1 . When you set a foot outside of your door to drop trash, go to a social event or go for a walk, thoughts like “I hope I don’t see anyone I know” or “please don’t talk to me” may run through your mind. I’ve also said such things to myself. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is to talk with someone, especially someone new.
Why do we go out of our ways to avoid people? Do we think meeting new people is a waste of time? Or are we just lazy, thinking that meeting someone new really is a trouble?
Communication is the key to life. We have been told that many times. Take the past generations, like our parents, for example. They seem to take full advantage of that whole “communication” idea because they grew up talking face to face while Generation-Y grew up staring at screens. We spend hours of our days sitting on Facebook. We send messages to our friends and think about all of the things we want to say to certain people that we don’t have the courage to do in reality.
Nowadays, we are so caught up in our little circle of friends—our comfort zone. We love it that they laugh at our jokes, understand our feelings and can read our minds. Most importantly, they know when we want to be alone. They just get us.
Holding a conversation with someone new means agreeing with things that you don’t really believe and being someone you think they want you to be—it is, as I said before, a trouble. It takes up so much energy, and at some point or another, it is too tiring.
But meeting new people is important. Life is too short, so meet all the people you can meet, make the effort to go out and laugh. Remember, every “hello” leads to a smile—and a smile is worth a lot.
1. What do we learn about the author?| A．He likes to meet someone new. | B．He feels stressed out lately. |
| C．He’s active in attending social events. | D．He used to be afraid of talking to others. |
| A．They rely on the Internet to socialize. | B．They are less confident in themselves. |
| C．They have difficulty in communicating. | D．They are unwilling to make new friends. |
| A．They think it troublesome. | B．They are busy with their study. |
| C．They fear to disappoint their friends. | D．They want to do meaningful work. |
| A．To stress the importance of friends. |
| B．To give tips on how to meet new people. |
| C．To encourage people to meet new people. |
| D．To display the disadvantages of Generation-Y. |
2 . Have you ever been in mid-conversation with someone, when you look over and find them standing in the same position as you or holding the same facial expression? It may seem like they have consciously copied you, but it is much more likely that it is the chameleon (变色龙) effect at play.
The chameleon effect is the unconscious imitation of another person’s gestures or behavior. Just as a chameleon attempts to match any environment’s colors, people acquire the behavior of others to bring them closer together and help make their interactions smooth.
The chameleon effect was confirmed in an experiment by psychologists John Bargh and Tanya Chartrand in 1999. The part of their experiment included 78 people, who each spoke with an experimenter. During the test, Bargh and Chartrand studied whether participants would copy the actions of someone they hadn’t met before, like moving the foot and touching the face. The second part measured the impact that copying someone has on the person being imitated.
In the first stage, participants increased their face touching by 20% and their foot movement by 50% while in conversation about a photograph with the experimenter. The individuals weren’t aware of what they were being studied for, and the photograph was used to catch their attention to insure unconscious acts. The second stage involved half of the participants being copied, and then rating the likability of the experimenter. The results, showed that those who were imitated scored the experimenter higher. It has shown that when someone copies our behavior, we develop more positive feelings about them. These interactions could be a person unconsciously willing to be liked, and forming a moment of connection.
The main reasons behind humans’ imitation are positive. However, when people carry this chameleon effect to the extreme, they can lose their sense of self. Those who change their entire personalities in different groups often go undetected. But more common signs of the chameleon effect are easier to notice. Next time you are in a social gathering, take a look around and you might just see some chameleons for yourself.
1. Why do people imitate others’ behavior?| A．To show admiration for others. | B．To adapt to the surroundings. |
| C．To establish a connection with others. | D．To attract others’ attention. |
| A．By directing their attention to a photo. | B．By keeping an eye on their actions. |
| C．By telling them the purpose of the study. | D．By evaluating the impacts of imitation. |
| A．People tend to like those who imitate their behavior. |
| B．Too much of the chameleon effect can be beneficial. |
| C．People imitating others are not easy to be detected. |
| D．The copied movements help people to feel relaxed. |
| A．Students adopt teachers’ accents for fun after class. |
| B．People change their habits to please others on purpose. |
| C．A comedian copies a celebrity vividly on stage. |
| D．A husband and his wife share similar behaviors over time. |
3 . Are You a Prisoner of Perfection?
Do you struggle for a goal that is beyond your reach?
Shame and fear are often the hidden drivers of perfectionism. We believe that if we can fashion a perfectly polished personality, flash our intelligence, and perfect our humour, then no one can hurt us with criticism and we’ll win respect and approval.
