1 . I’m sitting impatiently in our dusty car looking out. My travel buddy, Lucas, having taken in enough of the ________ , has gone to speak with someone from one of the nearby tourist souvenir huts. After ages, he walks towards me, ________some sausages, hot water, a new cowboy hat, and a big grin on his face. “We’re giving a man a ________ ,” he tells me.

The idea seems ________but somehow safe, given that there are two of us and Lucas is a ________   to the country. How exciting to create an opportunity to meet people that you wouldn’t have met ________ .

Now,as I look at Lucas’ new friend, I see a different kettle of fish. Michael is big. I mean really BIG. I watch in the side mirror as Michael ________towards the car. In his right boot is a big knife, pushed far enough in that only the handle and the base of the blade poke out. A knife!

I would normally be alert to this ________ stranger now sitting in the back of my vehicle. However, with Lucas now eagerly ________ with him in a language I barely understand, I’m trying to let myself ________ . Then Lucas loosely translates the conversation they’re having as Michael proudly ________ his knife, explaining that he uses it for everything: opening bottles, picking his teeth, castrating his cows.

Gradually, my___ towards our new stranger grows as he persistently tries to communicate with me, ________the mood of the car. Twenty minutes down winding mountain roads and we reach Michael’s house, where we are invited to have a meal with his ________ . Later that day, we leave the house without taking any contact details from Michael. There is an unspoken understanding that this________friendship is enough.

1.

A．meal

B．gift

C．money

D．view

2.

A．leaving

B．carrying

C．taking

D．offering

3.

A．treat

B．welcome

C．ride

D．coin

4.

A．daring

B．pleasant

C．practical

D．worthwhile

5.

A．newcomer

B．foreigner

C．local

D．visitor

6.

A．otherwise

B．instead

C．though

D．nevertheless

7.

A．climbs

B．cycles

C．flies

D．marches

8.

A．cold

B．friendly

C．enormous

D．slim

9.

A．singing

B．chatting

C．arguing

D．complaining

10.

A．sleep

B．wait

C．ease

D．forget

11.

A．pulls out

B．gives out

C．picks out

D．sets out

12.

A．fear

B．warmth

C．anger

D．sympathy

13.

A．maintaining

B．ruining

C．darkening

D．lifting

14.

A．family

B．friends

C．neighbors

D．guests

15.

A．permanent

B．brief

C．close

D．renewed

2 . Let’s be friends!

If you feel that making friends as an adult isn’t as easy as it used to be, you’re right. Though it becomes increasingly difficult, healthy friendships make a difference in our life. They can help us age better, deal with stress and live longer lives.     1    

Be optimistic

In a 2022 study, researchers found that people who received an unexpected communication, such as a small gift felt more grateful than the senders thought. Not surprisingly, a positive attitude can help us make friends.     2     If we think we’re going to be liked, we will become more likable.

    3    

“Write down the names of three to five people you know but would like to be closer to,” suggest experts. Then reach out to each of them: Send a text message, a shared photo, or an article that make you think of them. See if a small action might make a deeper connection.

Branch out

    4     Nobody gives you all you need. Just a few good mates can make all the difference. A 2020 Study found that those with three to five close friends had higher levels of satisfaction with life.

Practice

After the pandemic (疫情), many of us forgot how to socialize.     5     In a 2022 study, participants were required to talk to strangers every day for a week. And what do you know? In the end, people were less worried and more confident.

A．Make a list

B．Send messages

C．Friendships don’t just happen.

D．Don’t limit yourself to one close friend.

E．Social skills are like muscles — we can work them.

F．Here are tips for making and deepening friendships.

G．But most of the time we don’t realize how much people like us.

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。

For years, my wife Teresa taught physical education at the elementary school level. Travelling on a regular schedule to the six schools in her district, she had a chance to get to know most of the kids in the area and see them at their best and their worst.

One day, in her class, Teresa noticed a third-grade girl, Meagan, who was short and grossly overweight, with a closed and hopeless look on her face. Meagan always sat alone in class, played alone at break, and ate alone from a recycled paper sack at lunch. The teachers and staff were kind to Meagan, but the students were not.

