2 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Victor Hugo said: “The most important quality for a man is kindness.” Why is kindness important?

Kindness is     1    type of behavior marked by acts of generosity, consideration, or concern for others, without     2     (expect) praise or reward.

Aristotle defined kindness     3     “helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself,     4     for that of the person helped”.

    5    (base) on experiments at Yale University using games with babies, some studies concluded     6     kindness is native to human beings. Researchers also carried out some other similar     7    (study) about the root of empathy (同理心) developing in the early months of life     8    (find) out the easy concern shown by children for their peers in distress.

Recently, Barbara Taylor and Adam Phillips     9    (stress) the element of necessary realism in adult kindness, as well as the way “real kindness changes people in the doing of it, often in unpredictable ways”.

Kindness is important because if everyone is kind, the whole world will be harmonious and     10    (benefit) to everyone.

3 . Ways to Always Be Yourself and Live Happily

Don’t aim to please others.     1     This is why you shouldn’t please others but yourself. Pleasing others can be a nice thing to do, but know where your boundaries are. Instead of always aiming to please others, you should do things for yourself as well every now and then.

Don’t worry about how others view you. Occasionally thinking about how others view you may make you change for the better.     2     You should change if you want to, and change into what or who you want to change into.

    3     Do you know who you really are? Ever since you were young, you have been conditioned to be one way or another. It may be unusual just to spend a day being your spontaneous(自然的)self, but sometimes it is the only way that you can learn how to be yourself.

Forgive yourself. Forgive yourself for thinking negatively. Forgive yourself for talking without thinking twice. Don’t think negative thoughts about yourself for taking wrong steps or making wrong decisions. This kind of thinking puts your focus on the problem and not the solution. It’s better to say good thing about yourself than to say negative things.     4    

Strive for what you want to accomplish. Being yourself does not have to mean that you have to be stuck in the status quo(现状).     5     And strive for that accomplishment. You can improve yourself while still remaining true to yourself.

A．Learn more about yourself.

B．Aim for what you want to achieve.

C．Stop being negative about yourself.

D．Saying positive things is a sign that you have forgiven yourself.

E．Committing to something and working toward it will lead to happiness.

F．But you should not be constantly wondering about what others are thinking.

G．There is a problem if you are always doing what everyone else wants to do.

4 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写 1 个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Gratitude is more than just saying “thank you”. Gratitude is a deeper appreciation for someone or something. Expressing gratitude makes us feel a positive emotion. Over the past thirty years, there    1     (be) many studies showing that writing a gratitude letter to another person offers us an opportunity    2     (escape) from negative emotions. Even if we don’t share our writing with anyone, the act of completing the exercise alone makes us happier and    3     (satisfied) with life. The more we express gratitude, the more positive we feel.

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

Building relationships and working successfully with different cultural backgrounds can seem like a major challenge. But you can enjoy the rewards, while keeping dissatisfaction to a minimum. The key to making them work is cultural competence. Essentially, cultural competence is defined as the ability to understand and interact effectively with people from different cultures.

Cultural competence is critical for everyone in today’s modern world. Living and working in a culturally diverse environment sometimes comes with differences of opinion and tension. People with strong cultural competence can resolve these issues creatively, even if a solution seems impossible at first. What’s more, thinking and caring about others with different experiences can bring out a sense of understanding. This helps to build trust between each other.

Cultural competence can be improved through training, education, and experience. Here are some simple tips to help you improve your cultural competence.

Assess yourself

The starting point is to understand your own cultural values and world view. Assess the current level of cultural competence in yourself and identify the knowledge, skills and resources that you want to acquire. This can give you an idea of your strengths and weaknesses in the area so that you can improve yourself in future.

Practice good manners

No matter whom you are dealing with, make sure that you are respecting others’ backgrounds, boundaries and customs. Pay close attention to your communication and make sure that you’re speaking to others in a kind and polite way.

Ask questions

When you don’t understand something or want to know why someone has behaved in a certain way, simply ask. Asking questions stops you making unnecessary assumptions, and shows the questions you did not understand to them.

Keep in mind that developing cultural competence is not a one-shot enterprise. It takes time and practice. Whether you are in a classroom or on campus, cultural competence plays an important role in your daily environment. Recognizing and dealing with cultural differences will create a happier setting for everyone.

1. What is cultural competence according to the passage?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why is cultural competence important for people in intercultural environment?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
>To improve our cultural competence, we should not only understand our strengths and weaknesses in this area, but also ask questions when we don’t understand others’ behaviors, even if we may speak in an impolite way.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Apart from the tips mentioned in the passage, what other way(s) can you think of to develop your cultural competence? (In about 40 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . An apology can achieve great things for both the givers and the receivers although nobody likes to admit that they were wrong.

