．desired

16.

A．realize

B．owe

C．win

D．possess

17.

A．framed

B．hung

C．exhibited

D．faded

18.

A．approve

B．feel

C．touch

D．follow

19.

A．move on

B．catch up

C．take on

D．look up

20.

A．put

B．block

C．take

D．challenge

5 . When I was eight years old, my father left us. Mom tried her best to _________ the three of us. Our electricity often got shut off and I’d take myself to a grocery store, staring at all the stuff we couldn’t _________.

At age 15 I got a job at McDonald’s. To keep myself _________, I’d turn each customer moment into an 11-second mini performance. I had a gift for mimicry (模仿). I would _________ the actors I watched on TV and the customers would laugh, which made me feel _________.

Two years later, I left and made my way to Hollywood. I _________ as an assistant for a talent manager. Then I became an agent. But a voice said, “Don’t you think you should be an _________ too?” I’d say it was difficult to _________ a good job for the uncertain rewards of being a performer. _________, after recalling my mom’s toughness, I decided to fulfill my ____________.

But it wasn’t an easy road. Sometimes I got parts but eventually found my scenes were cut. Once, I had only 81 cents when driving to the final screen test for a new show This Is Us. ____________, my phone rang. It was the producer of the show. “You’re our Kate,” he said. It was completely beyond ____________.

This Is Us turns out to be ____________. People recognize me in the street. Some people call me an overnight star. But I don’t think so. Success doesn’t happen by chance. It takes ____________ in the right direction. There are more ____________ during the journey than most people can imagine.

1.

A．control

B．applaud

C．raise

D．accept

2.

A．make

B．afford

C．abuse

D．supply

3.

A．prepared

B．occupied

C．informed

D．amused

4.

A．imitate

B．consult

C．watch

D．trap

5.

A．stressed

B．familiar

C．good

D．embarrassed

6.

A．reached

B．continued

C．finished

D．started

7.

A．adult

B．actor

C．organizer

D．educator

8.

A．give up

B．look for

C．take up

D．apply for

9.

A．Therefore

B．Moreover

C．Nevertheless

D．Otherwise

10.

A．duty

B．promise

C．job

D．dream

11.

A．Honestly

B．Fortunately

C．Gradually

D．Purposefully

12.

A．expectation

B．recognition

C．capacity

D．question

13.

A．special

B．fresh

C．different

D．successful

14.

A．actions

B．ideas

C．facts

D．feelings

15.

A．choices

B．results

C．failures

D．experiences

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

The smell of defeat filled the air on a warm October evening. In the school parking lot stood Coach McDonald and me, a loser in the 160-pound weight class.

Coach McDonald’s hands firmly grasped my shoulders, his eyes looking through my uncertainty. “Billy,” his voice cut through the uneasy quiet. “The potential for you to become an excellent wrestler exists. It takes time,” he argued.

“Don’t you see? I lost... again. Ten matches. Never won.” Frustration struck me as I stepped away from Coach McDonald. Pulling my cell phone from my equipment bag, I said definitively, “I need to call my mom. She’ll pick me up.” I just wanted to get away as soon as possible and flung myself into Mom’s arms. She had always been my best friend and supporter.

While waiting for her to answer my call, the thought of quitting the sport rumbled in my mind. I was so frustrated at that time that I ignored the joy and satisfaction wrestling had brought to me.

Coach McDonald closed in. “Billy, look at me,” he said. “Pound for pound, you’re the strongest and most flexible (灵活的) kid on the team. That’s a winning combination. Master the techniques in practice, and victory will be yours, I promise.”

I coughed and pulled my sweaty shirt off my chest. “When, Coach?”

With a knowing look, Coach said, “Do you know how long it took me to win my first match?” He stood up straight, squinting (斜视) like he was recalling a tough time. “During my first year, I lost every match. I ended the season 0-11. I didn’t lose at all in the following two years, including two state championships. Billy, that can be you someday. But it’ll never happen if you quit.”

In that silent moment, I felt a slight pain within me, but it was weak, not strong enough to change my mind. Coach cleared his throat, glancing at his watch. “Well, I’m hungry.”

“And my mom’s here,” I said. Then I jumped into her car.