The stories made your shoulders drop. Teresa heard that when the playground supervisors (管理员) turned their backs, kids would run up to Meagan, calling her “Meagan the Fat Pig.” They did far worse than isolate (孤立) her; they filled her school days and walks home with physical and emotional torment (折磨). Also, Meagan’s single mother, a hard-working woman, was trying her best to make ends meet but she had never made it before.

Meagan’s situation disturbed my wife deeply. After talking with the principle and other teachers, Teresa came up with an idea. She knew from talking to Meagan that the child had never had a pet. Teresa was sure a pet would be the perfect way to inject some high-powered love and acceptance into Meagan’s life.

So one Saturday afternoon, Meagan was invited to Teresa’s office. When the door buzzer sounded, a dog engaged in a predictable and vigorous welcome. Getting down on one knee, Teresa introduced herself to Meagan. She told Meagan her thought that she could take away a puppy if she liked. Like any creature that has been cared about, Meagan gleamed in her eyes and playfully lifted the puppy almost off the ground. That day Meagan left the office with the puppy.

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: Now she had a living, breathing friend who wanted to play with her.
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Paragraph 2: Ten years later, Teresa received an invitation to the high school graduation ceremony from Meagan, where Meagan made a speech.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . Teens with dominant (占主导地位的) friends are at higher risk for mental health problems, according to a new research republished from The Conversation.

Dominant friends often control decision-making power. They can also control others’ behavior, like by making the junior friend go to a party they don’t want to attend.

Friendships are extremely important relationships for teens, but are they always a positive influence? Some psychology researchers were interested in the potential psychological results of having dominant friends. They predicted (预测) that being part of this kind of friendship might make teenagers feel useless or anxious.

To investigate it, 388 teenagers were surveyed at U.S. high schools five times across one year. Each time, teen participants were asked to answer questions about their close friends’ dominating behaviors: Do they make all the decisions? Do they always get their way?

Consistent with researchers’ predictions before, they found that when teenagers felt powerless in their close friendships — like their friends always made the decision — they experienced lower self-value and more symptoms (症状) of depression or anxiety.

Although some teens might be OK going with the flow and letting their friends take the control, the study found some of the first evidence that this kind of unequal relationship can be psychologically harmful. Healthy friendships should offer both partners opportunities to have a say and make decisions.

The findings suggest that it’s important to teach teens how to form healthy, fair friendships. One friend shouldn’t always feel bossed around or powerless. Also, teenagers may benefit from receiving help in developing effective communication tools for asserting (坚持主张) their wants and needs to their close friends.

1. Which kind of person below is probably a dominant friend?

A．One who knows how to make decisions.

B．One who is willing to respect friends’ needs.

C．One who always asks friends to buy food for him.

D．One who attends the party his friend doesn’t want to.

2. How might most teens with dominant friends feel?

A．Lonely.

B．Worthless.

C．Positive

D．Self-respected.

3. What do the underlined words “consistent with” mean in paragraph 5?

A．Apart from.	B．Satisfied with.
C．Unconnected with.	D．In agreement with.

4. What might the researchers suggest teens with dominant friends doing?

A．Expressing their own needs firmly.

B．Taking back control of the relationship.

C．Ending the friendship with dominant friends.

D．Going with the flow and letting dominant friends take the control.

5 . The World’s oldest pen pals have both turned 100 after 84 years of transatlantic(跨大洋) letters.

Geoff Banks from Honiton, Devon, UK and Celesta Byrne, from the US, started writing to each other aged just 16 in 1938. They met as part of an educational project to put British and American students in contact－and 84 years later they are still contacting.

Geoff, a retired engineer, said, “I can’t quite remember how we got in touch, but I was talking to Celesta recently and I think it was something to do with an American school’s plan, which matched us up with Americans for a pen pal relationship, and somehow I ended up with this letter from an American girl, and we just kept contacting ever since. There were a couple of years when we tried very hard to keep in touch because of the war. Now of course she is poorly sighted, so I contact mainly by email to one of her daughters who lives nearby. Email is much easier for me these days too because I can’t write very well anymore. We just talk about daily lives and our families. She’s always been there to write to, even if it was just birthday cards and Christmas cards.”

Though having chatted for over 80 years, the pair has only ever met twice－first in 2002 while Geoff visited New York, and then two years later. Geoff is now a great grandfather, having three sons settling across the world and many more grandchildren. “I have this new thing called Zoom I think now to chat with her, but I leave all the technology to younger people. They’re much better at pressing all the buttons.”

