1 . Volunteering offers great help to people in need, but the benefits (好处) can be even greater for you, the volunteer.

    1    . Being a volunteer helps you make new friends and improve your social skills. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, especially if you are new to an area. It develops your ties to the community, broadens your support network and offers you chances to know people with common interests and fun activities.

    2    , others are shy and have a hard time meeting new people. Volunteering gives you the opportunity to practice and develop your social skills, since you are meeting regularly with a group of people with common interests.

Volunteering is good for your mind and body.     3    . Nothing reduces (减少) stress better than a meaningful connection to another person. Working with pets and other animals has also been shown to improve mood and reduce stress and anxiety. Studies have found that older volunteers are likely to walk more and find it easier to sleep regularly.     4    .

If you’re considering a new job, volunteering can help you get experience in your area of interest and meet people in the field.     5     , volunteering gives you the opportunity to practice important skills used in the workplace, such as teamwork communication, problem solving and organization. You might feel more comfortable stretching (伸展) your wings at work once you have improved these skills in a volunteer position first.

A．Volunteering increases self-confidence

B．Volunteering connects you to others

C．Even if you're not planning on changing your job

D．While some people are naturally outgoing

E．It provides many benefits to both mental and physical health

F．Many people volunteer in order to make time for hobbies outside of work

G．Volunteering can also reduce the risk of heart disease

2 . Office Manners

Be punctual. As a newcomer, you should arrive early, not just on the first day and don’t be the first to leave at the end of the day.    1    It shows that you respect your colleagues’ time and, in return, they will respect your time, too.

Respect other people’s privacy. Knock before you enter someone’s office and do not read any correspondence lying on somebody’s desk. If you need to discuss a private matter with a colleague, make sure nobody else can overhear you.    2    

Be neat and clean.    3     It shows respect for both your colleagues and clients and is a sign that you are professional. Keep your personal workspace clean and neat at all times, for a messy desk will make people think that you’re an unorganized person.

    4    Remember to leave the photocopier in working condition. Return the stapler (订书机) that you borrowed with at least a few staples left inside. When you use up all the paper in the printer, put more in it for the next person. If a machine jams, try to undo the jam or to tell somebody else about it.

Don’t disturb others. Always apologize if you interrupt a discussion, someone’s concentration or other activities. Be aware of how loudly you may be speaking. If people in other offices comment on your conversations, perhaps your voice is too loud.    5    

In short, office manners are about being respectful and polite in the office. It is an essential part of growing professionally and becoming a more mature person in the business world.

A．Be considerate.

B．Be polite to everyone.

C．Don’t be late for any appointment.

D．Show appreciation for any help offered to you.

E．Personal issues should not be made into a public topic.

F．You should either close your office door or lower your voice.

G．Take a shower regularly and wear appropriate office clothes.

3 . Being a leader in any environment earns you trust among peers and helps you get things done, whatever the task is. Let us show you how to develop leadership skills.

Assess yourself.     1     It’s about looking at yourself objectively, seeing your behaviors and attitudes from the outside, and observing how you may come across to other people. For instance, you may know your intentions are good, but perhaps your delivery doesn't quite translate that.

Address areas of improvement. Be open to testing new ideas and trying new ways of doing things, especially if it seems your old ways of doing things don’t work.     2     If you struggle to see yourself objectively enough to figure out which areas need improvement, a leadership coach may be able to help.

Be a good problem-solver.     3     So being quick on your feet and decisive in how you deal with problems will put you ahead of the game as a leader.

    4     You don’t have to agree with everything someone says, but you must be willing to receive feedback about your own performance, as well as opinions on other important issues. Being flexible and curious about the wants, needs, and ideas of others will develop a much more respectful, effective, and positive environment for everyone.

Encourage others. Building leadership skills requires knowing how to work well with people. Staying in the know about what goes on in your community is important, but responding to that information with enthusiasm is equally critical.     5    

A．Accept responsibility.

B．Be open to the opinions of others.

C．Building leadership skills requires plenty of self-awareness.

D．Unexpected challenges will arise often and at lightning speed.

E．Let go of the need to stick to your plan and be flexible instead.

F．Recognizing the past can't be changed helps you make wiser choices in the future.

G．So be a source of positivity and support others in working toward their own goals.

4 . Like the rest of us, scientists have long suspected the healing capacity (修复能力) of a good hug. Unlike the rest of us, they’ve gone about trying to prove it.

