The dog days of summer in Central Texas are hot and damp. It was a pity that our home didn’t have air conditioning. Momma and I were just trying to get through this August afternoon the best we could. Reading helped take our minds off the heat. Momma was stretched across the sofa, a pillow (枕头) under her head, reading. I sat on the floor, leaning (倚靠) back against the sofa, a curious nine-year-old in shorts sharing a fan’s flow. My book rested on the floor.
I looked at the thin hardcover my mom was reading, Ed Nichols Rode a Horse. There was a cowboy riding his horse on the front cover, but otherwise the book appeared plain and unimpressive. Before I settled, I asked, “Momma, what’s your book about?”
“It’s a story about a man, his horse and the hardships he encountered in Texas. Some of it takes place in Bosque County,” she answered.
With that, my mom returned to her story. I knew Bosque County was near where Momma had grown up. And I also knew it was best if I didn’t ask any more questions. My mom took her reading seriously.
We’d been reading for the better part of an hour-the only sounds were those that came from the fan and an occasional turn of a page — when I heard something unfamiliar. The sniffling (抽鼻子) back of tears.
I turned in her direction and saw something I’d never seen before: my mom crying. Something big — really big must have happened. My mom did not cry.
“Momma, what’s wrong?” I got up on my knees, staring directly into her face. “Are you all right?” “Jennifer, I’m fine.” Momma sat up and wiped (擦) her eyes. “You don’t need to be concerned.”
I wasn’t buying it. This was not normal behavior. “Why were you crying?” I asked in a whisper. She looked at me hard. “The book made me cry,” she replied.
I was trying to figure out how that plain-looking book could make my mostly no-nonsense momma cry when she said the most amazing thing. “The story made me sad when the horse got hurt.”
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。
That’s when I learned the truth that stories affect us.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I read Ed Nichols Rode a Horse from cover to cover with a big plan forming in my mind.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . I’m in a coffee shop in Manhattan and I’m about to become the most disliked person in the room. First, I’m going to interrupt the man reading quietly near the window and ask for a drink of his latte. Next, I’m going to ask the line of people waiting to pay if I can cut to the front of the queue. This is how I chose to spend my last vacation. Here’s why.
Growing up, all I ever heard about was “EQ.” It was the mid-1990s, and psychologist Daniel Goleman had just popularized the concept of emotional intelligence. Unlike IQ, which tracked conventional measures of intelligence like reasoning and recall, EQ measured the ability to understand other people — to listen, to empathize (共情), and to appreciate.
My mother, an elementary school principal, prized brains and hard work, but she placed a special emphasis on Goleman’s new idea. To her, EQ was the elixir (万能药) that separated the good students from the great after they left school. She was determined to send me into the adult world with as much of this elixir as possible.
But when I finally began my first job, I noticed a second elixir in the pockets of some of my colleagues. It gave their opinions extra weight and their decisions added impact. Strangest of all, it seemed like the anti-EQ: Instead of knowing how to make others feel good, this elixir gave people the courage to do the opposite — to say things others didn’t want to hear.
This was assertiveness (魄力). It boiled down to the command of a single skill: the ability to have uncomfortable conversations. Assertive people — those with high “AQ”— ask for things they want, decline things they don’t, provide constructive feedback, and engage in direct confrontation (对峙) and debate.
A lifetime improving my EQ helped me empathize with others, but it also left me overly sensitive to situations where I had to say or do things that might make others unhappy. While I didn’t avoid conflict, I was always frustrated by my powerlessness when I had to say or do something that could upset someone. This is my problem and I’m working on it.
1. Why did the author act that way in the coffee shop?| A．To improve a skill. | B．To test a concept. |
| C．To advocate a new idea. | D．To have a unique vacation. |
| A．She thought little of IQ. |
| B．She popularized Goleman’s idea. |
| C．She was a strict mother and principal. |
| D．She valued EQ as the key to greatness. |
| A．EQ. | B．AQ. | C．Empathy. | D．Courage. |
| A．successful leaders | B．people pleasers |
| C．terrible complainers | D．pleasure seekers |
3 . As a traveler with a disability, I have always avoided cruises. This expedition-style small-ship cruise changed my mind.
