If you feel at present that you don't have enough friends in your life, one reason may be that you have let yourself become too busy to make time for the relationships you already have. Starting and keeping friendship requires effort and commitment. Many of us let our lives become so busy with work and other commitments that we don't get around to scheduling time for pleasure and renewal with the friends, relatives and acquaintances we already have.

　　Making the effort to call your friends more regularly and to accept more of the invitations you receive from others can improve your social life in a hurry!

　　Are there any people you could call right now and be assured of a pleasant welcome? Are there people that you could count on to help you in time of difficulty? Can you have close talks with them? Do you have fun when you are together? Are you happy to have them in your life?

　　If you haven't seen much of them lately, is it because you have become too busy? Have you grown apart? Was there an argument?

　　If the main reason why you haven't been getting together with the people you already know

　　is that you have gotten too busy, take a good look at how you spend your time. Compare it with

　　your real values and priorities in life. Is your busy lifestyle really bringing you the quality of life

　　that you want?

　　If you have become too busy for friends, why has this happened? Are you seeking material

　　toys in your life at the expense of relationships with other human beings? Have you allowed your time to be overcommitted because you never say “No” to anyone? Do you insist on doing things

　　yourself that could be left to others? If so, why? Do you believe that everything depends on you?

　　Examine whether the way you are now spending your time accurately reflects your deepest values and priorities. Make sure that you schedule adequate time for the things that are truly most important to you.

　　If you really want to keep friends in your life, make a space in your schedule, and a space in your heart for them.

　　文章大意：本文是一篇議論文。你是不是感到生活中缺少朋友？如果是這樣，那么也許是因為你忙于工作而疏遠了朋友。交朋友和維持友誼需要努力和承諾，因此，不論工作多么繁忙，都應該留出時間給朋友。

　　12．In this passage the author mainly discusses ________.

　　A．how to balance friendship and work

　　B．how to spend our spare time

　　C．whether we should keep friendship

　　D．whether we should invite friends to dinner

　　答案：A　主旨大意題。通讀全文可知，文章主要就繁忙的工作狀態下不要忘了和朋友聯系而展開討論，講述了如何去平衡友誼和工作的關系。故A項正確。

　　13．Which of the following doesn't indicate a good relationship?

　　A．You have someone to count on when you are in trouble.

　　B．You have someone to have close talks with.

　　C．You feel depressed with others in life.

　　D．You have fun when you are with someone.

　　答案：C　細節理解題。根據第三、四段可知，如果你遇到困難時有依靠，有人和你進行親密交流，你和別人在一起能得到樂趣，說明你和他人關系良好。由此可知，A、B、D三項能表明友誼良好。故選C項。

　　14．The reason why you have become too busy for friends may be the following except that ________.

　　A．you spend too much time seeking material toys in your life

　　B．you feel it difficult to keep friendship

　　C．you stick to doing everything all by yourself

　　D．you never refuse whatever other people ask you to do

　　答案：B　細節理解題。根據倒數第三段第二至四句“Are you seeking material toys... Have you allowed your time to be overcommitted because you never say ‘No’ to anyone? Do you insist on doing things yourself that could be left to others？”可排除選項A、C和D。故選B項。

　　15．The best title for the passage may be

　　________.

　　A．Too busy for Friendship?

　　B．Too busy with work?

　　C．How to Spend Your Time

　　D．How to Make New Friends

　　答案：A　標題概括題。通過對全文的整體理解可知，文章重點論述了生活中淡忘了朋友可能是自己太忙的緣故。故A項正確。

　　閱讀理解-------C

　　Many of us mistakenly believe that it's wrong to think we have any good qualities. We may spend a lot of time blaming ourselves for our negative qualities, thinking that self criticism is the key to improving our performance. However, a constant focus on our supposed shortcomings can stop our efforts to make friends with other people. How can we believe that others could like us if we believe our inner being is flawed（有缺陷）?

　　If someone seems to dislike you, the reason for that dislike might have little or nothing to do with you. The person who doesn't like you might be fearful, or shallow, or busy or shy. Perhaps you and that person are simply a mismatch for each other at this particular time.

　　Don't take yourself out of the game by deciding that your flaws are bigger than your good qualities. In fact, some of the very qualities you consider to be flaws may be irresistible to someone else. For all the factors that might cause one person to reject you, there are at least as many factors that will work in your favor with someone else.

