1 . Every day, as I took long walks through North Vancouver, I would think about the potential joys of a physically closer network. Wouldn’t it be great to have someone who could join me at a moment’s notice? How good would it be to have more non-scheduled hangs instead of ones that had to be planned weeks in advance?
This doesn’t have to be just a dream. Although technology is making it easier to maintain long-distance connections, nothing can replace seeing friends in person. Researchers have found that happiness spreads “like an emotional contagion (传染)”, especially among those who live close together.
Friends who live in the same city could decide to move within walking distance of one another — the same neighborhood, block, or even apartment building. Doing so would likely involve a lot of effort, but the resulting community could pay emotional dividends for years. Doing so would make it easier to support one another materially and emotionally.
Moving close to your friends requires some masterminding. Cities can make doing so easier by ending single-family zoning codes and encouraging a variety of housing types in neighborhoods. But even without official policies, people can make it work on their own. Sam Unger, 32, a food scientist and a friend of mine, has created a chosen family like this in Montreal, where about 15 of her friends live within walking distance of one another. When someone moves away, they try to transfer (移交) their lease (租约) to other friends. And when pals based elsewhere in the city are looking to move, Unger will try selling them on the positives of her neighborhood and sometimes even look for housing for them. “It’s funny,” she told me. “The other day, I bought a fire extinguisher, and she’s like, ‘Oh, well, I have one. You could just call me if you had a fire, and I’d be right over with it.’”
1. What kind of lifestyle does the author prefer?| A．Alone. | B．Modern. | C．Scheduled | D．Free. |
| A．Needs. | B．Benefits. | C．States | D．Effects. |
| A．To tell Sam Unger has a talent in business. |
| B．To prove people can move closer on their own. |
| C．To show how important the official policies are. |
| D．To suggest how one can get on well with others. |
| A．Live Closer to Your Friends |
| B．The Internet Brings People Closer |
| C．A Way to Maintain Relationships |
| D．Technology Harms Friendships |
2 . Active listening is a communication skill that involves going beyond simply hearing the words that another person speaks but also seeking to understand the meaning and intention behind them. The word “active” implies that you are taking some type of action when listening to others.
Be fully present
Active listening requires being fully present in the conversation. It enables you to concentrate on what is being said. Being present involves listening with all your senses and giving your full attention to the speaker. To use this active listening technique effectively, put away your cell phone, ignore distractions, and shut down your internal dialogue.
Pay attention to non-verbal cues (非言语暗示)
As much as 65% of a person’s communication is unspoken,
Keep good eye contact
When engaged in active listening, making eye contact is especially important. This tells the other person that you are present and listening to what he or she says.
Be patient
Patience is an important active listening technique because it allows the other person to speak without interruption. Being patient involves not trying to fill periods of silence with your own thoughts or stories. This also requires listening to understand, not to respond.
| A．Don’t prepare a reply while listening. |
| B．It also shows that you aren’t distracted. |
| C．This isn’t helpful during active listening. |
| D．So use open, non-threatening body language. |
| E．Don’t focus too much on insignificant details. |
| F．Place your focus on your conversation partner. |
| G．This involves using certain strategies or techniques. |
3 . We’ve all been there—you’ve sent a message and it’s marked “read”, but you haven’t heard anything back. What’s the deal? While being left on read (已读不回) can be confusing, it’s also pretty common.
Expect the best. Remind yourself that the person is probably just busy. Ask yourself if you actually know their schedule. There could be some time commitments you aren’t aware of. Here are a few other reasons for a delayed response.
Resist the temptation (诱惑) to double-text.
Read over your previous messages. See if there are any confusing texts that you need to clarify. It’s okay if you review your message again and notice that it might have been a little unclear—it happens!
| A．Put your phone away. |
| B．Fix your attention closely on text responses. |
| C．Give them a little space so they have a chance to reply. |
| D．They want to give you a longer response but can’t right now. |
| E．Ask yourself why being left on “read” frustrates or confuses you. |
| F．You can keep the situation from bothering you until you hear back. |
| G．You might feel relieved when you find something that is easy to misread. |
4 . Making friends as an adult can be tough, but it isn’t impossible.
According to psychologist and friendship expert Dr Marisa G Franco, there is a necessary element for starting a friendship: continuous unplanned interactions (being in the same place and the same time, again and again). When we’re younger and at school or university, this is much easier as we’re automatically placed within a wide network of people who are all going through the same thing.
Once you’ve built up a friendly connection with someone, you need to give that relationship time to develop. Keep showing up and be intentional about the effort you put in with that person, while having enough confidence in the relationship to not be too demanding of them.
| A．Friends, like books, should be few but good. |
| B．Sometimes it will go well, sometimes it won’t. |
| C．But as we get older, we have less time to just hang out. |
| D．It’s not enough to just be in the room with these folks, though. |
| E．Nevertheless, making friends with right people is full of benefits. |
| F．Unfortunately, though, there’s no way around the time and effort it takes. |
| G．Over time, your shared experiences will bring the two of you closer together. |
5 . Active Listening: A Key Skill for Effective Communication
Active listening is a communication skill that goes beyond simply hearing words and involves fully taking part and understanding the speaker’s message. Importantly, it is a significant part in effective communication.
Give full attention to the speaker. Active listening requires being fully present in the conversation, observing the speaker’s body language, and facial expressions to avoid negative responses. It also requires listening to the speaker with all your senses, including sight, sound and so on.
Maintain good eye contact with the conversation partner. When taking part in active listening, making eye contact is especially important.
