1 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Romantic Attraction

Sometimes, it seems we are attracted towards people romantically in a puzzling manner. We see someone and our romantic side bursts out. However, it is not a mystery to science and people who study sociology. There are definite causes as to why people become romantically attracted to each other. These factors are, similarity, communication, and honesty.

Though people often say opposites attract, similarity often connects individuals in a romantic way. In fact, based on research done by the University of Colorado Boulder, we tend to choose partners who have a similar DNA to ours. Of course we cannot examine the DNA of others readily, but we can naturally “feel” if people are a genetic match for us.

Communication is another essential factor in the romantic attraction way. If we feel a deep connection to someone through the ease of talking with them, we are much more likely to be attracted to that person. It is difficult to be romantically involved with someone you can barely communicate with. And as a side note, there are people we are not attracted to each other in appearance, but after communicating with them for some time, we suddenly become romantically interested in them.

Friends often connect through noticing the honesty of others, but this also lends to romantic attraction. According to Kelly Campbell, PhD, “Chemistry occurs most often between people who are down-to-earth and sincere. This is because if a person is comfortable with themselves, they are better able to express their true self to the world, which makes it easier to get to know them, even if perspectives on important matters differed”. This adds to the perspective that easy communication between people contributes to romantic attraction.

2 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Is Small Talk Necessary?

What’s the first thing you do when you enter a crowded room? You probably look around for a familiar face. When you can’t find one, you have two choices: you can stand alone, or you can walk up and speak to someone that you don’t know.

Starting a conversation with a stranger, though, is often uncomfortable and can be a little scary. Yet as you go through life, you’re sure to encounter strangers in many different situations, when a need to connect with others will hopefully outweigh your fears. In order to prepare, it helps to learn the art of small talk.

Small talk is the beginning stage of a casual conversation, which usually takes place between strangers or casual acquaintances. With small talk, two or more people search for common interests and points of connection. If one is discovered, the conversation usually begins to flow more naturally, often resulting in deeper discussion.

Mastering a few techniques will allow you to enter a room full of strangers with confidence.

When you walk up to a group, notice anyone trying to make eye contact with you because this is often a sign that the person is interested in talking. Begin by introducing yourself, and then, you should begin with one of three topics: talk about yourself, the other person or something you can both observe, like the weather.

Another way to begin a conversation is with a compliment. Your praise of someone’s scarf might lead to a discussion about favorite places to shop.

Radio host Terry Gross, who has interviewed thousands of people over the years, says one opening request works for her every time: “Tell me about yourself.” This approach gets the ball rolling because people enjoy talking about themselves.

Though small talk takes practice, it’s worth the effort and it’s the stimulus that can lead to deeper conversations.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . Directions：Complete the following passage by using the words in the box.Each word can only be used once.Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. complicated     B.concern     C.disruptions     D. eventually     E.frequent     F.healing G.holding        H.reminder     I. representatively   J. vocalizing     K.zero

Secrets are bad for your health

I grew up in a Midwestern town where the popular wisdom was to only talk about what was pleasant and to keep secrets，if necessary，to make that happen.This meant staying silent when someone offended you，rarely     1     negative feelings and smiling a little more than is necessary. It also meant     2     room for airing any sort of dirty laundry，especially not the kinds of personal secrets that keep people up at night.

Many of us like to believe that sweeping unpleasant truths under the rug might make them     3     go away. Instead，keeping secrets--especially heavy ones--can spin an even more     4     web of isolation and deception. So why do we do it？

The truth can hurt. But in many situations，it s better to get it out and let the     5     start，rather than allowing it to become more dangerous.The burden of     6     in the truth doesn't just disappear. It hides itself in the back of your mind and can cause a number of     7       to your life and health.

"If the situations in your daily life are regular     8     of the secret，and you find it stressful to keep it，then yes，it can have emotional and physical consequences.” says Dr.Dean McKay. “Some people also find keeping secrets stressful out of a general     9     that they will 'slip’. This     10     and recurring thought of the secret can in itself be stressful.”

4 . Gossip—all humans take part in some form of it. Whether its workplace chatter, the sharing of family news or group texts between friends, it's ________ that everyone who talks, well, talks about other people. ________ , a 1993 study found that male participants spent 55% and female participants spent 67% of their conversation time on "the discussion of socially relevant topics."

People tend to think of gossip ________ to ill-intended rumors, negative comments or the breathless spread of a tabloid scoop（小报独家新闻）. But researchers often define it more broadly—as "talking about people who aren't ________ ," says Megan Robbins, an assistant professor of psychology at The University of California, Riverside. "It`s something that comes very ________ to us"—it's an essential part of conversation, information sharing and even community building.

