1 . When Eugenie George first heard that her friend passed an exam, her heart sank. She’d failed that test weeks earlier, and needed more work to advance her own career. But instead of anxiety, she called her friend. “I congratulated her and told her she inspired me,” she says. She was surprised when it changed her attitude, so she could share her friend’s happiness and experience her own, in turn.

Finding pleasure in another person’s good fortune is what social scientists call freudenfreude, a term that describes the joy we feel when someone else succeeds, even if it isn’t directly connected with us. Freudenfreude is like social glue, says Catherine Chambliss, a professor of psychology at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. It makes relationships “closer and more enjoyable”. Sharing in someone else’s joy can also improve life satisfaction and resilience(适应力) and help people cooperate during a disagreement.

While the benefits of freudenfreude are plentiful, it doesn’t always come easily. Sometimes, your loss might last, making freudenfreude feel out of reach. If you were raised in a family that paired winning with self-worth, Chambliss says, you might misread someone else’s victory as your own personal shortcoming. And factors such as mental health and overall wellbeing(幸福) can also affect your ability to participate in someone else’s joy. Still, freudenfreude is worthwhile and there are ways to encourage the feeling.

Instead of an automatic response, freudenfreude is often an active process. To help people strengthen joy-sharing muscles, Chambliss and her colleagues developed a programme called FreudenfreudeEnhancement Training (FET). They found that depressed people who used the practices for two weeks had an easier time expressing freudenfreude, which built up their relationships and improved their mood.

Jean Grae, an artist, supports friends in this mindset. When someone gets a new opportunity or reaches a milestone, she makes sure to celebrate. Grae says she’s especially moved when anyone considered ‘other’ succeeds. “It’s truly inspirational,” she says, “because it lifts us all up and makes us shine.”

1. What do we know about Eugenie George?

A．She took pride in passing her exam.	B．She shared her success with her friend.
C．She was pleased with her friend’s success.	D．She was annoyed at her failure in an exam.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly focus on about freudenfreude?

A．Its great benefits.	B．Its disadvantages.
C．Reasons for its absence.	D．Ways of improving it.

3. Why is Freudenfreude Enhancement Training (FET) held?

A．To test the effect of freudenfreude.	B．To help people apply freudenfreude.
C．To get people to know freudenfreude.	D．To show the advantages of freudenfreude.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．How to experience freudenfreude?

B．Let’s share what leads to freudenfreude.

C．Freudenfreude: View others’ success as our own.

D．A win-win: Freudenfreude brings our own pleasure.

2 . How to Handle an Argument with Your Family Members

We’ve all been there. A relaxed evening with our family members. A lot of laughing. And then, as if someone had sat on the TV remote and changed the channel, the mood shifts. No more warmth. Suddenly there’s shouting, a ping-pong of accusations(指责), deadly stares, and hostility(敌意) streaming from eyes like red laser pointers. Having a conflict with your family members is frustrating, and you may feel sad and depressed.     1    

Do remember that as much as it might feel this way, you’re not in a court of law with your family members.     2     .It is to restore kindness and connection. Think of it this way —if somebody wins, both parties lose.

Do try to be an advocate of others’ feelings.     3     try to stand in the shoes of your family members. Try to understand their immature ways.

    4     .This might frighten your family members, making them feel accused and in turn, act defensively. Example: “I was on the phone with my sister and then suddenly you started acting like crazy out of the blue.” Talk about the way you felt instead. Example: “I was on the phone with my sister and then I suddenly felt scared when I saw you looking at me like I was in trouble.”

Don’t try to explain yourself. You often want to explain yourself when having conflicts with your family members, but you don’t have time. You’re being cut off and attacked again.     5     .The more you talk, the less your family members seem to understand and the further away you get from an agreement.

A．If you are looking for a new relationship

B．Don’t attempt to prove yourself in the face of your loved ones

C．The point of an argument isn’t to prove the others guilty or to win

D．Rather than going in circles about what you think and how you feel

E．Each accusation strikes deeper and deeper into your sense of justice

F．Don’t talk about what happened as though you’re simply stating the facts

G．Here are the do’s and don’ts when you are arguing with your family members

3 . Have you ever struggled to understand how someone else feels? Building up your empathy (同理心) skills helps you connect with your friends.     1    

What is empathy?

