1 . 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.
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.
Smile at the persons. If you’ve successfully met their gaze, smile at them.
If you want to start a conversation with the persons, smiling is a great way to get somebody’s attention.
Approach the persons to start talking to them.
| 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. |
2 . When romantic partners argue over things like finances, jealousy, or other interpersonal issues, they tend to employ their current feelings as fuel for a heated argument. But thinking about the future helps overcome relationship conflicts, according to a University of Waterloo study just published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science. Alex Huynh, a doctoral candidate in psychology is the lead author of the study, which he published with Igor Grossmann from the University of Waterloo, and Daniel Yang from Yale University.
Previous research has shown that third-perspective reasoning can be a positive strategy for reconciliation (调解) of interpersonal struggles. Huynh and his collaborators investigated whether similar benefit can be induced by simply thinking about the future. Study participants were instructed to reflect on a recent conflict with a romantic partner or a close friend. One group of participants were then asked to describe how they would feel about the conflict one year in the future, while another group was asked to describe how they feel in the present.
The team examined participants’ written responses through a text-analysis program for their use of pronouns — such as I, me, she, he. These choices of pronouns were used to capture participants’ focus on the feelings and behaviour of those involved in the conflict. Written responses were also examined for forgiveness and reinterpreting the conflict more positively, both of which implied the participants’ use of reasoning strategies.
The researchers found that envisioning future relationship affected both participants’ focus on their feelings, and their reasoning strategies. As a result, participants reported more positivity about their relationship altogether, especially when study participants extended their thinking about the relationship a year into the future.
“Our study demonstrates that adopting a future-oriented perspective in the context of a relationship conflict — reflecting on how one might feel a year from now — may be a valuable coping tool for one’s psychological happiness and relationship well-being,” said Huynh.
1. What do romantic partners do in face of most disagreements?| A．They lose faith in their future. | B．They focus on their present feelings. |
| C．They look forward to a fierce conflict. | D．They care more about financial problems. |
| A．Caused. | B．Explained. |
| C．Reduced. | D．Improved. |
| A．All the study participants described how they felt both in the present and in the future. |
| B．Study participants described their recent relationship with their romantic partners or friends. |
| C．A text-analysis program was employed to examine participants’ use of negative words. |
| D．The reasoning strategies in participants’ written responses were well worthy of note. |
| A．You have a year to solve your interpersonal problems! |
| B．Thinking about future is essential for relationship maintenance! |
| C．Your current feelings are the real cause of your heated arguments! |
| D．Beneficial reasoning is a positive strategy for reconciliation! |
3 . How often do you have a conversation with someone, and think you are paying attention to him or her, only to realize shortly afterwards that you can't remember what he said? Or, perhaps you get distracted while he is speaking and miss the message that he is trying to deliver.
But how can we listen more effectively?
First of all, be present. When we listen mindfully, our focus should be on the person we are listening to without distractions. Then develop empathy (共鸣). We often see the world through our own experiences. When we're empathetic, we can understand a situation from someone else's point of view.
In conclusion, the rule is straightforward: simply “Listen”! Listen carefully and attentively. Pay full attention to the other person, and don' t let other thoughts, like what we are going to say next, distract us.
| A．Finally, listen to our own “cues” |
| B．What can we do with mindful listening |
| C．But how can we apply mindful listening to our life |
| D．At last, “cues” helps us understand the speaker's ideas |
| E．In today's busy world, modern life is full of distractions |
| F．Besides, it allows us to choose not to let them block communication |
| G．Professor Jon Kabat - Zinn put forward the idea of mindful listening |
4 . No matter what profession or occupation you hold you will need to work with others to meet your goals. Group work is a great way to showcase your own skills while getting help from your teammates in areas where you might not be as strong.
Clarify the team expectations so everyone is on the same page.
Direct your concern toward the problem, not your teammates. Don’t accuse or blame anyone on your team for causing the conflict, even if you believe they did.
Focus on the success of the group, not your personal success. When you’re on a team, everyone’s success depends on each member working toward a common goal.
| A．Make sure you do an equal share of the work. |
| B．Volunteer to take on extra work when necessary. |
| C．Treat the team’s accomplishments as a group success. |
| D．Our guide will show you how to boost your teamwork skills. |
| E．State the issue you’re having, then listen to what everyone has to say. |
| F．Instead, keep all of your comments focused on the issue and how your team can solve it. |
| G．This can include explaining the expectations or asking questions if you find them unclear. |
5 . Helping others is not only good for them but a good thing to do. It also makes us happier and healthier too. Giving also connects us to others, creating stronger communities and helping to build a happier society for everyone. So if you want to feel good, do good!
Doing things for others-whether small, unplanned acts or regular volunteering—is a powerful way to increase our own happiness as well of those around us. The people we help may be strangers, family, friends, colleagues or neighbors. They can be old or young, nearby or far away.
