1 . At the age of 18, we become adults and are given the right to vote, to travel the world and to pursue our dreams. At 60, we enter a new phase of life. It marks the start of retirement for most of us. There are 42 years between these two major phases. Interestingly, the number 42 is also associated with marathons, which cover42 km.    1     Let’s explore.

It takes time to prepare.

To run a full marathon, you need to train hard for months and even years, slowly building your endurance(耐力). The same goes for building a savings pool for retirement.     2       So, if you’re thinking about saving for retirement, don’t hesitate! Get started today.

    3    

Preparing for a marathon requires a well-rounded approach. Similarly, individuals building a retirement fund need to build a file that is diversified across different property classes. By diversifying your investments, you can survive market unstability and safeguard your hard-earned savings.

Every runner runs his own race.

Just like marathon runners focus on running and completing their own race, retirement planning for every individual is a personal endeavour. Trying to keep pace with another runner can damage one’s performance. Similarly, each person’s financial situation is unique and as such, each person’s approach to retirement planning will be too.     4    

Are you serious about planning for your retirement?     5     With a little hard work and dedication, you can cross the finish line with flying colours.

A．It makes sense to cover every aspect.

B．Starting small and starting young is essential.

C．Preparing for the race requires more than just physical training.

D．Take your time to dream big and plan carefully your retirement.

E．The key is to find what works best for you and remain committed to it.

F．If so, take a page out of the marathon runner’s playbook and begin training.

G．Are there lessons in training and running a marathon- that can be applied to retirement planning?

2 . If someone asked whether you like the arts, you’d probably say you do—at least in theory. According to a survey, more than two-thirds of U.S. adults say the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences.” However, only 30 percent attended a concert of any type in 2017; 23 percent went to an art museum. Fewer than half actively created art of any kind.

The mismatch can boil down to the fact that we are weighed down by our day-to-day responsibilities, leaving our schedule packed. Maybe you like to play a little background music while you work or do the chores, but even before the pandemic, most of us rarely, if ever, saw a live performance, let alone visited a gallery or watched a play.

Too often, we let the dull reality of life get in the way of the arts. But this is a mistake. The arts are the opposite of an escape from reality; they might just be the most realistic glimpse we ever get into the nature and meaning of life. If you make time for consuming and producing art—the same way you make time for work and exercise and family commitments—I assure you that you’ll find your life getting fuller and happier. Think of a time when you heard a piece of music and wanted to cry. Or maybe your dizziness as you emerged from a narrow side street in an unfamiliar city and found yourself in a beautiful town square as if in a fantasy. They probably stimulated a sudden awakening, much like the shock from a lungful of pure oxygen after breathing in smoggy air.

If you are among the people who feel that art is pure pleasure to experience and participate in, you might see it as a luxury item, while a preferable attitude is to treat art less like a distracting pleasure, and more like exercise or sleep, a necessity. Then draw up a schedule of your art exposure journey, and gradually weave art into your everyday life.

1. What prevents people from enjoying the arts?

A．Shortage of time.	B．Avoidance of duty.
C．Lack of interest.	D．Art space inaccessibility.

2. What can we learn about the role of art according to the passage?

A．It explores mysteries of life.	B．It sparks emotional responses.
C．It enhances physical well-being.	D．It offers a getaway from daily life.

3. What will be talked about next in the passage?

A．Ways to integrate art into routine.	B．Barriers to combine art and life.
C．Forms of distracting pleasures.	D．Benefits of engaging with art.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．Art Journey: Refreshing Soul

B．Art Pursuit: Transforming Dull into Full

C．Embracing Art: From Luxury to Necessity

D．Connecting with Art: From Reality to Fantasy

3 . Mark is leaving, and I’m feeling kind of sad.

You probably don’t know Mark, but you might be _______ enough to know someone just like him. He’s been the heart and soul of the office, combining professional skills with a sweet nature. He’s never been all that interested in getting praise for the _______ work he does.

