1 . 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 |
It was the worst day ever. In fact, that’s what we named it, all caps:WORST DAY EVER. The exact date was March 19, 2007, and I’ll never forget it.
The day began as usual. My husband, Alan, a manager working for a national restaurant chain, entered his office in our home to participate in conference calls. From my spot in the kitchen, I could overhear his conversation with his boss. It turned out that my fears were confirmed. Alan’s position had been dismissed. I hugged my husband as my heart sank. What were we going to do? Would we lose our house if we couldn’t afford to pay our mortgage(按揭贷款)?“We’ll be fine, ”he said . “I know, ”I responded . But, frankly, neither of us was very convincing.
I wanted to crawl back in bed and pull the covers over my head, but I had to go to work. So, I quickly showered, dressed, and made my way to work. It was a few hours into my shift when I received a call from the doctor’s office. “You have cancer, ”he stated. “What?”It sounded like something completely ridiculous, since I was a positive and healthy runner. That day I forgot how I arrived home.
I thought about how wonderful things had been up until this day. Alan and I had enjoyed a happy life in our lovely suburban home. We loved our jobs, traveling and fancy dinners. It was all too good to last, I thought. Now it’s time to pay back for all those amazing years. I imagined hospital beds, my bald head and worse. I prepared myself for a future of coping(应对), or no future at all .
I cried and Alan held me in his arms. “Someday in the future, we’re going to write about today, ”he whispered in my ear, “and we’ll call it Worst Day Ever. ”
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。
In the following days, we both got right to work.
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After several months, our hard work eventually paid off.
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3 . A relative invited me to come and live in his house. With complete
When I arrived, he said, “Things have
I was stunned. I was so
In order to live, I submitted articles to magazines in India and, occasionally, they
Those years of
| A．agreement | B．interest | C．faith | D．curiosity |
| A．ready for | B．bound for | C．relevant to | D．accessible to |
| A．secretly | B．constantly | C．frequently | D．smoothly |
| A．adventure | B．advantage | C．choice | D．application |
| A．improved | B．failed | C．ended | D．changed |
| A．touched | B．frightened | C．excited | D．shocked |
| A．impossible | B．opposite | C．unknown | D．unlimited |
| A．surfaced | B．disappeared | C．passed | D．melted |
| A．blamed | B．charged | C．paid | D．thanked |
| A．exploring | B．wandering | C．frustration | D．contribution |
| A．settle | B．decorate | C．restore | D．visit |
| A．logical | B．physical | C．spiritual | D．material |
| A．expectation | B．perseverance | C．imagination | D．experience |
| A．saved | B．affected | C．hidden | D．overcome |
| A．office | B．hotel | C．home | D．company |
A couple of years ago, I volunteered to be a finish-line “hugger” at the Kentucky Special Olympics held in Richmond.
The day of the event dawned dull, wet and gray. Even though it started to rain and a cold wind blew, most of the participants were so excited that they didn’t seem to notice the weather at all.
My job was to stand at the end of a lane on the track and hug the person in that lane when he or she crossed the finish line. It seemed to me that many of the participants completed their races just so they could get that finish “hug”. As the arms of the hugger closed around them, their faces lit up with pure joy, whether they came in first or dead last.
While we huggers stood around, we talked. I was told that most of the participants had been training for the races all year. I also noticed that, the Special Olympic participants weren’t here just to win. They didn’t talk negatively about the people they were racing against. In fact, they hugged and wished each other luck before they started, and hugged again when it was over, whether they had won or not.
What I remember most vividly from that day was the long-distance race. It was a long race by any standards: twelve laps around the track. There were only four participants, three boys and one girl. They were only a couple of laps into the race when the rain started up again. Standing in the rain, I began to feel miserable. My feet hurt. I was soaking wet. I was hungry. I was cold when the rain and wind came and hot when the sun came out. I thought irritably: This race is lasting entirely too long. Even though the three boys were nearly finished, the girl was at least four laps behind. I wondered why she kept going when there was obviously no way she could win.
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。
Finally, the three boys finished but they didn’t leave right away.
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As she approached the finishing line, the girl was barely running.
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The average present merely satisfies a temporary desire; the great one becomes more precious with time going by.
When I was a boy of fourteen, I needed to have 80 hours of community service per year and I used to take care of Mrs. Long’s garden, which was near the Presbyterian Church. As a junior high school student, I devoted myself to it, sweeping the fallen leaves and mowing the lawn (修剪草坪). There I learnt how to cut away dry branches and even helped to plant a sapling (小树苗). Tired as I was every time I finished my work, I did enjoy the time there for learning something new. I clearly remembered that Mrs Long, a nice and caring elder, always treated me to delicious meals and drinks. She also loved taking photos, always with an old camera in hand. It was said that the camera was passed down from her father and she cherished it a lot.
Several days before Christmas, she whispered to me, “When Christmas comes, I shall have a present for you.” I spent much time wondering what it would be. The boys I played with had baseball gloves, ice skates and bicycles, and I was so eager to acquire any one of these that I convinced myself that she intended to choose from among them. But at the same time, I had some doubts whether she would buy me such things because she was not that well-off.
The day before Christmas, I went there as before. With the work done, I was going to leave when she pulled me aside. “Kid, wait for a minute,” she said, leading me into her living room. She seated me on a chair, went to another room, and in a moment stood before me holding a small package that under no circumstances could hold a bicycle or a pair of skates or even a baseball glove. It weighed almost nothing.
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。
Paragraph 1:I took the package with disappointment. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Opening the package, I was totally astonished. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was my twelfth birthday, and what I really wanted most was a new bicycle. But I knew that my family couldn’t afford one, so I settled for a bedside table with lockable drawers, a safe place to keep my private stuff.
We went to the charity shop where we found an old dark one. It didn’t look too cool, but I thought that I would paint it to make it look better.
After we took it home, I was getting ready to paint it. When I pulled the drawers out. I felt something stuck to the back. I reached in all the way, and guess what? A sealed bag with some papers in it.
When I opened the bag, I realized that the papers were official documents. And, wrapped in them were a bunch of ten and twenty dollar bills! Talk about finding a treasure! And on my birthday!
“Is this some kind of joke?” I said aloud. I went ahead and read the papers, and it turned out to be a will. Some old lady was leaving her savings for her son and grandchildren.
My mind was going crazy. Was I the luckiest twelve-year-old ever? With this money I could buy the coolest bicycle. Who knows?
I began counting. When I reached a thousand dollars, my mother was knocking on my bedroom door. I quickly closed the drawer with the money in it.
“Do you want some help? Is everything all right?” she asked.
No, everything was not right. Actually, my stomach was growling (低吼).
“I’m okay,” I lied.
When my mother left my room, I lay on my bed, starting thinking. What a dilemma (窘境)! I wished there were some one I could talk with. Could I keep it and get all kinds of stuff for me and my family? It wouldn’t be too bad for me to keep it, if I shared it...right? Thoughts ran through my mind. But I really didn’t need someone else to give me the answer.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I finally made a decision and called my parents into my bedroom.
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Though surprised, the shop owner helped find the family’s telephone number.
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