Many of us recognize that familiar feeling of eagerly tearing open a carefully wrapped gift box, only to find a terrible woolen sweater. But what makes a good gift? The answer is very different, depending on whether you ask the gift giver or receiver.
A study published this month in Current Directions highlights the disconnection between the gifts we actually want and the ones we want to give, and offers some insights that may come in handy this holiday shopping season.
Psychologists have long known that we often struggle to predict other people’s preferences, and according to study co-author Elanor Williams, a marketing professor at Indiana University Bloomington, our ego(自我) may be to blame.
As gift givers, we tend to focus on the gift exchange itself, eagerly anticipating(期待)the warm feeling we get when we see the other person’s face light up with joy on opening our present. However, gift receivers focus more on the gift itself: Is it useful? Is it wanted?
Williams says the best strategy may be to simply ask people what they want. “There’s a misconception that the best-received gifts are the ones that are unexpected, but that’s just not true,” he explains. “The best-received gifts are the ones that best match what the receiver actually desires.”
Research on gift giving may feel a little dull, but as Williams points out, gift giving is something we do all the time. He adds that it plays an important social role—giving gifts can help us cater for (迎合) others and strength social bonds. There is also a more practical reason to up our gift-giving game—every holiday season, we shell out(支付) hundreds of billions of dollars on presents. “If we’re dong that,” he says, “We might as well get it right.”
1.What do we know about Current Directions?
A. It may be a magazine about psychological science.
B. It may be an advertisement about holiday shopping.
C. It may be a commercial report about people’s preferences.
D. It may be a wall newspaper in a shopping community.
2.In which case can the gift be regarded as the best-received one?
A. My friend gave me a ticket for a film but I was too busy to see it.
B. I bought a favorite book but a friend sent me another copy of it.
C. My aunt sent me a sweater in summer because it was cheap.
D. My uncle sent me a new mobile phone which I need badly.
3.What does the passage mainly intend to tell us?
A. Different feelings between gift gives and receivers.
B. How and why we should choose well-received gifts.
C. What makes a good gift in different holiday seasons.
D. Best-received gifts are the ones that are unexpected.
科目：高中英语 来源：广东省佛山市2017届高三上学期第二次大考英语试卷 题型：阅读理解
Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations: keeping a moderate diet, engaging in regular exercise, etc. But what effect does your personality have on your longevity(长寿)? Do some kinds of personalities lead to longer lives? A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100.
The study shows that those living the longest are more outgoing, more active and less neurotic (神经质的) than other people. Long-living women are also more likely to be sympathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span. These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory: those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough times.
Interestingly, however, other characteristics that you might consider advantageous had no impact on whether study participants were likely to live longer. Those who were more self-disciplined, for instance, were no more likely to live to be very old. Also, being open to new ideas had no relationship to long life, which might explain all those bad-tempered old people who are fixed in their ways.
Whether you can successfully change your personality as an adult is the subject of a longstanding psychological debate. But the new paper suggests that if you want long life, you should strive to be as outgoing as possible.
Unfortunately, another recent study shows that your mother’s personality may also help determine your longevity. That study looked at nearly 28,000 Norwegian mothers and found that those moms who were more anxious, depressed and angry were more likely to feed their kids unhealthy diets. Patterns of childhood eating can be hard to break when we’re adults, which may mean that kids of depressed moms end up dying younger.
Personality isn’t destiny, and everyone knows that individuals can learn to change. But both studies show that long life isn’t just a matter of your physical health but of your mental health.
1.The aim of the study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is ________.
A. to see whether people’s personality affects their life span
B. to find out if one’s lifestyle has any effect on their health
C. to investigate the role of exercise in living a long life
D. to examine all the factors contributing to longevity
2.What does the author imply about outgoing and sympathetic people?
A. They have a good understanding of evolution.
B. They are better at negotiating an agreement.
C. They generally appear more resourceful.
D. They are more likely to get over hardship.
3.What finding of the study might prove somewhat out of our expectation?