“Laboratory studies suggest that things like hugs help us feel safer. They can also make us less sensitive to physical pain and less reactive when we’re faced with threatening experiences,” says Michael Murphy. He is a research professor in the department of psychological sciences at Texas Tech University. “This lab work has shown that hugs and other touch behavior are related to stress. The more stress we have, the more our heart rates and blood pressure go up. At this time, hugs and other forms of personal touch may give off all sorts of feel-good chemicals, so that stress can be reduced.”

“There’s a lot that we still need to learn, and there’s a lot we don’t know,” Murphy says. “However, what seems to be rising up is that hugs, as well as other forms of loving and gentle touch, are really powerful. They remind people that they’ re cared about and that they have someone in their corner.”

We expect touch. When we were born, we were placed in our mothers’ arms almost immediately. In that first year of our life, we spend a lot of time being held by other people. And as we grow up, we seek out hugs and touch as a way of connection. I think what we have lost in the past few years are these really easy opportunities to be reminded of connection.”

While he was at Carnegie Mellon, Murphy was the lead author of a hug-centered 2018 article in the scientific journal PLOS One. In a series of interviews with 404 adults over a two-week period, the researchers found that receiving a hug is associated with the attenuation of negative emotions that occur on days with interpersonal conflicts. That is to say, generally, hugs help to reduce the negative impacts that personal conflicts may cause in our daily lives.

1. What can we infer about hugs from the laboratory studies?

A．They show people’s good social relationships.

B．They can cure us of our mental disease.

C．They can put much pressure on people.

D．They make us feel calm and at ease.

2. Why do people seek out hugs and touch as they grow up?

A．To recall childhood memories.

B．To keep connected with others.

C．To solve relationship problems.

D．To express their social politeness.

3. What does the underlined word “attenuation” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．Expression.	B．Influence.
C．Suffering.	D．Reduction.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Power of Hugs

B．How to Reduce Stress

C．How to Care for Others

D．The Importance of Interpersonal Relations

5 . Their man-servant had been sent one morning to Exeter on business, and when he waited at table, he began to chat with his mistress.

“I suppose you know, ma’am, that Mr. Ferrars is married.”

Marianne gave a violent start, fixed her eyes upon Elinor, saw her turning pale, fell back in her chair and lost control of her emotions. Mrs. Dashwood was shocked to realize by Elinor’s expression how much she really suffered.

Mrs. Dashwood immediately took all that trouble on herself;, and Elinor had the benefit of the information without the effort of seeking it.

“Who told you that Mr. Ferrars was married, Thomas?”

“I see Mr. Ferrars myself, ma’am, this morning in Exeter, and his lady too, Miss Steele as was. They were stopping in a chaise at the door of the New London Inn, and she knew me and called to me, and inquired after you, maam, and the young ladies, especially Miss Marianne.”

“But did she tell you she was married, Thomas?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She smiled, and said how she had changed her name since she was in these parts.

“Was Mr. Ferrars in the carriage with her?”

“Yes, ma’am, I just see him leaning (倚靠) back in it, but he did not look up -he never was a gentleman much for talking.”

Elinor’s heart could easily account for his not putting himself forward; and M, Dashwood probably found the same explanation.

“Was there no one else in the carriage?” “No, ma’am, only they two.”

“Do you know where they came from?”

“They come straight from town, as Miss Lucy-Mrs. Ferrars told me.” “And are they going farther westward?”

“Yes, ma’am, but not to bide long. They will soon be back again, and then they’d be sure and call here.”

Thomas’s intelligence seemed over. Elinor looked as if she wished to hear more, Mrs. Dashwood could think of no other question, and Thomas and the tablecloth, were soon afterwards dismissed. Mrs. Dashwood’s and Elinor’s appetites were completely lost. They remained long together in a similarity of thoughtfulness and silence.

1. What’s Elinor’s reaction at the news from the man servant?

A．She lost control of her emotions.	B．She fell back in her chair, crying.
C．She went pale from suffering a lot.	D．She exploded with great anger.

2. Why does Mrs Dashwood ask so many questions?

A．She was only too curious about the couple.

B．She wanted to find out who the bridegroom was.

C．She wanted to satisfy her daughters with her questions.

D．She wanted to cheer her daughters up with the news.

3. How does the servant sound when answering questions?

A．Confident.

B．Doubtful.

C．Sad.

D．Regretful.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The lady the servant met with was not Lucy.