Perfectionism keeps us leaning toward the future. We’re constantly evaluating ourselves in order to do better.
Being human, perfection is impossible.
| A．Do you hold an idealized vision that is impossible to realize? |
| B．A cure to perfectionism is to make room for our human shortcomings. |
| C．Do you fear that others will be horrified by what you judge about yourself? |
| D．The addiction to staying perfect protects us from any sign of being imperfect. |
| E．There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do our best and self-correcting along the way. |
| F．People who are addicted to perfection are often isolated, even if they seem outgoing and popular. |
| G．By accepting ourselves as we are and doing our best, we begin to rid the shame that drives perfectionism. |
A worried call came into Jimmy Gill’s bar this past March. A newly married woman who had spent the afternoon at the beach bar couldn’t find her wallet. She didn’t care about her ID, credit cards, or $150 in cash-but her wedding ring was put inside.
Gill didn’t like the idea that a theft could have occurred at his place. So he set out to find the wallet. He spent hours scanning footage(影片片段）from 16 different surveillance(监控)，cameras, watching the woman’s every step in the bar until she went to sit on a bench outside and left when her ride arrived. Within minutes, a young man in a jacket approached the bench, put something hurried in his pocket, and walked off. Gill posted a clip on the bar’s Facebook page. “I didn’t want to accuse him, ” he said. “I just asked if anybody knew who the guy was.”
Within hours, Gill got a text from 17-year-old Rivers Prather, who’d heard about the post from one of his friends. Prather admitted having taken the wallet and told Gill he’d done it because he hadn’t eaten in two days. He said he saw the ring but thought it was fake, so he took the money and threw the wallet off the dock (码头)into the ocean. Then he bought a sandwich.
Gill, unsure whether he believed Prather, told the teen to meet him at the dock. There, they got to talking, and Prather revealed that he wasn’t getting along with his family and had been living in the woods for a week. Gill, a father of two with another on the way, look closely at Prather-his small build, his pale cheeks-and saw him for what he was: more of a kid than a criminal.
But the police were already on the case, and because of the missing ring, Prather could be facing charges. “He would be going to jail,” Gill says. “I had to help him somehow.”
注意：1.所续写的短文的词数应为150左右；
2.至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使的关键词语。
Para 1:
The next day, Gill hired two divers to search the waters.
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Para 2:
Suddenly a diver came out of the water.
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5 . Boundaries are personal guidelines that define what is and isn’t okay in your interpersonal relationships. As everyone has different needs and comfort levels, they may appear different for each person. Having healthy boundaries may provide such benefits as avoiding burnout, boosting self-esteem and maintaining personal space.
Once you have identified your boundaries, it is important to communicate them effectively.
When learning how to set healthy boundaries, it is essential to learn how to say “no”. Saying “yes” to everything can lead to stress, burnout, and frustration. It is important to understand what you consider acceptable and unacceptable, setting limits that reflect those standards.
| A．Honesty and respect play an essential key role in the process. |
| B．Initially, you are supposed to identify your personal boundaries. |
| C．When you feel that someone has crossed your boundaries, remind them. |
| D．Therefore, setting healthy boundaries is of vital importance in social activities. |
| E．Keep saying “no” to things you disapprove of helps to understand yourself better. |
| F．This contributes to finding possible solutions to issues regarding boundary-setting. |
| G．Pick up the conversation unless there appears another argument needed to be settled. |
6 . Internal communication, also known as IC, refers to a group of processes responsible for effective circulation of message within an organization. These messages are information that is valuable to the organization and are supposed to be kept confidential(机密的). The means of transferring this information is often done through emails, letters, notice boards, and even with the help of social media like Skype, Zoom, and Google Meet, in the current times.
Honest internal communication is the healthiest way to keep your organization growing. With honesty around the workplace, it is a safer environment for the employees to voice their opinions which could help in the modification of a certain operation that might have been outdated. Other than changes, not opening up to your colleagues can result in frustration and give rise to “gossip culture” at the workplace. When information is not passed out with lucidity, not only does the quality of work get affected but it also gives rise to questioning the worth of the time spent in the company.
An atmosphere of honesty also encourages growth in responsibility, leadership, and self-accountability. If the CEO of a company voices the shortcomings of his team in a respectful manner, it would bring room for each and every employee to take it on a positive note and bring around the change for the one common goal of development of the company that they are working for. This brings a lot of change in the attitude of every individual employee since they start seeing the company that they are working for as an asset that they cherish (珍爱) dearly.
