1 . Friendship needs care and attention to keep it in good health. Here are five ways to sustain (保持) long-distance friendships.

·Set a regular date

Long-lasting friendships share the characteristic that both sides equally contact (联系) and share with one another. With busy schedules, squeezing in phone calls can be a challenge.     1    .

·More isn’t always merrier

Make sure you have communicated with your friend about how frequently each of you wants to be contacted and what method works best for you both.     2    . There are alternatives to constant written communication, such as leaving voice messages or having a group chat.

·Practise empathy (共情)

    3    . The friend who is remaining needs to be sensitive to all the additional time demands placed on the friend who has moved. The one in the new environment should be sympathetic to the fact that your friend may feel abandoned.

·     4    

Anniversaries and birthdays carry even more weight in long-distance friendships. Although technology might make day-to-day communication possible, extra effort goes a long way on special days. Simply keeping a diary that keeps track of friends’ birthdays and other important dates will make sure nothing slips by you.

·Don’t rely on technology alone

    5    , but long-distance friendships — even close ones — may require more conscious effort to sustain. Try to seek out chances to renew friendships. How to do it? Just spend face-to-face time together whenever possible.

A．Remember important dates

B．Compensate by writing letters

C．It is also helpful for you to be a friendship keeper

D．Try to find a time that works for both of you and stick to it

E．Friends need to talk about their preferred methods of communication

F．It is easy to have a sense of connectedness through social media

G．You may be the friend who left or the one who was left behind

3 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t

even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂

In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.

1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?

A．Addiction to smartphones.

B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places.

C．Absence of communication between strangers.

D．Impatience with slow service.

2. What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?

A．Showing good manners.	B．Relating to other people.
C．Focusing on a topic.	D．Making business deals.

3. What does the coffee-shop study suggest about small talk?

A．It improves family relationships.	B．It raises people’s confidence.
C．It matters as much as a formal talk.	D．It makes people feel good.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Conversation Counts	B．Ways of Making Small Talk
C．Benefits of Small Talk	D．Uncomfortable Silence

4 . Much of the work in today’s world is accomplished(完成) in teams. Most people believe the best way to build a great team is to gather a group of the most talented individuals.     1    Companies spend millions hiring top business people. Is their money well spent?

    2    They focused on football, basketball and baseball. The results are mixed. For football and basketball, adding talented players to a team proves a good method, but only up to the point where 70% of the players are top talent; above that level, the team’s performance begins to decline. Interestingly, this trend isn’t evident in baseball, where additional individual talent keeps improving the team’s performance.

To explain this phenomenon, the researchers explored the degree to which a good performance by a team requires its members to coordinate(协调) their actions.     3    In baseball, the performance of individual players is less dependent on teammates. They conclude that when task interdependence is high, team performance will suffer when there is too much talent, while individual talent will have positive effects on team performance when task interdependence is lower. If a basketball star is, for example, trying to gain a high personal point total, he may take a shot himself when it would be better to pass the ball to a teammate, affecting the team’s performance. Young children learning to play team sports are often told, “There is no I in TEAM.”     4    

Another possibility is that when there is a lot of talent on a team, some players may make less effort. Just as in a game of tug-of-war(拔河比赛), whenever a person is added, everyone else pulls the rope with less force.

    5     An A-team may require a balance--not just A players, but a few generous B players as well.

A．It’s not a simple matter to determine the nature of talent.

B．Sports team owners spend millions of dollars attracting top talent.

C．The group interaction and its effect drew the researchers’ attention.

D．Stars apparently do not follow this basic principle of sportsmanship.

E．Several recent studies examined the role of talent in the sports world.

F．Building up a dream team is more complex than simply hiring the best talent.

G．This task interdependence distinguishes baseball from football and basketball.

5 . I first met Paul Newman in 1968, when George Roy Hill, the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, introduced us in New York City. When the studio didn’t want me for the film - it wanted somebody as well known as Paul — he stood up for me. I don’t know how many people would have done that; they would have listened to their agents or the studio powers.

The friendship that grew out of the experience of making that film and The Sting four years later had its root in the fact that although there was an age difference, we both came from a tradition of theater and live TV. We were respectful of craft(技艺) and focused on digging into the characters we were going to play. Both of us had the qualities and virtues that are typical of American actors: humorous, aggressive, and making fun of each other — but always with an underlying affection. Those were also at the core(核心) of our relationship off the screen.

We shared the belief that if you’re fortunate enough to have success, you should put something back — he with his Newman’s Own food and his Hole in the Wall camps for kids who are seriously ill, and me with Sundance and the institute and the festival. Paul and I didn’t see each other all that regularly, but sharing that brought us together. We supported each other financially and by showing up at events.

I last saw him a few months ago. He’d been in and out of the hospital. He and I both knew what the deal was, and we didn’t talk about it. Ours was a relationship that didn’t need a lot of words.

1. Why was the studio unwilling to give the role to author at first?

A．Paul Newman wanted it.

B．The studio powers didn’t like his agent.

C．He wasn’t famous enough.

D．The director recommended someone else.