Giving isn’t just about money, so you don’t need to be rich. Giving to others can be as simple as a single kind word, smile or a thoughtful gesture. It can include giving time, energy, care, skills, thought or attention. Sometimes these mean as much, if not more, than financial gifts.
Scientific studies show that helping others boosts happiness. It increases life satisfaction, provides a sense of meaning, increases feelings of ability, improves our mood and reduces stress. It can help to take our minds off our own troubles too.
Kindness towards others is the glue which connects individual happiness with wider community and social wellbeing. Giving to others helps us connect with people and meets one of our basic human needs-relatedness.
Kindness seems to be contagious (传染性的). When we see someone do something kind or thoughtful, or we are on the receiving end of kindness, it inspires us to be kinder ourselves. In this way, kindness spreads from one person to the next, influencing the behavior of people who never saw the original act. Kindness really is the key to creating a happier, more trusting local community.
1. Why can giving help to build a happier society?| A．It can bring confidence. | B．It can connect us to others. |
| C．It can make us healthy. | D．It can make us rich. |
| A．Helping others makes our trouble disappear forever. |
| B．We feel more content with life by helping others. |
| C．Helping others removes a sense of meaning. |
| D．We feel no stress by helping others. |
| A．Kindness. | B．Health. | C．Happiness. | D．Wealth. |
| A．Helping others is good for ourselves. | B．We should learn to give. |
| C．Helping others matters. | D．Kindness is a good virtue. |
6 . Having to deal with a rejection can be extremely difficult. But something that many people find even more difficult is to be the one who has to reject. Sometimes we accept out of politeness, in other cases because we simply don’t know in what possible way to say no.
Saying “no” in a proper way is quite difficult.
But due to the fact that we are no robots, it is not easy for us to make a decision based on whether we just like something or not.
Anytime you say “yes” when you know that you should have said “no”, no matter whether you rationalize (使合理化) it as a sign of friendship or kindness, in the end, it doesn’t change the fact that you have agreed to do something you absolutely do not want to do. That’s just because you don’t want to give others a reason to think negatively of you or believe that they will quit the friendship when you’re not doing everything they demand.
| A．If you don’t like it you just say “no” and reject it. |
| B．You can finally live the life the way you want it to. |
| C．As a result, we always end up with amounts of extra work. |
| D．It might help to see the situation just as emotionless as a robot. |
| E．Would you clearly express that you will not be able to do the extra work? |
| F．There will always be other factors that highly influence our decision-making process. |
| G．But actually a real friend will try to get his life straight without taking advantage of you. |
7 . I'm a Russian. In my native country, people believe that those who always keep big smiles on their faces, if they don't have a real reason to do so, are not genuine（真诚的）. For the last five years, I've lived in Kansas. What brought me to this country was my American husband, John. I work in a department store, where my coworkers show big smiles to me and pronounce my Russian name so sweetly. Every time I hear it, I feel as though my mom is embracing（拥抱）me.
Last year John encouraged me to go to see my mom back in Russia, and my manager even gave me a month of for the trip. When you live an ocean apart from your family, you need at least a month to visit them. I bought a plane ticket and packed my suitcase. Then came Covid-19. My mood became grey as I realized I couldn't go to see my mom.
A couple of weeks later, my sweet coworker Miss Donna asked me, “So what's happening with your trip to Russia?” I told her I had to cancel it and I wouldn't be able to see my mom this year.
Miss Dona didn't say anything at first. Then she put on a big smile and said, “Well, you can come to my home and see my mom!" “Oh my Lord!" I was at a loss for words. Imagine a mom for loan（借出）!I honestly don't know whether I would offer the same to someone in need of a mother's warmth, but my new people surely would do it for me.
I know that because of the virus, you shouldn't hug friends, but you can still embrace someone's heart. That's how my heart felt at that moment: hugged. So, yes, believe me, big smiles with no reason can be genuine.
1. What can we know from the first paragraph?| A．The author believes big smiles are false. | B．The author works together with her husband. |
| C．The author seldom wears big smiles in Russia. | D．The author gets along well with her coworkers. |
| A．Because her mother's home was too far away. | B．Because the manager didn't allow her to leave. |
| C．Because Covid-19 broke out unexpectedly. | D．Because she was invited to Miss Donna's home. |
| A．She was happy. | B．She was touched. | C．She was confused. | D．She was uncertain. |
| A．A Canceled Trip | B．Imagine a Mother for Loan |
| C．The Outbreak of Covid-19 | D．Big Smiles Embrace My Heart |
8 . Humans, by nature, have always lived in groups and social interaction is fundamental for every part of our health. Lack of it can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness. A strong support network and solid community bonds promote our emotional and physical health, and are critical components of a balanced adult life. However, just as with many other aspects of our lives, there seems to be a limit to how large our personal networks can grow.