When our expedition leader
In fact, the possibility of
Our visit there wasn’t about what we could do or see. It was an opportunity to just be—to exist in a brief
| A．knew | B．announced | C．remembered | D．replied |
| A．living | B．return | C．landing | D．mark |
| A．failing | B．choosing | C．struggling | D．hoping |
| A．Instead | B．Finally | C．Thus | D．Otherwise |
| A．strategic | B．remote | C．favorable | D．central |
| A．set foot on | B．fell victim to | C．kept track of | D．gained control of |
| A．constructions | B．conditions | C．descriptions | D．distributions |
| A．unwanted | B．unsecured | C．unplanned | D．unauthorized |
| A．mistakenly | B．nervously | C．routinely | D．happily |
| A．walk | B．flight | C．ride | D．path |
| A．dampen | B．share | C．convey | D．fuel |
| A．changed | B．lost | C．fought | D．made |
| A．in response to | B．in view of | C．in contrast to | D．in defense of |
| A．moment | B．experiment | C．glance | D．ceremony |
| A．value | B．need | C．miss | D．experience |
4 . Powerful Quotes To Help You Find Your Way When You Feel Lost
Everyone has moments in their lives when they feel a little lost, and it is at these times that we begin to question who we are and what the purpose of life is. Many people have struggled with similar emotions before us.
Powerful quotations about feeling lost will encourage you to search within and discover how you truly are. With all of life’s ups and downs, it’s simple to feel like your life is meaningless, that there is no hope for the future.
Perhaps you’ve become lost in your work, your relationship, or your parental responsibilities.
You need to understand that you are not alone if you’re feeling lost.
| A．The only life you can actually lead is the one that is immediately in front of you. |
| B．So follow them, set aside your concerns and allow yourself to see the life that lies ahead. |
| C．In any event, you shouldn’t let yourself become trapped in this condition of confusion. |
| D．Your current difficult situations are temporary. |
| E．Being lost is perfectly normal. |
| F．Get help from some powerful professional quotes. |
| G．However, maybe you’re experiencing a difficult time that you weren’t prepared well. |
5 . Frank Herbert’s science fiction Dune was the first coming-of-age story that helped me survive my lonely junior high school. At age 12, my life was the tiny, boring cycle of home, school and my parents’ store. Dune cracked it all open and led me to a universe that made my little world a lot more bearable. Unlike Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye who kept breaking windows, Dune’s main character, Paul Atreides, equipped me with a junior-high survival guide.
Paul is not a classic underdog. He’s the son of a king. He’s been trained since birth in war arts, politics and critical survival skills by a group of smart and experienced men with impossible-to-pronounce names. But when his world is turned upside down-when he leaves his home, loses his father and enters a physically and politically hostile environment-he doesn’t complain and cry. He adapts.
To this day, I still can recite his words against fear: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total destruction. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
The steady diet of literary fiction assigned by my teachers was escapist and the very act of reading (whatever the content) usually took me out of a given moment, but didn’t provide much advice on how to face my daily conflicts and painful insecurity.
Dune was escapist, too. However, it was expansive and literally redefined possibility for me who had been struggling along with eyes on the ground, just trying to make it through another day of boredom and hardship of being a teenage girl. Paul lifted my eyes up so I could see the stars.
1. Which best explains “hostile” underlined in paragraph 2?| A．Safe. | B．Unfriendly. | C．Unbeneficial. | D．Pleasant. |
| A．His good education. | B．His noble birth. |
| C．His courage to face fear. | D．His escapist attitude. |
| A．She was an optimistic girl. | B．She was not loved by her parents. |
| C．She had a carefree childhood. | D．She felt insecure and unconfident. |
| A．The Catcher in the Rye Should Be Banned |
| B．Teenagers Should Not Read Literary Fictions |
| C．Dune Became My Junior-High Survival Guide |
| D．Science Fiction Is Better Than Literary Fiction |
6 . Moving forces us to face the extraneous. File cabinets and drawers stuffed to the brim, boxes piled high in the backs of closets — why keep letters and cards that we never re-read? One card with my grandmother’s handwriting should be enough.
An unnerving yet productive strategy is to envision someone dealing with the piles of papers if you suddenly weren’t here. You instantly realize that most of your accumulation will one day be thrown into a recycling bin. The things you are saving as reminders of your past are useless to others. Sure, you may value what you keep, but worth is essentially all in your head.
In a real sense, to throw things away is to prepare to die. This is not a gloomy declaration but rather an enlivening recognition of the freedom that follows when we take ourselves less seriously. It’s the same as looking at a sky full of stars and feeling the relief of being tiny and unimportant. Awareness of the briefness of our time on earth and the impermanence of both our attachments and our sufferings can become a powerful basis for clearing things and emotions alike.
