1 . For making contact and communicating with a person, effective eye contact is essential to our everyday interaction with people, and also to those who want to be effective communicators in public places.     1    .

Generally in Western societies and many other cultures, eye contact with a person is expected to be regular but not overly persistent.     2    , causing the person who’s the object of a person’s stare to feel overly studied and uncomfortable.

    3    . The New Zealand Medical Journal reported that one reason so many young children fall victim to attacks by pet dogs is their overly-lasting eye contact with pets, which causes them to feel threatened and defensive.

Overly lasting eye contact is also a sign of a person’s over-awareness of the messages they are giving. In the case of people who try to lie to someone, they may distort (扭曲) their eye contact so that they’re not avoiding it.     4    . But on the contrary, evasive (逃避的) eye contact is a sign of discomfort. Why do we avoid looking at a person? It may be because we feel ashamed to be looking at them if we’re being dishonest of trying to take them in. Evasive eye contact may also a sign of dishonesty.

However, Scotland’s University of Stirling found that, in a question-and-answer study among children, those who maintained eye contact were less likely to come up with the correct answer to a question than those who looked away to consider their response.     5    , when this energy could be spent on deep thinking.

A．This is a widely recognized indicator of lying

B．Constant eye contact is often considered to be rude

C．Eye contact is the act of looking into someone’s eyes

D．But there’s something you may not know about eye contact

E．Overpowering eye contact can make the other person excited

F．Even between humans and non-humans, lasting eye contact is sometimes unadvisable

G．Eye contact, as a socializing device, can take a surprising amount of effort to maintain

2 . Mirthy hosts over 80 online events every month. You can enjoy them from the comfort of your home. All you need to do is visit our dedicated page on the Mirthy website.

Learning to rug hooking on a budget
Friday 4th and Friday 18th November at 2:30 pm

Participants will learn a brief history of rug hooking. Participants will also be encouraged to try their hand at this multi-generational art form, have two weeks to complete the small project and then come back to the second session to learn how to finish it off and prepare it for display.

The disappearance of Heneage Bloxham
Wednesday 9th November at 7:30 pm

In 2001, Sam Eedle was approached by an elderly woman in Tewkesbury. Her uncle, Heneage Bloxham, had disappeared on the Western Front and nobody in her family was able to tell her what actually happened to him. By accessing the available records, maps and war diaries, and by taking a diversion to the battlefield while on a trip to France, Sam was able to find out what happened to the woman’s uncle.

African dance
Monday 2lst November at 5:15 pm

African dance allows us to express ourselves individually while also being part of a collective. Creative expression is encouraged and our uniqueness is celebrated. Kenzi will be reminding you that movements can be adapted and explored to find a way that works for your body and movement style. Making a wild foraged wreath Monday 28th November at 2:30 pm

In this workshop, you will be learning how to make a wreath! Through winding twigs and vines to find forest textures into a festive sampling of nature, this will be an artistic nature-based experience. The wreath is free-form and adds a naturalistic winter atmosphere to your door with a minimal, organic style.

1. Where do the activities take place?

A．On the Internet.	B．In public places.
C．At school.	D．In a lecture hall.

2. Who was missing?

A．Sam Eedle.	B．An elderly woman.
C．Heneage Bloxham.	D．Kenzi.

3. When is Making a wild foraged wreath shown?

A．18th November at 2:30 pm.	B．9th November at 7:30 pm.
C．21st November at 5:15 pm.	D．28th November at 2:30 pm.

3 . What gives your life meaning? It is an important and natural practical question that we all ask ourselves at times. It circles around the notion of having a purpose and a reason to wake up and move forward in our lives.     1     Is it time to bring it back on track? Here’s how to get started.

Treat your depression

Your depression empties your energy and damages your motivation.     2     Therefore, the key here is taking action no matter what you start with: tackling the depression directly through taking medicines or consulting doctors to get you moving forward. What the action is matters less than taking action itself.

Get out of your head into your emotion

If you are heavily driven by what you should do, you need to start rewiring your brain to use your emotions as information.     3     Once you notice them, do something concrete with them - again, act. That is how you learn to trust your emotions and use them to guide you, and how you rewire your brain.

Explore, experiment

You can’t figure out your sense of purpose by sitting on the couch and thinking it over.     4     You also need to focus on doing different experiments with being bold, and taking acceptable risks.

The path to discovering or reigniting your sense of purpose is not about making a new decision but focusing on the process that leads to that decision.     5    

A．Hence, your emotions are your source of passion, desire, and energy.

B．It may be caused by physical or emotional limitations that take away joy.

