1 . Sitting in the garden for my friend’s birthday. I felt a buzz (振动) in my pocket. My heart raced when I saw the email sender’s name. The email started off: “Dear Mr Green, thank you for your interest” and “the review process took longer than expected.” It ended with “We are sorry to inform you…” and my vision blurred (模糊). The position—measuring soil quality in the Sahara Desert as part of an undergraduate research programme — had felt like the answer I had spent years looking for.

I had put so much time and emotional energy into applying, and I thought the rejection meant the end of the road for my science career.

So I was shocked when, not long after the email, Professor Mary Devon, who was running the programme, invited me to observe the work being done in her lab. I jumped at the chance, and a few weeks later I was equally shocked—and overjoyed—when she invited me to talk with her about potential projects I could pursue in her lab. What she proposed didn’t seem as exciting as the original project I had applied to, but I was going to give it my all.

I found myself working with a robotics professor on techniques for collecting data from the desert remotely. That project, which I could complete from my sofa instead of in the burning heat of the desert, not only survived the lockdown but worked where traditional methods didn’t. In the end, I had a new scientific interest to pursue.

When I applied to graduate school, I found three programmes promising to allow me to follow my desired research direction. And I applied with the same anxious excitement as before. When I was rejected from one that had seemed like a perfect fit, it was undoubtedly difficult. But this time I had the perspective (视角) to keep it from sending me into panic. It helped that in the end I was accepted into one of the other programmes I was also excited about.

Rather than setting plans in stone, I’ve learned that sometimes I need to take the opportunities that are offered, even if they don’t sound perfect at the time, and make the most of them.

1. How did the author feel upon seeing the email sender’s name?

A．Anxious.

B．Angry.

C．Surprised.

D．Settled.

2. After talking with Professor Devon, the author decided to ________.

A．criticise the review process	B．stay longer in the Sahara Desert
C．apply to the original project again	D．put his heart and soul into the lab work

3. According to the author, the project with the robotics professor was ________.

A．demanding

B．inspiring

C．misleading

D．amusing

4. What can we learn from this passage?

A．An invitation is a reputation.	B．An innovation is a resolution.
C．A rejection can be a redirection.	D．A reflection can be a restriction.

2 . As a child, I was proud of my southern origin. My own voice reflected my family’s past and present-part northern Mississippi, part Tennessee, all southern. There was no sound I loved more than my grandmother’s accent: thick, sweet, warm.

While growing up, I began to realize outside of our region, southerners were often dismissed as uncultured and ignorant. I was ready to leave behind my tiny town in West Tennessee, starting a new life and jumping at big chances in some far-off cities. In that embarrassing space between “teen” and “adult”, my accent was a symbol of everything I thought I hated about my life in the rural South. I feared it would disqualify me from being a noted magazine writer. I would have to talk less “country”. So I killed a piece of myself. I’m ashamed of it, but I’m more ashamed that I tried to kill that part of someone else-change Emily’s accent.

I met Emily in college. She was determined to work for the student newspaper, which was where I spent most of my waking hours, and we became friends. She, unlike me, accepted her roots. Early in our friendship, her mother asked where I was from, assuming it was somewhere up north. Then I felt my efforts paid off and even wanted to ignore the mistake.

Emily is two years younger and she cared about my opinion. I advised her to be more like me and hide her signature Manchester accent. I stressed that throughout our college years, often by making fun of her vowel (元音) sounds. I told myself I was helping her achieve her dream of working as a reporter. Now, I see that it was actually about justifying my hiding part of myself.

Grandma Carolyn used to tell me, “Girl, don’t forget where you come from.” Now I truly understand that. Many things have faded from memory, but this sticks in my mind with uncomfortable clarity. Now that I am grown and have left the South, it’s important to me.

1. What made the author want to leave her hometown?

A．Appeal of convenience in cities.

B．Her dream of becoming a writer.

C．Outside prejudice against southerners.

D．Her desire for the northern accent.

2. How did the author feel about the mistake of Emily’s mother?

A．Upset.

B．Pleased.

C．Ashamed.

D．Surprised.

3. Why on earth did the author try to change Emily’s accent?

A．To prove herself right.	B．To help Emily be a reporter.
C．To make herself influential.	D．To protect Emily’s self-dignity.