注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式作答。
In the car, I told her I lost again and I was hesitating about quitting the team.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next day, I walked into the training field again.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . My name is Ally Del Monte. I remember it clearly. When I was 10 years old, my ________ and I were on our first vacation at Disney World, and we were going to a “Pirate and Princess Party”. We didn’t know that it was a costume (戏服) party but no ________ —my mom said she’d ________ me to get a princess dress. We ________ the land of princesses, but they didn’t have one for me.

I was in the beginning stage of Lyme disease. My ________ and medication caused my overweight. I was too ________ for the kids costumes and the ________ costumes wouldn’t work for me.

The lady at the shop said, “I’m sorry, she’s too fat to be a princess.” I was only 10 years old, and I was ________ because I thought I would never be ________ enough or skinny enough to be the princess that I wanted to be.

I just turned 16, and instead of a party, I asked for a family ________. I chose to go to Disney World. Our trip was right in the middle of Halloween, and I knew I could wear a costume. It was still ________ to find a princess dress in my ________, but my mom and I decided to make our own, a magical princess dress to prove to my 10-year-old self that I am a princess, and I don’t have to look a certain ________ to be one.

I’ve ________ that no matter what you look like, you can be a princess. A princess isn’t a size. It’s a state of ________.

1.

A．classmate

B．partner

C．family

D．friend

2.

A．problem

B．surprise

C．chance

D．wonder

3.

A．persuade

B．encourage

C．send

D．take

4.

A．struggled for

B．paid for

C．asked for

D．headed for

5.

A．trouble

B．illness

C．injury

D．addiction

6.

A．big

B．small

C．tall

D．thin

7.

A．children

B．adult

C．prince

D．princess

8.

A．annoyed

B．puzzled

C．heartbroken

D．confused

9.

A．pretty

B．positive

C．confident

D．outgoing

10.

A．dinner

B．camp

C．celebration

D．trip

11.

A．hard

B．convenient

C．strange

D．possible

12.

A．room

B．size

C．hand

D．pack

13.

A．time

B．way

C．place

D．manner

14.

A．shared

B．heard

C．learned

D．requested

15.

A．wealth

B．condition

C．health

D．mind

8 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

The word “motivation” comes from the Latin term motivus, “a moving cause”. It is described as the force that drives us to pursue a goal, including the desire to continue pursuing meaning, purpose, and a life worth living. It fuels competition and boosts social connection. Its absence can lead to mental illnesses such as depression.

People often have multiple motives for engaging in any one behaviour. Motivation might be extrinsic. That means a person is inspired by outside forces—other people or rewards. Anything promised for completing the task or received as a result of completing the task are extrinsic motivators. Extrinsic motivation can increase motivation in the short term, but over time it may gradually decrease.

Motivation can also be intrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes purely from within, with no expected reward, deadline, or outside pressure. For example, people who are intrinsically motivated to run do so because they love the feeling of running itself. Compared to extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation tends to push people more forcefully, and the achievements are more satisfying, since it is integrated into identity and serves as a continuous source of motivation.

To understand motivation, Abraham Maslow introduced the concept of hierarchy of needs (需求层次) in 1943. According to Maslow,   humans are intrinsically motivated to meet physical needs, the most fundamental ones such as needs for food. Then they gradually satisfy several levels of needs from safety, to higher-order needs for love, belonging, and self-respect, and finally move to ward expressing their full potential—self-actualization, the desire to become the most that one can be.

Although the generality of Maslow’s theory has been challenged, many believe it reveals fundamental truths about human motivation. No matter where motivation begins, there are always ways to increase it — whether that be your own motivation or someone else’s. Sometimes you might feel completely unmotivated — and that’s OK. In that situation, allow yourself to feel the discomfort, hear the negative self-talk, and then take action anyway.

