One of the most popular comments I have heard about time is that we need to balance our time in order to live a more balanced life. We often feel that if we are focused and devoted, happy and positive, loving and generous, healthy and energetic, then we will be balanced people. And if the pie chart of our daily life has just the right ratios(比率) of work, life, family, health, and service, then our time will be balanced.

The problem with trying hard for balance is that most people’s understanding of this state is so different from what balance actually is! Balance is not about walking around with a bunch of positive qualities; it’s about walking on the tight rope between the poles within us and the circumstances outside of us. Strictly speaking, in order to achieve true balance, we should accept we may have some shortcomings. We should accept and love the most challenging parts of life because they offer gifts for full, real living.

Even though we measure time in a linear(线状的) way, time is and will always be asymmetrical(不均匀的). One moment is not like another, just like each day is different and each tide that rolls in is different from the previous one. This is why it is impossible to balance our time through a pie chart in a time management book. Exploring asymmetrical time allows us to move in line with an unbalanced time and thus regain our relative balance. If we stop measuring ourselves against the standards of linear time, we can accept ourselves more fully. New possibilities arise as we accept the uncertainty.

1.Why does the author think it’s difficult to achieve balance in life?

A.People don’t know the true meaning of balance.

B.People may not have enough good qualities.

C.People cannot create their pie charts of daily life.

D.People fail to realize the qualities they really need.

2.In the author’s opinion, what does a balanced life mean?

A.We should arrange our time wisely.

B.We should try to believe ourselves.

C.We should learn to improve ourselves and our lives.

D.We should accept the bad aspects of ourselves and life.

3.What does the last paragraph mainly want to tell us?

A.Uncertainty can help build up confidence.

B.It is difficult for us to accept ourselves fully.

C.There are always uncertain things occurring in life.

D.New possibilities can help us achieve balance in life.

4.What may be the best title for the text?

A.The true meaning of time

B.Seeking relative balance

C.Struggle for a balanced life

D.Popular comments about time

    In a recent series of experiments at the University of California, researchers studied toddlers’ thinking about winners and losers, bullies (欺凌) and victims.

In the first experiment, toddlers (学步儿童) watched a scene in which two puppets (木偶) had conflicting goals: One was crossing a stage from right to left, and the other from left to right. The puppets met in the middle and stopped. Eventually one puppet bowed down and moved aside, letting the other one pass by. Then researchers asked the toddlers which puppet they liked. The result: 20 out of 23 toddlers picked the higher-status puppet — the one that did not bow or move aside. It seems that individuals can gain status for being dominant (占优势的) and toddlers like winners better than losers.

But then researchers had another question: Do toddlers like winners no matter how they win? So, researchers did another experiment very similar to the one described above. But this time, the conflict ended because one puppet knocked the other down and out of the way. Now when the toddlers were asked who they liked, the results were different: Only 4 out of 23 children liked the winner.

These data suggest that children already love a winner by the age of 21-31 months. This does not necessarily mean that the preference is inborn: 21 months is enough time to learn a lot of things. But if a preference for winners is something we learn, we appear to learn it quite early.

Even more interesting, the preference for winners is not absolute. Children in our study did not like a winner who knocked a competitor down. This suggests that already by the age of 21-31 months, children’s liking for winners is balanced with other social concerns, including perhaps a general preference for nice or helpful people over aggressive ones.

In a time when the news is full of stories of public figures who celebrate winning at all costs, these results give us much confidence. Humans understand dominance, but we also expect strong individuals to guide, protect and help others. This feels like good news.

1.One of the purposes of the experiments is to ________.

A.teach toddlers how to gain higher status

B.offer toddlers a chance to watch a scene

C.observe the process of toddlers’ solving a conflict

D.find out toddlers’ attitude toward winners and losers

2.The toddlers regarded bowing and moving aside as a sign of ________.

A.obeying rules

B.gaining status

C.giving in to the other

D.showing good manners

3.What does the second experiment tell us about toddlers?

A.They are excellent learners.

B.They are always changeable.

C.They show mercy to the loser.

D.They value kindness over winning.