And now he’s moving on to an exciting new opportunity which sounds like the chance of a lifetime, and we’re _______ pleased for him. But that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to a dear friend and _______ colleague.

Life has a way of throwing these curve balls (曲线球) at us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person, a place or a situation, something comes along to _______ it.

But how do we deal with change? There’s Chris, who once told me that the answer can be expressed in four words, “Go _______ the flow.”

“It is like surfing,” Chris explained. “You can’t organize the ocean. _______ just happen. You ride them _______ they take you, and then you go back out there and catch the next one. Sure, you’re always hoping for the perfect wave. But _______ you just take them the way they come.”

That doesn’t ________ that you don’t keep trying to make all your dreams come true. It just means that when things that aren’t exactly in your plan ________, you work around them and then you move on. Of course, some barriers (阻碍) along the ________ of life are easier to take than others. A rained-out picnic, for example, is ________ to deal with than the sudden death of a loved one. But the principle is the same.

We’re going to ________ Mark. But rather than on the sadness of our ________, we’ll focus on our hopes for a brighter future.

1.

A．difficult

B．confident

C．silly

D．lucky

2.

A．terrible

B．excellent

C．special

D．exact

3.

A．actually

B．sincerely

C．nearly

D．hardly

4.

A．humorous

B．silent

C．reliable

D．active

5.

A．welcome

B．attack

C．destroy

D．change

6.

A．with

B．below

C．against

D．before

7.

A．Shakes

B．Waves

C．Accidents

D．Disasters

8.

A．what

B．why

C．whether

D．where

9.

A．formally

B．extremely

C．mostly

D．lately

10.

A．promise

B．seem

C．explain

D．mean

11.

A．make up

B．break down

C．come up

D．slow down

12.

A．scene

B．road

C．strategy

D．lecture

13.

A．harder

B．better

C．worse

D．easier

14.

A．forget

B．love

C．miss

D．remind

15.

A．parting

B．meeting

C．organizing

D．suffering

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

Imagine sitting at your breakfast table having a cup of coffee when all of a sudden you see someone about to die. What would you do? Last Christmas, John Gelinne found out.

On Dec. 26, Gelinne, 60, was watching out the back windows of his home in Edgewater, Maryland, at frozen Beards Creek (河流). Children and grandchildren were running around the house. That’s when Gelinne looked up just in time to see a small plane a few hundred yards away, losing altitude (海拔高度).

As the plane disappeared behind the trees, Gelinne, a former Navy commander, realized it was going to land in the creek. He flashed on a moment from more than20 years earlier: Sept. 11, 2001. Gelinne was at work in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., when terrorists (恐怖分子) crashed a plane into the building. He escaped but has always wondered if he could have stayed inside and

“To the right was the crisis, and to the left was escape. I don’t even know if I could have gone right, but I went left,” he recalled. “I always second-guessed myself about that decision.”

On this day, Gelinne didn’t hesitate. He ran down to the waterfront. The plane had slipped to a stop on the broad, frozen creek, far from the shore. It was now sinking. The pilot was standing on the wing. Gelinne knew from his Navy training that even a few minutes in the icy water could kill the pilot.

Gelinne tested the ice with his foot and decided not to take any chances walking on it. So he and his son, John Ir., 37, pulled two kayaks(皮艇) out.

“I figured, if it can float on the water, it can slide on the ice,” Gelinne says. The kayaks’ paddles (桨) proved easily broken, so the pair tried using shovels (铁铲) to push the boats along. Their first attempts left them moving in circles. But with some muscle, they made progress.

注意:
1.词数150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The two men set off, pushing their boats across the ice.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They finally arrived at the shore with great efforts.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . Sometimes I have thought it would be excellent to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize _________ the values of life.

Those who have never_________   the loss of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these capabilities. Their eyes and ears_________ all sights and sounds hazily(模糊地), without concentration and with little_________ . I have often thought it would be a good thing if each human being were stricken _________ and deaf for a few days at some time. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; _________ would teach him the joys of sound.

