2 . Think about that. If you are anything like me, you struggle to ask for help when you need it. It’s something a lot of humans battle with. You don’t want to be a burden on others. You are afraid to speak up, or want to prove that you can do it yourself.

You don’t ask for help when you don’t know how to do something or can’t manage it on your own, because you might be afraid of looking stupid or incompetent. You might pretend like you know what you’re doing when you’re really drowning. Perhaps you think asking for help is a sign of weakness; that if you ask for help you’re admitting you’re inadequate in some way; that you lack knowledge, skill or experience to do something yourself. You don’t want anyone to see that you’re struggling and you want people to think that you’re in control and can handle things.

There are tons of reason you won’t ask for help, but not to do so can be a mistake. You get in your own way if you make asking for help mean something negative about you when it doesn’t. Asking for help doesn’t mean you’re stupid or inadequate. It simply means you need help with something specific for a time.

Confident people often ask others for help. They do so not only because they’re secure enough to let it be known they need help, but they know that trying to do everything themselves is not always the best use of their time, skills or energy. They recognize it can leave them feeling overwhelmed and stressed and then they can’t do things properly. Confident people find someone who’s good at what they need to learn or get done and then ask for their help and guidance. They know that asking, “Can you help me?” shows respect for the other person’s knowledge and abilities. Otherwise, they wouldn’t ask.

1. What is the author’s personality like?

A．He shows great love to others.	B．He hesitates to ask others for help.
C．He looks down upon other people.	D．He dislikes those who pretend to know.

2. What does the underlined word “incompetent” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Indifferent.

B．Unqualified.

C．Determined.

D．Devoted.

3. Confident people will find it quite natural to ________.

A．offer help to other people	B．respect others’ abilities
C．promote their abilities	D．turn to others for help

4. Through this text, the author is trying to ________.

A．advise us to learn more knowledge	B．encourage us to bravely ask for help
C．show our respect to the people around us	D．encourage us to be more confident in our life

3 . How to Manage Conflict

●Use neutral(中立的)language.

Neutral language keeps the discussion objective and non judgmental. Inflammatory(煽动性的)language only makes the conflict worse.    1     Rephrase negative statements into neutral comments and ask sincere questions to get your coworker’s side of the story and use a calm, even-tone of voice.

●Reflect on the situation.

Show all parties that you hear and understand their concerns. Often, conflict comes from one party feeling as though they’re not being heard or understood. Take time throughout your conversation to restate what the other person says.     2    

●Work together to compromise(妥协)and find a solution.

    3    Resolve the conflict by working together and brainstorming solutions to the conflict that addresses everyone’s concerns. Write down your ideas and see if there’s one solution that both of you find fair and reasonable. A good resolution usually involves compromise—meeting half way so that you both leave satisfied.

●Make a resolution plan.

A plan defines each party’s responsibilities and prevents more conflict. After finding a solution everyone can agree on, sit down together and figure out what you’ll all do to resolve the conflict.     4    What other practices might help avoid future conflict and maintain positive communication? Ensure everyone involved cooperates on the win-win solution.

●Pick your battles.

Not all conflicts are worth holding onto at the cost of your energy. Some issues can’t be solved to the satisfaction of both parties, especially if one person rejects any negotiation. In those cases, ask yourself how much the issue at the core of the conflict matters to you. Are you willing to give in or keep dialoguing to reach a different resolution?     5    If you decide the conflict isn’t worth your energy, give the other person a simple concession.

A．Is this conflict worth your time and energy?

B．How will the immediate problem be fixed?

C．Giving in doesn’t mean saying, ”You’re right, and I’m wrong. “

D．This will help you clarify your understanding of the situation.

E．Focus on finding a solution rather than determining who is ”right".

F．Cooperation encourages everyone to stop blaming each other.

G．Instead, keep the discussion less emotional by using objective language.

4 . Part of me has always wanted to be the kind of person who breaks the ice with a stranger. When I witness that kind gregariousness (合群) in others, I feel_________; I assume their lack of reserve means they lead more exciting lives. How many tales of adventure began because someone had the_________to say hello? Talking to someone I don’t know_________low-level fear, and I avoid it entirely.