Back in 1992, a British scholar named Robin Dunbar came up with a hypothetical (假设的) number defining the maximum sum of meaningful human relationships a person can have. The number, which was later named after him, was discovered accidentally while he was studying the cleaning and brushing tendencies — a social behavior —of non-human primates (灵长类动物). Around that time, researchers had discovered that the large brain of these primates was a result of their socially complex societies. The relevance was that the larger the brain, the larger the animal's social group was likely to be. Scientists could then theoretically use an animal's brain size to calculate how many members could make up this group. Dunbar applied this theory to humans, and the resulting number was roughly 150.
Dunbar's Number, however, only refers to the limit of meaningful contacts within our social network. It does not account for other relationships. Human social relationships tend to have numerous layers, and extend outward from the individual in circles with the same centre. The innermost circle contains five people: our loved ones. The next circle holds of our good friends. The third circle is reserved for people we consider friends, and the fourth is where the limit of 150 can be found. Nowadays, with various forms of electronic communication, such as websites for social networking and microblogging people find it very convenient to create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other contents. Consequently, it is possible for a human to get into the fifth (500acquainitances) circle, an impressive breakthrough that was difficult to achieve in the past.
1. What can be learned about Dunbar's Number in Paragraph 2?| A．It is confirmed by the social reality. |
| B．It serves as an accurate measurement. |
| C．It is backed by a certain theoretical basis. |
| D．It establishes links between health and network. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．Human brains are becoming bigger and bigger. |
| B．Social media have contributed to the phenomenon. |
| C．Meaningful contacts grow significantly with age. |
| D．People are eager to improve every aspect of their lives. |
| A．Group Living: A Solution to Health Problems |
| B．Dunbar's Theory: A Ladder to Career Success |
| C．Social Network: A Soured of Endless Pleasure |
| D．Dunbar's Number: A Measure of Social Relations |
9 . Almost everyone gossips. And a new study finds that people spend about 52 minutes per day, on average, talking to someone about others who are not present
But here’s the surprise: Despite the assumption that most gossip is trash talk, the study finds the majority of gossip is nonjudgmental chat.
“People love to talk about others,” says Jeremy Cone, a psychologist at Williams College. “Think about your own conversations with a family member or friend: You talk about everyday things that keep you connected. You share your daughter got her driver’s license or your uncle has a kidney stone. Much of it is just documenting facts.”
Of course, the study also finds that some gossip is negative or mean-spirited. About 15% of the gossip included some type of negative judgement.
But even negative gossip can serve a purpose, as more research has found.
“I think gossiping can be a smart thing to do,” says Elena Martinescu who has studied gossip in the workplace. “It allows people to keep track of what’s going on and form social connection with other people.”
Research has shown that gossip can help build group cohesion (凝聚力) and cooperation. “When you gossip, you can keep track of who is contributing to the group and who's being selfish,” Martinescu explains. “And by sharing this information, you can exclude those group members who are social loafers (游手好闲的人).”
“We also found negative gossip makes people likely to repair the aspects of their behavior that they were criticized for,” Martinescu says.
So, say, for instance, you were criticized for always arriving at work late. Hearing that gossip about yourself may motivate you to want to be on time.
Of course, this isn’t a license to be loose lips or to repeat baseless claims that can damage someone’s reputation unfairly. But confiding (吐露个人隐私) in your friends and colleagues and sharing impressions about another person — even when they’re negative — may be helpful.
1. Why do people often gossip according to Jeremy Cone?| A．Because gossip can satisfy their curiosity. | B．Because they can share social information. |
| C．Because they want to correct others’ mistakes. | D．Because spreading negative facts is unavoidable. |
| A．People can be improved in an all-round way. | B．People can get rid of immoral behavior rapidly. |
| C．People can be kept informed of others' privacy. | D．People can change their behavior for the better.. |
| A．It is plain to see that people gossip all the time. |
| B．Based on the study, the majority of gossip is trash talk. |
| C．It’s advisable that we turn a deaf ear to negative gossip. |
| D．It’s likely that gossip helps us know more about one's quality. |
| A．Gossip is the last thing people could do. | B．Gossip should be advocated by the society. |
| C．Gossip may not be as harmful as it sounds. | D．Gossip is the best way to build social bonds. |
10 . People sometimes think of moving among people and talking to them at a dinner party like it’s a mechanical process. I know some advice on it can give the impression that you need to approach it that way.
In my experience, at parties it’s best to go with the flow, talk to the people who look interesting to you, and see where the night takes you.
For whatever reason, two metaphors (暗喻) come to mind when I think about talking to people at parties.
The second metaphor is that I picture people at a party as a bunch of ping pong balls floating in a basin of water, and moving around on the surface. For a time a few balls may come together, but then they’ll break up and maybe temporarily group with a few others.
| A．If you want to try, go for it |
| B．In practice it’s not really a matter of that |
| C．The first is to see a party like a fairground |
| D．Again, go to a party intending to just move along like this |
| E．I will spend the party making the rounds and speaking to people |
| F．Basically, the movement of people from group to group is not planned |
| G．You’ll decide if you have a better time when you keep chatting to the funny friends |
