1 . Have you ever wondered why different people react differently to the things you say and do? Maybe you told your parents a story that made them laugh, but found that the same story was upsetting to the kids at school. What caused them to react so differently?     1    

Boundaries are the cut-off point between what a person finds funny and charming, and what they find hurtful and inappropriate.     2     You may not always share a person’s boundaries, but it’s still important to respect them.

    3     That’s why it’s especially important to be a good listener when you’re first getting to know someone. Listening will help you get a feel for the topics they are comfortable discussing.     4     If they become withdrawn when you bring up a certain topic, or they try to change subjects, you may be making them uncomfortable. Then it is better to pull back in the conversation, and let them take the lead for a while.

While many people won’t tell you directly that you’ve made them uncomfortable, some people will.     5     In that case, it’s always best to apologize and correct the offensive behavior. Failing to take a step back can create a lot of discomfort for the people around you. Most people can forgive a one-time slip, but you should avoid making the same mistake repeatedly, which can damage a friendship.

A．You aren’t sure of a person’s boundaries.

B．Different people have different boundaries.

C．The gateway to a healthy relationship is boundaries.

D．They may tell you that you’re standing too close to them.

E．Pay attention to the way they react to your ideas and jokes.

F．A person tends to tell you directly if you’ve made a mistake.

G．The answer has something to do with a tricky concept called boundaries.

2 . How to Deal with a Colleague who Keeps Challenging Your Views

It can be difficult to develop an environment of teamwork when you continually run up against a colleague who challenges your views.     1    . This will ensure you respect one another, even when you disagree.

Handle unnecessary confrontation (对峙).

If a co-worker habitually challenges your ideas in a group discussion in a confrontational manner, don’t engage him or get into an argument. Pause for a moment, look the colleague in the eye.     2    . This will force the co-worker to either repeat his comment in front of everyone with the same level of confrontation, or soften his approach.

    3    .

There’s a time and place for everything, including professional disagreements. If a colleague interrupts you or talks over you in an effort to contradict your point or insert (插入) his own opinion, gently remind him that you still have the floor. If the colleague is challenging something you say before you have a chance to address the point, note that as well.

Agree to respect each other.

    4    . Constructive debate and brainstorming can strengthen the overall performance of the entire team. Speak to your colleague at a time when you are emotionally stable. For example, you might say, “Can we agree to a respectful and civil way to discuss matters when it’s clear there’s no one ‘right’ answer?”

Prepare rebuttals (反驳).

If a particular colleague has a long history of disagreeing with you, you might be able to anticipate his arguments or objections. Prepare rebuttals to address anything your colleague might throw at you.     5    . It also strengthens your points without being confrontational, and allows you to give him credit for his constructive comments when necessary.

A．Hold your ground.

B．Ask for peace-making.

C．This will help you support your own arguments.

D．And ask him in a calm voice to repeat what he said.

E．Here are the ways to deal with colleagues of this kind.

F．Just find ways to make peace and communicate with your colleague.

G．The bottom line is, colleagues are not going to agree with each other all the time.

3 . Do you have a hard time saying“no”? If “yes” rules your life and “no” doesn’t exist, here are some tips for you to say “no” without feeling bad.

Switch out “no” for “later”

If you’re just starting out, you don’t have to jump straight to “no”.     1     . But saying later is much easier. Make your default (预设) response to any request with “Let me get back to you later.”Don’t rely on your “laters” forever, because too many would make you unreliable in the long run.

Rehearse (排演) your “no”

Sometimes, invites or requests happen naturally and in person, requiring an answer immediately.     2    . If you’re afraid of coming off as robotic or unnatural, it helps to rehearse your lines in front of a mirror.

    3    

Offering an excuse may seem polite to decline a request, but it sets you up for an awkward situation. No matter what excuse you offer, people who are determined to get you to say “yes” will come up with a way to reel (卷轴) you in.    4    . If you say “no” to them, you can still soften the blow by being polite and appreciative.