In a 2019 study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, Robbins and a colleague found that, of the 52 minutes a day, on average, that the 467 subjects spent gossiping, three-quarters of that gossip was actually ________ . One subject, for example, spoke about someone who was watching a lot of movies to keep up with the times.

Just a small portion of the conversations analyzed—around 15%—was considered to be negative gossip. So while it is true that people can spend a significant amount of time talking about their peers, oftentimes that chatter is quite ________ .

So, why do people gossip?

Some researchers argue that gossip helped our ________ to survive. Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar first pioneered this idea, comparing gossip to the grooming（清洁皮毛）that monkeys and other primates ________ as a means of forming close relationships. ________ picking fleas and dirt off one another to bond（联系）, we now talk. This is "where gossip comes in, because chit-chat is mostly talking about other people and ________ social information." Says David Ludden, a professor of psychology at Georgia Gwinnet College.

Gossiping, Dunbar's work argues, gives humans the ability to spread ________ information to very large social networks. "We are much more social than our ancestors, so it can be very helpful to get information about people from others when this network is too ________ to observe by ourselves." he explained in a 2003 paper published in the Review of General Psychology.

Some scholars view gossip as evidence of cultural ________ , providing people with examples of what's socially acceptable—and what's not. For example, if there's someone who cheats a lot in a community or social circle and people start to talk about that person in a negative way, says Robbins, the collective criticism should warn others of the consequences of cheating. And as word will almost always travel back to the source of said gossip, it can "serve to keep people in check, ________ speaking," Robbins adds.

1.

A．advisable

B．embarrassing

C．insignificant

D．unavoidable

2.

A．By Chance

B．In comparison

C．In fact

D．For short

3.

A．applicable

B．equivalent

C．familiar

D．resistant

4.

A．approachable

B．friendly

C．present

D．reliable

5.

A．importantly

B．naturally

C．rapidly

D．secretly

6.

A．positive

B．independent

C．neutral

D．unusual

7.

A．amusing

B．critical

C．harmless

D．pointless

8.

A．ancestors

B．associations

C．customs

D．relatives

9.

A．appeal to

B．call for

C．engage in

D．fight against

10.

A．Excluding

B．Instead of

C．In spite of

D．In response to

11.

A．assessing

B．conveying

C．requesting

D．translating

12.

A．detailed

B．incredible

C．processed

D．valuable

13.

A．delicate

B．extensive

C．strong

D．supportive

14.

A．building

B．exchanging

C．learning

D．understanding

15.

A．historically

B．legally

C．morally

D．strictly

5 . Too much eye contact is instinctively felt to be rude, and in a business context, it may also be regarded as a purposeful intention to make “ the other” feel at a disadvantage. So unless you have in mind doing one of those things, it’s better to _______too much eye contact.

Too little,_______, can make you appear uneasy, unprepared, and insincere. In its analysis of patients, _______, for example, one large county hospital found, that 9-out-of-10 letters included mention of poor doctor-patient eye contact, a failure which was generally interpreted as “_______of caring.”

“Just the right” amount of eye contact---the amount that produces a feeling of mutual _______and trustworthiness---will vary with situations, settings, personality types, gender and cultural differences. As a general rule, though, direct eye contact ranging from 30% to 60% of the time during a conversation---more when you are listening, less when you are speaking---should make for a _______ productive atmosphere.

And did you know these other facts about eye contact？

● We reduce eye contact when we are talking about something shameful or _______, when we are sad or depressed，and when we are accessing internal thoughts or emotions.

● We increase eye contact when dealing with people we like, _______ , or who have power over us. In more     _______conversations we naturally look at each other more often and hold that gaze for longer periods of time. In fact, we ________relationships by the amount of eye contact exchanged: the greater the eye contact，the closer the relationship.

● We avoid eye contact in elevators, subways, crowded buses or trains-in elevators we face the door, in the others we stare at our smartphones-because it helps us ________the insecurity of having our personal space invaded.

● The biggest body language myth（错误观念）about liars is that they avoid eye contact. While some liars (most often, children) find it difficult to lie while looking directly at you，many liars actually try to “________” that they are not lying by making too much eye contact and holding it too long.

Eye contact is so powerful a force because it is connected with humans’ earliest ________patterns. Children who could attract and maintain eye contact, and therefore increase attention, had the best chance of being fed and cared for. Today, newborns ________lock eyes with their caregivers, and the power of that infantile eye contact still has its impact on the adult mind. Whether it's shifty-eyed guilt or wide-eyed innocence, we automatically assign enormous ________to the signals we give and get when we look into each other in the eyes.

1.

A．create

B．avoid

C．block

D．occupy

2.

A．in the meantime

B．in an instant

C．on the other hand

D．without doubt

3.

A．complaints

B．instructions

C．questions

D．expectations

4.

A．intention

B．shift

C．lack

D．complication

5.

