1 . Living in a modern society has its advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is that you often have to live closer to other people than you would like to. Sometimes, your neighbours make noise that you are not comfortable with.

The best way to solve this problem is to talk with your neighbour first. You should be very polite and ask your neighbour if he knows how thin the walls of your homes are. This way doesn’t criticise (批评) his behaviour; it simply points out that he may not realise how far his sound travels. Tell him that you know that sometimes you make noise as well, but that you do your best to keep it down. Often this will solve the problem right away, but sometimes the neighbour may become angry.

If your neighbour becomes angry with you, there are some more steps you can take. You might write a letter to the neighbourhood committee. Make sure you write down the source of the noise and the time in the letter. They will review the situation and decide whether your neighbour is out of line. Some noise is considered to be reasonable, even if it bothers you. So you may prepare a good pair of earplugs (耳塞).

Even if your neighbour makes too much noise, you don’t have to live your life in discomfort. It’s always a good idea to be friendly with your neighbours. You may clean the rubbish in front of his door. He’s sure to appreciate behaviour like this and be more open to your suggestions about the noise level.

1. What is the first step to deal with the noisy neighbour?

A．To buy a good pair of earplugs.

B．To offer suggestions to the neighbour.

C．To ask the neighbourhood committee for help.

D．To tell the neighbour how bad his behaviour is.

2. The underlined word “reasonable” in Paragraph 3 probably means “        ”.

A．terrible	B．loud
C．proper	D．useful

3. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．You should control your noise as well.

B．You can live comfortably even if there is noise.

C．Your neighbour may be more friendly than you think.

D．You should offer some suggestions to your neighbour.

4. The author wrote this passage to tell us        .

A．why we should get on well with neighbours

B．how to relax ourselves in modern society

C．how to become known among neighbours

D．what we should do with our noisy neighbours

2 . 语法填空

We all know that honesty is     1    important value and     2    lying is wrong. But sometimes we tell some “white lies”    3    (protect) others from the truth.

There are three main reasons     4    we tell a white lie. First, we try to make others feel better, so we protect ourselves from the     5    (disappoint) and anger of others. Another reason for     6    (tell) a white lie is to give encouragement. For example, when our friend asks us what we think of his singing, we surely say it’s wonderful, despite     7     (secret) thinking that it’s awful. Stop for a moment and consider that perhaps our friend wants some frank     8    (comment). Finally, we may also tell a white lie when we want to protect others from bad news.

We may find even white lies have     9     (expect) results. Perhaps the meal we said was “delicious ”     10     (serve) every time we visit. Or when we only share good news, others won’t truly understand our emotions.

5 . There is a time when many Americans question whether a college degree is worth its cost. However, a recent study found Americans who completed college or university are more likely to have friends and are less lonely than those who only finished high school.

Daniel Cox, director of the Survey Center on American Life, said that in general Americans are experiencing a “friend recession”, meaning a decline in their number of friends. Cox noted, “Americans have fewer close friends today than we did in the early 1990s. But men and those without a college degree are particularly affected because they seem to have experienced a much more dramatic decline over that period.”

The Center questioned 5, 054 people this past summer. It found Americans with a college degree feel more socially connected and are more active in their communities than people who didn’t go to college. As a result, those who completed college report feeling less lonely.

Previous research showed that Americans who didn’t go to college are less likely to marry. A 2012 study found that college-educated women are much more likely to get married than women who dropped out of high school. A 2013 study of people born between 1957 and 1964 found that both men and women who didn’t finish high school are less likely to marry than those with more education.

Today, 65 percent of college-educated Americans over age 25 are married. About 50 percent of people with a high school diploma, or who dropped out of high school, are married. Those numbers were different in 1990, when marriage rates among the college graduates were at 69 percent, compared with 63 percent for those who did not go to college, says a Pew research report.

The American Community Life Survey found around 1 in 10 college graduates say they have no close social connections. That number rises among Americans without a degree, where almost 1 in 4 say they have no close friends.

1. When was the study carried out according to the passage?

A．When psychological problems arose sharply.

B．When the number of college graduates declined.

C．When Americans experienced a friend recession.

D．When concerns about college costs appeared.

2. Why are some studies mentioned in paragraph 4?

A．To provide evidence for the research.	B．To analyze the reasons for loneliness.
C．To show the importance of marriage.	D．To compare differences in generations.

3. In which column of a magazine may this passage appear?

A．Entertainment.

B．Education.

C．Technology.

D．Health.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Social problems in the American society.

B．Reasons for Americans’ low marriage rates.

C．Links between education and social interaction.

D．Discussions about whether to get a college degree.

7 . One way to prevent anxiety from getting out of control is to recognise its benefits. It is a mistake to think that we’d make better decisions if only we keep our feelings under control. Instead, a mix of feelings like anxiety and logical thinking leads to sound decision-making. It’s true that there is plenty of research showing that higher levels of anxiety can make us more likely to avoid risks in our decision-making. There is also evidence that anxiety can increase the attention you pay to relevant information.

Recent studies have shown that people who are anxious about their relationships (for example,   they fear to be abandoned) tend to be better at recognising people who tell lies and are more likely to raise the alarm when danger is present.

In the real world though, it’s worth realising that feeling anxious once in a while is extremely common. It communicates to others that you care, and what’s more, it’s probably a sign that you are intelligent. At least two published studies have identified that people who score higher on measures of anxiety also tend to perform better on intelligence tests. This seems reasonable: if you’re a thinker, you are sure to be always thinking about the future and imagine possible plots, including bad ones.