In a workplace, things go both wrong and right, so it is important to both appreciate and criticize when such situations occur from the end of both the leadership and the employees. The positives should be celebrated while the negatives should be taken as positive criticisms that could help the company grow into something better. The main goal of unity and development should always be kept in mind.
1. Which is considered one main character of IC?| A．It comes with the times of social media. | B．It exists within the leadership of a company. |
| C．It is often kept secret within an organization. | D．It needs a long and difficult process in most cases. |
| A．Clearness. | B．Appreciation. | C．Authority. | D．Assistance. |
| A．The main responsibilities of the CEO. | B．The importance of unity for a company. |
| C．The advantage of a powerful leadership. | D．The role of an honest leadership in a company. |
| A．Communicating both the positives and the negatives. |
| B．Taking responsibilities bravely for our mistakes. |
| C．Trying all possible means to avoid the negatives. |
| D．Strengthening unity mainly among the employees. |
7 . An interview is a discussion with someone in which you try to get information from them.
A great deal is provided by this personal contact: you are another human being, and interviewees will respond to you, in bodily presence, in an entirely different way from the way that they would have reacted to questionnaires that came through their letterboxes or to emails.
If you take the trouble to schedule a visit, you can be more or less guaranteed of a response. Most importantly, though, you will be able to relate to interviewees while you are talking to them.
| A．This is a ready-made support for you. |
| B．Its nature varies with the nature of the interviews. |
| C．You will be able to hear and understand what they are saying. |
| D．Your decision should influence the way that you look, sound and behave. |
| E．The information may be facts or opinions or attitudes or any combination of these. |
| F．Each involves the interviewer in fact-to-face contact or telephone contact with another person. |
| G．You will be using these clues to make informed guesses about what the interviewees might really mean. |
8 . How would you feel if a colleague suggested you take a comedy class to improve your sense of humor. I felt stressed.
I turned to Aaker and Bagdonas and they agreed to teach me how to find my funny bones. In our first call, we discuss the common misunderstandings that stop many of us in our comedy tracks. The first, Aaker says, is the belief that humor has no place in certain situations, especially at work.
They believe the power of humor that they also improve the ability to help people avoid difficult situations.
| A．Rather, it can be developed gradually. |
| B．We worry that humor is not welcomed in the office. |
| C．Humor has been proved to increase creativity. |
| D．Some people just aren’t funny and I’m one of them. |
| E．Therefore, people eagerly sign up for the humor course. |
| F．Every joke follows the fundamental structure of setup and punch line. |
| G．If you feel uncomfortable making the jokes, leave them to someone else. |
9 . Will Covid-19 Kill the Handshake?
The handshake might date back to the 14th century, when knights (骑士) and soldiers would extend their unclenched(松开的) right hands toward each other in greeting to show that they were carrying no weapons.
Now that a novel coronavirus is spreading fast, our hands are being cast in a new, doubtful light.
COVID-19 is a real threat, and we shouldn’t take the warning lightly. We may, indeed, need to keep our hands to ourselves for the time being. But we’re not ready to send handshake into the dustbin of history. Humans long for making a physical connection with friends. For now, perhaps, a regretful smile and nod might work as a shared acknowledgment.
| A．Could we hug each other or nod? |
| B．Could this be the end of the handshake? |
| C．As we all know, shaking hands has become a habit. |
| D．After all, our friendly intentions were not to infect or be infected by others. |
| E．These days, it would seem, the potential weapon isn’t a knife, but the hand itself. |
| F．We’re being drilled in handwashing techniques as if we were all second-graders. |
| G．The French have been advised to abandon the familiar kiss on the cheek greeting. |
10 . Everyone has one or more talents. Bringing out the best in others can gradually change the world.
Giving is a good way to find out the good qualities in others. Being kind doesn’t just mean helping someone financially. You can assist them with your advice, talents and so on.
Talents adopt several forms and they put people in different circumstances. Thus, you need to be flexible to discover good qualities in others. Some people you come across may have different attitudes towards life from you.
Nobody is perfect and everyone has some shortcomings. However, these are useful to you.
| A．Develop an interest in others. |
| B．Live in the present to spot others’ talents. |
| C．Knowing one’s weaknesses is a great way to understand them. |
| D．For that, you need to learn to explore good qualities in others. |
| E．Discovering the good in others can bring out the best in yourself. |
| F．During this process, you will know what difficulty they are facing now. |
| G．Your biggest challenge is to put aside your own mind and see the bright spot of them. |