By actively listening, we can create stronger connections, and promote trust and respect in our relationships. Remember, active listening goes beyond simply hearing.
| A．Respond properly to the speaker. |
| B．Reflect on the responses of the speaker. |
| C．It focuses on the way you answer the speaker. |
| D．It shows that you are truly interested in what they say. |
| E．The fact, however, is that many people often fail in active listening. |
| F．It also involves improving communication quality and connecting with others. |
| G．To use this technique effectively, we’d better not do other things at the same time. |
6 . Trust is the basic of any relationship in both a professional and a personal capacity (能力). Here are some ways to build trust and be trustworthy.
Be always honest. Honesty is a quality that must be developed fully if you desire to build trust with others. Half-truths and white lies result in disasters.
Communicate effectively. Poor communication is one of the main reasons why trust is unable to be developed in any environment.
Do not be too quick in making decisions. There is no need to take too much pressure if you’re faced with a tough situation.
Take the necessary time.
| A．Keep your word. |
| B．Don’t take everything for sure. |
| C．Trust can’t be built in a short time. |
| D．Therefore, avoid them if you are trying to build trust. |
| E．The failure to explain your stand may cause unpleasant results. |
| F．You’d better take the time to consider your way from every aspect. |
| G．Make sure you are paying attention to old and new relationships equally. |
7 . Have you ever argued with a friend, and said or done something you regretted? Sometimes it can be hard to put things right, especially when feelings have been hurt. Knowing how to apologise can help you become friends again and to understand why you fell out in the first place.
We argue for all kinds of reasons. You might think your football team is fantastic but your friend disagrees; or maybe your sister is being really annoying. Sometimes, especially if you’re angry, things can spiral out of control and you’ll say or do something you regret. Arguing and disagreeing with others occasionally is normal — we all do it — but it’s important to resolve your differences afterwards so bad feelings don’t get worse. This is where an apology can help.
We all make mistakes, and apologising is a way of admitting we’ve got something wrong and will try not to do it again. Dr. Jennifer Thomas, a psychologist and author, believes an apology needs to show the other person that we’re genuinely (真诚地) sorry, we accept responsibility for our actions and we want their forgiveness.
Sometimes another person may pressure you into taking the blame when it’s not your fault. If you feel this is happening, try talking about why you argued in the first place and explain how it made you feel. If you still can’t agree, you could ask a parent or teacher to help you resolve the problem.
Sorry on its own might not always be enough, so try to ask the other person how they felt while you were arguing. Explain your side too, and make it clear you’ll try not to repeat the same mistake again. A genuine apology isn’t a magic wand (魔杖); it may take some time for someone to understand and forgive. Even after you’ve said sorry, you could still feel bad but you can feel good about trying to fix things and promising yourself to do better next time.
1. Why is it important to resolve differences after an argument?| A．To ensure that bad feelings worsen over time. | B．To maintain relationship and prevent damage. |
| C．To avoid taking responsibility for one’s action. | D．To establish leading power over one’s friends. |
| A．Stop. | B．Decrease. | C．Increase. | D．Win. |
| A．Both parties will forget the argument. | B．Forgiveness could take quite a while. |
| C．The person apologizing can calm down. | D．Relationships will improve immediately. |
| A．The Power of Apologies | B．The Causes of Arguments |
| C．The Significance of Forgiveness | D．The Benefits of Communication |
8 . So many things can keep you from seeing your loved ones in person, from busy schedules to long distances to a rather unexpected COVID－19 virus. Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, the people we miss are often only a phone call or text message away. But if you’re someone who prefers to type out messages, you may want to reconsider. A new study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, found that communication that included voice, like a phone call or video chat, created stronger social relationships than communication through typing, like text messaging or email.
In the study, researchers used various experiments to measure relationships. In one, they asked 200 people what it would be like to reconnect with an old friend by email or by phone and then asked them to do one or the other. Although people anticipated that a phone call would be more awkward, hearing someone’s voice actually made the experience better.
“People reported they did form a stronger relationship with their old friend on the phone compared with email, and they did not feel more awkward,” said Amit Kumar, an assistant professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business.
In another experiment, the researchers had strangers connected by either texting, talking over video chat, or talking using only audio. They found that both forms of voice communication—whether video or audio only — made the strangers feel significantly more connected than when they communicated by text.
Sabrina Romanoff, a Harvard psychologist, says, “People tend to text or email instead of calling because of convenience, as they see it as a controlled form of communication where they can communicate information exactly in the way they want without unexpected additions by the other person.”
Romanoff says that in reality, texting can make it hard to determine the true meaning behind a conversation. “A phone call is actually more convenient when considering the net effects of the message,” she explains. “Each party is more present, and therefore, able to understand the meaning behind the content without thinking about the endless possible meanings behind words.”
1. How did the researchers carry out the study?| A．By comparing. | B．By reasoning. | C．By imagining. | D．By discussing. |
| A．Ensured. | B．Refused. | C．Expected. | D．Disagreed. |
| A．texting makes them feel more connected |
| B．they feel awkward when making a phone call |
| C．texting helps communicate their information exactly |
| D．calling helps determine the true meaning behind the conversation |
| A．Texting does harm to social relationships. |
| B．Voice communication brings people closer. |
| C．A phone call does more good than a text message. |
| D．People prefer a text message rather than a phone call. |
We all know that honesty is
There are three main reasons
We may find even white lies have
10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the woman?| A．She is a trainer. | B．She is a leader. | C．She is a hostess. |
| A．By keeping a promise. | B．By looking for truth. | C．By making fewer mistakes. |
| A．Expecting too much. | B．Taking small steps. | C．Communicating poorly. |
| A．Build deep friendships. |
| B．Take relationships seriously. |
| C．Put a high value on feelings. |