Empathy is a kind of capability that lets you step into someone else’s shoes and then figure out how they are feeling. For instance, if you can see your friend is upset after losing a football match and you support them by telling them some warm and motivating words, you are showing empathy. Miranda McKeamey set up an organization called EmpathyLab that builds empathy through reading.     2     “Empathy is a force for change,” she says.

    3    

Scientists say empathy isn’t something you are born with, it’s a skill you can acquire through learning. One way you can do this is by active listening. When someone is talking to you, listen closely and respond in a way that shows you understand their situations and emotions thoroughly. Reading, advocated by EmpathyLab, is also a great way to boost empathy, since stories can take you inside someone else’s mind and show you the world through their eves and emotions.

Put empathy into action.

    4     This could mean trying out something that is important to a friend or family member, like exploring their favorite place. EmpathyLab advocated ideas for putting empathy into action in schools or at home. That might be connecting with someone new in your class and having a friendly conversation, or making small changes to your behaviour. All small acts of kindness to others can make a difference, which in turn will be copied by someone else.     5    

A．How can you have more empathy?

B．Who need empathy most in daily life?

C．Besides, it also spreads kindness and inspires them to do the same.

D．To find out more conducts you can do, log in EmpathyLab.UK.com.

E．Only by putting empathy into action can you relate to others’ bad lives.

F．She believes even small, supportive actions can have a positive impact.

G．Miranda recommends going into the thick of people’s lives to show empathy.

4 . Throughout history — and probably in your own life — you’ve seen examples of good and bad leaders. They can lift you up or drag you down, praise a group effort or promote themselves.

    1    .

Leadership is said to be an art.     2    . It truly takes practice to create a team atmosphere where people are happy, excited to come to work, and excited to do the work. Here are some of the most important tips to become a great leader.

Be transparent with your team

The higher up you go, the more secrecy there is.     3    . For example, you can include your team in decisions that directly affect them, ask them for feedback on plans or share important news before it becomes public.

    4    

Being a leader isn’t just about checking off tasks and evaluating your team’s performance. Leaders should also make it their job to understand their teams as a whole, understand the people on their team as individuals, and put them in the right positions.

Seek guidance

    5    . And some leaders don’t even want to be leaders! If you find yourself unexpectedly in charge of a team, reach out to a boss you liked before and ask them for advice to guide you through this process.

A．Add value to your team

B．Study how your team works

C．But you can break that cycle of secrecy

D．It’s not something everyone can do well

E．Most leaders are not trained to be leaders

F．Put yourself in the position to do the kind of work you love

G．In short, leaders are often the difference between a great job and a terrible one

5 . Every person is unique. Although you can find a common interest, there will always be individual differences in the way each of you was raised. To maintain harmony in a relationship with another person, you should try to understand these differences. It will be full of obstacles (障碍), but don’t worry.     1    .

When you deal with a person who is different from you, try to learn more about him by spending some of your time talking to him.     2    . If you are dealing with a small group of people within a formal situation, you can run a questionnaire so that you can collect information regarding these people.

Show respect to the differences of a person.     3    . If both of you have different opinions about something, be honest about these things. And remember to learn how to move past it. Look at those differences as just a difference of viewpoints and not a subject of good and wrong.

    4    . As a person or a group of people share information about their culture and beliefs, you must respond with details—sharing by giving information concerning your life. In that way, you can let the person see that you’re willing to build a relationship with him.

Make connections with the person who is different from you.     5    . When you do those things, you will probably see that you and that person are actually more similar than you thought before.