2. Why did Paul and the author have a lasting friendship?

A．They were of the same age.

B．They worked in the same theater.

C．They were both good actors.

D．They han similar charactertics.

3. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Their belief.

B．Their care for children.

C．Their success.

D．Their support for each other.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the test?

A．To show his love of films.

B．To remember a friend.

C．To introduce a new movie.

D．To share his acting experience.

6 . My best friend traveled to stay with our family last weekend. When she arrived, she went straight to the kitchen and, without asking, ate a spoonful of raspberry jam and some dried fruit. She wasn’t being rude. I knew she would do this. We’ve known each other for almost 20 years. She can eat anything she wants from my kitchen. Indeed, I bought her favorite fruits and snacks at the shop that morning.

Our long weekend together was luxuriously (惬意地) simple. I was recovering from surgery (手术) and couldn’t go to shopping malls. We passed the time running errands (做杂事), going to the post office and collecting dry cleaning. We drank way too many cappuccinos. But we talked about every little detail of our lives.

There’s never been a quiet moment in our friendship. We’ve lived in different cities for almost a decade. Reunions demand constant conversation. our personalities are matched, to be sure, and a shared history is indescribably valuable. We were competitors in high school before bonding over a bad experience. Then we discovered the many interests that we had in common. Our friendship cemented (巩固) itself quickly. We stayed companions through law school, through our first jobs and our first boyfriends. We supported each other through break-ups and breakthroughs. Ours is a friendship for the ages.

There is something special about friends who know everyone and everything about you. They are rare. These are the people you’ve chosen to witness your life. They have seen the bright lights of achievement, the depths of despair (绝望) and the boring routine (平淡乏味) of the in-between.

It’s special to unpack feelings and frustrations without wasting time filling in the blanks. As my long weekend shows, with such friends we don’t have to “do”, we simply have to “be”. We drop the act, the performance, the public version of ourselves.

The special friendships are those which never fail to delight, the continuation of which is worth the extra effort, despite distance and difference sneaking (溜进) into your separate lives. I had the very great joy of this reminder last weekend. I’m lucky to have found this friend, to see a future where her companionship remains. Being together is perfection.

1. What happened during her best friend’s visit?

A．They enjoyed an eventful long weekend.	B．They bonded by having long conversations.
C．They made their favorite snacks and coffee.	D．They talked about recent news events.

2. One thing that the author appreciates about their friendship is that ______.

A．they help each other deal with the boredom of life

B．they prefer to witness each other’s lives from far away

C．they try to show each other their best selves

D．they are comfortable being themselves when together

3. Which of the following would the author agree with?

A．Charm comes from differences.	B．Politeness brings best friends closer.
C．Good friendships last naturally.	D．Good friendships need devotion.

4. The author’s main purpose in writing this article is to ______.

A．describe what her best friend is like	B．tell about the friendship she treasures
C．explore the key aspects of friendship	D．express thanks to her best friend

7 . Researchers in Australia, who studied 1,500 people and their lifestyles, have found that having good friends can help you live longer. An American study of 10,000 students, over a period of 35 years, also found that if you make more friends than the average (普通的) person at school, you’ll receive a higher salary (工资) in later life. People need good social skills at work to manage people and work in a team successfully. These are the same skills we use to make friends at school.

On average, teenagers aged between 15 and 17 have 500 “friends” on their favourite social networking site. Adults (成年人) have 130. So if you believe this research, you might live for a long time and be very rich.

However, according to Professor Robin Dunbar from the University of Oxford, it probably won’t make any difference. Dunbar studied the number of messages between users of a popular social networking website, each of whom had between 200 and 2,000 friends. He found that they always communicate with a maximum (最大量) of 150 people.

Among these 150, Dunbar believes that around five people are close friends. You’ve most likely known them for a long time; they are probably old friends and you share all your good and bad experiences with them. Then there are ten more friends. Although they’re close to you, you may not keep in touch with them every week. Next there are 35 people who you might spend time with because of a shared interest. You aren’t close. And finally, there’s a large group of 100. You see or speak to these people at least once a year, but you don’t know them well. Beyond (超过) this number, Dunbar says, it’s impossible to make any relationship meaningful.

If you have a lot of online “friends”, try this experiment: First take away anyone you haven’t been in touch with for a year. Then remove people you can’t remember and, finally, take away friends who you wouldn’t mind losing touch with. How many do you have left? How many of these people are actually good friends? According to the research, these are the only people that really matter.

1. What are the studies mentioned in the first paragraph mainly about?

A．The number of friends you should have.

B．The advantages of having a lot of friends.

C．Some social skills you may need at work.

D．Some useful advice on how to make friends.

2. According to the American study, the most popular students at school ________.

A．are likely to spend more money

B．may not be as popular at work

C．seem to get better­paid jobs

D．will work harder in later years

3. What does the underlined part “this number” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．10.	B．35.
C．100.	D．150.

4. What does the text mainly want to show?

A．You need to spend more time with your friends.

B．There is a lot of research on the influence of friends.

C．Friends are sometimes more important than family.

D．It’s more important to have good friends than lots of friends.