Recently I was visited by a good friend who had just _________ from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had _________ .“Nothing in particular,” she replied. How was it possible-walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing___________ of notice? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to ____________   me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry (对称) of a leaf and I touch the ____________ of trees hopefully in search of a bud(芽), the first sign of____________ Nature after her winter’s sleep. The miracle of Nature is ____________ to me and the changing seasons are an exciting and unending drama, the action of which streams through my____________ .

If I can get so much pleasure from mere ____________   , how much more beauty must be revealed by sight?

1.

A．constantly

B．sharply

C．deadly

D．merely

2.

A．treated

B．restored

C．suffered

D．prevented

3.

A．take in

B．allow for

C．smooth out

D．brighten up

4.

A．tension

B．appreciation

C．adaptation

D．possession

5.

A．disabled

B．injured

C．speechless

D．blind

6.

A．silence

B．anxiety

C．music

D．voice

7.

A．worked

B．escaped

C．struggled

D．returned

8.

A．predicted

B．targeted

C．observed

D．left

9.

A．full

B．afraid

C．free

D．worthy

10.

A．protect

B．challenge

C．interest

D．tolerate

11.

A．leaves

B．branches

C．fruits

D．barks

12.

A．exploring

B．awakening

C．drawing

D．loving

13.

A．revealed

B．expanded

C．created

D．described

14.

A．hair

B．blood

C．toes

D．fingertips

15.

A．touch

B．smell

C．taste

D．hearing

6 . I stopped at the top of the hill, my right foot pressed back against the coaster brake (脚刹) on my bicycle. All I needed to do was to_______ my foot, and I would be swept down the hill. But I _______ . To my 12-year-old eyes, the hill was a mountain and the slope was _______ steep, which prevented me taking up the challenge.

When I returned to my hometown more than three decades later with my friends Dave and Scott, we _______ to the base of the hill and walked our bikes _______ . We stood once more at the top of that hill, looking down from the edge, but this time with a _______ set of eyes. To our surprise, now the _______ seemed more obvious, even larger than we’d imagined as kids. We knew that once we started down, there was no stopping or _______ . And right at the bottom of the hill, we would have to turn left to _______ dumping into the stream.

Dave went first. Then I was next. My heart was pounding. I ________ on the bike for a moment. Then I released the brake and yielded myself to ________ . I skidded to a stop next to Dave. Scott followed. The three of us spent several minutes laughing, draining off the adrenaline (肾上腺素) . We had ________ the childhood challenge of riding our bikes down the steep hill.

We didn’t know it then, but we’d face many similar ________ over the years — leaving home, getting married, moving to a different town, starting a new job, and many others — that would cause us to pause at the ________ and collect our courage ________ we launched ourselves down the trails of our lives.

1.

A．stamp

B．break

C．lift

D．keep

2.

A．paused

B．started

C．charged

D．fell

3.

A．unnecessarily

B．incredibly

C．occasionally

D．hardly

4.

A．ran

B．rode

C．climbed

D．wandered

5.

A．out

B．off

C．away

D．up

6.

A．similar

B．whole

C．different

D．smart

7.

A．risk

B．stream

C．slope

D．assumption

8.

A．turning back

B．looking down

C．giving in

D．breaking out

9.

A．get

B．avoid

C．make

D．search

10.

A．called

B．improved

C．smiled

D．balanced

11.

A．pressure

B．fate

C．gravity

D．difficulty

12.

A．recalled

B．completed

C．forgotten

D．received

13.

A．activities

B．troubles

C．lessons

D．periods

14.

A．corner

B．route

C．edge

D．line

15.

