1 . We often think about relationships on a scale from positive to negative. We are drawn to loving family members, caring classmates and supportive mentors. We do our best to avoid the cruel uncle, the playground bully and the jerk boss.

But the most harmful relationships aren’t the purely negative ones. They’re the ones that are a mix of positive and negative. We often call them frenemies, supposed friends who sometimes help you and sometimes hurt you. But it’s not just friends. It’s the in-laws who volunteer to watch your kids but devalue your parenting. The manager who praises your work but denies you a promotion.

Groundbreaking research led by the psychologists Bert Uchino and Julianne Holt-Lunstad shows that ambivalent (矛盾情绪的) relationships can be damaging to your health — even more than purely negative relationships.

Even a single ambivalent interaction can cause harm. In one experiment, people talked about controversial (具有争议性的) topics in front of a friend who offered feedback. The researchers had randomly assigned the friend to give ambivalent or negative comments. Receiving mixed feedback caused higher blood pressure than pure criticism. “I would have gone about the topic differently, but you’re doing fine” proved to be more distressing than “I totally disagree with everything you’ve said.”

The evidence that ambivalent relationships can be bad for us is obvious, but the reasons can be harder to read — just like the relationships themselves.

One reason is that ambivalent relationships are unpredictable. With a clear enemy, you put up a shield when you cross paths. With a frenemy, you never know whether Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde is going to show up. Feeling unsure can break the body’s calming system and activate a fight-or-flight response. It’s unsettling to hope for a hug while also preparing for a likely quarrel.

Another factor is that unpleasant interactions are more painful in an ambivalent relationship. It’s more distressing to be let down by people you like sometimes than by people you dislike all the time. When someone stabs you in the back, it stings more if he’s been friendly to your face.

1. Which of the following can be considered as a frenemy?

A．Your neighbor’s kid who advises you to study hard but kill his own time.

B．Your classmate who admires your hard work at first, but doubts your intelligence later.

C．Your mother’s friend who encourages you to spend more time on homework but less on smart phones.

D．Your father’s colleague who proposes you to do a reasonable amount of homework while ensuring enough sleep.

2. What does the underlined word “distressing” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Upsetting.

B．Satisfying.

C．Inspiring.

D．Confusing.

3. Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?

A．The negative impact of ambivalent interactions is strong.

B．Ambivalent relationships have a long-lasting effect on your well-being.

C．The common cause of high blood pressure is ambivalent relationship.

D．Interactions in ambivalent relationships are more painful than those in negative ones.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Negative relationships are bad for health.	B．Ambivalent relationships are unpredictable.
C．Ambivalent Relationships are the most harmful.	D．Positive relationships are better than negative ones.

2 . While scientists have many ideas, they are not certain why humans yawn(打哈欠). Still, there is one thing experts know—yawns seem to be contagious(传染)!

Have you ever caught a yawn from someone else? Most people have. In fact, a person is six times more likely to yawn after seeing someone else do so. Experts have done many studies into why yawns seem to pass from person to person. As a result, they have a few theories(理论) for the reason behind it.

One possible explanation has something to do with social mirroring, which is caused by mirror neurons(镜像神经元) in the brain. These mirror neurons help the brain notice useful behavior of others and then copy it. When one person sees another yawn, his mirror neurons observe the action and consider it to be beneficial. That may cause him to yawn, too.

Another popular theory is that yawns are contagious because of social relationships. Being social creatures, humans form friendships, families and live together in groups. That’s why many people mirror others, such as smiling when another person smiles. Yawning may be just another example of this. In fact, research has shown that one is most likely to catch yawns from another person if the two share a social relationship.

The answer could even be that yawns aren’t truly contagious at all. Instead, people yawn together simply because they’re in the same environment. Experts say many things may cause yawning, including temperature and time of day. Whatever the explanation is, experts do know that contagious yawns aren’t limited to humans. One study found that lions in South Africa also caught each other’s yawns.

1. What kind of behavior may be copied by mirror neurons?

A．Important and attractive.	B．Useful and beneficial.
C．Hard to understand.	D．Easy to copy.

2. Whose yawns are people most likely to catch according to Paragraph 4?

A．Those who yawn a lot.	B．Those who like smiling.
C．Those closely connected with them.	D．Those sharing the same interest with them.

3. What might the author continue talking about in the following paragraph?

A．Tips on how to avoid yawning in public.

