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.

Thinking kind thoughts about yourself and your loved ones can prove beneficial for

your overall wellbeing, empirical evidence has shown. Researchers carried out an

investigation to explore the _26_ between having kind thoughts and a person's

psychological state.

For the study, five groups of participants were presented with a different set of audio

instructions, some of which encouraged the participants to think _27_ about themselves

and others which persuaded them to think in a self-critical manner. After listening to the

audio instructions, the participants were asked to answer a series of questions. These

included whether they felt agitated, how likely they were to show kindness to themselves

and how _28_ they felt to other individuals.

The participants who were instructed to think kindly about themselves were more

likely to exhibit a bodily response associated with being relaxed and feeling safe. Their

heart rates also dropped, which is a healthy sign of a heart that can respond flexibly to

situations. Yet, _29_, those who listened to the critical audio clips were noted as having

a higher heart rate and sweat response afterwards, both of which _30_ feelings of threat

and distress.

Having the ability to switch off the body's natural threat response can _31 a person's

immune system. This, in turn, gives them a greater likelihood of recovering quickly from

illness. These findings help us to further understand some of our clinical trials research

findings, where we show that individuals with _32_ depression benefit particularly from

self-awareness-based _33 therapy. They essentially learn to become more sympathetic

to themselves.

The sense is that for people 34 to depression, meeting their negative thoughts

and feelings with _35 is a radically different way; that these thoughts are not facts. It

introduces a different way of being and knowing that is quite transformative for many

people.

A)adversely

B)amiably

C)boost

D)cognitive

E)compassion

F)connected

G)correlation

H)fascinated

I) indignantly

J)insulation

K)lavish

L)prone

M)recurrent

N)signify

O)surpass