A few years ago, dear friends were called home from work to a big fire. They watched as their house burned to the ground, despite the efforts of several fire crews. Everything material, cherished things, and accumulations were reduced to ashes —clothes, photo albums, furniture, paintings, books, boxes of old letters, the piano.
By nightfall, what they had left were the clothes they had worn that day and the photos they had kept at their workplaces. At first, they felt completely collapsed, but once they emerged from the initial shock and grief, they were sustained by a lot of love from family and friends. They were alive, and this is what really mattered. It is astonishing to discover how little weight our possessions carry in this calculus of true necessity.
1. What does the underlined word “extraneous” mean in Paragraph 1?| A．Invaluable. | B．Irrelevant. | C．Suitable. | D．Necessary. |
| A．It’s useless. | B．It’s essential. | C．It’s personal. | D．It’s recyclable. |
| A．By recognizing the burden of freedom. | B．By letting oneself fade into insignificance. |
| C．By being aware of the preciousness of time. | D．By treasuring the attachments and sufferings. |
| A．To demonstrate the cruelty of a fire. | B．To stress the weight our possessions carry. |
| C．To emphasize the importance of love from friends. | D．To show the insignificance of our possessions. |
7 . In my childhood, my parents would take me to watch games. I loved the excitement I would feel when we went to watch these events, especially when the scores were close until the very end of the game. My meaningful attempt at sports began with T-ball at the age of three, progressed to the basketball court at six, and finally turned into a firm devotion to the game of baseball from the age of eight onward.
One of my most memorable moments was at the World Series when I was eleven and played on the Texas Rattlers. The July heat was unbearable. It was the semi-final game. Sweating like a pig, we ran into the dugout for our last at-bat (上场击球); we were down one run now. I was the second hitter and captain of the team, and I was ready for this moment. In the next few seconds, I had the chance to show my strength as a hitter and my ability to be a leader under pressure by hitting a home run! We carried the day!
As the team captain, I remember the time I had to give a speech to my team because we had lost an important game. I was nervous, but I knew it was my responsibility to cheer my team up when they were cast down. This experience has shaped my mind, making me become more independent, so I’m obtaining the ability to talk like a leader in front of my team and a group. Sports get it through my head that you can’t win at everything in life all the time.
On and of the field, I am more iron-willed, disciplined (遵守纪律的) and respectful, and a better leader. I have had so many awesome experiences through sports, which have taught me much and prepared me for the future. The memories of all the trips and diverse experiences I have had will be with me for a lifetime.
1. What can we learn about the author from the first paragraph?| A．He often switched sports. | B．He was a gifted child in sports. |
| C．He had a busy childhood. | D．He was fond of sports from childhood. |
| A．Stressed and tired. | B．Proud and confident. |
| C．Unbearable and down. | D．Surprised and energetic. |
| A．Leading his team to face failure. | B．Giving a speech before the team. |
| C．Improving his leadership qualities. | D．Overcoming his own nervousness. |
| A．Interesting Life of Sports | B．Life Lessons from Sports |
| C．Deep Affection for Sports | D．Special Moments in Sports |
In my childhood, under the influence of my el der brother and my peers in the neighborhood, I tried a number of outdoor activities. Of course, I was not so taken by all of them. whether I was doing them for the first time or continuously. However, fate had its own plans in store. You never know when an outdoor activity will change my life.
The name of this activity is “fishing”. About ten years ago, I didn't really like the idea of sitting on the bank of a lake or river, spending long hours under the sun's ultraviolet rays, which can cause sunburns and skin damage, and anxiously anticipating some fish to be kind to take my bait(诱饵). In fact, I used to think of this outdoor activity as some kind of “hide-and-seek-game” that is popular with most young kids, except that it was much harder because I could see my “prey (猎物)” only after catching it.
However, all that changed when I paid a visit to my aunt in the countryside during a summer holiday. I was finally convinced by one of my cousins to accompany him to a nearby lake in order to do some fishing practice with him. In fact, he even assured me that fish would eat my baits. So I agreed and went to the lake expecting to catch some fish. Before throwing my fishing line into the water, my cousin did some tricks attaching some sort of food to my fishing pole.