A．Share some details regarding your life

B．That’s what you call a cultural difference

C．All you just need to do is to follow these tips

D．Everyone has a right to be treated with respect

E．But it does not mean you need to always agree with him

F．By doing so, you can see what makes him different from you

G．You may invite him to a gathering or discuss something both of you enjoy

6 . Look up how to increase your life expectancy (预期寿命), and you will probably see plenty of results recommending that you have a healthy diet, get sufficient sleep, work out and cut out tobacco and too much alcohol consumption. But what many of us don’t know is that our relationships also affect our life expectancy. Social integration is associated with greater life satisfaction, better health and increased life expectancy. People with wide social networks are more likely to be happy, experience fewer health issues, enjoy better mental health and to live a lot longer.

Now this doesn’t mean that we should dive head first into a relationship whenever we’re lonely in order to avoid dying young. Harmful relationships can be as isolating as being alone, so who we choose to break bread with is absolutely vital to our overall health.

Have you ever wondered why some people are single and happy, while others are drowning in suffering? Or why some married couples exist in a consistent state of bliss, while others are practically enemies?

Research shows that marriage has greater benefits for men than it does for women. Being coupled allows men to receive the essential emotional support that they would lack if they were single. They also get the added benefit of being physically taken care of thanks to the gender roles society still subscribes to.

Women, on the other hand, don’t have as much luck when it comes to being coupled. A woman in a harmful relationship is likely to experience the mental, emotional and physical consequences that come with that. On the contrary, a woman in a healthy relationship is likely to live well. Research shows that the women who are happily married tend to be coupled with partners who take on their fair share of household responsibilities.

But that’s not all, age gaps also need to be factored in to determine relationship satisfaction. Couples with wider age gaps are more likely to be harmonious compared to their peers.

1. What does the writer intend to emphasize in Paragraph 1?

A．Some health problems.

B．Ways to increase life expectancy.

C．The effect of sleep on people’s health.

D．The importance of human relationships.

2. What does the underlined word “bliss” mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Happiness.	B．Kindness.
C．Loneliness.	D．Friendliness.

3. What can we learn from the research?

A．Marriage benefits men and women equally.

B．Women benefit more from marriage than men.

C．Men are better taken care of because of the gender roles.

D．Good relationship can effectively prevent people from dying lonely.

4. What would be probably discussed in the next paragraph of this passage?

A．The influence of a harmonious marriage.

B．Relationship satisfaction for older couples.

C．Gender differences in marriage satisfaction.

D．The benefits of wider age gaps in marriage.

7 . Having a good sense of humor makes you more enjoyable to be around.     1     . Here’s how you can develop your sense of humor.

●Surround Yourself with Humor

You learn more effectively when you fully expose yourself to a subject. Similarly, you can improve your sense of humor by surrounding yourself with humor. Watch stand-up comedians. Listen to programs that amuse you.Read humorous books.     2     .

●Learn What Amuses You

    3     . We amuse our friends by praising a change they made. However, when it comes to being funny, don’t change your sense of humor to amuse other people. Instead, start with what amuses you.Then, if you think the other person will also be amused with it, share it with them.

●Think About Timing and Audience

You don’t have to be funny all the time, so don’t expect that of yourself. When you catch yourself trying to be funny, slow down. Simply speak slower so you’re not as likely to stop and repeat yourself. Try speaking at 60-70 % of your usual rate.     4     .

●    5    

You don’t need to seize every single opportunity to be funny. If you’re in the middle of a bad joke, just end it. “You know what, now that I’m telling it, it’s not as funny as it sounded in my head,” can be a bit of an awkward end and hurt your pride a little bit, but it saves everyone time and patience. In the long run, they’ll respect your taste.

A．Be Creative, Not Silly

B．Pause in between sentences

C．There’s a lot of fun out there

D．You might also do better at work

E．Know When to Pull the Plug on Yourself

F．You can also try your hand in the real world

G．A lot of times, we say things purely to please others

8 . We’ve all hurt someone we love to varying degrees. I am always impressed when someone recognizes their role and wants to take responsibility. That’s the first step.     1     Here are several things to keep in mind:

You probably hold powerful beliefs about apologizing.     2     It can be helpful to reflect on how your family has handled mistakes and forgiveness while you were growing up. Has your family modeled what an apology sounds like? If apologizing is new to you, validate (证实) how scary and uncomfortable it may feel to admit you were wrong.