A．efficiency

B．awareness

C．reaction

D．appreciation

6.

A．comfortable

B．right

C．direct

D．different

7.

A．mysterious

B．embarrassing

C．distinctive

D．dishonest

8.

A．admire

B．conquer

C．consult

D．attract

9.

A．powerful

B．purposeful

C．private

D．natural

10.

A．establish

B．improve

C．value

D．judge

11.

A．protect

B．convey

C．master

D．manage

12.

A．imagine

B．ensure

C．prove

D．require

13.

A．behavior

B．survival

C．working

D．eating

14.

A．instinctively

B．fiercely

C．similarly

D．instantly

15.

A．relief

B．trust

C．surprise

D．joy

6 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box.   Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. uncomfortable；B. critically；C. balance；D. nonsense；E. temptation F. responding；G. effectively；H. practice；I. demands；J. reasoning；K. delivering

Embrace the rule of awkward silence

The rule of awkward silence is simple: When faced with a challenging question, instead of answering, pause and think deeply about how you want to answer. This is no short pause; rather, it involves taking several seconds (10, 20 or longer) to think things through before     1    .

At Apple, Tim Cook has engaged in the     2     for years. Back in 2008, a Fortune article said that in meetings, Cook was “known for long,     3     pauses, when all you hear is the sound of his tearing the wrapper of the energy bars he constantly eats.”

Cook isn’t alone in embracing the rule of awkward silence. Steve Jobs once took almost 20 seconds to respond to a personal attack,     4     a perfect response.

The rule of awkward silence has always been valuable as a tool of emotional intelligence because it allows you to     5     thought and emotion instead of simply reacting based on feeling.

Why the rule of awkward silence is more valuable than ever.

We live in a world that     6     instant satisfaction. Emails should be answered on the same day. Text messages should be answered right now. But there’s a major problem with all of this immediate communication: It doesn’t leave time to think.

As in, think     7    .

Critical thinking calls for deep and careful consideration of a subject. It involves weighing and analyzing facts, and careful     8    . And it results in making insightful connections.

None of this is possible without time.

And time has become the biggest luxury on the planet.

But when you embrace the rule of awkward silence, you steal back time. Time that used to be wasted on     9     answers.

So, the next time someone asks you a challenging question, or even what seems on the surface to be a simple one, resist the     10     to respond with the first thing that comes to mind.

Instead, embrace the rule of awkward silence, and think before you speak.

7 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. cultivate       B. apparently       C. essential       D. significance       E. pick       F. differently        G. suitable       H. actually       I. relationship        J. ends   K. care

Berlin: At nine most mornings the same scene is repeated in office buildings around the world. An employee walks into the elevator with his boss and apart from a mumbled “good morning” the junior is lost for other words. That’s an opportunity missed, says experts, who believe that such an     1     dull 30-second conversation can be invaluable for those who want to climb the career ladder.

“Small talk can help establish a     2    upon which you can build,” says Dusseldorf communication advisor Thorsten Knobble, whose company customize curriculum vitas and job references.

As a matter of fact, the     3     of small talk goes far beyond the relationship to one’s boss. People who fail the art of speaking a lot without     4     saying anything find it harder to     5     relationships in the workplace, believes Ulrich Goldschmidt, director of the senior management association VDF Essen“Small talk is an     6     part of networking,” he says.

Virtually every conversation begins and     7     with small talk, according to Wolf Lasko, who has written a book on the topic and its bearing on career prospects.

Not everyone is good at small talk. It takes skill to     8     the right moment and the right topic with which to start a conversation. There are plenty of topics although some are not     9     for informal chat. “Anything to do with sex is taboo,” cautions Knobble. “    10     is needed with politics, religion, money and health.” Safe topics include the holidays, the movies, or sports.

8 . Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit; we cannot flower and grow without it. And yet, while most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somehow reluctant to give our fellows the warm sunshine of praise.

Why-when one word can bring such pleasure? A friend of mine who travels widely always tries to learn a little of the language of any place she visits. She's not much of a linguist, but she does know how to say one word-"beautiful"-in several languages.     1     . The ability has earned her friends all over the world.

It's strange how chary we are about praising.     2     . Instead, we are embarrassed and shrug off the words we are really so glad to hear. Because of this defensive reaction, direct compliments are surprisingly difficult to give. That's why some of the most valued pats on the back are those which come to us indirectly, in a letter or passed on by a friend. When one thinks of the speed with which spiteful remarks are conveyed, it seems a pity that there isn’t more effort to relay pleasing and flattering comments.

    3     . An artist gets compliment for a glorious picture, a cook for a perfect meal. But do you ever tell your laundry manager how pleased you are when the shirts are done just right? Do you ever praise your paper boy for getting the paper to you on time 365 days a year?