A．when

B．because

C．after

D．before

7 . At the age of 12, I withdrew into my bedroom with my guitar. I had neither musical talent — many_______music lessons had proved that — nor musical training. My fingers ached as I tried to press down on the strings without making them buzz (发出嗡嗡声). _______, I worked my way through 2-, 3- and even 5-chord (和旋) songs and discovered the _______ thrills of these musical notes. No one _______ me to do this. I did this myself and of my own free will for a week, and the sense of happiness－ true happiness _______ in absorption in something － has _______ me. Fifty years later, that week’s self-directed practice became a model and _______ for almost every meaningful thing I have done since. It makes me understand the _______ between achievement and accomplishment.

The world favors achievement while _______ accomplishment. The former is the completion of the task imposed (强加) from the outside — the ________ being a path to the next task. The latter is the end point of an activity we have chosen, whose bonus is the sudden ________ of happiness.

The seeking of accomplishment always ________ people. I learned so long ago in that ________ week that simply lifting one finger from the guitar’s C chord, you should get the most moving ________ in tune. I didn’t know then it was a major 7th chord, a favorite of some masters’. I just ________ accomplishment. That’s real human “achievement”.

1.

A．added

B．tailored

C．expected

D．failed

2.

A．Besides

B．Instead

C．Therefore

D．However

3.

A．fruitless

B．matchless

C．effortless

D．senseless

4.

A．wished

B．allowed

C．required

D．invited

5.

A．masked

B．rooted

C．set

D．stuck

6.

A．waited for

B．passed by

C．departed from

D．stayed with

7.

A．exchange

B．reason

C．foundation

D．priority

8.

A．relationship

B．difference

C．balance

D．similarity

9.

A．ignoring

B．avoiding

C．assessing

D．defending

10.

A．origin

B．process

C．decision

D．reward

11.

A．lack

B．need

C．rush

D．dream

12.

A．amazes

B．concerns

C．frightens

D．discourages

13.

A．adventurous

B．dangerous

C．memorable

D．horrible

14.

A．impression

B．performance

C．scene

D．harmony

15.

A．pursued

B．accepted

C．interpreted

D．analysed

8 . I was driving when my phone alerted me to a new email. Filled with eager anticipation, I pulled over, turned on my hazard lights, and opened it. My emotions quickly changed as I learned, for the sixth and final time, that I had been denied a promotion to full professor. My institution didn’t seem to value what I brought to the table. But when I told my family that night, my children offered a surprisingly positive response. They were excited to see what I was going to do next, they said. They apparently knew long before I did that losing my bid for a promotion would turn out to be the best thing that could have happened for me.

This had been the final step in a long process spanning 15 months and involving so much effort. I had started by studying successful promotion bids and asking senior scholars for frank discussions about my readiness. I had carefully prepared my application packet, summarizing everything I had achieved in my career. For more than a year, I had spent hours every day trying to prove my worth to my university.

To my surprise, having a final answer brought a welcome sense of closure. As a first step toward healing, I decided to prioritize my own values and follow my own internal compass. I disconnected from people in my life who violated my values, cultivated my relationships with those who share my priorities and bring out the best in me, and spent more time with my family. I founded a nonprofit that helps first-generation and low-income students and young professionals advance in the workforce while serving their community. The initiative had long been a dream of mine, but I never pursued it because typical academic hiring and promotion don’t reward such efforts. Now, such considerations were no longer my North Star.

Five months after that email from top leadership, I found myself in the car again, experiencing another career-defining moment. I may have lost my bid for a big promotion, but in the end, it brought me to the right place.

1. What did the author feel after he read the email?

A．Anxious and annoyed.	B．Embarrassed and ashamed.
C．Relieved and peaceful.	D．Disappointed and sorrowful.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．What contributions the writer had made.	B．What preparations the writer had made.
C．How successful the career had been.	D．How tiring the process had been.

3. Which of the following would the writer probably agree with?

A．Success is more than a title or a rank.

B．One’s internal compass is to be developed.

C．Serving the community may heal a broken heart.

