1 . It is easy to get carried away in an argument.
While having a rational conversation with someone who has a different opinion might seem like a challenge, it is possible. One way is to approach the other person with empathy.
The Empathy Challenge is an exercise created by Zoe Chance, senior lecturer at the Yale School of Management. At Yale, Chance teaches a course called “Mastering Influence and Persuasion” where -students learn to communicate more effectively.
In her blog, Chance explains that it’s important to listen to people who disagree with you. “As they explain their position, you listen for their underlying values. Finally, you look for common ground as you reflect those values back. That’s it.”
Chance first took this challenge herself before asking her students to try. As she couldn’t understand why many people chose to vote for Donald Trump, she found three Trump’s voters and spoke with them.
Through asking questions, Chance was able to empathize with them and realize they had similar feelings. One man, an Orthodox Jew, explained that he supported Trump because Trump’s daughter and son-in-law are Jewish. The next man was a Russian immigrant passionate about freedom. The third was a lawyer who believed that authenticity(真诚) was important in political leaders.
Although Chance and Chose people had different political beliefs, they were able to relate to the life values of others. And that’s the point of the exercise-to understand others as fellow human beings.
1. Which of the following does the Empathy Challenge faces on?| A．Leadership skills. | B．Public speaking skills. |
| C．Communication skills. | D．Problem solving skills. |
| A．Defend their position. | B．Find common ground. |
| C．Reflect on their own values. | D．Meet the needs of others. |
| A．The challenge of performing empathy. |
| B．The importance of empathy. |
| C．How Chance practiced empathy. |
| D．How Chance helped people develop empathy. |
| A．Their life values. | B．Their career history. |
| C．Their family background. | D．Their childhood experience. |
| A．Respect different perspectives | B．Zoe Chance’s empathy |
| C．Vote for Trump | D．Chancels challenge |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（⋀），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Three years ago I failed an important exam in my life and became a student at a ordinary school. Although I felt disappointed at the shabby campus and my poorly-equipped classroom, but I found the teachers impatient and considerate. Beside, I enjoyed the friendly class atmosphere. I decided to make the best it. I worked hard and got along good with my teachers and classmates. Whenever I had difficulties, they are always available. Soon, I became one of the top student in my class, that greatly increased my confidence and got me motivated. My experience tells me that it is not what you are given but how you make use of it that determines who we are.
3 . For years going home for the holidays has been bittersweet. I appreciate the opportunity to spend quality time with my mom but it is painful for me to see her house littered with stuff.Clothes bought but never worn, and new items in their original packaging carelessly purchased and never used. It’s evident that seeing the stuff on a daily basis reminds my mom of a time when shopping was her way of spending money.
I didn’t fully understand the extent to which my mom was suffering until this week, when I saw piles of clothes on her bed. “How do you manage to sleep every night with all that stuff, Mom?” I asked. To my horror, she replied, “I do it because I know I have to get rid of all this stuff eventually; I am punishing myself by sleeping with them until I do that. ”
Shocked and upset, I gently explained to her that punishing herself was only to make things worse,and that everybody deserves a place to sleep in peace, no matter what mistakes they’ve made. I suggested she move all the stuff upstairs, leaving her room comfortable to sleep in.
With patience and her slow but steady guidance, I helped her go through some of the piles and move them upstairs. For the rest of the week I stayed there, she was in a better mood and was excited about going through the rest of the house to finally get rid of her stuff—past mistakes and painful times. The items brought back painful memories as we inspected and moved them, but I kept reminding her that removing them would allow her to move on and heal. We finally sold so many things and took bag after bag to charity.
The stuff is just a sign of the destructive patterns of self-hatred on past mistakes. Only through the act of self-forgiveness can we bring about a chain reaction of reorganizing—both of the house and heart.
1. What made the author feel bitter?| A．She couldn’t understand her mom’s sorrows. |
| B．Her mom was stuck in the painful memories. |
| C．Her mom was always left alone at home. |
| D．Her mom wasted money on useless things. |
| A．getting rid of the stuff | B．buying the stuff |
| C．opening the stuff | D．moving the stuff |
| A．the author never bought her mom anything |
| B．the author’s mom has no money to purchase now |
| C．the author’s mom regrets buying so many things |
| D．the author knows her mom’s suffering only this week |
| A．How to do shopping wisely |
| B．Clearance helps reorganize the house |
| C．Keep an eye on the elderly’s behavior |
| D．Self-forgiveness makes a difference |
It was time to go home. “Remember to work on your class speeches for homework,” Miss Walker said as everyone started talking and packing their school bags. Jenny felt sick. She hated having to read aloud in class. She was sure everyone would get really bored with listening to her. Once, when Jenny was reading out her holiday diary, Lee was even looking at his watch, a silver and blue one which seemed just magical.
