1 . Anniversary trips were a tradition that was nearly as old as our marriage. Each year, Jim and I took turns planning a secret trip for the other. I finally found a perfect spot: The Shire of Montana. It was a “hobbit house”. And our six-year-old daughter, Aurora, would also love it.
I was about to make a reservation when I saw a note on The Shire’s website: No kids allowed. We couldn’t leave Aurora behind. I asked if an exception might be possible. A reply came. “The rule exists because previous children destroyed large parts of the Elven Village,” wrote Mr. Michaels, the owner. “But if you promise that your daughter is responsible and will not touch anything, she can come.” Aurora was a well-behaved girl. I wrote back and filled in the reservation form.
The day finally arrived. I was excited very much. Still, turning onto Hobbit Lane, I felt anxious. “Children aren’t usually allowed here,” I reminded Aurora. “So you have to be very careful. You can look at everything, but don’t touch it.”
Then we began our journey. Aurora took everything in, keeping her hands pressed to her sides. “Remember, no touching,” I reminded Aurora, feeling like a complainer. Had I made Aurora so scared of touching things that she couldn’t think about anything else? What fun was that?
We spent several days at the Shire. I finally found that Aurora delighted in each discovery but never disturbed a thing. Being aware of boundaries didn’t take away the beauty and wonder; it allowed the Shire to remain beautiful. It was not so different from our family life, I thought. Jim and I moved through life side by side as a couple, but we’d learned to accept each other’s individuality and boundaries as well.
1. What can we know from the second paragraph?| A．The visitors to The Shire of Montana all performed properly. |
| B．The author was dissatisfied with the reservation rules. |
| C．The process of arranging the trip was a bit difficult. |
| D．The Shire’s website failed to give useful information. |
| A．Her fear of getting lost. | B．Her concern for their safety. |
| C．Her worry about her family’s feelings. | D．Her uncertainty about Aurora’s feelings. |
| A．It helped Aurora win praise from others. |
| B．It kept Aurora away from possible dangers. |
| C．It might prevent Aurora from fully enjoying herself. |
| D．It could let Aurora realize the value of cultural treasures. |
| A．Taking responsibility for our own choices. |
| B．Respecting both personal needs and boundaries. |
| C．Learning how to find beauty in small things. |
| D．Trying to meet every family member’s expectations. |
2 . We were five minutes into the worst turbulence(湍流) I’d ever experienced — approaching Boston’s Logan International Airport in a severe winter storm — when I
“Sure. My name is Sue,” the woman replied, smiling warmly. Then the plane moved forward and sideways violently, and I
When Sue took my hand on that scary
When we said goodbye, I gave Sue a big hug and my
| A．knocked into | B．turned to | C．quarreled with | D．apologized to |
| A．exhausted | B．embarrassed | C．desperate | D．nervous |
| A．requested | B．advocated | C．declared | D．ordered |
| A．relief | B．fear | C．joy | D．thrill |
| A．scarcely | B．occasionally | C．deliberately | D．significantly |
| A．cultural | B．nonverbal | C．open | D．fair |
| A．enjoy | B．allow | C．miss | D．resist |
| A．Frequently | B．Briefly | C．Actually | D．Directly |
| A．afternoon | B．seat | C．board | D．flight |
| A．securely | B．riskily | C．merrily | D．despairingly |
| A．number | B．address | C．money | D．appreciation |
| A．pleased | B．curious | C．hesitant | D．scared |
| A．lifted | B．scratched | C．squeezed | D．stamped |
| A．learned | B．denied | C．teased | D．assumed |
| A．relative | B．stranger | C．steward | D．acquaintance |
3 . I had my first luck when my uncle was visiting from Britain. We were talking about my plans for further study. I was interested in biology research, but there weren't many opportunities in Slovenia Surprisingly, my uncle encouraged me to try international studies, and even offered me my cousin's room. It was the lucky break I needed. Later. I applied for a university near my uncle's. When I was accepted. I felt excited. I was also stressed about studying abroad and the cost. To save up. I got a part-time job, through which I could only cover one-third of the expense. Luckily, a prize from school contributed the rest.
Once I reached Britain, between culture shock and my university program. I worked part-time. By working and reducing unnecessary costs. I could support myself, share the household expenses with my uncle's family, and save for my education.
I made little progress in the lab after five months. One evening. I mistakenly removed all the useful experiment data. I broke into tears, and spent the whole night playing video games-a much-needed break after months of non-stop work. But I didn't give up. Two weeks later, my project began to produce results.
After being rejected several times in full-time job hunting. I had a chance to meet with Professor Brown I hardly remembered from two lectures he had given. I was analyzing my data when he mentioned he was looking for an assistant and encouraged me to apply. I didn't think I stood a chance, but I figured I had nothing to lose. To my surprise, the professor who valued my efforts and ability offered me the job. I went on to complete my study, and I was excited about the research opportunities that were available to me.