　　You might be thirty pounds over your ideal weight, but you may have a wonderful laugh and a real enthusiasm for life. There are many people who don’t mind your extra pounds. You may drive a shabby car, but you might be a great dancer and a loyal friend. There are people out there looking for loyalty, or fun, or sweetness, or wisdom, and the package it comes in is not important. If you are worried that you are not beautiful enough to attract friends, keep in mind that not everyone is looking for physical beauty in their friends. You can decide to feel inferior（自卑） because you don't have much money and you don't drive a nice car. You can believe that this is the reason that you don't have many friends in your life. On the other hand, if you are very wealthy you may be suspicious that everyone is after your money and that nobody really likes you as a person.

　　The point is that you can focus on just about anything and believe it's the reason you do not have friends and cannot make any.

　　36. According to the author ___________ plays an important role in making friends.

　　A. admitting your shortcomings

　　B. self criticism

　　C. modesty

　　D. confidence

　　【答案】D

　　【解析】推理判斷題。根據a constant focus on our supposed shortcomings can stop our efforts to make friends with other people.既然我們強調我們的缺點有可能在交朋友方面成為絆腳石，那么我們就應該自信，故選D。

　　37. If you are not liked by a person, _________ .

　　A. you should find the reason in yourself

　　B. you’d better talk with the person face to face

　　C. you may not be the one to be blamed

　　D. you and that person misunderstand each other

　　【答案】C

　　【解析】細節理解題。根據If someone seems to dislike you, the reason for that dislike might have little or nothing to do with you. The person who doesn't like you might be fearful, or shallow, or busy or shy.不喜歡你也許和你一點關系都沒有，你也許不應該受到責備，故選C。

　　38. We can learn from the third paragraph that ____________ .

　　A. your good qualities may turn out to be your flaws

　　B. your weakness may also be your strengths in some way

　　C. your negative qualities cause a person to reject you

　　D. you’ll have few friends if your flaws are bigger than your good qualities

　　【答案】B

　　【解析】細節理解題。根據In fact, some of the very qualities you consider to be flaws may be irresistible to someone else.你的弱點也許是在某方面是你的強項，故選B。

　　39. Which of the following is true according to the author?

　　A. It is important to lose weight.

　　B. It is easier for a wealthy person to make friends.

　　C. Inner qualities are more important than physical appearance.

　　D. If you are not beautiful enough, try to improve your physical beauty.

　　【答案】C

　　【解析】細節理解題。根據If you are worried that you are not beautiful enough to attract friends, keep in mind that not everyone is looking for physical beauty in their friends.內心的美比外在的美要重要的多，故選C。

　　40. What do you think the author is most likely to suggest if he continues to write?

　　A. How to find your good qualities.

　　B. How to make friends.

　　C. How to make self criticism.

　　D. How to lose weight.

　　【答案】A

　　【解析】細節理解題。根據The point is that you can focus on just about anything and believe it's the reason you do not have friends and cannot make any.既然找到了交不上朋友的原因，那么就應該找出自己的好的品質，下面就應該寫如何找到自己好的品質，故選A。

　　閱讀理解----C

　　(2024·合肥市二模，D)

　　It is a tall tale that terrifies most young children. Swallow a piece of chewing gum and it will

　　remain in your body for seven years before it is digested. An even worse tale is that swallowed

　　gum can wrap itself around your heart.

　　But what does happen if you should accidentally eat a stick of gum? Chewing gum is made

　　out of gum base, sweeteners, coloring and flavoring. The gum base is pretty indigestible—it is a

　　mixture of different ingredients (成分) that our body can't absorb.

　　Most of the time, your stomach really cannot break down the gum the way it would break

　　down other foods. However, your digestive system has another way to deal with things you

　　swallow. After all, we eat lots of things that we are unable to fully digest. They keep moving

　　along until they make it all the way through the gut (腸子) and come out at the other end one or

　　two days later.

　　The saliva (唾液) in our mouths will make an attempt at digesting chewing gum as soon as

　　we put it in our mouths. It might get through the shell but many of gum's base ingredients are

　　indigestible. It's then down to our stomach muscles—which contract and relax, much like the

　　way an earthworm moves—to slowly force the things that we swallow through our systems.