4.What does the author think of the results of the series of experiments?

A.Disappointing. B.Encouraging.

C.Unexpected. D.Controversial.

    Nasr Majid started hunting this fall at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (保护区) on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in USA. He’s one of the relatively few new hunters who officials hope will help stop a nearly four-decade decline nationally in what has become a hobby for fewer than 5 percent of Americans.

Natural resources and wildlife officials in Maryland are encouraging hunting of deer, turkeys and some other wild animals, which is believed to be good for the environment. Without hunting, they say, sika deer will overpopulate the wildlife refuge and they’ll overeat the bushes and other plants that provide important habitat for birds. On the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, hunting is also important to prevent the spread of diseases such as Lyme.

In many families, the hunting tradition has been handed down for generations. But as longtime sportsmen age and children lose interest, the number of hunters in the United States fell by 2 million, from 2011 to 2018, to about 11 million.

“Everything is changing. Kids are growing up in front of video games and computers instead of going hunting.” said Chris Markin, a hunting specialist for the state natural resources department. “Adults usually focus on working and providing for their families. Those pressures are preventing many other potential hunters from going out, and from raising the next generation of hunters.”

To avoid such a decline, a new approach is needed. Government agencies and nonprofit groups are now launching mentoring (指导) programs to train more hunters, which not only helps preserve an industry and a culture but also means more protection for wildlife and their habitats through deer population control and investment.

Luckily, there are those still eager to learn, like Majid. He was just looking for an outdoor hobby he could share with his children when he came across the mentorship program. Now, he feels capable of hunting on his own, but also has someone he can text with questions that pop up. His new pastime has already paid off for him—on his second hunt with his mentor, in the last minutes of daylight, he bagged his first deer.

1.In this passage,Nasr Majid is considered as a symbol of________.

A.devotion B.bravery C.enthusiasm D.hope

2.What can be inferred from Chris Markin’s words?

A.No one is interested in hunting any more.

B.The hunting tradition is facing challenges.

C.Parents fail to spend enough time with kids.

D.Hunting adds to many adults life pressures.

3.What does the underlined words“new pastime”refer to?

A.Raising questions. B.Looking for hunters.

C.Learning to hunt. D.Sharing a new hobby.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Teach hunters new skills B.Make Hunting More Popular

C.Reduce the pressure of life D.Train more skilled hunters

    One of the important subjects in contemporary poetry is identity — with an open-ended explanation of that word Poets, young and old are exploring what identity is, using their own lives as the background.

British poet Phoebe Power, in her first collection of poems, Shrines of Upper Austria, explores a different aspect of identity: a personal understanding of national identity the collection received the forward prize for Best First Collection and was on the final list for the t.s. Eliot Prize.

Power was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne and raised in Cumbria. She has taken part in a number of performance art and video art projects. She received a Northern Writers’ Award in 2014 and an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors in 2012. Now she lives in York in northern England.

Power’s starting point is her grandmother. She came to England from Austria as a new bride (新娘) married to a British soldier in 1946, the first year after the end of World War Ⅱ. Imagine the reactions of her British neighbors, and her new British family. Imagine what she had left behind. The grandmother’s experiences influenced Power greatly.

In Shrines of Upper Austria, we walk with the poet to see her grandmother’s life before Britain. We can learn about the small town where she lived and where “many of the shopkeepers were Jews”, the bodies of water, and buildings that existed when her grandmother lived there power also added some prose (散文) to the book, which tells us some stories of her grandmother’s early life. For example, it tells the stories about how her grandmother was found as a baby and given to a farmer when she was two.

The poems in the collection are pieces of a life. We can no more walk in our grandparents’ shoes than they can walk in ours. However, we can study old family photographs. We can see pieces of their lives — where they lived perhaps; where they played as children; what lakes or rivers they swam in. Like Power, we are left with pieces. These pieces don’t all make sense, but collectively they show a life.

1.Why could Power’s book of poems win influential prizes?

A.It was a collective work of the Society of Authors.

B.It specially focused on national identity.

C.It clearly explained the meaning of identity.