The important thing, if you are a worrywart (杞人忧天者), is not to let your fear destroy your dreams. And don’t bury your head in the sand. Instead, act on your fears—do the research as well as preparation, so rather than walking blindly into that which you fear, you meet the challenge in full readiness.   

When anxiety beats you, or casts a shadow over your life, this is a serious problem. No one is denying that. But like everyday anxiety of this kind that you feel before a presentation or an interview,   you needn’t see it as your enemy. Anxiety is an important feeling, developed through evolution. As for people who are fairly anxious by nature, there is reason for cheer, too. Your nerves are a sign of your watchfulness. Listen to them and act on them. Then you can turn your nervousness into your advantage.

1. What is the theme of the passage?

A．Effective ways to prevent anxiety.

B．Unexpected benefits of anxiety.

C．Tips on how to keep a good mood.

D．Common misunderstandings about anxiety.

2. What can we infer from the first paragraph about anxiety?

A．It can enable us to be more focused.

B．It can stop us from thinking logically.

C．It can make us more willing to take risks.

D．It can be the only reason for all bad decisions.

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Anxious people are less sensitive to danger.

B．Anxious people have difficulty discovering liars.

C．Feeling anxious is more likely to put people at risk.

D．Feeling anxious occasionally is a sign of intelligence.

4. How should we deal with anxiety in the author’s opinion?

A．Regard it as our enemy.

B．Take action to control it.

C．Avoid being defeated by it.

D．Treat it as a minor feeling.

8 . How to Communicate With a Deaf Person

Communicating with a deaf person doesn’t have to be as difficult as it might seem. The trick is to be patient, straightforward, and to remember that deaf people communicate visually.

Method1:Starting Your Conversation

    1     You can do this by moving into the person’s field of vision and waving from a polite distance, or by tapping the person gently on the shoulder.

Position yourself carefully. Make sure that the light in the room is shining directly onto your face, and that you’re not standing with your back to a light.    2    

Find out how the person prefers to communicate. Some deaf people are better lip-readers than others. Some deaf people may prefer to write back and forth or to use an interpreter. Man interactions between the deaf and the hearing require a combination of these methods.    3    

Method2:Communicating Through Lip-reading.

Keep your sentences simple and use plain language.    4     The more complex your phrasing and vocabulary, the more likely your deaf companion is to miss something.

When someone else is speaking, don’t turn away from the deaf person in your group.    5     You don’t have to look at the deaf person while someone else is talking, but try to make sure your face is visible.

A．Get the person’s attention.

B．It’s important not to talk too quickly.

C．Or, they’ll miss parts of the conversation.

D．If so, it’ll make them feel left out of the conversation.

E．Stand directly in front of the person,at a normal distance.

F．The best way to know which methods are most effective is to ask.

G．Try not to be too difficult when using your words in the beginning.

10 . In the workplace, there are many different cultures that coexist — including the company culture, the local culture of the business and the national or regional cultures of employees.

The culture of the workplace starts with the company’s vision, mission and core values and helps the leadership team manage the employees. It affects all major operations, including recruiting and onboarding employees, providing employees with compensation (赔偿金) and benefits and rewarding employees for good behavior. It also informs the way an organization trains and develops its staff, how it promotes employees and any workplace traditions it follows.

The work environment is deeply affected by the culture of the organization. For example, if one of the main elements of the workplace culture is teamwork, employees will know how important it is to help one another. They will be less competitive with each other, and will instead focus on succeeding together. Such a cultural characteristic can enable teams to be highly productive and motivated.

Local culture affects the way people behave in the workplace. For example, if it is a custom in local culture to spend a lot of time enjoying the natural landscape, then many employees will place importance on that activity as well. This may mean that employees spend their evenings and weekends hiking in the woods or swimming at the beach.

Employers can use elements of local culture to connect with and motivate their employees. Using this example of cultural behavior, the workplace can offer outdoor recreational passes as prizes for hitting business targets. In addition, having company functions outside at the beach or at a local park can further engage and inspire employees.

In today’s global economy, it’s common for workplaces to be made up of people from different national and regional cultures. Being culturally sensitive and aware helps employees to communicate effectively with their teammates and work toward shared goals. It’s important for employers to take cultural diversity into account when establishing their workplace policies. Teach employees how to be culturally sensitive to their colleagues and customers who have different cultural backgrounds. This can be done through cultural sensitivity training, and by learning about fellow workers. Consider creating a cross-cultural etiquette PDF and documenting how different cultures behave with regard to specific aspects of work. National and regional cultures can affect the way people communicate with one another, the holidays they celebrate and their relationship to time.

1. Which one does good workplace culture NOT contribute to?

A．The rise of level of performance in the workplace.

B．The promotion of workplace traditions.

C．The building of teamwork.

D．The more competitive working environment.

2. Why should the workplace offer outdoor activities as for achieving business goals if it is a tradition to enjoy the scenery?

A．It matches employees’ hobby.

B．It is a way for the employees to get close to nature to relax themselves.

C．It is a cultural behavior used to effectively motivate the employees.

D．It is a custom to follow.

3. How can an international company make its employees get along with each other?

A．By giving business training.

B．By cultivating cultural awareness.

C．By reading a cross-cultural custom PDF instead of paper.

D．By changing the holidays its employees celebrate and their relationship to time.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Local culture.	B．Nature and outdoor activities.
C．Cultural behavior in the workplace.	D．Cultural diversity.