C．However, for many, that sense of purpose has been absent for long stretches.

D．Without them, you don’t make the changes that can pull you out of the depression.

E．Instead, you need to explore, try things and see what sticks, what works, what doesn’t.

F．Start by focusing on those slightest feelings telling you what you want and don’t want.

G．Therefore, you need to clear away obstacles that keep you from acting and moving forward.

4 . Making money isn’t just for adults. Kids can do it, too. Making money gives you more than money.     1    By working to make your own money, you’ ll learn how to succeed in the world. This includes dealing with money, understanding and getting along with other people.     2    

Collect soft drink bottles. You can sell the collected bottles and use the money to buy a new basketball.     3    Make greeting cards. If you are good at drawing, try making special cards. You can sell your cards to make money

    4     You may have some books that you have read but you don’t want to keep. Then you can sell them to make money.

Win a scholarship (奖学金). If you get good grades at school, you can get some money as prize.     5    

A．Sell old books.

B．Borrow old books.

C．It’s also a learning process.

D．However, you are polluting the environment.

E．It’s easy to make money if you try the following ways.

F．This encourages kids to work harder to get better grades.

G．At the same time, you are keeping the environment clean.

5 . During job or school interviews, you’re likely to be asked what your strengths and weaknesses are, because the interviewers are interested in how your areas of strengths and weaknesses might affect your performance in this position.     1     For instance, you may be skilled in cooking, but if you’re applying for an office job, this strength may be irrelevant.

However, knowing your personal areas of strengths and weaknesses is not a piece of cake. It takes self-awareness and self-reflection.    2     Or, ask some of your friends what they see as your best qualities or shortcomings.

    3     For example, let’s say my strength is creativity and yours is planning; we both want to have the same career. We might go about getting there in very different ways. If I did something creative to get my dream job and you planned carefully, we’d both likely be successful. But if I tried planning and you tried something creative, both of us might fail.    4    

Having a weakness doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It could be something you struggle with, but it could also be something you haven’t spent time developing yet.    5     For example, maybe your area of weakness is relevant to gratitude. You just haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about gratitude before. But now you engage in a bunch of activities that help you turn gratitude into an area of strength. Hey, now you’ve got one more skill!

A．Is it proper to begin with a truthful answer?

B．So ask yourself what you are good or weak at.

C．Our areas of strengths can help us achieve our goals.

D．Thus, it’s helpful to know your strengths related to the role.

E．Many job applicants are unsure how to approach this question.

F．By turning a weakness into a strength, you build other important skills.

G．That’s why it is important to know and use our strengths to reach goals.

6 . When you’re meeting someone new, concentrate your full attention on him.     1     Instead, look the person in the eye, shake hands, and listen carefully to his whole name as it’s said.

Ask 

Speak the name back to the person in the form of a question. “Hi, I’m Katherine. I’m sorry, did you say Don or Dom?” Or “Robert, is it? Nice to meet you. I’m Katherine.”     2     Thus, by repeating the name this way, you’re increasing your chances of remembering it. To up the odds even more, try working in another question if possible: “Are you Stephen with a ‘ph’ or a ‘v’?” “Ty...Is that short for Tyler?”

Associate

    3     If your new acquaintance goes by Bill, make quick mental associations with famous people named Bill, relatives named Bill, or any other kind of bill. Creating mental connections and supporting them with a statement said aloud further cements the name in your memory. 

Employ 

After repeating the name and then commenting on it, use it once or twice more in conversation. Do this either by addressing the person directly or referring to him while speaking to someone else (“Hey, Jim! Bill and I were just talking about that new Brad Pitt movie!”)     4     Be careful not to overuse the name, though, since that can come off as awkward or insincere. 

Using a person’s name is a key to opening doors for you and to maintaining an initial rapport(和谐的关系) that could make this person a new friend for life or a lifelong business partner.     5    

A．You can write down the name when it is necessary.

B．When the conversation ends, use the person’s name again.

C．The brain responds more actively when a question is answered.

D．Whenever you are introduced to someone, keep your mind on it.

E．Don’t race ahead in your mind to come up with something to say.

F．Next, tell yourself something about the name to ensure that it sticks.

G．Make the decision to start remembering people’s names from today!

7 . Life is like a book, from which we can find happiness and sorrow, success and failure, hope and despair (绝望), and love. Life is a learning process.     1    .

Happiness and sorrow

Materialistic happiness is short-lived, but happiness achieved by bringing a smile to others gives a certain level of fulfilment. Peace of mind is the main link with happiness.     2    . We realise the true worth of happiness when we are in sorrow.