D.It was about powers’real life.

2.What can we find in Shrines of Upper Austria?

A.The poems by power’s grandmother.

B.The life and culture in Austria.

C.The stories of Power’s early life.

D.The bodies of water in York.

3.What does the author think of the pieces of our grandparents’ life?

A.Meaningful. B.Shocking. C.Heartbreaking. D.Outdated.

    Standing nervously behind the red curtain, I glanced out across the stage. A girl about my age sat at a piano; I could see her fingertips moving over the black and white keys in front of her. The beautiful melody (旋律) was so relaxing, ________ my body tensed with anxiety.

My body ________ when the girl stood up from the bench. It was finally my turn. A part of me wanted to run home and ________ under my bed, but I knew I had chosen to ________. When the girl onstage walked toward me, I could hear my heart beating ________. The girl had a proud smile on her face and when she passed me, I heard her say “Good________”!

“Well, here goes nothing.” I said to myself.

I stepped onto the ________ and walked slowly toward the piano. The bright lights nearly ________ me, making it difficult to see the audience. When I reached the ________, I automatically slid onto the bench into position. The sounds of whispering and people walking around gave way to complete silence. I stared at my ________ fingers and for a moment my mind went ________. Closing my eyes, I imagined the music sitting in front of me and tried to recall every tiny detail.

Finally, I took a deep breath and began to play Beethoven’s moonlight sonata (协奏曲). The rich tones of the piano rang out. One by one, each muscle in my body loosened and relaxed I sat on the bench and my ________ danced over the row of black and white keys as if they had a mind of their own.

All the practice and ________ I put in for six months showed this was what my teacher was pushing for. I tried to ________ all the things she reminded me to do. “Keep your wrists up, relax your arms, don’t raise your shoulders…” I remembered feeling slightly annoyed hearing these things continuously but I never realized until now how it really ________.

When I reached the end of the piece the audience started ________. I rose from the bench and gave a deep bow. A proud smile ________ up my face. Inside I felt ________ that it was over and that I had done so well. As the applause died down, I turned and walked to the other side of the stage. I saw a young boy standing nervously behind the red curtains staring ________ out at the stage. When I walked by, I passed to him the two words that were given to me for ________: Good luck!

1.A.and B.but C.for D.so

2.A.ached B.bent C.moved D.froze

3.A.hide B.sleep C.play D.drink

4.A.run B.escape C.stand D.perform

5.A.happily B.lightly C.hardly D.violently

6.A.guy B.luck C.music D.performance

7.A.stage B.bridge C.path D.chair

8.A.hurt B.killed C.blinded D.frightened

9.A.piano B.curtain C.light D.entrance

10.A.waving B.shaking C.unfolding D.crossing

11.A.wild B.awake C.blank D.wrong

12.A.fingers B.feet C.arms D.legs

13.A.excuse B.support C.service D.effort

14.A.forget B.recall C.ignore D.grasp

15.A.helped B.started C.stopped D.formed

16.A.joking B.blaming C.leaving D.clapping

17.A.burned B.dried C.lit D.lifted

18.A.relieved B.worried C.embarrassed D.confused

19.A.confidently B.fearfully C.excitedly D.angrily

20.A.encouragement B.sympathy C.appreciation D.reward

--- You could always put the decision off a little bit longer.

--- _________ If I leave it much longer I might miss my chance.

A.That’s reasonable advice

B.Isn’t it a good idea?

C.Do you think so?

D.I can’t agree more

—How about a chat over a cup of coffee this afternoon?

—Sorry,I’m________today and can’t put you in.Let’s make it sometime next week.

A.on a limited budget B.in high spirits

C.on a tight schedule D.in deep doubt

You________have scolded him for his poor performance.After all,he had done his best.

A.wouldn’t B.couldn’t C.mustn’t D.shouldn’t

Poverty alleviation is a high priority of our country and has been put on the top of________at two sessions.

A.agenda B.subject C.directory D.seminar

Since this accident has nothing to do with him, he seems no way ______.

A. to be blamed B. to blame

C. blamed for D. to blame for