I’m not alone. In a 2022 study, Gillian Sandstrom, a psychologist, noted that people are “remarkably_________” about talking to strangers, despite research linking frequent social interactions with happiness. We tend to_________the potential for negative consequences in such encounters, and actively avoid them. As a countermeasure, she gave participants “missions” that involved initiating conversations with strangers who met certain_________(e.g., “Find someone who’s wearing a hat”). The results were_________Sandstrom s assumption: these interactions were far more pleasant than people expected them to be.

Eager to test her theory, I gave myself a week to reproduce Sandstrom’s assignment, which meant speaking to around 30 people. I had no_________not 10 try: I live in New York City and encounter hundreds of strangers.

One of my missions was to speak to someone who was eating. “Is that cream cheese?” I asked a guy on a park bench who was eating stuff. It_________a little more disrespectful than I intended, but once he realized that I wasn’t crazy, we had a(n)__________conversation. When I spoke to an attractive woman on crutches (拐杖) for my task of engaging someone who “looks sad,” I was worried she’d think of me as a pickup artist.__________, she humored me when I told her about my knee issues.

Here’s a tip: asking strangers about the bonuses of talking to strangers can be an effective strategy. I used this__________with people required to interact with the public as part of their job. Among the waiters I spoke with, a common response was that chatting with customers was one of the most enjoyable aspects of their day, providing a little burst of__________. A cafe worker told me that he was an expert at guessing a customer’s order based on their appearance—yoga clothes? black coffee—but felt a distinct joy whenever he got it wrong.

My__________didn’t transform me into a fearless extrovert (外向者). But it was a useful reminder that when it comes to keeping life interesting, it__________to make room for the occasional surprise.

1.

A．sacred

B．distressed

C．disapproving

D．envious

2.

A．nerve

B．willpower

C．sympathy

D．vision

3.

A．masks

B．eases

C．inspires

D．taps

4.

A．informed

B．pessimistic

C．expectant

D．confused

5.

A．overstate

B．demonstrate

C．exploit

D．suffer

6.

A．identification

B．resistance

C．profile

D．scale

7.

A．at the mercy of

B．in contrast to

C．for the sake of

D．in line with

8.

A．excuse

B．means

C．authority

D．regrets

9.

A．set about

B．came out

C．stood by

D．ended up

10.

A．delightful

B．awkward

C．one-sided

D．initial

11.

A．Likewise

B．Therefore

C．Plus

D．Instead

12.

A．bonus

B．receipt

C．approach

D．patent

13.

A．unpredictability

B．resolution

C．discrimination

D．inaccessibility

14.

A．persistence

B．ritual

C．experiment

D．convention

15.

A．turns out

B．pays off

C．goes on

D．falls short

5 . 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. alert                    B. connected             C. correspond             D. dismiss             E. embarrassed F. invaluable             G. judgement             H. piloted                    L. respectful             J. urge                    K. wellbeing

Are you listening? But are you really listening?

You’d think we’d be very good at listening, but do we deeply listen? Sometimes we quickly    1    another’s opinion if it doesn’t fit neatly with our own. The British Council has launched a project Crossing Divides aimed to train young people to listen and understand other people with very different perspectives.

Practicing deep listening means tuning into empathy(同理心), resisting the    2    to judge people who are distinct from oneself. It develops important skills that will make anyone a better listener: empathy, silence and becoming aware of our    3    .

The project was    4    in Lebanon, where it helped local people find common ground with each other, in a society divided by bitter years of conflict. People taking part in the project said they felt that they were being heard, helping them to feel recognized and understood, which opened communication between communities. All the participants greatly improved their listening skills, which proved    5    in their working and personal lives.

They have also had a chance to be listened to and heard, which research shows can improve    6    . This is because we all feel accepted, valued and more    7    to others when we sense that we are being truly listened to, and the person listening to us doesn’t have to agree with us for those benefits to be enjoyed.

The project is also an opportunity for participants to feel the benefit of stepping outside their own “echo chamber (回声室)”. Echo chambers are created by our natural tendency to seek out people and opinions, in person and online, that we agree with, so we mainly see and hear information and opinions that    8    to our own. Not surprisingly this leads us to think our views are definitively correct, so we become    9    or even angry when we encounter perspectives that our worldview suggests arc wrong, because they don’t agree with our own echo chamber.