1. What is motivation?
______________________________________________________________________
2. Why is intrinsic motivation more powerful?
______________________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
▷According to Maslow, we are motivated by different levels of needs, starting at the lowest and the most basic level known as self-actualization needs.
______________________________________________________________________
4. In what way(s) do you think you can get motivated? (In about 40 words)
______________________________________________________________________

9 . On a freezing January evening, Ashley Austrew sat in her car in an Omaha parking lot. She was working up the _______ to go into a comedy improv (即兴表演) class. For 20 minutes, the 33-year-old journalist and mom of two sat with thoughts of _______: “I can’t do this. I’ll be the worst one.” Then she turned off the engine, took a few deep breaths, and went _______.

For Austrew, _______ improv was the first small step to improve her self-esteem. She lacked confidence and didn’t have the courage to try anything _______. So she made a list of all the things she was afraid to _______ and then asked herself, “What if I didn’t let my excuses win?” Improv was her biggest _______.

Her fear _______ as soon as she walked into the class. Her classmates were also _______, and she discovered that she was ________ capable of earning a few laughs and making new friends. Over the next two years, Austrew went on to deal with other what-ifs, including writing a book. “Self-esteem is like a muscle--you have to ________ it constantly,” she says.

Some people are ________ with a seemingly unshakable positivity, but most of us need to learn how to ________ ourselves up by our own hands. Thankfully, like Austrew, we can learn to feel ________ about ourselves and ________ our feelings of hope.

1.

A．courage

B．project

C．preparation

D．solution

2.

A．self-esteem

B．self-confidence

C．self-doubt

D．self-reflection

3.

A．inside

B．ahead

C．home

D．out

4.

A．acting

B．trying

C．building

D．getting

5.

A．important

B．different

C．special

D．new

6.

A．abandon

B．attempt

C．absorb

D．account

7.

A．confidence

B．guarantee

C．surprise

D．target

8.

A．dissolved

B．arose

C．appeared

D．changed

9.

A．helpers

B．strangers

C．supporters

D．beginners

10.

A．barely

B．perfectly

C．slightly

D．widely

11.

A．work

B．break

C．catch

D．take

12.

A．connected

B．burdened

C．blessed

D．tired

13.

A．bring

B．put

C．pick

D．pull

14.

A．better

B．simpler

C．smaller

D．smarter

15.

A．forget

B．strengthen

C．spread

D．hide

10 . For the past three months, I have been moonlighting (兼职) as a tea lady. A few weeks into lockdown and at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, my father’s care home had become desperately understaffed. So I volunteered my services.

I will admit that I also wanted to keep an eye on my father. Ever since he was diagnosed with dementia (痴呆), I had become concerned about his well-being. So I. turned up, put on a plastic apron and began wheeling a teapot around the ground floor.

It was a peculiar kind of job at first. I saw how the carers were putting themselves on the line every day. And how do you ask a dementia patient who has lost almost all their powers of speech and hearing how many sugars they want in their tea? I would often come away sweating. And saddened. The home lost a lot of patients to COVID-19 in a short span of time and seeing the suddenly empty beds was shocking.

But it was also - surprisingly - good fun. There were jokes shared by carers and the stories the elderly residents told. The place grew on me until it became the highlight of my day. I looked forward to seeing the old lady who would say “Thank you” and blow me a kiss every time I left her a cup of tea. Another said he’d started painting later in life and now his amazing work hung all around his room. And there was a former university lecturer who had researched nursing and never left a crossword unfinished.

The figures I had passed so often taught me that sitting by a sunny window drinking a cup of warm tea held its value. I have read about the meditative (冥想的) effects of running and I found the same absorbing feeling in the ritual of making tea. It is simple, wholesome, and brings calmness. To me, this has been lockdown’s greatest gift.

1. Why did the author choose to volunteer in the care home?

A．Because it was short of workers.	B．Because she was free at that time.
C．Because her father wanted her company.	D．Because she was interested in voluntary work.

2. What made the work of making tea difficult in the care home?

A．The huge needs of tea from the patients.

B．The increasing seriousness of COVID-19.

C．The failure of speaking and hearing of some patients.

D．The lack of natural resources during the lockdown.

3. What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The knowledge the author learned.	B．The daily life in the care house.
C．The challenges of making tea.	D．The great fun the job brings.

4. What does the author want to tell us through this passage?

A．It is never too late to learn.	B．The parent-child relationship is the most important.
C．Sometimes we should value little things.	D．Where there is a will, there is a way.