Learning to fish in a river or lake can be challenging for the beginners like me. The act of dropping a line is easy, but being a successful fisher is hard. That's why they call it fishing but not catching But with practice and patience, it can become easier over time. Patience is essential in lake fishing. It may take some time to find the right spot or lure (鱼饵) that will attract fish.
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。
My cousin had to repeatedly remind me to keep patient.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When we finally left the lake, I had caught three fish!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . A little stream flowed down from a high mountain far away through many villages and forests, until it reached a desert. The stream then thought, “I’ve been through countless obstacles. I should have no problem crossing this desert!” But soon she found herself gradually disappearing into the mud and sand. After numerous tries, she found it was all in vain and was very upset. “Maybe it’s my destiny! I’m not destined to reach the vast ocean in the legend.”
At this time;a deep voice came, saying, “If a breeze can cross the desert, so can a river.”
It was the voice of the desert. Unconvinced, the little stream replied, “That’s because a breeze can fly, but I cannot.”
“That’s because you stick to what you are If you’re willing to give it up, and let yourself evaporate (蒸发) into the breeze, it can take you across, and you can reach your destination,” said the desert in its deep voice.
The little stream had never heard of such a thing. She could not accept this idea. After all, she had never experienced anything like it before. Wouldn’t it be self-destruction to give up what she was now?
“How do I know if this is true? and will I still be what I am now?” asked the little stream.
“Yes, and no. Whether you’re a river or invisible vapor, your inner nature never changes. You stick to the fact that you’re a river because you don’t know your inner nature,”answered the desert.
Deep down, the stream vaguely remembered that before she became a river, it was perhaps also the breeze that had carried her halfway up a high mountain, where she turned into rain and fell onto the ground and became what she was now. Finally the little stream gathered her courage and rushed into the open arms of the breeze; which carried her to the next stage of her life.
The course of our lives is like the experience of little stream. If you want to surpass the obstacles in your life in order to head for the destination of Truth, Virtue and beauty, you should also have the wisdom and courage to renounce (放弃) your ego (attachment to yourself).
Perhaps you can try asking yourself these questions: What is my inner nature? What is it that I cling to? and, What is it that I really want?
1. What obstacle did the stream come across when starting to cross the desert?| A．Her effortless attempt. | B．Her unrealistic goal. |
| C．Her bowing to fate. | D．All that struggle for nothing. |
| A．Confident — shocked — determined — withdrawn |
| B．Sad — determined — disappointed — shocked |
| C．Disappointed — doubted — confident — surprised |
| D．Hopeful — upset — shocked — determined |
| A．Give up what you are, and you will never owe it again. |
| B．While you change physically, your inner nature will never change. |
| C．Only by sticking to yourself can you realize your dream. |
| D．Changing yourself means losing control of everything. |
| A．When you can’t change the environment, change yourself. |
| B．Stick to your inner nature rather than what you are. |
| C．Once starting the journey, you should stick to your goal. |
| D．Be flexible and adaptable, venturing into the unknown. |
10 . When trouble hits someone in your community, how can you respond? This year, a wildfire has left many people in my community
Imagine a Circle of Care.
When I am in the center of such a circle, I do not want to
When you are in a closer ring and
Whenever you are in the circle of care,
| A．agreeing | B．working | C．connecting | D．struggling |
| A．reappear | B．rebuild | C．repeat | D．recall |
| A．care | B．strength | C．respect | D．appreciation |
| A．Find | B．Draw | C．Join | D．Run |
| A．debt | B．surprise | C．crisis | D．doubt |
| A．darker | B．larger | C．fewer | D．nicer |
| A．Face | B．Point | C．Pull | D．Continue |
| A．cycling | B．certain | C．widening | D．complete |
| A．team | B．family | C．center | D．community |
| A．interesting | B．satisfying | C．amusing | D．encouraging |
| A．hear | B．aid | C．imagine | D．question |
| A．joy | B．anger | C．pain | D．freedom |
| A．talking | B．protecting | C．lying | D．waiting |
| A．praising | B．visiting | C．helping | D．following |
| A．forget | B．feel | C．miss | D．increase |
| A．time | B．energy | C．space | D．money |
| A．give up | B．look for | C．think about | D．deal with |
| A．emotional | B．lasting | C．unknown | D．visible |
| A．begging | B．deciding | C．pretending | D．offering |
| A．Reach out to | B．Have faith in | C．Keep away from | D．Catch sight of |