Do offer an alternative

If the person asking you for something is someone who you want to maintain a positive relationship with, you can decrease the impact of your “no” by offering an alternative.     5    . Hence, the person won’t feel upset and you don’t feel guilty for your“no”, either. It is a win-win situation!

A．Don’t offer an explanation

B．Don’t say “yes” to others easily

C．Saying “no”at once can be tough

D．But noisy places with many people aren’t your choices

E．So it would be useful to rehearse your “no” in advance

F．Being frank with people by saying “no” doesn’t mean rude

G．The goal is to find a common ground and reach an agreement

4 . As a professional life and relationship coach, Allison Cowan has over 21 years of experience in teaching and supporting others to achieve their goals. She has dedicated her career to helping her clients gain power and awareness in their lives.

As a coach, Allison inspires her clients to overcome obstacles and achieve goals. However, her practice has come with its own share of challenges. Expanding her knowledge to meet diverse client needs has involved lots of trial-and-error searching.

Initially, Allison spent a hard time building strong and trustworthy relationships with her clients. She knew trust was critical to finding and retaining clients but was frustrated at how long the trust-building process takes.

Allison soon learned that there was no single right way to coach. To meet her clients’ different needs, she needed to become more efficient at supporting their diverse learning styles. To overcome her challenges as a coach and offer better service, she began looking for ways to customize her coaching solutions.

During her search, Allison realized Positive Psychology is a field with many different goals. “It covers so many areas, including whatever a client may go through,” she recalled. Later, she began using self-reflection tools to help her clients develop self-acceptance and self-forgiveness. She even discovered a way to help clients without a coaching goal find their purposes. She said, “There’s a lot of blame. The more they stay in blame mode, the more angry they are, and they are not able to move forward with acceptance and forgiveness. But we can find solutions in Positive Psychology.”

Whether Allison was helping clients build self-confidence, understand their attachment styles, or reframe their challenges, she quickly found that she was also learning all the time. By completing the homework Allison assigned to them, her clients were also changing. They were more engaged with their coaching and making more significant progress between their sessions. That made Allison proud. She said, “They grow and move forward at a quicker pace. That’s what coaching is about.”

1. Why is Allison’s initial trouble mentioned in the text?

A．To show her special efforts.	B．To stress her defeated career.
C．To prove the difficulty in coaching.	D．To give the reason for setting goals.

2. What did Allison do to serve her clients better?

A．She used the same coaching ways to teach them.

B．She coached them according to their own needs.

C．She tried her best to change their learning styles.

D．She helped them overcome their challenges in life.

3. What’s Allison’s attitude to Positive Psychology?

A．Doubtful.	B．Unclear.
C．Supportive.	D．Dismissive.

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Allison’s clients misunderstood what coaching is about.

B．Allison learned to build self-confidence all the time.

C．Allison’s clients helped her complete homework.

D．Allison and her clients benefited each other.

5 . I heard a story recently about a friend’s former boss. When employees would go into this person’s office to discuss something like a pay rise or promotion, the boss had a habit of greeting their request with silence. Quiet, tense seconds went slowly by, and they’d often leave, willing to take a pay cut or demotion (降职) — anything to end the terrible silence.

Embarrassing silences can be unbearable. In 2017, a study found that silence in a talk starts to be unbearable after about four seconds. There’s so much uncertainty in the air as those silent seconds went slowly by. Did I say something wrong? Does this person hate me? Am I going to get fired? But it’s worth remembering that if you don’t know what to say or do, there is always the choice to do nothing. Uncomfortable silences aren’t necessarily a bad thing, depending on how you use them.

For example, Katie Donovan is a supporter of the awkward-silence negotiating (谈判) technique. As she said, “The first step is to be silent or shut up!” If, for example, you are offered a starting salary of $40,000 when you know that the median salary for this position is $48,000, you can say something like this, “Thank you for the offer. I’m a little surprised about the salary, though. Based on my research I would have expected it to be in the $50,000 range.”

