Section A

Reading Comprehension ( 40 minutes)

Directions: In this section , there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each

blank from a list of choices given in a word. bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully

before making your choices; Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding

letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with. a. single line through the centre. You may not use any of the

words in the bank more than once.

At 43, I've reached the stage where women are warned to watch out for the creeping sadness of

middle age. We're served up an endless stream of advice on "how to survive your 40s", as if we're in the

endurance stage of a slow limp toward 26 . This is the age women start to become "invisible"-our

value, attractiveness and power supposedly 27 by the vanishing of youth. But I don't feel like I'm

fading into 28 . I feel more seen than I ever have, and for. the first time in my life, I have a clear-eyed

view of myself that is 29 , compassionate and accepting.

When I look in the mirror, I'm proud of who I am-even those "broken" parts that for so long

seemed impossible to love. So when advertisers try to sell me ways to "turn back the clock", I have to

30 a laugh. I wouldn't go back to the crippling self-consciousness of my youth if you paid me. This

hard-won sense of self-acceptance is one of the joys of being an older woman. But it's a narrative often

31 out by the shame that marketers rely on to peddle us their diet pills, miracle face creams and

breathable yoga pants-as if self-love is a 32 commodity.

For some women I know, this sense of trust and self-belief later in life gave them the courage to leave

dysfunctional relationships or 33 on new career paths. Others talked about enjoying their own

company, of growth through 34 , deepening bonds of friendships, the ability to be more

compassionate, less judgmental and to listen more and appreciate the small pleasures. Life past 40 is far

from smooth sailing, but it's so much more than the reductive 35 we see in women's magazines and on

the Hollywood big screen.

A) adversity

B) authentic

C) convey

D) depictions

E) diminished

F) drowned

G) embark

H) fragility

I) neglected

J) obscurity

K) outlines

L) prevalent

M) purchasable

N) submit

0) suppress