Section A: Banked Cloze

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.

When people set out to improve their health, they usually take a familiar path: starting a healthy diet, getting better sleep, and doing regular exercise. Each of these behaviors is important, of course, but they all (26) ______ on physical health—and a growing body of research suggests that social health is just as, if not more, important to (27) ______ well-being.

One recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE, for example, found that the strength of a person's social circle was a better (28) ______ of self-reported stress, happiness and well-being levels than fitness tracker data on physical activity, heart rate and sleep. That finding suggests that the “(29) ______ self” represented by endless amounts of health data doesn't tell the whole (30) ______.

There's also a qualified self, which is who I am, what are my activities, my social network, and all of these aspects are not (31) ______ in any of these measurements.

This idea is supported by plenty of (32) ______ research. Studies have shown that social support—whether it comes from friends, family members or a spouse—is (33) ______ associated with better mental and physical health. A rich social life, these studies suggest, can lower stress levels, improve mood, encourage positive health behaviors and discourage damaging ones, boost heart health and improve illness (34) ______ rates.

Social isolation, meanwhile, is linked to higher rates of physical diseases and mental health conditions. It's a significant problem, (35) ______ since loneliness is emerging as a widespread public health problem in many countries.

Word Bank

A) base

B) eagerly

C) especially

D) focus

E) indicator

F) overall

G) preached

H) prior

I) prompt

J) puzzle

K) quantified

L) recovery

M) reflected

N) story

O) strongly

Answers & Explanations

26. D (focus)。解析：位于代词 all 和介词 on 之间，且主语为 they (复数)，需要填入动词原形。固定搭配 `focus on` 意为“聚焦于/集中于 (focus)”，指这些行为都聚焦于物理健康。

27. F (overall)。解析：位于介词 to 和名词 well-being 之间，需要填入形容词。社交健康对“全面的/整体的 (overall)”福祉同样重要。

28. E (indicator)。解析：位于不定冠词 a 和形容词 better 之后，介词 of 之前，需要填入单数名词。研究发现社交圈的强度是压力、幸福感等的一个更好的“指标/标志 (indicator)”。

29. K (quantified)。解析：修饰名词 self（自我），需要填入形容词或过去分词。由海量健康数据所代表的“被量化的 (quantified)”自我。

30. N (story)。解析：固定搭配 `tell the whole story` 意为“说明全部情况/告知全貌 (story)”。海量数据并不能说明全部情况。

31. M (reflected)。解析：位于系动词 are not 和介词 in 之间，需要填入过去分词构成被动语态。以上所有这些社交方面都没有在任何这些测量中被“反映 (reflected)”出来。

32. H (prior)。解析：位于介词 of 和名词 research 之间，需要填入形容词。这个观点得到了大量“先前的/以往的 (prior)”研究的支持。

33. O (strongly)。解析：位于系动词 is 和过去分词 associated 之间，需要填入副词。固定搭配 `be strongly associated with` 意为与...有“强烈的 (strongly)”关联。

34. L (recovery)。解析：位于名词 illness 和 rates 之间，构成复合名词。丰富的社交生活可以提高疾病的“恢复/康复 (recovery)”率 (recovery rates)。

35. C (especially)。解析：位于逗号和连词 since（因为）之间，需要填入副词起强调作用。这是一个严重的问题，“特别是/尤其是 (especially)”因为孤独感正作为一种广泛的公共卫生问题出现。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• set out to do：着手做，开始做（set out to improve their health）
• focus on：聚焦于，集中于（focus on physical health）
• a body of research：大量/一系列的研究（a growing body of research suggests）
• overall well-being：整体福祉，全面健康
• tell the whole story：说明全部情况，告知全貌
• be associated with：与...有关联（is strongly associated with better mental health）
• be linked to：与...有关联，导致（Social isolation is linked to higher rates）
• emerge as：作为...出现，显露为（loneliness is emerging as a widespread problem）

【亮点句型解析】

• Just as, if not more + adj. (同级比较与递进的复合结构)：
  "...social health is just as, if not more, important to overall well-being."
  （...社交健康对整体福祉来说，如果不说是更重要的话，至少是同样重要的。）在 `just as important` 中间插入 `if not more`（如果不更多的话），这是一种非常地道且极具逻辑张力的表达，既肯定了对等关系，又暗示了递进的可能性，是四六级高级写作的金句。
• Whether 引导的让步状语从句 (插入语形式)：
  "Studies have shown that social support—whether it comes from friends, family members or a spouse—is strongly associated with..."
  （研究表明，社会支持——无论它来自朋友、家庭成员还是配偶——都与...有强烈关联。）将 `whether... or...` 从句作为破折号之间的插入语，不仅补充了细节（社会支持的来源），还使主句的核心结构（social support is associated with）更加突出，句式错落有致。