What are the kindest things that have ever been done for you? Once, years ago, I made a list, on a late night flight to my hometown.

My sister had called to tell me that our mother was dying and that if I wanted to say goodbye, I needed to get there fast. So I made calls to cancel work and hurried to catch the last flight out.

After takeoff, the lights went down and I felt empty and alone.

What do you do when you get lonely and there’s no one to hold you? How do you fill a hungry heart?

I took out a notebook and listed all the kindnesses that I’d ever been given.

Five hours later, when we landed, I closed the notebook and rushed to the hospital to say goodbye to my mother.

Making that list of kindnesses that night helped me in the days ahead to do the things I needed to do and be the daughter I wanted to be.

Kindness heals and fills an empty heart. It’s a gift, once and for always.

Last night it was cold and rainy, so I wrapped myself up in a blanket. Warm then, I recalled being 7 years old in Mrs Harrison’s second grade class.

That morning, I’d worn my new shoes to school. I loved the shoes and all the way to school on the bus couldn’t stop looking at them. But when I stepped off the bus, my right foot--- and my new right shoe – went deep into a puddle of water.

Mrs Harrison saw the water I was dripping into class. She said, “Give me those shoes and warm your feet by the fire.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said.

“No trouble! We all hit a puddle now and then!”

I don’t know if she remembered it. But I do. It warmed my feet for a few hours. But it has warmed my heart for a lifetime.

Often, acts of kindness seem to be the simplest. But they become beautiful beyond all singing of it if they are remembered with thankfulness and passed on from one needy soul to another.

【1】The author thinks listing kindnesses can _________.

A. help kill time when she feels lonely.

B. remind her how lucky she was as a child.

C. make her think that she was not as good as others.

D. remind her to be a good daughter.

【2】The author mentioned her experience in second grade mainly to ______.

A. express her thanks to Mrs Harrison

B. show that children always love new shoes

C. encourage teachers to care more about their students

D. say that small acts of kindness can mean a lot to someone

【3】According to the passage, we should _______.

A. remember these acts for a lifetime.

B. spread kindness to those in need.

C. speak about the kindness to other people.

D. make a list of kindnesses and repay them.

【4】Why does the author think kindness is a gift for always?

__________________________________________________________________________

A. care about B. feel like C. because of D. as long as

—____ _ . It's much too hot in here.

A. Certainly B. Of course not

C. All right D. Never mind

— along this street. The hospital is the white building at the street corner.

A. Walking B. Walk C. To walk D. To walking

A．for

B．with

C．a(chǎn)gainst

D．beyond

–Yes, she does.

A. hard B. hardly C. harder D. the hardest

A. works B. painting C. film D. jobs

—Sorry. He______ a speech now. Please call later.

A. gives B. gave C. will give D. is giving

They say music is universal, and it seems to be true since wherever we go, we see people listening, playing or dancing to it. We tend to think that music is larger than our cultural differences and shows the deeper connections between us.

But according to a recent study published in the Current Biology, music doesn’t speak to everyone. There is a condition, the researchers argue, called “musical anhedonia”. They say that those who have this condition may have few abilities to experience pleasure from music.

For the study, 30 people listened to the same, mostly classical music pieces. They were then asked to complete a questionnaire on how they felt about the music. At the same time, the researchers measured their heart rate and skin reaction, which are considered physiological measures of feelings.

According to the researchers, most of the people in the study got pleasure from the music. They had a quicker heartbeat and sweatedmore. However, a small number of them had very little and even no pleasant feeling while they were listening to the music. These people had none or very few of the physical signs which the others in the study experienced.

The researchers say that this means people have different abilities to enjoy music and that “there are people who specifically can’t enjoy music at all”

To study the condition more deeply, another group of scientists, at Columbia University, US, researched brain activities. They found that the key is the blood flow to the reward system in the brain. People who got less pleasure from music had comparatively lower blood flow to areas involved in the reward system of the brain when they were listening to music.

The lower blood flow makes it more likely that the brain’s “reward system” will be inactive. And it will produce less of the “pleasure chemical” dopamine. As a result, people get less pleasure from music.

If the research is correct, according to National Public Radio, there are simply people who just don’t get music. They may get pleasure from many things, but a good tune isn’t one of them.

【1】The people who is called musical anhedonia _______.

A. avoid listening to music

B. like to listen to certain types of music.

C. can’t feel the pleasure that music brings to others.

D. believe cultural differences are larger than music.

【2】What was the purpose of the study mentioned in Current Biology ?

A. To learn what music people love the most.

B. To learn how music influences people’s feelings.

C. To understand the relationship between music and the body.

D. To see whether music works in the same way for all people.

【3】What happened in the study when people listened to music?

A. All of them had faster heartbeat and sweated more.

B. Those who enjoyed music had slower blood flow.

C. They showed different physical signs as the music changed.

D. Those who enjoyed music had more dopamine produced.

【4】Which part of a magazine may the article appear in?

A. Science.B. Sports.C. Health.D. Fashion.

You’re chatting with friends on the phone, but you can’t help looking through shopping websites in the meantime. You’re having lunch alone in the dining hall, but it only feels right when you start playing a show on your phone ---as if it’s a necessary “side dish”.

We’re now living in a world that is filled with information. It seems unnatural to do only one thing at a time. It’s as if we’re all suffering from a recent article called “multitasking OCD”.

“With news reduced to 140 characters and communication increasingly by emojis, we have developed the ability to focus our attention on several activities and devices at once,” Sabry Otmani, founder of Pulpix website, once wrote. “We need something exciting to keep us interested and to fight off boredom.”

But perhaps “fighting off boredom” is not the only reason.

My own obsession with multitasking mainly comes from the fact that everyone around me seems to study all the time. Each minute I’m not taking in something new feels like a waste of time. So I always have my headphones on, whether I’m commuting, exercising or walking in the park. I’m forever listening to something---a course on classical music, or on new media management, and heaven knows what else---just so I can keep up with the world.

People who can’t stay away from social media are known by “FOMO” (fear of missing out): They have to be updated about what their friends are doing and saying. But I’d guess that “FOFO” better describes me – “fear of falling out”.

No matter what reason you’re doing it for, “multitasking” is already a part of the modern lifestyle. Just make sure you make the most out of it.

【1】In the first paragraph, the author wants to ______.

A. show how busy today’s life is

B. show that people today often feel lost

C. explain what “multitasking OCD” is like

D. say people like to compare with each other

【2】According to Sabry Otmani people today like multitasking because _______.

A. it can help them to communicate their ideas

B. it can help them out of being bored

C. they are impatient to finish one thing at a time

D. they are more able than the past generations

【3】The underlined word “obsession” may mean “_______”.

A. interestB. knowledgeC. understandingD. worry

【4】Which of the following is correct about the writer?

A. She wants to stay ahead of her friends.

B. She wants to have something to show off.

C. She doesn’t want to get left behind by others.

D. She thinks it is boring to do one thing at a time.