It’s a good start; there is no phrase more quietly deadly in the business world than “I’m a little surprised”. But it only works if you say this — and then say nothing. During this pause, Donovan explains, the hiring manager is likely to try to work out how serious you are and how much more to offer. “Remember,” Donovan writes, “the hiring manager most likely will increase the salary during the meeting.”

1. What would the employees often do when they met with the boss’s silence?

A．Keep silent.

B．Get angry.

C．Fight back.

D．Give in.

2. What does the author say about silence in Paragraph 2?

A．It is a basic part of communication.

B．It gives people time for themselves.

C．You don’t have to break it all the time.

D．The meaning of it varies among people.

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

A．Average.	B．Highest.
C．Final.	D．Starting.

4. What should you do after saying “I’m a little surprised”?

A．Give up your request.	B．Keep silent for a while.
C．Avoid making eye contact.	D．Continue to give your reasons.

6 . Throughout history — and probably in your own life — you’ve seen examples of good and bad leaders. They can lift you up or drag you down, praise a group effort or promote themselves.

    1    .

Leadership is said to be an art.     2    . It truly takes practice to create a team atmosphere where people are happy, excited to come to work, and excited to do the work. Here are some of the most important tips to become a great leader.

Be transparent with your team

The higher up you go, the more secrecy there is.     3    . For example, you can include your team in decisions that directly affect them, ask them for feedback on plans or share important news before it becomes public.

    4    

Being a leader isn’t just about checking off tasks and evaluating your team’s performance. Leaders should also make it their job to understand their teams as a whole, understand the people on their team as individuals, and put them in the right positions.

Seek guidance

    5    . And some leaders don’t even want to be leaders! If you find yourself unexpectedly in charge of a team, reach out to a boss you liked before and ask them for advice to guide you through this process.

A．Add value to your team

B．Study how your team works

C．But you can break that cycle of secrecy

D．It’s not something everyone can do well

E．Most leaders are not trained to be leaders

F．Put yourself in the position to do the kind of work you love

G．In short, leaders are often the difference between a great job and a terrible one

7 . How do you express gratitude in your everyday life? For me, it sometimes feels worrying: hand-writing hundreds of thank you cards after an anniversary, or making sure to eat every last bite on my plate so my grandma wouldn’t think I was ungrateful for the meal.

    1    Here are some tips about how to be better at showing gratitude.

Start a gratitude journal or write a letter. Make it a habit to put down the things that you’re thankful for.     2     There’s also some evidence that it could lower your risk of heart disease and symptoms of depression for some people. Think of someone in your life who you have not had the chance to thank. Think of a specific instance when they helped you. Then, it’s a good idea to send them a letter.     3    

    4     Look around in your immediate space, and take notice of everything that makes up your environment: the sky, the cool wind, the warmth of your sweater. The act of simply noticing and naming things is a great way to stretch your gratitude muscle as well as obtain some clarity on the strength of all the unique connections in your life.

Bear in mind the difference between saying “thanks to” and “thanks for”. Being grateful “for” something can be a little unclear or general.     5     It encourages specificity and reminds you of your connection with and responsibility to that person or thing.

A．Stretch your gratitude muscle.

B．Notice the world surrounding you.

C．Better still, deliver it in person and read it to them.

D．A habitual gratitude journal will certainly benefit us.

E．But experts say it doesn’t have to be that complicated.

F．In fact, this habit reduces materialism and enhances generosity.

G．Being grateful “to” something or someone implies a direct relationship.

8 . Asking for or accepting help can bring up a wide range of complicated emotions, like there’s the fear of being seen as needy or weak. Although accepting help from others is difficult, giving and receiving is a necessary part of life.

    1    . For many people, the difficulty in asking for or receiving help is tied to childhood. As psychologist Lisa Firestone points out, these feelings often develop from having our requests go unnoticed at an earlier age.

Sometimes these unnoticed requests are a result of neglect or because parents are too busy to notice. Maybe they were undertaking some jobs to make ends meet or didn’t have additional family support to spare.     2    . When your needs go unnoticed, it can create feelings of shame about asking for or receiving help, while also forming an extreme sense of independence.