D．One’s real value first lies in his family interaction.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Emails: my North Star

B．Full professor: a double-edged sword

C．A career setback becomes a great opportunity

D．An academic career witnesses a failed promotion

9 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成篇完整的短文。

I’ll admit it. I can be a complainer. After all, there’s so much in this life to complain about: the dirty clothes that don’t make it into the basket, that annoying neighbor’s loud music, my husband’s shoes spread out at the front door, rainy days, traffic...

Complaining is a habit I cultivated since childhood, a skill I developed through the years. My parents didn’t seem to mind—they were great complainers, too—though I do recall some eye-rolling and long-drawn sighs from friends and schoolmates when I would voice my negative opinions. In fact, I can distinctly recall the exact moment when I first realized my complaining habit reached its expert level.

One day, as I reminded ray husband once again to remove his bills from the dining-room table, put his shoes away, and lower that bothersome radio, he put up his hand.“Stop! You’re your complaining. It’s driving me crazy.”

I looked at him blank-eyed.

He took a deep breath. “You never hear me complaining, do you?”

“Well,” I answered, “you’re complaining about my complaining, so actually, yes, I am hearing you complain right now.”

His eyes widened. A drop of sweat formed his upper lip. Then he grabbed his car keys and ran out of the door.

Perhaps I’d gone too far, I thought. Maybe I really did complain too much. But, what to do about it? After all, it had been a lifetime habit. And habits are hard to break.

I took a break and sat down to think about solution. When I felt annoyed, I could lock myself in the bathroom and scream. No. The neighbors would probably hear me. Phone a friend? She probably wouldn’t be a friend for very long. Then it hit me.

I’d been in the habit of keeping a journal for most of my life. It provided a sort of timeline for me，and I liked to review past entries occasionally to review the path I had been on at that point. Journaling kept me honest with myself, and I liked it for that reason. Perhaps, I though, a complaint journal might be the answer I was seeking.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为l50左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答；

That day, I decided to give it a try.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Besides the improved relationship with my husband, I saw other effects soon.            .

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . My son “graduated” from elementary school this week. I put the word in quotations(引语)because as a rising 6th grader, he wasn’t receiving a _______ —and because the school used a _______ term to describe the milestone. On reflection, the school’s term felt even more _______ than the traditional name of the _______ of one stage of a person’s education: they called it Moving On.

At the Moving On Ceremony, each member of the 5th grade class _______ one sentence of reflection on what they were thankful for or would _______ about their primary school years. One _______ words caught my attention — he said he was _______ for what he called “a step on the ladder”. I was really _______ by this 11-year-old’s ability to summarize the emotional heart of the “moving on” moment. That was totally beyond my imagination.

Growing up is the work of a ________ — a ladder that has no top. And the gift of a “moving on” moment is that we get to celebrate the firm foothold   (立足点)we’ve gained on our ________ step, even as we reach upward toward the next. We get to ________ —not beyond what we’ve learned and accomplished so far, ________ because we are able to build on today’s experiences to move ahead toward tomorrow.

We look forward to our son ________ more graduations in his lifetime. But perhaps more than that, we pray that he will have the ability to recognize many “moving on” moments to celebrate and enjoy with ________ .

1.

A．prize

B．letter

C．degree

D．gift

2.

A．normal

B．different

C．traditional

D．popular

3.

A．interesting

B．successful

C．creative

D．meaningful

4.

A．end

B．goal

C．process

D．task

5.

A．translated

B．learned

C．shared

D．completed

6.

A．complain

B．miss

C．worry

D．imagine

7.

A．teacher’s

B．parent’s

C．cleaner’s

D．student’s

8.

A．responsible

B．grateful

C．concerned

D．famous

9.

A．struck

B．confused

C．inspired

D．disappointed

10.

A．moment

B．month

C．year

D．lifetime

11.

A．current

B．previous

C．future

D．upward

12.

A．work out

B．calm down

C．think over

D．move forward

13.

A．but

B．though

C．and

D．also

14.

A．holding

B．preparing

C．discovering

D．experiencing

15.

A．kindness

B．gratitude

C．bravery

D．patience