1 . Emoji(表情符号) and Workplace Communication
In Asia, messaging platforms are growing rapidly, with users in the hundreds of millions, both at work and play.
Written communications can often read as cold and dull. Using emojis can add humor and feeling, keeping intention clear.
In any given office, employees can range from age 22 to 70 and beyond, and finding common ground in communication style can be a challenge.
There is also the matter of tone(语气). Who hasn’t received an email so annoying that it ruined an entire day?
| A．Message with emojis feel more conversational |
| B．Even a formal email can seem cold and unfriendly |
| C．Sending smiling faces to colleagues may seem strange |
| D．The popularity of these platforms is spreading globally |
| E．Giving employees the tools enables them to communicate honestly |
| F．Studies show that friendlier communication leads to a happier workplace |
| G．An easy way to bring all work generations together is with a chat platform |
2 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.
Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t
even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.
1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?| A．Addiction to smartphones. |
| B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places. |
| C．Absence of communication between strangers. |
| D．Impatience with slow service. |
| A．Showing good manners. | B．Relating to other people. |
| C．Focusing on a topic. | D．Making business deals. |
| A．It improves family relationships. | B．It raises people’s confidence. |
| C．It matters as much as a formal talk. | D．It makes people feel good. |
| A．Conversation Counts | B．Ways of Making Small Talk |
| C．Benefits of Small Talk | D．Uncomfortable Silence |
3 . Detective Ashley Jones works at a police department in England. He has recently made a significant
Jones got the idea after he had talked with an elderly lady who had been cheated of her
This led Jones to the conclusion that there are too many extremely
The idea is catching on
This effort is not just a(n)
The Chat Bench is a fantastic new project that
| A．choice | B．discovery | C．visit | D．promise |
| A．experienced | B．suffered | C．prevented | D．felt |
| A．solution | B．puzzle | C．excuse | D．intention |
| A．pleasure | B．prize | C．credit | D．money |
| A．eventually | B．frequently | C．previously | D．occasionally |
| A．ashamed | B．shocked | C．excited | D．amused |
| A．mind | B．forgive | C．risk | D．enjoy |
| A．active | B．lonely | C．cautious | D．stubborn |
| A．learned | B．refused | C．pretended | D．decided |
| A．forced | B．ordered | C．convinced | D．taught |
| A．put away | B．make out | C．tear apart | D．set up |
| A．read | B．claimed | C．meant | D．implied |
| A．formal | B．joyful | C．awkward | D．crazy |
| A．randomly | B．slowly | C．quickly | D．purposefully |
| A．positive | B．disappointing | C．correct | D．embarrassing |
| A．realized | B．examined | C．discussed | D．formed |
| A．break down | B．put up | C．keep off | D．take out |
| A．glance | B．attempt | C．knock | D．attack |
| A．heart-breaking | B．risk-taking | C．face-saving | D．crime-cutting |
| A．forbids | B．appoints | C．encourages | D．troubles |
注意：词数不少于60。
提示词：自律 self-discipline
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5 . False Memories or Parallel (平行的) Realities?
Here is a common situation: You’re talking with someone about an event, only to discover that you both remember things quite differently. Usually, you’d put it down to a poor memory, but what if it wasn’t just one person who remembered things differently? What if it was millions?
In fact, this isn’t a “what if” situation. It’s known as the Mandela Effect, and it was first noticed in 2009 by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome. Broome was chatting with people about the South African activist Nelson Mandela, and she commented how sad it was that he had died in prison in the 1980s.
Broome was so shocked at this that she started an investigation.
More likely, however, is that the Mandela Effect has to do with how our brains store information.
All things considered, if you’re stuck arguing with someone about whose version of events is correct, it may indeed be easier to agree that neither of you is wrong. You just come from different realities.
| A．Before we explain let’s look at an example. |
| B．It turns out she wasn’t the only one who’d experienced this. |
| C．If several people make these memory errors, the false memory gets stronger socially. |
| D．The story of Nelson Mandela is not the only example of this type of false group memory. |
| E．Some claim the Mandela Effect happens because we live in one of many parallel realities. |
| F．Many in her group agreed, while others mentioned that Nelson Mandela had not died in prison. |
| G．As more incidents of the Mandela effect continue to occur, perhaps more research into the origins will tell us the causes. |
6 . When you set a foot outside of your door to drop trash, go to a social event or go for a walk, thoughts like “I hope I don’t see anyone I know” or “please don’t talk to me” may run through your mind. I’ve also said such things to myself. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is to talk with someone, especially someone new.
Why do we go out of our ways to avoid people? Do we think meeting new people is a waste of time? Or are we just lazy, thinking that meeting someone new really is a trouble?
Communication is the key to life. We have been told that many times. Take the past generations, like our parents, for example. They seem to take full advantage of that whole “communication” idea because they grew up talking face to face while Generation-Y grew up staring at screens. We spend hours of our days sitting on Facebook. We send messages to our friends and think about all of the things we want to say to certain people that we don’t have the courage to do in reality.
Nowadays, we are so caught up in our little circle of friends—our comfort zone. We love it that they laugh at our jokes, understand our feelings and can read our minds. Most importantly, they know when we want to be alone. They just get us.