1. What can be inferred about the writer from paragraph 1?| A．He took his uncle's advice to study abroad. |
| B．He studied biology in his uncle's university. |
| C．He accepted his cousin's offer to share a room. |
| D．He fully paid for his education by working part-time. |
| A．stuck to his lab project |
| B．took a month-long break |
| C．became addicted to video games |
| D．destroyed the experiment data purposefully |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Hard work pays off. |
| C．It’s never too late to learn. | D．Do as the Romans do. |
| A．A diary entry. | B．A graduation paper. |
| C．A research report. | D．A personal story. |
4 . I have lived in rural America for nine years, first in Michigan, where I got my PhD; then in central Illinois and now in Indiana, where I am a professor. In a place where most people have lived the whole of their lives, I feel like a stranger. There are few things I enjoy more than complaining about my geographic isolation. I’m a vegetarian, so there’s nowhere to go for a nice dinner that isn’t 50 miles away. I’m black, so there’s nowhere to get my hair done that doesn’t involve another 50-mile drive. And the closest major airport is two hours away.
I recite these gripes to my friends. We all have grand ideas about what life would be like if only we did that, or lived there. And there’s this; I really don’t intend to change most of the things I complain about. Griping is seductive on those days when happiness requires too much energy. But it also makes me lose sight of the fact that I was born and grew up in Nebraska and have lived most of my life in one of the plains states. When I go to the coasts, I am struck by how unappealing big-city living can be.
While I may not love where I live, there are plenty of people who are proud to call this place home. At a party with colleagues, I was going on about everything I couldn’t stand in our town when I noticed that they were silent and shifting uncomfortably. That moment forced a change in me. Complaining may offer relief, but so does acceptance. There is no perfect life. By focusing on gripes, I risk missing out on precious moments of appreciation. When I get home, I stand on my balcony, look into the night sky and see the stars. I know that I have absolutely nothing to complain about.
1. What causes the author’s loneliness?| A．Dietary habits. | B．Racial prejudice. |
| C．Educational differences. | D．Identity confusion. |
| A．Attractive. | B．Temporary. | C．Violent. | D．Flexible. |
| A．Humbled. | B．Angry. | C．Touched. | D．Calm. |
| A．Every day is beautiful. | B．When in Rome, do as the Romans do. |
| C．Human must value lives themselves. | D．Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. |
5 . My husband Robert and I had volunteered to help build an irrigation (灌溉) system for bananas in Zambia. The Heart of Africa Mission is run by local Zambians, with a focus on community development. We were there to share our agricultural (农业的) experience and knowledge with the African farmers.
We left snow-covered Alberta, Canada in January. We spent the next four weeks working side by side with the local Zambians in a banana plantation (种植园). The banana plantation would help make the Heart of Africa Mission self-supporting. It would also teach banana farming to the students there. Students would go on to teach others. It has done that and more. Through the jobs created, several families now have food, education for their children, and enough housing. The plantation is producing well and is a source of great pride for all who work there.
My husband worked hard at building the irrigation system. But the story he tells most often is of the young man who stopped us on one of our walks somewhere. He pointed to his bike, and laughing widely, told Robert, “Look, look, it still works.” Robert had repaired it for him. A bike in Zambia is like a truck in North America—necessary transportation for people and produce. Robert’s small effort made a big difference in this man’s life.
“We sure appreciate (感激) your sacrifice (牺牲),” our organizer often says. For us it was never a sacrifice, only an honor to have the chance to work in a place so far from our own, to be able to exchange ideas and thoughts. All this happened while living in a beautiful sunny country in the green of the rainy season, while at home in Alberta, the snow would cover the landscape (风景) for months. No, the volunteer work was never a sacrifice. It was only an honor.
1. What can we learn about the author from the first paragraph?| A．She likes to take adventures. | B．She is probably an expert in agriculture. |
| C．She started the Heart of Africa Mission. | D．She used to live in Africa for a long time. |
| A．Costly. | B．Tiring. | C．Challenging. | D．Fruitful. |
| A．To ask for help. | B．To express his thanks. |
| C．To show his cycling skills. | D．To tell them about his work. |
| A．It enabled her to work harder. | B．It brought her public recognition. |
| C．It made her appreciate her life more. | D．It allowed her to experience different things. |
6 . One part of the oath (誓言) taken by physicians requires us to “remember that there is art to medicine, and that warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.” When I, along with my medical school class, recited that oath at my white coat ceremony a year ago, I admit that I was more focused on the biomedical aspects than the “art”.
Actually, medical professionals can get too easily caught up in treating to remember there is still space for healing. As doctors learn to communicate with patients beyond the restricted language of physical indicators, drug protocols and surgical interventions that may go against healing, they are reaching for new tools — poetry.
One clinical trial studied the effect of music or poetry on the pain, depression, and hope scores of 65 adult patients under cancer treatment. They found that both types of art therapy (疗法) produced similar improvements in pain and depression scores. Only poetry, however, increased hope scores. Researchers assumed that poetry can break the so-called law of silence, according to which talking about one’s perception of illness is taboo. After listening to poetry, one participant said, “I feel calmer when I hear those words. They show me that I’m not alone.”