Your intention matters. Why do you want to apologize? Did you do something that actually deserves an apology or are you trying to keep peace?     3    

    4     When someone is hurt, they may not want to hear your apology right away. There may not be a “perfect” time, but forcing someone to speak to you or hear you out before they are ready can feel less like an apology and more like an ambush. Sometimes, our urgency is driven by guilt or fear of losing someone, misaligning (未对准) our timing with the person’s need for some space to process.

An apology is not a magic cure. Just because you apologized, it doesn’t mean everything will go back to normal.     5     An apology can strengthen a relationship, but it may also just allow you to part ways in a friendly way. Have realistic expectations and make sure not to pressure someone to “go back to normal” right away.

A．Your words matter.

B．But, apologizing is not always easy.

C．You need to choose your timing wisely.

D．Explore any hesitations or fears you may have.

E．Before apologizing, pause and reflect on why you are saying sorry.

F．It will take time for the relationship to repair and perhaps shift into its new dynamic.

G．We should apologize because we want to take responsibility and because it represents who we are as people.

9 . Many people have secrets or things about themselves they don’t want others to know. Those secrets can be something as simple as they have a new job or serious matters such as a divorce.     1    . But if you want someone to open up to you, building trust and showing that you can keep secrets may get them to tell you the secret.

    2    .

Have conversations with others that cover a range of meaningful topics. Talking about meaningful things to others can help them consciously connect positive feelings about you and make them more likely to open up to you.

Listen carefully

    3    . Refer to what they’ve said when you talk at other time, which shows that you are paying close attention to them and their needs. Besides, ask questions during the conversation, which can show that you’re listening closely to what they are saying.

Talk about yourself

Make sure to talk about yourself during your conversations.     4    . In turn, it will put them at ease and show that they can confide (倾诉) in and trust you. Sharing can really help establish a relationship of trust between people, especially if both individuals are comfortable to talk about themselves.

Be reliable

Make sure to be there and fulfil promises with your friends. This shows them that they can rely on you, including telling and keeping secrets. Follow up on any commitment you make to the best of your ability.     5    .

A．Chat online

B．Have meaningful conversations

C．You can’t share your friend’s secret with anyone

D．Getting someone to tell you their secrets can be difficult

E．Listen closely to what they are saying during your conversations

F．Give little bits of information about yourself as you feel comfortable

G．If you cannot keep your promise, explain the circumstances and then apologize

10 . Trust is the basic foundation of any relationship in both professional and personal capacity. Here are some ways to build trust and be trustworthy.

Be always honest. Honesty is a virtue that must be cultivated (培养) fully if you desire to establish trust with others. Half-truths and white lies are a recipe for disaster.    1    

Communicate effectively. Poor communication is one of the main reasons why trust is unable to be sustained (维持) in any environment. The failure to clarify your stand may lead to unpleasant assumption.    2    If you want to avoid any issues, it’s important to communicate openly and freely with other involved parties in the beginning.

    3    Promises are not meant to be broken. Once you make a promise, it’s as binding (必须遵守的) as legal papers. It’s important that you honor your commitments if you’re interested in building trust.

Do not be too quick in making decisions. There is no need to take too much pressure if you’re faced with a dilemma.    4    If the other part asks you to make a comment immediately and you have reservations about it, you can decline the task and say no in the beginning.

Take the necessary time.    5    It’s an ongoing process that needs time to take root and develop effectively. Steady progress is possible only if it’s a regular activity; therefore, prepare to take small steps if you are looking for ways to build trust. Focus on the endgame and do not expect results in the beginning.

A．Keep your word.

B．Don’t take everything for granted.

C．Trust cannot be earned in seconds.

D．This can cause disagreements and the breaking of trust.

E．Therefore, avoid them at all costs if you are trying to build trust.

F．You’d better take the time to consider your approach from every angle.

G．Make sure you are paying attention to old and new relationships equally.