So, training young people with deep listening skills can encourage many more people to take part in challenging and    10    conversations. Scott McDonald, the organization’s CEO said: “The deep listening training gets to the heart of what we do by providing opportunities for people to step out of their echo chambers, to cross divides, and build trust and understanding.”

6 . Most of us associate awe (敬畏) with something rare and beautiful: nature, music or a spiritual experience. But people can waken awe too, and not just public heroes. Research shows that we can be awed by our nearest and dearest — the people sitting next to us on the couch, chatting on the other end of the phone, looking back at us over Zoom.     1    

Often, interpersonal awe is a response to life’s big, sweeping changes, such as witnessing a baby’s first steps.     2     John Bargh said he was “truly awestruck” — by his 5-year-old daughter while dining in a McDonald’s. When she heard another child crying, she grabbed the toy from her Happy Meal, walked over to the boy and handed it to him.

Though we can’t make someone else behave in a way that’s awesome, we can prepare ourselves to notice it when they do and boost the emotion’s positive effects.

Question your assumptions. Do you believe your partner is insensitive or your sibling is selfish? There may be a little truth to that, but it’s never the whole tale.     3     To increase your chances of feeling awed by the other person, ask yourself what’s going on in his or her life that you don’t know about.

Name awe when you see it. Speaking out “Wow, that was awesome!” is a simple way to help you identify and remember a special experience. Savor (品味) it in the moment and then tell others about it. This will reinforce your positive emotions.     4     Studies show that you will feel awe again simply by remembering an awe experience.

    5     This makes the other person feel good and can give your relationship a boost. And it will help you too: Studies show that people who practice gratitude have significantly higher levels of happiness and psychological well-being.

A．Thank the person who awed you.

B．And recall it or write about it later.

C．Psychologists call this interpersonal awe.

D．It’s easy to forget that it can be awesome too.

E．But interpersonal awe does happen in smaller moments.

F．Here’s why you should recognize those moments of interpersonal awe.

G．The story you tell yourself gets in the way of catching people at their best.

7 . Most people want to live a life that feels meaningful.     1    , especially if you’re young. By exploring yourself and your passions, you will figure out what matters to you and make your life significant. Here are a handful of ways to make your life matter.

•     2    

If you want to have a meaningful life, the first step is to understand your own life story. When have you felt strongest and happiest? How you interpret the events of your life impacts how you see yourself. There’s a lot of power in being able to construct your own sense of meaning and purpose.

• Living with compassion (共情)

Compassion is key to leading a meaningful life. If you want to influence those around you in a meaningful way, try to develop a sense of compassion for others. Pay attention to the body language of those around you.     3    .

• Connecting with the world

Try to build positive, meaningful relationships with people who support you and build you up, like your friends and family.     4    . Your life will feel more meaningful if you make an effort to express yourself and your emotions.

• Giving back

    5    . Try giving back to your community through service to organizations that are important to you. However, giving back does not just mean donating your time to charity. You should also work to be kind to those around you. This can help you feel your life matters as you’ll have a positive impact on friends and family members.

A．Making lifestyle changes

B．Figuring out who you are

C．It can be difficult to make it

D．This can give you insight into their emotions

E．Pay attention to the needs of those around you

F．Volunteering can be a great way to feel your life has meaning

G．Meanwhile, self-expression is a great way to interact with the world

8 . It’s important to be able to talk to people when networking and building strong relationships. If you work in a professional role, you probably need to make small talk sometimes. However, you may don’t know how to make small talk. Don’t worry.     1    

Put your electronic devices away. The first step to making small talk is to put your devices away. This is a small but meaningful gesture in this digitalized world.     2     Giving your full attention to the person you are speaking to is good manners. Also, it offers a chance for you to build a relationship with him/her.

Listen first. In social situations, one way to show you are offering your full attention is to listen.     3     When you are listening, show you are paying attention by practising nonverbal cues like nodding and making eye contact. It’s also a good active listening practice to repeat what someone just told you.

Ask open questions.     4     For example. “How have things been?” is a better question than “Have you been alright?”. The latter requires a “yes or no” response, while the former draws out information in a conversational way.

    5     When someone tells you something in a small talk conversation, give your enthusiastic response. Your positivity not only can show you are paying attention but also might make them feel valued. This is good for building a relationship with someone you don’t know very well.

A．Respond enthusiastically.