4. What message does the text want to convey?

A．Stay true to your roots.	B．Never do things by halves.
C．Hold on to your dreams.	D．Never judge a person by his accent.

3 . 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。

Sandy and Jane came to see the jobo tree on the hilltop again. Jobos were their favorite fruit, but the tree belonged to a lady who lived in the house by the hill. They heard she was difficult, but that sometimes she would give fruit in return for an errand(差使)

The girls finally gathered their courage to knock on her door. An elderly woman with a fierce look answered, staring down at the girls. “We heard …”said Sandy, her voice shaky, “that you give jobos in payment for running an errand.”

The lady raised one eyebrow, then went into the kitchen and took two baskets. She pushed them into the girls’ hands.“Go fill these with jobos, and come right back.”

The girls raced up the hill to the tree and filled the baskets with the ripest jobos. Back at the house, the lady filled a bag with rice and handed it to Sandy. “Take this bag and one basket of jobos to the Brown family. And ask them for the payment,” the lady added with a tight smile.“If you return without the payment, you won’t get the fruit.”

The girls struggled all the way with the bag and the basket. When they were there, Mrs. Brown answered the door. Inside on the floor were three little children, each painting something on papers.

Mr. Brown was lying sick in bed.Times were hard.

The girls handed her the food.“This is from the lady with the jobo tree, ” said Sandy.

“She asked for the payment, too.”Jane said awkwardly.

“The payment! The payment!” The children repeated, waving the paper in their hands happily.

Sandy and Jane looked at each other strangely. With a smile, Mrs. Brown handed Sandy a large sealed(密封的)envelope so full that it was almost starting to break open. The girls said goodbye and left quickly. “I wonder,” Sandy murmured, “whether Mrs. Brown can afford to pay for that food.”

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。

Worried, the two girls discussed what was in the envelope as they walked back.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The lady opened the envelope, took out a pile of papers, and smiled.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . “I can’t connect with your characters.”

I kept hearing the same feedback and was unable to understand why and not sure what to do. I was a character-driven writer. How could I mess up the one thing I was supposed to be good at? I was determined to convince my agent that these characters were real. After all, I knew they were real. My main character Lotus had lived inside me for years. I just needed to clarify her on the page.

I wrote and edited for a year, trying to respond to this agent’s feedback. But Lotus’ personality began to disappear. I tried to have her make “better” decisions, wear smarter fashion, and have more friends, as my agent said she acted “immature” and was “isolated”. And when this agent ultimately parted ways with me, I felt like I had failed. Now with time and distance, I realize I tried to fit Lotus into a neurotypical style to please my agent. And as a result, Lotus lost her Lotus-ness.

When that agent discouraged me from writing Lotus as autistic(自闭的), he said that would make Lotus seem more “vulnerable(脆弱的)” or an “obvious victim”. I didn’t want Lotus to seem vulnerable. Lotus’ autism is what makes her powerful, I tried to explain. But from a neurotypical perspective, Lotus’ autism could only be seen as a weakness.

Unsure of how to convince my agent of the strength and power autistic women hold, I began to write Lotus as “neurotypical”. And I failed miserably. After all, what do I know about being neurotypical? My whole life, autism was my default. Not being diagnosed until 2020, I assumed the way I saw the world was “normal”.

My current agent encourages me to write from my neurodivergent(神经多样性的) experience. With this invitation, I revisited Lotus and saw her the way I first wrote her. And when I did, the characters and the entire narrative began to make more sense.

Identifying my characters as neurodivergent not only gives me joy as a writer, but it has produced my strongest writing. For so long, I’ve combatted the advice to “write what I know”, in part because I didn’t know what I actually knew. I didn’t know I was neurodivergent. But as I mine the specificity of my lived experience, my writing is stronger. There is a power to our lived experience. It’s not a limitation on our craft, but a swinging open of the gates.

1. How did the author feel when receiving the repeated response from the first agent?

A．Confused.

B．Convinced.

C．Determined.

D．Disappointed.

2. Lotus’ personality got lost because ______

A．Lotus no longer lived inside the author	B．the author attempted to please the agent
C．the agent failed to sympathize with Lotus	D．Lotus was considered childish and lonely

3. What do we know about the author?

A．She regretted parting with the agent.