B．A real explanation for contagious yawning.

C．Other examples of animals yawning together.

D．Things that may cause yawning among humans.

4. Which of the following serves as the best title?

A．Why yawns are contagious	B．What causes people to yawn
C．Who yawns more than others	D．Why humans yawn now and then

3 . How to Deal with Nosy (好管闲的) People

Nosy people are everywhere. They are just too much for us to tolerate. However, no matter what type of nosy people you meet, there are ways you can use to get out of the situation.       1    

Respond. Do not react.

When someone starts asking personal questions one after another, you might get confused as to why. When you find yourself in this situation, remind yourself to slow down.     2     Be mindful of the situation and try to respond wisely. You don’t owe (欠) an answer to the other person.

Answer them reasonably without showing too much.

One great way is to give a satisfactory answer without saying too many details. This way, you will satisfy their curiosity and keep your personal boundaries (界线) .     3     For instance, your loved one might ask, “I heard you had a fight with your husband. What happened?” You could say, “Nothing serious. We are fine.” This will let them know you are fine and you needn’t say the details!

    4    

Sometimes, you just don’t feel like answering the other person’s questions. It could be because they have no business knowing the details. It could also be that they are rude. So, if someone asks you a personal question, you could politely decline to answer by saying, “Sorry, but I am not comfortable discussing my private matters like this.”

Show a lack of enthusiasm.

Your body language tells a lot about you. It tells other people whether you are interested in talking to them, whether you are having a good time and so on. So, if you want to communicate that you don’t appreciate them being nosy, you can do so with your body language. How do you do this? Easy! Just show a lack of enthusiasm.       5    

A．Avoid talking with them.

B．Politely decline to answer.

C．So, give yourself time to react.

D．There is no need to feel rushed at all!

E．Use this way when the other person is a loved one.

F．Give brief answers and don’t look them in the eye too much.

G．Follow the ones below and you will find it easy to deal with them.

4 . 为了迎接“世界问候日（World Hello Day）”的到来，你校将举办相关主题的英文演讲比赛。请你写一篇演讲稿参赛，内容包括：
1.节日意义；
2.发出呼吁。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Hello everyone,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you!

5 . 阅读下面材料, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Communicating with the old can be challenging, especially when considering the fact    1     their abilities are failing.

First of all, you are supposed to respect the old’s thoughts, backgrounds and life experience. Do not correct their opinions even when you can’t reach any     2     (agree). And when old people are talking, listen     3     (careful). Let them finish because letting them express their thoughts and emotions     4     (be) important.

When you’re together with them, try to know if they would like     5     (chat) or be quiet. And     6     you feel they want to be quiet, just be there, because     7     (spend) time with them is as important as talking to them or cheering them up.

As communication with old people can be difficult, it is     8     (importance) to be always patient. When you are explaining something     9     them, you should remain patient when they ask you to repeat yourself. Try using gestures while you talk with them, or write down what you want to say when     10     is necessary.

7 . 语法填空

When someone has     1     (deep) hurt you, it can be very difficult to let go of your anger. But forgiveness is possible and it can be surprisingly     2     (benefit) to your physical, and mental health. So far research     3     (show) that people who forgive can have more energy, better appetite and better sleep. “People who forgive show     4     (little) anger and more hopefulness,” says Dr. Frederic Luskin, who wrote the book Forgive for Good. “So it can help reduce the tiredness out of the immune system and allow people to feel more energetic.”

So when someone has hurt you, cool down first. Take a couple of breaths and think of something     5     gives you pleasure: a beautiful scene in nature, or someone you love. Don’t wait for them     6     (apologize). “Many times the person who hurt you may never think of apologizing.” says Dr. Luskin. “They may have wanted to hurt you or they just don’t see things in     7     same way. So if you wait for people to say sorry, you could be waiting a very long time.”

Next, keep in mind that forgiveness does not necessarily mean     8     (accept) the action of the person who upsets you. Instead, learn to look for the love, beauty and     9    (kind) around you.Finally, try to see things from the other person’s perspective (视角). You may realize that he or she was acting out of ignorance. To gain perspective, you may want to write a letter    10     yourself from that person’s point of view.

8 . 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.

2. What’s the problem of Generation-Y in the author’s eyes?

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.

3. Why do many young people avoid meeting new people?

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.

4. Why does the author write the text?

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.