Dad and Madison were walking through the party store, gathering decorations for Madison’s upcoming birthday party.
“But I don’t want to invite Lucy Gilbert! I don’t like her!”
“Madison, you are being unreasonable. If every girl in your class is invited to a party but you, you’ll feel left out. It would be a big mistake not toinvite Lucy to the party. ”“She never even talks to me! ”
Dad sighed and moved down the aisle ( 走廊). “Lucy is a new girl in class. She just moved here a little over a month ago. Think about how that must feel. She doesn’t know one single person in the school. She left all of her old friends behind and now she has to try to make new friends. Your party will be a great chance for her to get to know everyone. ”
“No, it won’t. She will probably sit in the corner and not talk to anyone. Every day at lunch she sits all by herself. She wants to eat alone!" Madison shrugged and rolled her eyes (翻白眼).
“Madison, I’m done discussing this. You will invite every girl in your class, including Lucy Gilbert!"
On Saturday morning, the family blew up balloons and decorated the house cheerfully. Madison was dressed beautifully for the day, wearing her new blue dress. It was not typical of her to dress herself like this. She usually wore sports clothes because she loved to be outside riding her horse Star with a lead rope (缰绳).
Madison greeted her friends at the doorstep, picturing (想象)various presents her friends would bring her. In the meanwhile, she was wondering whether Lucy would ruin the party if she came. Anyhow, all the girls she invited came finally, including Lucy. The girls had a fantastic time by singing and dancing while Lucy sat in the corner silently alone. Later, all the girls gathered around the table as Madison opened her presents. Opening them one by one, Madison thanked her friends, with a bright smile on her face.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph 1：
Lucy’s present was the very last to be opened.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Deeply moved by what she said, Madison held the lead rope tightly in her hands.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . How to mend a broken friendship? It may be hard, but fixing a broken friendship will make it even stronger than before. Here are some tips that will be useful.
Be the one to reach out before the other.
If your friend refuses to see or speak with you, or visiting them in person isn’t an option, you may want to just back off for a while. Your friend wants space and that should be respected. Use the time to reflect on the situation and prepare what you want to say. Don’t push your friend if it’s clear they want space. It will only upset them and make them frustrated with you.
Talk about the problem honestly and openly.
Explain what you feel is the problem and be honest about it. Then ask them to do the same. Let them talk for as long as they need to. Really listen and don’t interrupt them.
Apologize to them and accept their apology.
Even if you didn’t do anything and you believe the situation is their fault, opening with an apology sets the tone. You could say “I’m really sorry things have gotten to this point. I want things to be better between us.” If you did wrong them in some way, apologize to them sincerely.
Avoid restarting an argument.
It’s important that you don’t say or do anything hurtful during this conversation.
| A．Let go of your anger or frustration. |
| B．Respect your friend’s need for space. |
| C．If they apologize to you, accept their apology. |
| D．Come up with a plan for rebuilding the friendship. |
| E．Argument will only further damage the friendship and make things worse. |
| F．If you aren’t talking to each other, someone will have to make the first move. |
| G．This way you both get to tell your side of the story and get everything out on the table. |
3 . 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. |
| 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 |
| A．10. | B．35. |
| C．100. | D．150. |
| 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. |
1.表示歉意；
2.说明原因；
3.另约时间。
注意：1. 词数80左右；2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
Dear Tom,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
5 . Sometimes people around you can change your life. The change may not be sudden or
One thing I’ve learned from Julia is how to balance
Last year I hated studying vocabulary, but I loved playing on my computer. Julia
If it weren’t for Julia I probably wouldn’t have
| A．simple | B．impressive | C．necessary | D．slight |
| A．changes | B．pictures | C．ideas | D．advances |
| A．attitude | B．character | C．life | D．habit |
| A．taught | B．served | C．offered | D．bought |
| A．work | B．money | C．study | D．time |
| A．plan | B．keep | C．move | D．run |
| A．never | B．seldom | C．yet | D．still |
| A．brave | B．determined | C．careful | D．patient |
| A．important | B．easy | C．possible | D．interesting |
| A．shared | B．remembered | C．combined | D．separated |
| A．practice | B．play | C．invent | D．improve |
| A．challenged | B．invited | C．permitted | D．reminded |
| A．washing up | B．looking for | C．filling up | D．fighting for |
| A．words | B．speeches | C．sentences | D．stories |
| A．recognized | B．observed | C．imagined | D．realized |
1. 表达感激之情；2. 回忆各种收获；3. 发出邀请。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
Dear Peter,
I am writing to
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
7 . After getting married nine years ago, I moved to an absolutely new town.