B．Mr. Ferrars was not in the carriage at all.

C．The servant concluded without seeing Mr. Ferrars.

D．The news ruined the mother and daughter's desire for food.

6 . Improve Your Relationships

Having stable and positive relationships in your life can make you happier and more fulfilled. Whether it's your friends, family, or significant other, improving a relationship can sometimes be confusing.     1    

Express your appreciation for the person.

    2     Notice the positive things that the person is doing and go out of your way to show your appreciation for them. You can also show your appreciation by remembering important events like anniversaries or birthdays.

    3    

If you hardly see each other or talk to each other, it can be difficult to maintain a relationship. Take extra time out of your day and devote it to the person that you want to improve relations with. Try to work around the other person's schedule so that you can spend the time together. You can share a meal, watch a show, listen to music, or go shopping with them.

Turn off distractions.

Distractions like a cell phone, social media, or video games can create a division in between you and another person. If you notice that you are always distracted, you should turn off your cell phone or computer and talk to them.     4    

Seek therapy(心理治疗) if you can't get along.

To fix or improve family relationships or relationships with your significant other, you can turn to therapy. If you notice that you and the person are always arguing over the same kinds of things, and nothing has worked, you should consider seeking therapy with them.     5     And family therapy may be able to restore bonds between family members.

A．Spend more time with the person.

B．Maintain a relationship if possible.

C．People often like to be praised for achievements.

D．A specialist can help solve long­term issues in the relationship.

E．If they are the one always distracted, ask them if they can do the same.

F．Follow the tips and you can develop good relationships with your family.

G．Luckily, by adjusting your behaviour, you can improve any relationship in your life.

7 . Years of exposure to Americans has, at last, convinced me of something about their food culture. I now think they’re correct in one of life’s great dilemmas: when eating at a restaurant, it is really fine to politely send your food back if it is not what you ordered, or covered in cheese when you asked for no cheese, etc.

Of course, the idea makes me feel anxious; the British fear of making a scene is planted in my soul. But what persuaded me, in the end, was realizing how self-centered that fear actually is. Are you really such a big deal that your no-cheese request will embarrass your fellow diners, ruin the waiter's day, and send waves of shock through the kitchen? Face it: you're not. Instead, you're in the situation of what might be termed “egocentric reticence (以自我为中心的沉默).”

Egocentric reticence raised its head again the other day in a study about gratitude, which found that people underestimate how much delight a thank-you note can bring. The psychologists Amit Kumar and Nicholas Epley had people send grateful messages to someone who'd made a difference to their lives. Again and again, they found, senders assumed their words would lead to less happiness and more awkwardness than they really did, and that recipients would judge their letter-writing competence cruelly, too. Even in the seemingly selfless context of expressing gratitude, senders couldn’t help giving too much weight to their own perspective. So if you stop yourself from sending someone a thank-you note because you're worried you'll make them feel awkward or annoyed, you are letting egocentrism prevent an action that would have made both of you happier.

The most acute form of egocentric reticence, surely, is extreme shyness. “Shyness is just egotism out of its depth,” famous actress Penelope Keith once told an interviewer. The quote was later regarded as a line the writer Sadie Stein credits with curing her own shyness. “For some reason, the clear cruelty of that quote was what I needed, ” Stein wrote. “OK, I thought... No one is looking at you.”

1. Before contacting Americans, the author thought sending restaurant food back was ________.

A．certainly a customer's right

B．fine to do just in some cultures

C．acceptable but not worthy sometimes

D．embarrassing and would cause trouble

2. If someone is in a situation of egocentric reticence, he might ________.

A．hesitate to do something due to self-centered reasons

B．keep sending waves of shock to others

C．be ignorant of other people's feelings

D．do something extremely embarrassing

3. What did the study about gratitude find?

A．People may regard sending grateful messages unimportant.

B．It's common for Americans to send a thank-you letter.

C．It's important to thank others after being helped.

D．People often take a thank-you note for granted.

4. What does Sadie Stein's story tell us?

A．We sometimes need shyness to behave well.

B．We should pay no attention to other people's thoughts.

C．We can overcome our shyness by removing our egotism.

D．We should avoid being exposed to other people's focus.

8 . Tips for Submitting a Good Letter of Recommendation

If you consider applying for any colleges abroad, one of the most important parts is the recommendation letter. Its purpose is to give universities a complete picture of you.

    1    

But a credible (可信的) reference saying you’ve consistently worked hard on a project can be the difference between getting accepted or rejected.