To give praise costs the giver nothing but a moment`s thought and a moment's effort-     4     . It is such a small investment-and yet consider the results it may produce. “I can live for two months on a good compliment," said Mark Twain.

So, let's be alert to the small excellences around us-and comment on them. We will not only bring joy into other people's lives, but also, very often, add happiness into our own.

A．Praise is particularly appreciated by those doing routine jobs.

B．Comment is often made about activities which are relatively easy and satisfying, like arranging flowers; but not about jobs which are hard and dirty, like scrubbing floors.

C．It's especially rewarding to give praise in areas in which effort generally goes unnoticed or unmentioned.

D．Perhaps a quick phone call to pass on a compliment, or five minutes spent writing an appreciative letter.

E．She can use it to a mother holding her baby, or to a lonely salesman fishing out pictures of his family.

F．Perhaps it's because few of us know how to accept compliments gracefully.

9 . When I had my first baby, after battling being unable to produce babies for three years, I received a gift at the hospital with a note: “To Jonathan-we're so glad you're here.” I've always remembered that note-and the person who sent it. My heartache and fear that I'd never have a child had been swept away and I felt a great joy. That little note made me feel that someone else understood my happiness, Oddly enough, she was not a close friend. But at that moment, we shared a special bond.

I learned that day that there's nothing like a personal note. In this age of impersonal technology, of computers and recorded voices on telephones, the hand-written note makes a human connection. And not just to the receiver, but to the writer as well. It feels good to express your sincere thoughts. When you put pen to paper, very important feelings slip out, feelings that you might ordinarily keep to yourself. This is especially true with emotions such as, “I love you,” or “You're important to me,” that may seem embarrassing to actually say.

Some of the best notes are written by children, precisely because kids are so open and honest. They're able to express powerful emotions in simple ways, as my young son did one Valentine's Day: “This comes from the heart, not from the store,” he wrote on his homemade card, anxious lest I mistake it for one mere money can buy. On another occasion, he scrawled, “Happy birthday—I'm glad you're my Mom!”

Notes from youngsters are very special, especially if the receiver is seriously ill. When a70-year-old man suffered a heart attack, his eight-year-old grandson wrote, “Please get well, Grandpa. Who else will play cards with me? Who will tell me stories? I love you, Grandpa.” Did this note help his Grandpa recover in record time? Doctors might not think so, but I do.

1. “A special bond” (in paragraph1) is brought about by ________.

A．the author's first baby	B．the author's battling unproductiveness
C．the person working in the hospital	D．the note the author received

2. Which of the following is true about the author's attitude according to the passage?

A．Children's notes are better than any of others due to their openness and honesty.

B．Notes from youngsters are especially memorable to their parents and grandparents.

C．To mark the special times of a life, nothing can take the place of a heartfelt note.

D．It feels powerful to voice your genuine ideas by recorded voices on telephones.

3. The word “scrawled” (in paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to ________.

A．signed

B．wrote

C．answered

D．exchanged

4. It can be concluded from the passage that the author intends to ________.

A．advise readers to use the hand-written note for human connection

B．give readers some tips on how to choose words on hand-written notes

C．encourage senior people to pay attention to kids' hand-written notes

D．persuade readers to take pen in hand and express their happiness

10 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Children of One God

Bina and Adil came from neighboring villages.They went to the same school between the two villages.

Things went smoothly,     1     the Headman of Adil’s village, who was a rich merchant, decided to renovate（翻新）the school. He wanted the school to be named     2     him.The Headman of the Bina’s village objected to this.”The school,” he said,”belongs as much to us as to them.We shall not allow them to have control over it.”

The villagers agreed.A fight started over this small issue.It got increasingly     3     (bad) until the adults and even the children from Adil’s village refused to have anything to do with people from Bina’s village.The villagers prevented the children     4     (talk) to each other.

Bina and Adil were terribly upset. Mr.Pillai,their history teacher, called them to his room.On entering his room,Bina burst into tears.”Why are people behaving like this?Are they mad?”

“Yes,”answered Mr.Pillai,”They are!But there is a medicine to cure them.And you children can help me.”The two children were prepared to do anything they    5    .

Next day,at the assembly,Mr.Pillai said,:You are all children of one God.You are the flowers in his garden.His garden will look ugly    6     you turn your face away from each other.Next month,on Children’s Day,let us stage a play--Unity in Diversity.”

Everyone wanted to participle in the play. Mr.Pillai made sure that every child had a part     7     (play).

The play was based on the Freedom Struggle    8     men,women and children of different religions joined hands to drive away enemies from their motherland. All the parents from both villages     9     (invite)to witness the play.

The play began.Many elders shed tears as scenes from the past flashed before their eyes.At the end of the play,the Headmaster of the school thanked the children and     10     (adress) the villagers.He said that the children had taught all of them a lesson.