A. Easy-going people can also live a relatively long life.
B. Personality characteristics that prove advantageous actually vary with times.
C. Such personality characteristics as self-discipline have no effect on longevity.
D. Readiness to accept new ideas helps one enjoy longevity.
4.What does the recent study of Norwegian mothers show?
A. Children’s personality characteristics are invariably determined by their mothers.
B. People with unhealthy eating habits are likely to die sooner.
C. Mothers’ influence on children may last longer than fathers.
D. Mothers’ negative personality characteristics may affect their children’s life spans.
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科目：高中英语 来源：吉林省长白山市2017届高三第二次模拟考试英语试卷（有答案） 题型：完形填空
It was her giggling (咯咯的笑) that drew my attention. Note taking really wasn’t all that funny.
Walking over to the offender, I asked for the _________. Frozen, she refused to give it to me. I waited, all attention in the classroom on the quiet _________ between teacher and student. When she finally _________ it over, she whispered, “Okay, but I didn’t draw it.”
It was a hand-drawn _________ of me, teeth blackened and the words “I’m stupid” coming out of my mouth.
I managed to fold it up calmly. My mind, _________, was working angrily as I struggled not to _________. I figure I know the two most likely candidates for drawing the picture. It would do them some _________ to teach them a lesson, and maybe it was high time that I did it!
Thankfully, I was able to keep myself _________.
When there were about six minutes remaining, I showed the class the picture. They were all silent as I told them how _________ this was for me. I told them there must be a reason __________ and now was their chance to write down anything they needed to tell me. Then I let them write silently while I sniffed in the back of the classroom.
As I __________ the notes later, many of them said something like, “I’ve got nothing against you,” or “I’m sorry you were hurt.” Some kids said, “We’re __________ of you.” But two notes, from the girls who I __________ were behind the picture, had a list of issues. I was too __________, too strict…
Reading those, I realize that over the course of this year, instead of __________ my students, I had begun commanding them to __________. Where I thought I was driving them to success, I was __________ driving them away.
I had some apology to do. But the next day in the classroom, one boy and one girl each handed me a card. The one __________ by all the boys expressed sincere regret for the ugly joke. The one from the girls asked for __________.
This was a lesson for both the kids and me. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the __________.
1.A. note B. advice C. reason D. help
2.A. battle B. competition C. argument D. conversation
3.A. took B. thought C. turned D. handed
4.A. statue B. graph C. picture D. poster
5.A. otherwise B. however C. therefore D. besides
6.A. leave B. cry C. explain D. argue
7.A. good B. harm C. favor D. punishment
8.A. amused B. controlled C. uninterested D. relaxed
9.A. meaningful B. forgetful C. regretful D. hurtful
10.A. aside B. above C. beneath D. behind
11.A. wrote B. finished C. read D. collected
12.A. proud B. fond C. against D. ashamed
13.A. figured B. promised C. concluded D. saw
14.A. talkative B. mean C. clumsy D. considerate
15.A. forcing B. encouraging C. comforting D. teaching
16.A. appreciate B. apologize C. compromise D. achieve
17.A. actually B. normally C. immediately D. generally
18.A. decorated B. offered C. signed D. bought
19.A. thankfulness B. forgiveness C. compensation D. communication
20.A. friendship B. education C. knowledge D. future
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科目：高中英语 来源：广东省广州市2017届高三下学期第一次模拟考试英语试卷 题型：短文填空
My doorbell rings at 11 am. On the step, I find an elderly Chinese lady holding the hand of a little boy. In her other hand 1.(be) a paper bag. She is the little boy’s grandmother, and her daughter, Nicole, bought 2. house next door last October. Nicole has 3.(obvious) told her mother that I am having a heart operation shortly, and the result is that her mother has decided 4.(supply) me with meals.
I know what is inside the paper bag — a bottle of hot soup and a 5.(contain) with a meal of rice, vegetables and meat. It’s become a daily occurrence.