B．Here are some tips for you.

C．They are some simple but useful methods.

D．Behave properly in response to open questions.

E．When you are talking with someone, listening is also important.

F．When you ask about the person you are speaking to, ask open-ended questions.

G．Putting your phone or computer away shows you focus on the person you are talking to.

9 . Most people enjoy variety. We like to eat different foods from meal to meal. We wear different clothes. We like to try new activities and visit new places. We become bored when there is little variety. Nevertheless, there’s one place where we tend to dislike variety, and that’s in each other. We often feel uncomfortable with people who practise different habits, or hold beliefs or values that we do not share.

There are reasons for this. When we are exposed to new and different things, our brain works a bit harder than usual. When we’re learning, our nerve cells require more resources, such as water, salt, and various other chemicals. This extra metabolic (新陈代谢的) activity can feel unsettling and unpleasant. And it can feel worse if our nervous system is already under pressure, like in the midst of the pandemic.

This sort of variation may be uncomfortable for individuals, but it’s critical to the survival of any species. If all finches (雀科鸣鸟) were identical, for example, and their environment changed in some significant, harmful ways, like an increase in the temperature or a decrease in water, all of them would be equally affected and the species might become extinct. This insight into variation comes from Charles Darwin, and it’s known as population thinking. Most people associate Darwin with his evolutionary theory of natural selection, but population thinking may be an even greater scientific achievement. The idea of “survival of the fittest” implies that individuals must vary. Some are more suited than others for a given environment, making it easier for them to survive, grow, and reproduce. Variation is therefore a prerequisite for natural selection to work.

Dealing with the vast variety of humankind can be demanding and even annoying at times, but it’s a good investment, sort of like exercise for your brain. When you meet someone who looks different or thinks differently from you, treat your discomfort as a cue to be curious and learn instead of a signal of a problem. Don’t hold the view that the other person should be silenced. Ultimately, this mindset can make you more flexible in adapting to challenging situations, and more adaptable to change.

1. Which of the following might make people feel uncomfortable?

A．Having an adventure in the wild.

B．Taking a trip to a foreign country.

C．Sharing traveling experiences with others.

D．Socializing with people from diverse cultures.

2. What does the second paragraph focus on?

A．People’s unwillingness to deal with new things.

B．The significance of learning new things in our life.

C．The biological explanations for people’s discomfort.

D．The role of the nervous system in learning new things.

3. What does the underlined word “prerequisite” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Requirement.

B．Substitute.

C．Motivation.

D．Challenge.

4. What does the writer mainly want to convey?

A．Why we tend to chase and enjoy variation.

B．How we can benefit from seeking variation.

C．How we should treat the differences we find in others.

D．Why we should get along with people different from us.

10 . In this day and age, gadgets have become a significant part of our daily lives. While it does make people’s lives easier, there are disadvantages.    1    You might have noticed how everyone is constantly clicking their phones, iPad, and others portable devices. Disconnecting from gadgets might be challenging, but there are ways to spend time with your friends without using these gadgets.

Turn off Gadgets

    2    Turning off your gadgets could be the first step you can do. It could also be one of the house rules when you are together. However, you and your friends should agree on this matter before implementing it in your get-together to avoid any misunderstanding.

Start Playing with Classic Board Games

Before the trend of high-tech gadgets, board games had always been the source of entertainment when a group of friends wanted to have some fun. Meeting with your friends could be the best time to bring these classic board games back.    3    

Bond over Food

Eating together is a chance to bond, de-stress, and relax.    4    The same study also found out that eating together involves laughter and reminiscing. Laughter is known to trigger the endorphin system, which, in return, promotes primate and human social bonding.

Have a Heart-to-Heart Talk

Entertainment isn’t the only way to interact with your friends.    5    You don’t know what your friends are going through, and making room for a heart-to-heart talk might be what they need.

A．There are many different games you can search online.

B．One is how gadgets seem to be taking over people’s social relationships.

C．Evening meals are considered significantly more valuable for building friendships.

D．One study suggested social eating has evolved as a mechanism for improving social bonding.

E．If you want to spend quality time with each other, all of you need to sacrifice your screen time.

F．While it’s essential to enjoy your get-together, going into a purposeful conversation is also important.

G．Though they have digital equivalents, you may still get benefits when playing them in the traditional way.