How do you get better at accepting help? One way to get better at accepting help is to start with small requests, such as asking for directions.     3    . Practicing this in good environment can ease some of the emotions that can appear suddenly.

    4    . If you feel very uncomfortable, wait a few moments to let these feelings calm down before accepting or denying the help.

Helping others feels good. Although asking for help is hard, one way to make it a little easier is to focus on how it feels when you help others.     5    .

A．Start small and make it a habit

B．It can feel like a burden to ask for help

C．Whatever the cause is, it may affect you

D．Having needs ignored can make asking for help difficult

E．We grow up in situations where help comes with duties attached

F．And remember that the same thing applies when others are helping you

G．Another way to get better at accepting help is to listen to your internal reactions

9 . Friendship is a practice of unconditional love, an opportunity to grow together towards fulfillment (成就), and a journey to unfold the most precious capacities of a human being.     1    Here 4 key points to develop and sustain a true friendship.

    2    Many times we blame the other person for what we feel, without realizing that we are presenting the bad power to him/her. This is not, however, something we must be afraid of or we should avoid. When we create a bond of affection with another human being, we are automatically vulnerable to the actions that are produced by this person. Being aware of that, we would be better off if we take responsibility and accept the emotions that come up in our inner world instead of blaming the other for what we are feeling.

Provide support and encouragement. Friendships aren’t all fun and games — they do require you put in some work. Say they’ve just quarreled with their parents or failed an exam. It’s your job to be there for them and provide them with whatever they need, starting with support and comfort.     3    

Whatever the case, make it apparent that you’re rooting for them.

Seek the good of the other person. When we love another person, we seek the good of the other because we gladden their own happiness. Therefore, our seeking for the other person’s good is totally disinterested. We serve the other without expecting anything in return.     4    

Accept the differences.     5    . Friendship welcomes differences and integrates them into a level of union that accepts and goes beyond them. Friendship involves recognizing that the value of the relationship is beyond our personal traits and belief system.

A．Be honest with each other.

B．Acts of love are made for its own sake.

C．Take responsibility of your own emotions.

D．Additionally, it’s your duty to give them encouragement as needed.

E．Human beings are relational beings, as everything we find in the nature.

F．Therefore, developing friendship with other people is essential in our lives.

G．Friendship doesn’t mean having the same interests, opinions and mindset as the other person.

10 . Awe (敬畏) is that feeling we get when something is so vast that it stops us in our tracks. Often, it expands our thinking, increases positive emotions and brings overall satisfaction in life.     1    

Most of us associate awe with something rare and beautiful: nature, music or a spiritual experience. But people can trigger awe too, and not just famous people, such as athletes or astronauts.     2     Psychologists call this interpersonal awe.

Often, this interpersonal awe is a response to life’s big, sweeping charges, such as witnessing a baby’s first steps. For Lynn Heady, a retired educator, it’s watching a friend fight cancer and still embrace life.     3     John Bargh, a psychologist and professor, said he was truly awestruck by his then-5-year-old daughter. When she heard another child crying, she grabbed her toy, walked over toyer toy, walked over to the boy and handed it to him.

    4    But we can prepare ourselves to notice it when they do and take steps to boost the emotion’s positive effects. Here’s how:

Blurting (脱口而出) out “Wow, that was awesome!” is a simple way to help you identify and remember a special experience.     5     Another way is to thank the person who awed you. This makes the other person feel good and can give your relationship a boost. And it helps you too: Studies show that people who practice gratitude have significantly higher levels of happiness than those who don’t.

A．Below are some useful tips.

B．This will enhance your positive emotions.

C．But interpersonal awe happens in smaller moments, too.

D．An awe experience can make us feel small in the vast universe.

E．We can be awed by our nearest and dearest-the people around us.

F．Unfortunately, we can’t make someone else behave in a way that’s awesome.

G．It can also help our relationships, making us more understanding and supportive.