Communication 6. us is somewhat difficult because she doesn’t speak English and all I can say in Chinese is hello. Once, she brought an iPad as well as the food. She pointed to the screen, 7.showed at message from her daughter telling me that her mother wanted to know 8. the food was all right for me.
So here we are, two grandmothers, neither of 9.(we) able to speak the other’s language but communicating one way or another (with some help from technology). The doorbell keeps 10.(ring) and there is the familiar brown paper bag, handed smilingly to me.
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科目：高中英语 来源：河南省安阳市2017届高三第二次模拟考试英语试卷 题型：书面表达
假如你是红星中学学生会主席李华。你了解到你校国际部学生对“全国戏曲进校园”活动（national opera on campus）很感兴趣，且学校决定承办一次戏剧演出。请你用英文给国际部的学生写封邮件告知此事。邮件内容包括：
1．说明事由；
2．演出信息（时间、地点等）；
3．欢迎参加。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头已给出，不计入总词数。
Hello, everybody!
I am president of the Student Union in our school_____ ____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
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科目：高中英语 来源：山西省太原市2016-2017学年高一3月阶段性测试英语试卷 题型：短文改错
文中共有10处错误, 每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧）, 并在其下面写出该加的词。 删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。修改：在错的词下划一横线, 并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2. 只允许修改10处, 多者（从11处起）不计分。
Dear cousin,
Long time no see！It has been almost a year since you move to London. I miss you a lot of. I’m writing a letter to ask you for help. As you know, I am eager to be photographer like you, so I asked my parents to buy me a camera last week. But he told me I wouldn’t concentrate in my schoolwork if I got it. Oh, my god! What can I make them trust me？I’m not a kid any longer, but I can control myself. What’s worse, I have promised that I will take photos for the school’s newspaper next month. When asking by my classmates, I will be absolutely embarrassed. Therefore, would you like to lend me some money? If you’d like to, I will return it as soon as possibly.
Yours sincerely,
Tom
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科目：高中英语 来源：山西省太原市2016-2017学年高一3月阶段性测试英语试卷 题型：完成句子
_______, 2000 people visited the castle on the first day it was open to the public.
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科目：高中英语 来源：西藏日喀则市2016-2017学年高一上学期期末考试英语试卷 题型：短文填空
The internet has become part of young people’s life. 1. report shows that 38% of students often use the internet . Most of them get 2. (use) information on the internet 3. use the internet to help in their studies， but many students don’t use it 4. a good way. Some play games too much, and some visit websites 5. shouldn’t look at. So bad things may happen 6. students spend too much time on the internet.
7. is important for students to use the internet properly. Now we have a textbook, 8. uses many examples to teach students some good ways to use the internet. It gives useful 9.(advise).
Some students also make friends on the internet, but if you want to have a face-to-face 10. (meet) with your online friends, let your parents know and meet in a proper place.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2017届青海省西宁市高三上学期期末同步练习考试英语试卷（解析版） 题型：短文填空
Gavin: What are the basic rules for 1. (apply) to a US graduate school?
Agent: The process is complicated, so make up your mind soon. In most cases, the 2. (early), the better.
Gavin: What should be done first?
Agent: Reading information about international study 3. (consider) essential. You can discuss this with your family, teacher and friends. If possible, turn to those who have the experience of studying abroad, 4. should help you learn some rules, including some basic5. (require).
Gavin: Should this work be done before 6. after the GRE and TOFEL exams?
Agent: Before the exams.
Gavin: How long does 7. take a student to make preparations for the two exams?
Agent: At least six months, but that also depends 8. his or her level of English.
Gavin: OK. What's the next step?
Agent: Write to the chosen schools9. (ask) for admission and scholarship application forms.
Gavin: What are the necessary application materials?
Agent: They 10. (usual) include a personal statement, letters of recommendation, resume, study plan, scholarships and copies of your GRE and TOFEL scores.
Gavin: Got it. Thank you.
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