1. What may bring Geoff and Celesta to be pen pals?

A．The world war.	B．Geoff’s visit to New York.
C．An American school’s plan.	D．Communication technology.

2. Why did Geoff use email to write letters later?

A．He relied on Zoom to chat.	B．He was unable to write well.
C．He suffered from eye disease.	D．He wrote to Celesta’s daughter.

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Pen pals are true friends.

B．Technology builds friendship.

C．Letters were not allowed during the war.

D．True friendship survives time and space.

4. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Oldest Pen Pals in the World.	B．A Great Way to Keep in Touch.
C．Importance of Being Pen Pals.	D．Zoom: A New Technology to Chat.

6 . It is well known that humans need meaningful social connection.     1     The stronger our relationships are, the more likely we are to live better. So how do we deepen friendships in our lives?

Shower them with affection. We often think of affection as love we show in romantic relationships. But affection is more than holding hands and kissing.     2     There are many ways you can show love to your friends. Tell them how much they mean to you. Remind them you are grateful to know them. These simple acts provide security in the relationship.

    3     Being generous with your friends is an easy way to develop your friendships. If you’re a gym rat, you could help your friend train for a coming race they have. Or if your friend is applying for a university, you can use your research and analysis skills to put together a presentation for them.

Share your joys, struggles and even guilt. Think about how good it feels to tell a friend you secretly like a boring TV show and hear them respond “me too!”     4     Many people hold the view that it can be scary to be open with our feelings. It can come with the risk of shame or rejection. But people are less likely to reject you for being weak than you think.

Don’t hide your disagreements. It’s hard to deal with conflict in friendships. People often see them as something that should be fun and lighthearted, so they ignore problems when they arise.     5     It might be painful at first, but it shows you want to be honest with them, and that you want to make your relationship better.

A．Tell them how much you value them.

B．Value them with your skills and talents.

C．It’s about communicating love and appreciation.

D．In fact, it’s linked to our mental and physical health.

E．It means they accept us for who we are, the good and the bad.

F．People feel hurt when someone doesn’t keep their private information.

G．But dealing with conflict in a healthy way can deepen your friendships.

7 . Friends are incredibly important people in our lives. But not all of them can stand the test of time. Here are 5 tips to remember if you’re processing the loss of a friend.

Sometimes things just fizzle out.

    1     In fact, one 2022 study found that people, on average, lose about half of their friends every seven years.

Things just fizzle out at times. Nobody really necessarily wanted the friendship to end, but people got busy and didn’t intentionally maintain the friendship.

    2    

In friendship, communicating doesn’t always happen, so small cracks accumulate.

Those who value friendships are more likely to address the cracks rather than just withdraw. If you want to withdraw, that’s a sign that you need to have a conversation about something.

It’s normal to feel grief.

When a friendship ends, there is a grieving process. Allow yourself to feel those emotions- and be patient with yourself.

The way society views friendships may lengthen your grief. When a friendship ends, you are questioned, “Sorry for your loss, but why are you still in a bad mood?” Then you think “Is it wrong to feel grief?” Come on, you lost someone you are close to. Of course, you are upset, which means you love your friend deeply.     3    

Find ways to express those emotions.

The thing about grief is that you can’t put a timeline on it.

    4     If there are friends that make you feel safe, and whatever you share with them, they’re going to acknowledge the extent of the loss, turn to them for help.

Be kind to yourself along the way.

Don’t blame yourself for not getting over the loss of a friendship.     5     Allow yourself to have a fresh perspective when you enter new friendships. You don’t want to go into a new connection fearfully.

A．Make the unsaid said.

B．Don’t withdraw in friendship.

C．Losing friends is a regular part of life.

D．This is a natural part of closeness and loss.

E．It is depressing to discontinue a friendship.

F．It’s because not all friendships end up like this.

G．It is just a process of continuously releasing emotions.

8 . Kyra Peralte thought keeping a diary during the pandemic might help her sort out her complicated feeling. In April 2020, the mother of two in Montclair, New Jersey, started writing frankly about the challenges of balancing work, marriage and motherhood during a global crisis.