B．She owed her success in life to autism.

C．She was aware of her autism in the early years.

D．She was empowered by her autistic experience.

4. What has the author learned from her own experience?

A．Stick to your dream despite discouragement.

B．Be true to yourself and write from your heart.

C．Giving in to authority is the barrier to success.

D．Everyone is born an original instead of a copy.

5 . Many years ago, I was living with my best friend and we had many happy moments together. But there was one night that ________ our lives forever.

On the night of November 25, 2011, I got into a fistfight with my best friend in our kitchen. It all started because I was trying to help him. He was drinking a lot, arguing with everyone and ________ himself from others by keeping silent most of the time. This had been going on for weeks and finally I decided it was time for a(an) ________ I told him that he needed to stop drinking so much and tried to ________ his alcohol and he got angry and started ________ with me. It was scary, but by the end of the night, we were able to calm down and talk to each other.

I thought alcohol ________ was his main problem. But he was just using alcohol to ________ himself through. He was lonely, heartbroken and struggling to connect with people. So during the Christmas season a few weeks later, I gave him a ________ that I didn’t even know I had.

That Christmas my friend didn’t have any place to go, so I invited him home to my parents’ house in Lancaster. They ________ cleaned up our guest room for him and even bought him some Christmas gifts. I’ll never forget the night we arrived at my home. My parents were already ________, but my mom had prepared dinner for us, baked some cookies and left us a note. My parents are known for their ________, so I wasn’t surprised by this warm welcome. But when my friend read my mom’s note and saw all that she had prepared, he broke down and cried. That’s when I ________ how much I took my loving family for granted.

That year my friend and I both received gifts that we would ________ forever. I gave him the gift of a warm, loving, safe place to spend Christmas. And he gave me the gift of a new ________ on life. If I hadn’t shared my home with him, I wouldn’t have understood how ________ I am.

1.

A．defined

B．inspired

C．created

D．changed

2.

A．defending

B．separating

C．protecting

D．locking

3.

A．communication

B．investigation

C．exploration

D．promotion

4.

A．put up

B．take away

C．break out

D．call off

5.

A．talking

B．crying

C．fighting

D．laughing

6.

A．access

B．addition

C．abuse

D．affection

7.

A．look

B．break

C．drive

D．carry

8.

A．time

B．holiday

C．gift

D．family

9.

A．happily

B．generally

C．formally

D．hurriedly

10.

A．awake

B．asleep

C．available

D．absorbed

11.

A．generosity

B．curiosity

C．ability

D．creativity

12.

A．admitted

B．realized

C．recognized

D．accepted

13.

A．exchange

B．present

C．treasure

D．appreciate

14.

A．day

B．test

C．skill

D．eye

15.

A．kind

B．grateful

C．blessed

D．healthy

6 . Everyone tries their best in life, and sometimes a few kind words of encouragement can help people realize that their efforts are not in vain (徒劳).Ⅰ remember a time when I was in fifth grade, and I was a very shy girl.

There was a drawing competition at my school that day. As everyone started to use their creative ideas to draw, I was only trying to think of something creative that could express my thoughts and emotions. Lost in my own world, I was brought back to reality when my art teacher called my name from behind. She came to me and encouraged me, saying, “Don’t overthink it, just put whatever comes to your mind on the canvas (画布). Do your best, and you will do well.”

Taking her words of wisdom to heart, I started my painting. Time flew by, and soon the bell rang, signaling the end of the time limit. We all turned in our canvases for inspection (检查). The next day, the winners of the competition were announced in front of the whole school. To my surprise, I heard my name being called second prize. It was a bolt from the blue for me, as I had never dared to dream of winning any prize.

Later on, I expressed my gratitude to my art teacher for her words of encouragement and for believing in me. That day, I became aware of my talent and started painting more whenever I had free time. Sometimes, I think that if it weren’t for her words of encouragement, I may have never discovered the talent I have.

Overall, this experience taught me the importance of encouraging others and how a few kind words can make a significant impact on someone’s life.

1. What was the author doing when called by the art teacher?

A．Organizing a drawing competition.	B．Trying to get some creative ideas.
C．Painting her work on her canvas.	D．Trying to get help from others.

2. What did the author think of the competition?

A．Easy.