An apology is crucial to our physical health. When we acknowledge that we are wrongdoers and express our guilt to others, we will free ourselves from the uncomfortable state. This act feels like a weight on us has been lifted.     1     Research showed that heart rate, sweat levels and facial tension decreased in victims of wrongs even when they simply imagined receiving an apology.

Apologizing affects us not just physically, but also mentally.     2     When presented with an apology, the victims may view us as imperfect human beings and find it easier to give forgiveness. In a powerful piece in Psychology Today, writer Beverly Engel described how a simple “I’m sorry” from her mother, after being estranged from each other for three years, made her relieved emotionally. But let’s be real, apologizing can be difficult.

    3     We should recognize our action did hurt someone even if our intention may not have been so. Instead of making excuses for what we did, try to bear responsibility and offer a promise to take action so that we will not repeat the behavior in future.     4    

Of course, the most effective apologies often bring a cost to our dignity, since we have to admit that we are wrong in front of others or many people.     5     As is known, it is one of the most positive actions we can take when we do something wrong—for ourselves, the others, and the relationship. So, go ahead, apologize a little more often for the things worth apologizing for.

A．There are agreed-upon ways to express our apology to others.

B．It’s a way of showing the price we paid for the wronged action.

C．A good apology affects the health of those on the receiving end, too.

D．But this can often be minor compared to the benefits of a proper apology.

E．This means we should take the blame and not try to justify it or explain it away.

F．Apologize for what you did rather than what other people might have thought about it.

G．It has the ability to disarm others of their anger and to prevent further misunderstandings.

7 . 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

9 . If you just want to come up with a fun idea that will generate enthusiasm for your community group, we have five worthy suggestions.

●    1    

Getting all your neighbors together for an afternoon or an evening on weekends can help you develop more than a nodding acquaintance with them. This is a bit simple, but things like picking a location, sending out invitations and arranging for food follow pretty organically once you start setting up strategy.

●Hold a hobby show

    2    , from face painting to woodcarving, and most are willing to share their works. From conducting a cooking contest in the public kitchen to putting on a dance show, there are hundreds of ways that you can make your neighbors show their hobbies.

●Host a nature walk

Hosting a nature walk around a neighborhood park is a good way to educate the community about green practices and conservation.    3    . In this activity neighbors actively join in the identification of the trees, birds, insects, and other wildlife you share space with.

●Hold a pumpkin painting contest

In fall, pumpkin carving is a big contest. This year, instead of slicing those orange globes into scary shapes, hold a kid-focused pumpkin decorating day.    4    . For the grownups, prepare a couple of face painting booths and let a professional to help.

●Have a treasure hunt

A treasure hunt gets people thinking creatively and actively engaged in the hunt. We really love this idea because it can be an indoor or outdoor activity, so it’s a year-round option. All you need is some gifts, a hiding place and mysterious clues. You just place a flag where the treasure should be.    5    .

A．Throw a community party

B．Everyone has a personal interest

C．Turn to neighbors in your community

D．It also helps identify some regional creatures

E．The carving contest is more suitable for grownups

F．The winner can use it to claim his prize and get the glory

G．Kids can become pumpkin reinvention masters with adults’ help

10 . Talking to someone on a train, bus, or subway can be risky yet exciting, as you never know when they’re going to get off. Starting a connection can be fun as the costs are fairly low and you can easily start and stop a conversation, or get off if things become awkward.     1    

Make eye contact. Making brief eye contact can show the persons that you’re interested and help you judge whether they are interested in you. Glance at the persons and try to hold your gaze (注视) for just a second or two.    2    If they meet your gaze, it’s likely positive. If they look away quickly or appear disinterested, it’s probably best not to approach.

Smile at the persons. If you’ve successfully met their gaze, smile at them.

    3    If they smile back, you’re likely in luck in getting them to talk to you.

If you want to start a conversation with the persons, smiling is a great way to get somebody’s attention.

    4    Make a point to appear open, comfortable and available. Do this by keeping your arms uncrossed. Stand or sit up straight and show good posture (姿势). Don’t cross your body or turn away from the persons, as these gestures can make you appear closed off or disinterested.

Approach the persons to start talking to them.     5    If you’re far away, move closer. You should be a comfortable distance where you can hear each other yet not feel awkward if the conversation doesn’t work out.

A．Use open body language.

B．Mind your manners while talking.

C．Notice how they respond to your gaze.

D．Don’t worry because you can follow some tips that make you smile.

E．Once you’ve read that the persons are interested in chatting, make a move.

F．A small but sincere smile makes you appear interested, friendly and approachable.

G．Therefore, try to get someone’s attention and start a conversation by following the tips.