This could explain my enthusiastic "Count me in!" when
However, the initial
Although it started as a
| A．Relaxed | B．Excited | C．Embarrassed | D．Confused |
| A．reputation | B．principles | C．connections | D．business |
| A．allowed | B．reminded | C．asked | D．required |
| A．grateful | B．confident | C．awkward | D．crazy |
| A．impossible | B．urgent | C．rewarding | D．pleasant |
| A．delight | B．shock | C．anxiety | D．disappointment |
| A．progress | B．discoveries | C．history | D．mistakes |
| A．read | B．spread | C．composed | D．exchanged |
| A．concluded | B．deepened | C．returned | D．decreased |
| A．hopeful | B．convinced | C．regretful | D．ashamed |
| A．Unfortunately | B．Obviously | C．Naturally | D．Eventually |
| A．run out | B．paid off | C．come | D．flown |
| A．companions | B．opponents | C．coaches | D．judges |
| A．risk | B．habit | C．means | D．right |
| A．amaze | B．comfort | C．guard | D．aid |
8 . A few years ago, a friend sent me a restaurant gift card and I picked a pretty Sunday afternoon to use it. It felt
When the waiter
At that moment my
Soon, I was back in the present again. My fingers
We are all one family in this world. Let's just do our best to be a good person and
| A．funny | B．strange | C．good | D．interesting |
| A．hardly | B．lastly | C．finally | D．usually |
| A．took | B．brought | C．got | D．checked |
| A．cover | B．exchange | C．hold | D．include |
| A．rest | B．waiter | C．card | D．tip |
| A．return | B．keep | C．send | D．give |
| A．so | B．but | C．unless | D．though |
| A．mind | B．idea | C．view | D．belief |
| A．price | B．pay | C．level | D．cost |
| A．giving | B．catching | C．counting | D．refusing |
| A．friends | B．neighbours | C．children | D．workmates |
| A．light | B．anger | C．joy | D．pain |
| A．touching | B．beating | C．passing | D．lifting |
| A．brave | B．happy | C．broken | D．heavy |
| A．share | B．replace | C．connect | D．mix |
9 . When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant
Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for
Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from hospital. He looked very
That season, I
One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller
His words freed me from my bad
| A．cheering for | B．beating out | C．relying on | D．staying with |
| A．comfort | B．show | C．practice | D．pleasure |
| A．pale | B．calm | C．relaxed | D．ashamed |
| A．held | B．broke | C．set | D．tried |
| A．reported | B．judged | C．organized | D．watched |
| A．decision | B．mistake | C．accident | D．sacrifice |
| A．stuck | B．hurt | C．tired | D．lost |
| A．steady | B．hard | C．fun | D．fit |
| A．praise | B．advice | C．help | D．apology |
| A．dropped | B．ready | C．trapped | D．safe |
| A．us | B．yourself | C．me | D．them |
| A．memories | B．ideas | C．attitudes | D．dreams |
| A．still | B．also | C．yet | D．just |
| A．challenged | B．cured | C．invited | D．admired |
| A．healthier | B．bigger | C．cleverer | D．cooler |
10 . 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 mall 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．Bad behaviours in public places. |
| C．Anger with slow service. | D．Absence of communication between strangers. |
| A．Showing good manners. | B．Relating to other people. |
| C．Focusing on a topic. | D．Making business deals. |
| 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. |
| A．Conversational Intelligence | B．Ways of Making Small Talk |
| C．Benefits of Small Talk | D．Uncomfortable Silence |