B．Interesting.

C．Challenging.

D．Encouraging.

3. What do the underlined words “bolt from the blue” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Addiction.

B．Puzzlement.

C．Disappointment.

D．Surprise.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Power of Encouragement

B．The Importance of Art Competitions

C．Overcoming Shyness Through Painting

D．Discovering Your Great Natural Ability

7 . When Eugenie George first heard that her friend passed a financial exam, her heart sank. She’d ______ the same test weeks earlier.

“Envy was eating me up,” recalls George. But anyway she ______ her friend. “And I told her I failed and admitted I was ______,” she says. George knew that being ______ would ease her envy, but she was surprised that it also enabled her to ______ her friend’s happiness and experience her own in turn.

Finding ______ in another person’s good fortune is what social scientists call freudenfreude, the great joy we feel when someone else succeeds, ______ it doesn’t directly involve us. Freudenfreude is like a kind of social______, says Catherine Chambliss, a professor of psychology. It makes relationships “closer and more enjoyable.”

Too often, we think our friends ______ us most during their hard times: a job ______, getting divorced. In fact, how friends ______ our joy is even more important for us than how they respond to our ______. Too often, we think of joy passively. We see it as something that come to us, instead of something we can ______. While it can be difficult in practice, freudenfreude can lift us up and ______ our day. So celebrating our friends’ ______ is a win-win to us all.

1.

A．taken

B．passed

C．failed

D．prepared

2.

A．congratulated

B．forgave

C．blamed

D．ignored

3.

A．badly-behaved

B．over-burdened

C．short-sighted

D．green-eyed

4.

A．tough

B．honest

C．tolerant

D．optimistic

5.

A．imagine

B．understand

C．share

D．increase

6.

A．hope

B．passion

C．confidence

D．pleasure

7.

A．even if

B．as if

C．now that

D．so that

8.

A．platform

B．glue

C．booster

D．routine

9.

A．support

B．annoy

C．upset

D．need

10.

A．loss

B．change

C．interview

D．application

11.

A．look forward to

B．contribute to

C．get used to

D．react to

12.

A．envy

B．complaints

C．suffering

D．mistakes

13.

A．predict

B．produce

C．choose

D．measure

14.

A．fill

B．start

C．brighten

D．balance

15.

A．survival

B．success

C．recovery

D．generosity

8 . Perseverance is the quality of ________ through challenges and difficulties with ________ and resilience. It is this quality that often separates successful people from those who give up at the first sign of trouble.

I remember a time when I ________ with the concept of perseverance. It was during my first year of university when I ________ a difficult course in my major. I had always been a good student and had never had trouble with my academics before. However, this ________ seemed impossible to me. The material was challenging, and I didn’t ________ it as quickly as I hoped to.

I almost gave up. I considered changing my major and even dropping out of college altogether. Yet, I had a long conversation with my professor, during which he told me that everyone struggles with something at certain ________ in their life. He inspired me to ________ through the difficulties and to keep ________ because success only comes to those who never give up.

I took his advice and decided to keep pushing myself ________ my doubts. I ________ every class, read each book, and studied late at night. It wasn’t easy for sure, I persevered, ________. And in the end, I was able to pass the course and ________ in my major.

That experience taught me the ________ of perseverance. It’s not just about ________ challenges; it’s also about the growth that comes alongside with the experience. When we persevere through difficulties, we ________ strength, resilience, and ________.

To ________ up, perseverance is a quality that should be celebrated, not feared. When facing challenges, we need embrace them and defeat them with determination and resilience. In doing so, not only can we cross ________ but we can also foster ________ skills and qualities which benefit us in all our lives.

1.

A．consisting

B．resisting

C．insisting

D．persisting

2.

A．deterrence

B．dissolution

C．determination

D．dismissal

3.

A．experienced

B．struggled

C．triumphed

D．experimented

4.

A．encountered

B．withstood

C．fought

D．deferred

5.

A．class

B．course

C．lesson

D．curriculum

6.

A．grab

B．grapple

C．gamble

D．grasp

7.

A．item

B．rule

C．point

D．whereabouts

8.

A．go

B．trudge

C．undergo

D．drudge

9.

A．revering

B．wavering

C．persevering

D．deserving

10.