    3    

Failure is the path to success. It helps us to touch the sky, teaches us to survive and shows us a specific way.

Hope and despair

       4    . Hope makes us dream. Hope builds up patience. Life teaches us not to despair even in the darkest hour, because after every night there is a day. Nothing remains the same. We have only one choice— keep moving on in life and be hopeful.

Love

Love plays a key role in our life.     5    . In the early stages of our life, our parents are the ones who show us unconditional love and care. They tell us what is right or wrong, good or bad. But we always tend to take these for granted. It is only after marriage and having kids that a person understands and becomes sensitive to the feelings of others.

A．Success and failure

B．Failure leads to success

C．Hope is what keeps life going

D．No mind is happy without peace

E．Life teaches us not to regret forever

F．Without love, a person could become cruel and violent

G．Experiences in life teach us new lessons and make us better people

8 . The secret to truly enjoying life lies in making small changes to everyday lives. Taking care of yourself and connecting with others are just some of the ways you can live a happy life. We’ve made an extensive list of practical tips.     1    

Put yourself and your happiness first. While making a decision, choose the things that will make you the most pleased.    2     When you focus on your passions and interests, you’ll feel more optimistic and energized. And allow yourself to be involved in the small things that can keep your spirits up, such as going for a short walk each day.

Reward yourself for making progress and continuing to grow. Make sure to celebrate even the smallest signs of progress and growth rather than only praising yourself for the successes. Give yourself an encouraging gesture or word occasionally.    3     Or, be sure to reward yourself with small breaks throughout the workday.

    4     Rather than bottling up all of your thoughts and keeping them to yourself, let others know when you need something. Doing so can help you become more confident and feel like you have control over your life. When you speak your mind and live life on your own terms, you’ll be more content.

Turn off the news every now and then. Consuming too much negative news can lead to stress. While it’s great to keep up with current events, the news can have a bad effect on your happiness levels if lots of negative things have happened recently.    5     If you still want to read, avoid potentially stressful topics.

A．Be honest about your wants and needs.

B．Don’t be afraid to seek out new experiences.

C．They’ll help you enjoy your life to the fullest.

D．Also, make taking care of yourself a top priority.

E．Invest your time and resources in improving yourself.

F．Even just skipping it for a day or two might help ease your worry.

G．Buy yourself a treat whenever you cross something off your to-do list.

9 . If you’re a chronic procrastinator (慢性拖延者), you’re familiar with the pain and stress that goes hand in hand with leaving things to the last minute. Even if you want to accomplish or finish a task, you’re probably having trouble getting started in the first place!     1    .

Start your day with the hardest tasks. Make yourself a plan in the morning and pick the hardest task first. You’ll be most energized in the morning once you’ve eaten breakfast and woken up fully.     2    . You’ll feel better once it’s done, and then you can move on to a few easier tasks for the rest of the day.

    3    . It can be astonishing to think about finishing a whole essay or getting through an entire week’s worth of tasks. Instead of thinking about everything you have to do like one big barrier, break it all down into tiny pieces. You’ll be able to get started on the smallest crumb and go forward from there.

Tackle your most important task for 15 minutes. Instead of thinking about the total number of hours you’re about to work for, just start.     4    . This will deal with the fear factor, and you'll likely spend much longer than 15 minutes on your task before you stop working again.

Promise yourself you’ll get a reward when it’s done. You’re probably scared of the next however many hours you need to finish this task. Just tell yourself that when it’s over, you get to celebrate with one of your favorite things.     5    

A．Write a to-do list to set goals first.

B．Break tasks down into small parts.

C．There are several ways that can help you.

D．Stop punishing yourself for procrastinating.

E．Tell yourself you’ve only got to do it for 15 minutes.

F．Handle your hardest thing on your schedule right then.

G．Use that expectation to push yourself through the pain.

10 . 假设你是张伟，你的英国笔友弗兰克 (Frank) 来信告诉你，他因长时间打游戏与父母发生了争吵，他现在很难过。请你根据以下要点及要求，给他写一封英文回信。
写作要点：
1. 打游戏浪费时间，伤害眼睛，不利于学习；
2. 理解尊重父母，向父母道歉，与他们沟通；
3. 不打游戏，努力学习，帮父母做家务。
写作要求：
1.必须包括以上所有要点，并可适当发挥；
2.词数80左右 (开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数)。
Dear Frank,

I’ve received your letter and I know you argued with your parents.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please be happy and everything will be better.

Yours,

Zhang Wei