Jenny watched Lee walk ahead of her as they left school. He seemed so clever, and he had a certain sort of shining confidence. He was just one of those people who were good at everything. Jenny sighed. As she turned the corner, she saw Lee’s watch lying right in the middle of the path.
Jenny picked it up and wanted to return it to Lee, but she couldn’t catch up with him. When she arrived home, Jenny put it on, thinking about the magic. She was surprised that it fitted so well. She walked to the mirror and started practicing her speech. Words just flooded out of her. “I’m going to talk about swimming. I have been lucky. I’ve won lots of competitions. But when I’m in a race, I’m not really thinking about winning. I’m just loving the feeling of being in the water…” Jenny laughed with excitement. She walked across the room. She suddenly seemed to have a certain sort of confidence. Turning back to the minor, Jenny saw a flash of light from the watch in the glass. The flashes of silver seemed almost magical. So maybe Lee’s watch really did have something magical.
The next day, as the lesson began, Miss Walker ask cd who was going to be brave and go first. Nobody moved, Jenny slowly raised her arm. Before Miss Walker could say something, there was a shout “She’s stolen in y watch!” Lee said angrily. “It went missing at school yesterday.”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段. 每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:
Everybody was fixing their eyes on Jenny, waiting for an explanation,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Miss Walker smiled and asked the class lo listen lo Jenny’s speech first.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 . There is a song by the great Jamaican singer Bob Marley called So Much Trouble in The World. Marley understood that part of the reason why there are so many problems in the world is the lack of tolerance between people. The UN understands this too— that is why it made November 16th “International Day for Tolerance”.
But first, what is tolerance? According to French philosopher Voltaire, “Tolerance is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty (脆弱) and error; let us pardon each other’s fool— that is the first law of nature.”
Very often, people do not realize that they are intolerant. This is because intolerance has a lot to do with ignorance. For example, the UN’s campaign is in part about the treatment of females by males. But often, the behavior of men toward women is intolerant because men do not put themselves in the shoes of women.
It is worth thinking a little about the words “tolerance” and “intolerance”. Are they the best words to describe the evils of which we are speaking here? To agree to be “tolerant” of someone is not necessarily a very respectful thing. When someone is tolerated, it implies that there is something wrong with them.
Still, what Voltaire said stands: We humans are not perfect and this weakness is something that we all share. That is the reason we should be tolerant. It is a little like generosity. We can give things to another person, and we can also give our forgiveness.
1. What is the purpose of the UN “International Day for Tolerance”?| A．To celebrate the founding of the UN. |
| B．To solve the problem of global warming. |
| C．To change people’s opinion towards globalization. |
| D．To arouse the awareness of tolerance among people. |
| A．Because men do not realize the purpose of the UN. |
| B．Because men are physically stronger than women. |
| C．Because men are not willing to understand women. |
| D．Because men do not appreciate the shoes of women. |
| A．Because they cannot be used in a respectful way. |
| B．Because they are hard to pronounce in English. |
| C．Because they cannot be translated into other languages. |
| D．Because they do not express the exact meaning people refer to. |
| A．Humans tend to find faults in others. |
| B．Humans need to give something to others. |
| C．Humans are advised to treat others better. |
| D．Humans change their attitudes towards others. |
6 . My father loves his garden. He planted some seeds in it. But at that time, I didn’t understand why working in the dirt excited him so much.
Unfortunately, in early May, my father was seriously injured in an accident. He had to stay in bed for a while. My mother had several business trips, so she couldn’t take care of the garden. I didn’t want my father to worry, so I said that I would take care of his garden until he recovered. I assumed that the little plants would continue to grow as long as they had water, and luckily it rained fairly often, so I didn’t think much about the garden.