A．regardless

B．despite

C．respite

D．in spite

11.

A．attended

B．enrolled

C．engaged

D．tended

12.

A．though

B．although

C．even though

D．as though

13.

A．keep

B．stay

C．remain

D．retain

14.

A．element

B．beauty

C．rudiment

D．appreciation

15.

A．meeting

B．combating

C．enduring

D．ensuring

16.

A．nurture

B．get

C．require

D．enquire

17.

A．interest

B．likelihood

C．character

D．mentality

18.

A．hold

B．brief

C．pick

D．wrap

19.

A．barrier

B．block

C．obstacles

D．blocks

20.

A．important

B．essential

C．vital

D．invaluable

9 . I attend an Art School in Southern California for Musical Theatre and have always pursued artistic pursuits throughout my life. I have also had a lot of _________ experiences from working at food banks to _________ money to help patients suffering from blood cancer. All the things I mentioned above are what _________ me to be a more appreciative and better person.

The _________ that has been by far my favorite was the _________ I did last summer. I developed and carried out a Musical Theatre Summer Camp at a local community center that _________ low-income families. This camp allowed children, who _________ wouldn’t have an opportunity, to gain a basic _________ in singing, dancing, and acting while also allowing them to feel as though they were a _________ of something.

This camp completely impacted the way I __________ both the world and the profound impact people can have. The children came from all backgrounds, and we had some homeless children, undocumented children, and many children who had experienced __________ throughout their lives. I cannot fully __________ the happiness it brings me to be able to share a creative outlet (出路) for them. I __________ believe in the importance of art and I feel incredibly grateful to have been able to share that __________ with them.

Volunteering has reminded me how important it is to __________ to others and how lucky I have been to experience everything.

1.

A．reviewing

B．approving

C．volunteering

D．attempting

2.

A．raising

B．distributing

C．chasing

D．counting

3.

A．impressed

B．remembered

C．motivated

D．troubled

4.

A．experience

B．project

C．dream

D．schedule

5.

A．zone

B．work

C．line

D．secret

6.

A．chose

B．received

C．moved

D．served

7.

A．besides

B．otherwise

C．however

D．instead

8.

A．delay

B．comfort

C．joy

D．education

9.

A．part

B．center

C．reminder

D．burden

10.

A．cultivate

B．reason

C．view

D．conquer

11.

A．connection

B．touch

C．violence

D．witness

12.

A．copy

B．express

C．indicate

D．present

13.

A．casually

B．temporarily

C．formerly

D．truly

14.

A．trade

B．trick

C．skill

D．gift

15.

A．give back

B．give in

C．get down

D．get across

10 . A teacher gave his students a test. Most of the students finished all the questions without much effort _______they all read the last one which was “What is the first name of the woman who _______ the school? ”

All of the students thought that this question was some kind of _______. They had all seen the cleaning woman many times during each day at school. It was _______ that she was tall and old, but how would they know her _______?

So they all _______ their test paper, leaving the last question _______. Just before the class ended, one of the students asked if the last question would count toward the results of the _______.

“_______”said the teacher.

He went on to say, “In your lives and careers, you will ________ many people and they are ________individual, so they each are worth your ________ and care, even if all you do is ________and say “Hello”.

Over the following days each of the students ________ the importance of finding out the name of the cleaner and introduced themselves. They all learned that cleaner’s name was Dorothy and they never forgot the ________ that everyone is important.

1.

A．while

B．until

C．since

D．after

2.

A．cleans

B．manages

C．supports

D．guards

3.

A．pity

B．risk

C．story

D．joke

4.

A．natural

B．clear

C．possible

D．unusual

5.

A．address

B．family

C．name

D．age

6.

A．left behind

B．lifted up

C．put away

D．handed in

7.

A．unanswered

B．open

C．out

D．unprepared

8.

A．exercise

B．experiment

C．test

D．match

9.

A．Possibly

B．No

C．Sure

D．Never

10.

A．love

B．help

C．respect

D．meet

11.

A．important

B．unique

C．intelligent

D．honest

12.

A．consideration

B．attention

C．discussion

D．protection

13.

A．look

B．smile

C．listen

D．play

14.

A．remembered

B．proved

C．explained

D．realized

15.

A．lesson

B．opinion

C．premise

D．argument