Insights like these are already making their way into the clinic. Sarah Friebert runs a care center where children are visited by a writer who helps them create poems and stories for publication. Eric Elshtain uses poetry on the wards to teach children the power of self-expression. He’s found that many of his patients write haikus about things like sports or their favorite stuffed animal, rather than their experience in a hospital bed. Poetry, as he said, is a way to both accept the hospital encounter and escape from it.
While a poem a day won’t cure, it might help relieve. I’ve decided that I’ll learn how to meet my patients beyond the chart documents; that I’ll encourage them to write their own stories; that I will heal as well as treat. In other words, I’ll honor each and every word in the oath I took last year.
1. According to the text, the author is probably________.| A．a young poet | B．a clinical expert |
| C．a medical student | D．an experienced physician |
| A．Music works better in reducing depression. |
| B．Poetry makes people open about their illness. |
| C．Patients are likely to lose hope without poems. |
| D．Art therapy is the key to cancer treatment. |
| A．He will change his career path. | B．He will well remember the oath. |
| C．He begins to take his work seriously. | D．He has better understood his job. |
| A．A news report. | B．A research paper. |
| C．A public speech. | D．An application letter. |
7 . There was a young boy at a beautiful beach digging sands using his plastic tools. While his other friends were playing the whole time, the little boy spent his day
After a whole long day, he finished his
The boy was aware of the
Basically, no matter where you are, the waves of life will always
| A．creating | B．picturing | C．drawing | D．watching |
| A．kept | B．made | C．crossed | D．defended |
| A．bucket | B．stone | C．rope | D．stick |
| A．old | B．royal | C．dream | D．solid |
| A．therefore | B．instead | C．still | D．nevertheless |
| A．supported | B．perfected | C．copied | D．destroyed |
| A．castle | B．construction | C．sand | D．tide |
| A．sorrow | B．doubt | C．hesitation | D．excitement |
| A．held up | B．picked up | C．searched for | D．threw away |
| A．belief | B．repair | C．control | D．awareness |
| A．talk about | B．draw upon | C．react to | D．fight against |
| A．search | B．take | C．recognize | D．find |
| A．know | B．teach | C．judge | D．beat |
| A．distance | B．line | C．journey | D．circle |
| A．changes | B．crashes | C．events | D．attacks |
Rick, a ten-year-old boy, was constantly angry at everything around him. He always fought in school with the other kids. Once he had an outburst in school. Upset by something a classmate said to him, he pushed the boy, and a fight happened. When the teacher stepped in to break it up, Rick went crazy, throwing papers and books around the classroom and rushing out. His teachers couldn’t say anything that would comfort the kid. And the parents of his schoolmates were getting concerned. Rick was earning quite the reputation. After talking with school officials, Rick’s mom tried everything she could to calm Rick down.
She tried different methods until one day she came home with a canvas (画布) and paint. “What’s this?”, Rick asked. Rick’s mom handed over the painting equipment and said, “Whenever you feel angry, paint whatever you’re angry about instead of bursting out.” Rick wasn’t that happy about it but he gave it a try anyway. Over the next few weeks, the young boy created several artworks. They mostly showed disturbing images though. So his mom took all of the paintings and called Rick over so that they could talk about them. “Tell me, Rick. What are these paintings about?”
“Well, the first painting is about how some of the kids show off their new clothes and pencil cases. The next painting is about my teacher who keeps telling me about how I’m doing things wrong. And the last painting is about how one of my schoolmate’s father suggested that I change my attitude. All of them make me so angry.” Rick’s mom, in a calm voice, took Rick by her side and told him: “Don’t you see it, Rick?” “See what?” Rick asked. “You’re so angry at all of these things but not once did you try to understand why you’re getting so angry. What have all these people done to you, really?”
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Rick was lost in thought.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Rick knew it was time to change.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . Wasted-time worry
The idea that time is our most precious resource can bring with it a sense of time-pressure. We are always told “Time is money and time is running out”, so we must manage it well. We take time-management courses, download the latest productivity app and divide our day into blocks, so our time is never wasted.
We need to shift away from trying to maximize our time and reduce our worry about wasting it. We don’t have to view every moment we don’t spend the way we expected to as a waste. There may be value in those moments too.
Then how much should we be working? Researchers say on most days, three to four hours of high-quality, focused mental work is about our maximum.
We often encounter empty time, throwing us into boredom, panic or anxiety, or add to our wasted-time worry.
| A．Working beyond that can be a waste |
| B．Working to maximum is the secret to success |
| C．but the scraps of time that get lost in between |
| D．We can simply appreciate the part they played in our life |
| E．However, we need some hours in the day to waste as we wish |
| F．We can simply set aside more moments for the work of the day |
| G．Yet in our crazy attempts to account for every hour, we fall into wasted-time worry |
In Chinese tradition, the autumn season is associated with the color white, the sound of weeping, the emotions of both courage and sadness. Autumn, however, for westerners, is considered to be the direction of dreams and visions.
What does all this mean? It’s the very system
Here is