Holding a conversation with someone new means agreeing with things that you don’t really believe and being someone you think they want you to be—it is, as I said before, a trouble. It takes up so much energy, and at some point or another, it is too tiring.
But meeting new people is important. Life is too short, so meet all the people you can meet, make the effort to go out and laugh. Remember, every “hello” leads to a smile—and a smile is worth a lot.
1. What do we learn about the author?| A．He likes to meet someone new. | B．He feels stressed out lately. |
| C．He’s active in attending social events. | D．He used to be afraid of talking to others. |
| A．They rely on the Internet to socialize. | B．They are less confident in themselves. |
| C．They have difficulty in communicating. | D．They are unwilling to make new friends. |
| A．They think it troublesome. | B．They are busy with their study. |
| C．They fear to disappoint their friends. | D．They want to do meaningful work. |
| A．To stress the importance of friends. |
| B．To give tips on how to meet new people. |
| C．To encourage people to meet new people. |
| D．To display the disadvantages of Generation-Y. |
7 . Jake and Max Klein are twin brothers who have a passion for volunteering. Their family have always done community
So, Kids That Do Good was
Jake and Max are
| A．surveys | B．services | C．duties | D．businesses |
| A．sort out | B．play with | C．give up | D．put away |
| A．travelling | B．volunteering | C．cooking | D．recycling |
| A．Unfortunately. | B．Happily | C．Honestly | D．Gratefully |
| A．shy | B．awkward | C．weak | D．young |
| A．task | B．ability | C．chance | D．determination |
| A．public | B．similar | C．sharp | D．direct |
| A．joked | B．blamed | C．denied | D．praised |
| A．advised | B．allowed | C．named | D．created |
| A．judgment | B．difference | C．comment | D．decision |
| A．plan | B．effort | C．project | D．experiment |
| A．pleased | B．satisfied | C．amazed | D．interested |
| A．connected | B．exposed | C．contributed | D．attracted |
| A．familiar | B．patient | C．busy | D．content |
| A．remembering | B．describing | C．celebrating | D．building |
8 . A study by a team of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) psychologists has found a link between extraverts (外向的人) and their word choices. The finding highlights the need for stronger linguistic indicators to be developed for use in online personality prediction tools, which are being rapidly adopted by companies to improve digital marketing strategies.
Today, marketing companies use predictive algorithms (算法) to help them forecast what consumers want based on their online behaviors. For example, an extravert consumer might be attracted to marketing messages that match their personality, and retail brands could then choose to target such consumers by using more extraverted and creative language to advertise their products. However, personality prediction tools available today that are used by marketing firms are not entirely accurate due to a lack of theoretically sound designs. This may lead to a weakness affecting the performance of the machine learning algorithms. This begs the question—how should we create robust and accurate personality predictions?
The study found a correlation between extraverts and their tendency to use certain categories of words. The results showed a small strength of relationship between extraversion and the use of “positive emotion words” and “social process words.”
Positive emotion words are defined as words that describe a pleasant emotional state, such as “love”, ”happy”, or “blessed”, or that indicate positivity or optimism, such as “beautiful” or “nice”. Social process words include words containing personal pronouns except “I”, and words showing social intentions, such as “meet”, “share” and “talk”.
Moving forward, the NTU research team will investigate the relationship between extraversion and other word categories. They hope their work will provide clarity on the types of words that can help guide the development of more accurate machine learning tools for personality prediction.
1. We learn from the passage the findings of the study can be used to help ______.| A．observe consumers’ behavior |
| B．forecast the need of companies |
| C．create practical personality predictions |
| D．find correlation between extraverts and ads |
| A．Renewable. | B．Forceful. | C．Doubtful. | D．Variable. |
| A．Dispute. | B．Interaction. | C．Disaster. | D．Loneliness. |
| A．The direction of future research. |
| B．The theoretical basis of the study. |
| C．The strength of business strategies. |
| D．The development of machine learning tools. |
9 . An act of kindness doesn't have to be a grand gesture. Even those small acts of kindness can make a difference in someone's day. That was just the case for Amie Mickey when she
Amie started to do this several years ago. At first, she wondered if people would
Stories like Amie's really
| A．tore up | B．picked up | C．fixed up | D．put up |
| A．watch | B．overlook | C．notice | D．neglect |
| A．attention | B．strangers | C．confusion | D．trouble |
| A．running | B．driving | C．walking | D．riding |
| A．voices | B．hats | C．shoulders | D．thumbs |
| A．count | B．share | C．value | D．matter |
| A．frightened | B．frustrated | C．embarrassed | D．disappointed |
| A．parking | B．speed | C．incident | D．event |
| A．approached | B．blocked | C．repaired | D．cleaned |
| A．important | B．special | C．typical | D．skeptical |
| A．happened | B．occurred | C．managed | D．offered |
| A．shock | B．inspire | C．delight | D．satisfy |
| A．feelings | B．thoughts | C．spirits | D．minds |
| A．work | B．exercise | C．conduct | D．behave |
| A．reliable | B．subjective | C．positive | D．brief |
10 . 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.
Express your appreciation for the person.
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.
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.
| 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. |