One Saturday morning, my father said to me, “Christine, the vegetables should be about ready to be picked. Let’s have a salad today!” I went out to the garden and was upset to see that many of the lettuce leaves and carrots had been half eaten by bugs. There were hundreds of bugs all over them!
I panicked for a moment but then I quietly went to the nearest store to buy some vegetables. When I gave the salad to him, he said, “Oh, Christine, what a beautiful salad! I can’t believe the carrots are this big already. You must be taking very good care of my garden.” I felt a little bit guilty.
Coming home, my mother saw the bag from the supermarket in the kitchen. I was embarrassed, and I admitted Dad wanted a salad but the garden was a disaster. I didn’t want to disappoint him so I went to the store. She laughed but promised to help me in the garden and weeks later I was finally able to pick some vegetables.
I carefully made a salad and took it to my father. He looked at it with a hint of a smile, “Christine, the carrots are smaller in this salad, but they taste better.”
Now, I better understand how putting a lot of effort into caring for something can help you appreciate the results more, however small they may be. Perhaps this was one of the reasons for my father’s love of gardening.
1. Why did Christine originally promise she would do the gardening?| A．She was asked by her father to do it. | B．She was interested in growing vegetables. |
| C．She knew it was important to her father. | D．She wanted to improve her gardening skills. |
| A．Insects destroyed the lettuce and carrots. | B．Animals often dug holes in the garden. |
| C．The plants were given too much water. | D．The vegetables were marked incorrectly. |
| A．Her mother helped her to buy the vegetables. |
| B．Her mother regularly helped her to make a salad. |
| C．Her father couldn’t see the progress of the vegetables in his garden. |
| D．Her father went on a business trip at that time. |
| A．Always get ready for a rainy day. | B．Don’t be disappointed by bugs. |
| C．Working alone produces results. | D．Hard work can often be rewarding. |
7 . Yesterday after work, the boss told me I was fired. When I walked along a riverbed sadly, I suddenly realized it was New Year’s Day, a day to start afresh.
I passed by a man holding his son, one or two years old. The baby’s face was in pure joy, and his innocent eyes were full of wonder. The simple sweetness of the baby made me moved.
Walking on, I saw a young couple repairing their bicycle. They smiled at me and said, “Happy New Year!” I smiled and wished them the same. It was a simple thing, but for a moment it brought me a sudden joy.
I kept walking, enjoying the cheerful singing of birds. With people around laughing out loud, an old woman immersed herself in her sewing. She didn’t seem either happy or sad. A feeling of timeless peace flowed through me and all fear of what the future might bring disappeared. I thanked her in my heart, and moved on.
As I reached home, I was filled with great thanks and hope for life, which took me a long time to find. Actually, happiness could be simple and easy. Now I knew whatever the New Year would bring, there would be joy and enough love to help me through the hard times we all had to face.
“Happy New Year!” I said to myself.
1. What did the writer’s boss tell him after work?| A．It was New Year’s Day. | B．He was fired. |
| C．He needed a day to relax. | D．He had a day off. |
| A．age | B．laughing | C．innocence | D．crying |
| A．repairing their bicycle | B．waiting for the writer |
| C．watching the passers-by | D．celebrating the New Year |
| A．Lucky. | B．Hopeless. | C．Fearful. | D．Thankful. |
| A．Greetings make people polite. | B．Happiness could be simple and easy. |
| C．Walking makes people energetic. | D．Friendship lies in getting together. |
8 . In the 1950s, Japan began to focus on developing is economy. Every day, many people traveled by train between Tokyo and Osaka. Many industrial materials were also transported on those railway lines. But the Japanese railway system was so outdated that the 320-mile trip could take 20 hours. So in 1955 the Japanese railway chief asked the nation’s engineers to create a faster train.
Months later, a team managed to create a train going at a speed of 65mph — a speed that made it one of the fastest passenger trains worldwide at the time. But the railway chief wasn’t satisfied. He wanted 120mph. The engineers immediately explained that at those speeds, if a train turned too sharply, the speed would force the cars off the track.
But the railway chief didn’t change his mind. After making many attempts, the engineers eventually created a train running up to 120mph and had a big influence on the industrial design worldwide. This is an example of what a “stretch goal” (延展性目标) can achieve. When exploring psychology, I was frequently told by researchers that the most successful people tend to set goals differently from everyone else. In particular they tend to identify big, seemingly unrealistic objectives.
