1 . 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.”

2 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. particularly   B. impact            C. ensuring       D. cost            E. threat F. additional     G. connectivity     H. response       I. address   J. function   K. forced

The United States is committed to empowering women all over the world. In too many places around the world today women face barriers to equality, resources, and opportunities, said USAID’s Senior official Michelle Bekkering. It could be a barrier to credit, to the     1     needed to launch a business. And all too frequently, women are tied down by gender-based violence, at home or within the community.

“Gender-based violence harms women, girls, their families, communities and countries,” added Bekkering.

Gender-based violence, is a universal barrier to global security, women’s empowerment, and economic growth. It is estimated right now that gender-based violence has     2     the world more than five percent of its global GDP, having a greater total economic impact than war.

USAID is trying to eliminate it through prevention and response. On prevention, we first need to learn what’s causing the problem,     3     if there are too many such severe incidents within a given region. How do natural disasters compound gender-based violence? What about lack of access to natural resources? What is the     4     of local laws?

As part of a     5    , we look at the regulatory framework, make sure there are laws that clearly define and punish offenders of gender-based violence.

Improving girls’ education is a step in the right direction, said Ms. Bekkering. For every    6     year that a girl goes to school, she is less likely to be a victim of gender-based violence. So is improving women’s access to digital technologies, and     7     support from local leadership.

U.S. Congress appropriates (拨款) a combined 150 million dollars to the State Department and to USAID for the global effort to     8     gender-based violence. It also provides money for combating child, early, and     9     marriage, which are closely linked to gender-based violence. Since 2012, USAID has provided critical services to over five million survivors and persons at risk of GBV.

Women and girls should be safe from the     10     of violence in their homes, in their communities, and they should have access to education and health care—and opportunities to live up to their full economic potential.

3 . 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. enormously       B. flexibly       C. struggle       D. adding       E. destroying       F. threatening G. professional       H. impact       I. published       J. unavailability       K. objective

“Friendly doctors are bad for their patients’ health,” researchers have warned as a new study revealed two thirds of young medical staff     1     to be truthful with patients they like.

Blurring (模糊) the lines between social and professional relationships can have a/an     2     and prevent patients from being honest about important side effects. Doctors should avoid     3     patients as friends on Facebook, and they should not hug or allow patients to call them by their first names, regulators have warned.

It comes as a survey of 338 oncologists (肿瘤医师) under the age of 40,     4     in The Lancet Oncology, found 59 per cent said they found it difficult to tell truth to those patients they liked. Sixty percent of respondents said if doctors felt too close to their patients, it could prevent them making     5     decisions about a person’s care.-

Lesley Fallow-field, of Brighton and Sussex Medical School, said: “Oncology is a profession that can be     6     rewarding, but is filled with challenges. Young oncologists have to master dealing with anxious patients who are facing a disease     7     life, conveying the true prediction, discussing the complexity of modern treatments, and explaining the     8     of some drugs and the side effects of treatment.”

But she said for those doctors who have entered the profession in the age of the ‘cyber world’, are more likely to fall victim to     9     the professional boundaries with patients.

She said: “The difficulty, if you hug and kiss patients, if you allow them to call you by your first name, is that quickly the relationship can become confused as a social one rather than a/an     10     one.”

III. Reading Comprehension (35%)

4 . 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. complicated     B.concern     C.disruptions     D. eventually     E.frequent     F.healing G.holding        H.reminder     I. representatively   J. vocalizing     K.zero

Secrets are bad for your health

I grew up in a Midwestern town where the popular wisdom was to only talk about what was pleasant and to keep secrets，if necessary，to make that happen.This meant staying silent when someone offended you，rarely     1     negative feelings and smiling a little more than is necessary. It also meant     2     room for airing any sort of dirty laundry，especially not the kinds of personal secrets that keep people up at night.

Many of us like to believe that sweeping unpleasant truths under the rug might make them     3     go away. Instead，keeping secrets--especially heavy ones--can spin an even more     4     web of isolation and deception. So why do we do it？

The truth can hurt. But in many situations，it s better to get it out and let the     5     start，rather than allowing it to become more dangerous.The burden of     6     in the truth doesn't just disappear. It hides itself in the back of your mind and can cause a number of     7       to your life and health.

"If the situations in your daily life are regular     8     of the secret，and you find it stressful to keep it，then yes，it can have emotional and physical consequences.” says Dr.Dean McKay. “Some people also find keeping secrets stressful out of a general     9     that they will 'slip’. This     10     and recurring thought of the secret can in itself be stressful.”

5 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box.   Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. uncomfortable；B. critically；C. balance；D. nonsense；E. temptation F. responding；G. effectively；H. practice；I. demands；J. reasoning；K. delivering

Embrace the rule of awkward silence

The rule of awkward silence is simple: When faced with a challenging question, instead of answering, pause and think deeply about how you want to answer. This is no short pause; rather, it involves taking several seconds (10, 20 or longer) to think things through before     1    .

At Apple, Tim Cook has engaged in the     2     for years. Back in 2008, a Fortune article said that in meetings, Cook was “known for long,     3     pauses, when all you hear is the sound of his tearing the wrapper of the energy bars he constantly eats.”

Cook isn’t alone in embracing the rule of awkward silence. Steve Jobs once took almost 20 seconds to respond to a personal attack,     4     a perfect response.

The rule of awkward silence has always been valuable as a tool of emotional intelligence because it allows you to     5     thought and emotion instead of simply reacting based on feeling.

Why the rule of awkward silence is more valuable than ever.

We live in a world that     6     instant satisfaction. Emails should be answered on the same day. Text messages should be answered right now. But there’s a major problem with all of this immediate communication: It doesn’t leave time to think.

As in, think     7    .

Critical thinking calls for deep and careful consideration of a subject. It involves weighing and analyzing facts, and careful     8    . And it results in making insightful connections.

None of this is possible without time.

And time has become the biggest luxury on the planet.

But when you embrace the rule of awkward silence, you steal back time. Time that used to be wasted on     9     answers.

So, the next time someone asks you a challenging question, or even what seems on the surface to be a simple one, resist the     10     to respond with the first thing that comes to mind.

Instead, embrace the rule of awkward silence, and think before you speak.

6 . 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. cultivate       B. apparently       C. essential       D. significance       E. pick       F. differently        G. suitable       H. actually       I. relationship        J. ends   K. care

Berlin: At nine most mornings the same scene is repeated in office buildings around the world. An employee walks into the elevator with his boss and apart from a mumbled “good morning” the junior is lost for other words. That’s an opportunity missed, says experts, who believe that such an     1     dull 30-second conversation can be invaluable for those who want to climb the career ladder.

“Small talk can help establish a     2    upon which you can build,” says Dusseldorf communication advisor Thorsten Knobble, whose company customize curriculum vitas and job references.

As a matter of fact, the     3     of small talk goes far beyond the relationship to one’s boss. People who fail the art of speaking a lot without     4     saying anything find it harder to     5     relationships in the workplace, believes Ulrich Goldschmidt, director of the senior management association VDF Essen“Small talk is an     6     part of networking,” he says.

Virtually every conversation begins and     7     with small talk, according to Wolf Lasko, who has written a book on the topic and its bearing on career prospects.

Not everyone is good at small talk. It takes skill to     8     the right moment and the right topic with which to start a conversation. There are plenty of topics although some are not     9     for informal chat. “Anything to do with sex is taboo,” cautions Knobble. “    10     is needed with politics, religion, money and health.” Safe topics include the holidays, the movies, or sports.