　　Swallowing a huge piece of gum or swallowing many small pieces of gum in a short time can

　　cause a blockage within the digestive system, most often in children, who have a thinner digestive

　　tube than adults—but this is extremely rare.

　　文章大意：本文為一篇科普類說明文。誤食口香糖是不是像大人嚇小孩子那樣可怕呢？本文對此進行了分析。

　　8．Children might feel terrified after swallowing chewing gum mainly because ________.

　　A．they believe the tall tales about chewing gum

　　B．chewing gum will stay in their body for years

　　C．their heart will be wrapped by chewing gum

　　D．chewing gum is indigestible for children

　　答案：A　細節理解題。根據文章第一段第一句“It is a tall tale that terrifies most young children.”以及對第二、三句話的理解可知，答案A符合文義。B、C兩項只是分別說明了tall tale的內容，故排除。

　　9．What happens to the food that can't be fully broken down?

　　A．It remains in our digestive system forever.

　　B．It will be eventually moved out of our body.

　　C．It will fight against the power of the gut.

　　D．It will stick to the gut for one or two days.

　　答案：B　細節理解題。根據文章第三段最后兩句“After all, we eat lots of things that we are unable to fully digest. They keep moving... come out at the other end one or two days later.”可知，答案B符合文義。

　　10．The word It (in the 4th paragraph) refers to

　　________.

　　A．The attempt

　　B．The salvia

　　C．The shell

　　D．The gum base

　　答案：B　指代判斷題。根據對文章第四段前兩句的理解可知，此處的It是指第四段第一句中的The saliva(唾液)，故答案B符合文義。

　　11．What would be the best title for text?

　　A．How does our digestive system work?

　　B．Can chewing gum be swallowed by kids?

　　C．Does swallowing chewing gum matter?

　　D．Why swallowing chewing gum frightens kids?

　　答案：C　標題概括題。文章第一段由一個使小孩子害怕的說法導入話題，下文是對口香糖進入肚子后會怎樣的一個科學解釋，由此可推知，選項C“誤食口香糖要緊嗎”最適合作為文章標題。

　　閱讀理解-------D

　　Sunny countries are often poor. A shame, then, that solar power is still quite expensive. Eight19, a British company by Cambridge University, has, however, invented a novel way to get round this. In return for a deposit of around $10 it is supplying poor Kenyan families with a solar cell able to generate 2.5 watts of electricity, a battery that can deliver a three amp（安培） current to store this electricity, and a lamp whose bulb is a light-emitting diode（二極管）. The firm thinks that this system, once the battery is fully charged, is enough to light two small rooms and to power a mobile-phone charger for seven hours. Then, next day, it can be put outside and charged back up again.

　　The trick is that, to be able to use the electricity, the system's keeper must buy a scratch card—for as little as a dollar—on which is printed a reference number. The keeper sends this reference, plus the serial number of the household solar unit, by SMS to Eight19. The company's server will respond automatically with an access code to the unit.?

　　Users may consider that they are paying an hourly rate for their electricity. In fact, they are paying off the cost of the unit. After buying around $80 worth of scratch cards—which Eight19 expects would take the average family around 18 months—the user will own it. He will then have the option of continuing to use it for nothing, or of trading it in for a bigger one, perhaps driven by a 10-watt solar cell.?

　　In that case, he would go then through the same process again, paying off the additional cost of the upgraded kit at a slightly higher rate. Users would therefore increase their electricity supply steadily and affordably.

　　According to Eight19's figures, this looks like a good deal for customers. The firm believes the average energy-starved Kenyan spends around $10 a month on oil—enough to fuel a couple of smoky lamps—plus $2 on charging his mobile phone in the market-place. Regular users of one of Eight19's basic solar units will spend around half that, before owning it completely. Meanwhile, as the cost of solar technology falls, it should get even cheaper.

　　41. The underlined word “get round” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _______ .

　　A. make use of

　　B. come up with

　　C. look into

　　D. deal with

　　【答案】D

　　【解析】詞義猜測題。make use of利用； come up with想出； look into調查； deal with處理。根據solar power is still quite expensive及Eight19, a British company by Cambridge University, has, however, invented a novel way to因為太陽能仍然很貴，所以Eight19發明了一個新的方法來解決這個問題，故選D。

　　42. What should the user do when the electricity in the battery is used up?

　　A. Buy a scratch card.

　　B. Recharge it outside.