“Stretch goals break complacency (自满),” some scientists wrote. “By forcing a big rise in collective hopes, stretch goals can shift attention to possible new futures and perhaps lead to increased energy in the organizations. They thus can achieve more.”
This lesson can be used in the most ordinary aspects of life. Take to-do lists for instance. When making to-do lists, some people often write down tasks they can cross off right away. That’s wrong. Before writing easy tasks, you should first put down at the top of your list a big stretch goal that will constantly remind you of the main objective you’re trying to get done.
1. What does the description of Japan’s problem in the 1950s show?| A．The public’s discontent at its train service. |
| B．The unfavorable economic situation of Japan. |
| C．The practical need to improve its railway system. |
| D．The unbalanced development of its transportation. |
| A．They found it tough but worthwhile. |
| B．They considered it totally unrealistic. |
| C．They put forward their own research plan. |
| D．They believed it would gradually come true. |
| A．How to break down big goals into smaller ones. |
| B．How to understand “stretch goals” matters. |
| C．How to create success step by step. |
| D．How to set goals sets people apart. |
| A．encourage people to keep making to-do lists daily |
| B．indicate we’d better first achieve easy goals |
| C．prove to-do lists are crucial to organizations |
| D．show stretch goals can apply to our daily life |
| A．A stretch goal can be a double-edged sword. |
| B．Ambition pushes personal and social progress. |
| C．Readers need to listen to members’ opinions. |
| D．Goals should fit in with the reality. |
9 . Music is something I could never live without. Without music, I was
Everyone who wanted to be in show choir auditioned for the
A year passed, I was at a
| A．calm | B．mad | C．anxious | D．quiet |
| A．teach | B．express | C．praise | D．help |
| A．heart | B．brain | C．mind | D．head |
| A．looking forward to | B．getting along with | C．trying out for | D．picking up |
| A．pride | B．adventure | C．passion | D．courage |
| A．activity | B．programme | C．service | D．job |
| A．suggested | B．recorded | C．permitted | D．written |
| A．sound | B．scene | C．play | D．answer |
| A．relief | B．concern | C．anger | D．sympathy |
| A．removed | B．signed | C．expected | D．posted |
| A．signature | B．mark | C．name | D．position |
| A．kindness | B．confidence | C．pressure | D．luck |
| A．crashed | B．started | C．continued | D．existed |
| A．theatre | B．restaurant | C．garden | D．park |
| A．eat | B．dance | C．sing | D．drink |
| A．create | B．write | C．play | D．choose |
| A．struggled | B．stopped | C．cheered | D．voted |
| A．efforts | B．ideas | C．knowledge | D．hope |
| A．picked out | B．turned down | C．brought up | D．left behind |
| A．love | B．connection | C．touch | D．common |
10 . When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor, Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never invited us to play in his yard, but he was a very kind person. When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees. He never watered his new trees. Once I asked why, he said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you watered them, each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker, so you had to make things difficult for them and pick out the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow (浅的）roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water under the earth by themselves. Deep roots were very important. So he never watered his trees. He’d planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Dr. Gibbs died several years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I watched him plant about twenty-five years ago. They’re very big and strong now. I planted some trees a few years back and carried water to them for a whole summer. After two years of caring too much, whenever a cold wind blows in, they shake a lot.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. Mostly I pray (祈祷) that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to face difficulties. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere, so what we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we could face it strongly and won’t be beaten down.
1. We know from the reading, the doctor ______.| A．didn’t know how to plant trees at all |
| B．had his own ways of planting trees |
| C．wasn’t good at his own medical job |
| D．had nothing to do but plant trees |
| A．some weak trees would be easily found out at the beginning |
| B．he would choose the weak trees to water earlier |
| C．the weak trees would be sent to his patients later |
| D．he would not plant weak trees so early anymore |
| A．beat all his trees with a rolled-up newspaper |
| B．often water his trees |
| C．took too much care of his trees |
| D．didn’t have a large field |
| A．his trees will be stronger than Dr. Gibbs' |
| B．his trees will not be beaten down |
| C．his sons will be better at planting trees |
| D．his sons will be able to face difficulties |
| A．Watering Trees |
| B．Growing Roots |
| C．Doctor and his Neighbor |
| D．Father and his Children |