Choose the right references

Universities want to know how well you work under pressure and how you react to criticism, basically your characteristics, abilities and mentality. A good referee (推荐人) should have a solid professional relationship with you and be able to communicate your academic and personal strengths.

    2    

Most universities ask for two recommendation letters. They are regularly split between a school professor and an extracurricular (课外的) source. Undoubtedly, it’s good to show your skills in the subject you want to study.     3    

Time

Professionals can sometimes find it hard to make time for writing recommendations.     4     So give them plenty of time and send them a link of your university’s recommendation letter guidance page, if possible.

Clear goals

Don’t be afraid to ask your referees to include certain qualities or examples you want to highlight. You should inform at least one of your referees about your career goals, grades and recent projects. They may not be referenced. But giving referees additional evidence to back up their points can make the letter more convincing.

    5     It’s where you can find what a university lays stress on, as well as some important information such as deadlines and so on.

A．Make sure to know more about your university.

B．You can write that you’re hard-working yourself.

C．They can be quite occupied during application season.

D．The more information you include, the better it may be.

E．Don’t forget to check each university’s guidelines for reference letters.

F．Examples of how you have demonstrated them are needed to add more credibility.

G．But other abilities that may not be apparent in the classroom can be equally valuable.

9 . When I was seven, my parents explained to me that my sister would be different.     1     But now I realize I see the world in a much different way, all thanks to her.

Throughout our lives, my sister has often got stared at because she has Down syndrome (唐氏综合征), which makes her appear abnormal. There were times when I had to struggle with her.     2     I simply thought. “Everyone else is just staring and that is wrong. They should offer us help instead of staring at us like it’s a circus act (马戏表演).”

I had this in mind when I was traveling alone recently and saw a mother and a son with special needs at the airport gate.     3     They were heading towards the gate of their second departure of the day. The mother was obviously stressed out and trying to keep her son calm while some items were falling out of her un-zipped (拉开拉链的) backpack. The son was pulling strangers’clothes, and she appeared to be embarrassed about it. Then the boy began to scream, looking very scared and confused.

Some people gave the son and mother strange looks, the same kind of looks my sister and I would sometimes get.     4     I tried to help calm the boy down by assuring him he was going to see his grandmother as his mom kept telling him. When the boy finally calmed down, I returned to my seat. At the time, an older gentleman turned around and said to me. “I thought about doing what you did, but I just thought about it. You did it.”

To be honest. I didn’t even really regard what I did as something different or good.     5    

A．They had got off another plane.

B．People would stare at us even more.

C．I don’t know what I should do to help.

D．But I went up and asked if I could lend a hand.

E．I just consider it as the only choice in that situation.

F．I was so angry that I shouted loudly at the strangers.

G．I had no idea what impact she would have on my daily life.

10 . Don't brag(炫耀)，but be proud of what you've done. These two pieces of advice were tough to balance before Facebook existed.    1    We are unable to draw a line between a humble bragging and a straight-up bragging. But we certainly know that oversharing doesn't do your friendship any favors.

Social media like Facebook bring us convenience.    2    Once upon a time, only your family and close friends would be there to see you eagerly open presents on Christmas morning. Now the photo you take on your iPhone will likely become a touch-up Instagram in about 15 seconds. Maybe you just post it subconsciously. But your sharing behavior could easily be considered annoying or even narcissistic(自恋的).

    3    Maybe we should all be asking ourselves the question before hitting the share button. As our personal fame grows alongside our social media presences, so does the number of people we could potentially impress or bother.

According to Therapist Jessica Michaels, providing "emotional context" may help prevent what might be seen as a bragging. Think about how you say something, not just what you say. Frame it in a way that makes it more of a sharing idea. For example, if you plan a party for Christmas, you could post "Hey friends of mine! Let's plan this together. Maybe we could all go." instead of saying "Oh I can't wait to enjoy my party."     4    

Remember, the original intention behind social media is a connector, and your true best friends definitely do want to know when things are going good for you. Next time when you post a photo of your fantastic winter vacation, for example, make sure to tag your friends.    5    

A little bit of social media love goes a long way!

A．To post or not to post?

B．Will it make me a celebrity?

C．Tell them you wish they were by your side.

D．They are the most important friends in our life.

E．Meanwhile, they can put us in danger of oversharing.

F．It makes a big difference how you express your ideas.

G．Even today's share-it-all social media haven't made it any easier.