Peralte wanted to know how other women were doing. “I wanted an interaction that felt human,” so she invited women from near and far to fill the remaining lined pages of her black-and-white marbled composition notebook with their own pandemic tales. She named the project The Traveling Diary. She came up with a system: Each person gets to keep the diary for three days and fills as many pages as she wishes. Then she is responsible for mailing it to the next person, whose address Peralte provides.

So far, more than 2,000 women from 30 countries have participated, some as far away as South Africa and Australia. More than 50 of these notebooks are currently in circulation, and about 20 completed ones are back in Peralte’s possession.

It felt meaningful to pass on something so personal. It felt like these were women that they had known even though they didn’t know them at all. Some did get to meet the women whose stories they read, through a virtual get-together that Peralte organized. Peralte often hosts Zoom events so the women get the chance to get to know one another more, share stories and connect more closely. Some of the women have even become close friends.

Peralte feels a strong bond with the people who filled its pages, none of whom she would have otherwise known. Her spontaneous (自发的) idea has had a profound effect on her and the other women who were part of it. “The Traveling Diary,” she says, “is making sisters out of strangers.”

1. Why did Peralte start The Traveling Diary?

A．To help sort out her feeling.	B．To finish her pages of notebook.
C．To have an interaction with other women.	D．To write a book covering pandemic tales.

2. What do we know about the project?

A．It has become popular across the world.

B．Each woman keeps the diary at least three days.

C．Each person fills pages based on Peralte’s wishes.

D．It requires Peralte to post the diary to the next person.

3. What can be inferred about participants from the last two paragraphs?

A．They are totally strangers before.	B．They often hold parties themselves.
C．They have met each other in real life.	D．They have been known to Peralte before.

4. Which of the following best describes Kyra Peralte?

A．Generous and tolerant.	B．Creative and helpful.
C．Romantic and imaginative.	D．Demanding and adventurous.

9 . Developing and maintaining healthy friendships involves give-and-take. Sometimes you’re the one giving support,     1    . Letting friends know you care about them and appreciate them can help strengthen your bond. It’s as important for you to be a good friend as it is to surround yourself with good friends. Here are some tips helping you nurture your friendships.

Be a good listener.     2    . Then while listening, let the other person know you are paying close attention through eye contact, body language and occasional brief comments such as, “That sounds fun.” When friends share details of hard times or difficult experiences, be empathetic, but don’t give advice unless your friends ask for it.

Show that you can be trusted. Being responsible, reliable and dependable is key to forming strong friendships.     3    . Follow through on commitments you’ve made to your friends. When your friends share confidential information, keep it private.

    4    . Building a close friendship takes time — together. Make an effort to see new friends regularly, and to check in with them in between meet ups. You may feel awkward the first few times you talk on the phone or get together, but this feeling is likely to pass as you get more comfortable with each other.

Manage your nerves with mindfulness. You may find yourself imagining the worst of social situations, and you may feel tempted to stay home. Use mindfulness exercises to reshape your thinking. Each time you imagine the worst, pay attention to how often the embarrassing situations you’re afraid of actually take place.     5    .

Investing time in making friends and strengthening your friendships can pay off in better health and a brighter outlook for years to come.

A．Value the time spent with friends

B．and more often you should receive

C．Create more opportunities with friends

D．Ask what’s going on in your friends’ lives

E．and other times you’re on the receiving end

F．Keep your appointments and arrive on time

G．You may notice what you fear usually doesn’t happen

10 . 阅读下面短文, 根据所给情节进行续写, 使之构成一个完整的故事, 词数80左右.

I am Andrew. My best friend Matthew has stopped talking to me. We have been best friends since childhood and play together in the school football team.

Last week, we had an important match against another school. The other team was super. I was determined to win, but Matthew was playing badly. He could not keep pace with the game, and as a result of his careless playing, we lost.

Afterwards, I got really angry with him, and I told him I thought he was not trying hard enough. He got annoyed, saying it wasn’t his fault even if he couldn’t play as well as me, and that I shouldn’t talk to him in this manner. Then we both started shouting at each other and it turned into a horrible argument.

Since we argued, he hasn’t spoken to me even though we sit next to each other in class. It’s really awkward. He is usually cheerful and outgoing, but he has been really quiet and looks sad. The things he said hurt me too, but he has not apologized to me.

One day, we met at the school door.

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