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.

A number of studies have looked at how family life can affect productivity and satisfaction in the workplace. However, there has been (26) ______ little research on the influence of leisure activities. So Ciara Kelly and colleagues recruited 129 hobbyists to look at how the time spent on their hobbies (27) ______ their work life.

The researchers found that when participants spent longer than (28) ______ on their leisure activity, their belief in their ability to perform their job was strengthened. But this was only the (29) ______ when they had a serious hobby that was dissimilar to their job, or when their hobby was similar to their work but they only did it (30) ______. When their hobby was both serious and similar to their job, then spending more time on it actually decreased their work (31) ______.

Why might that be? To maintain a serious hobby, people need to invest significant psychological resources, say the authors—so if the activity has the same kinds of demands as their work, they may be left (32) ______ and unable to perform well at their job. But if their hobby is quite different from their career, it may not (33) ______ in the same way but instead help them develop other knowledge and skills that can (34) ______ their confidence at work. “Consider a scientist who is a keen rock climber,” says Kelly. “Since climbing is so far (35) ______ from their day-to-day work activities, they can still recover from the demands of their job with plenty of resources.”

Word Bank

A) boost

B) case

C) casually

D) efficiency

E) estate

F) exhausted

G) faculty

H) interfere

I) normal

J) prevalent

K) relative

L) removed

M) scratch

N) shaped

O) surprisingly

Answers & Explanations

26. O (surprisingly)。解析：位于 has been 和 little 之间，修饰形容词 little，需要填入副词。上文提到关于家庭生活影响的研究很多，这里形成转折（However），说明关于休闲活动的研究“令人惊讶地 (surprisingly)”少。

27. N (shaped)。解析：在 how 引导的宾语从句中，主语是 the time spent on their hobbies，缺少谓语动词。根据全文时态，需填入过去式动词。表示花在爱好上的时间是如何“塑造/影响 (shaped)”他们的工作生活的。

28. I (normal)。解析：搭配 `longer than normal` 是一个常见的固定短语，意为“比平时/平常 (normal) 更长的时间”。

29. B (case)。解析：固定搭配 `this is only the case when...`，意为“只有在...的情况下才是这样/才是如此”。case 在这里表示“情况/事实”。

30. C (casually)。解析：位于动词短语 did it 之后，需要填入副词修饰动作。前文的 or 连接了两种情况，与前面的 a serious hobby（严肃的爱好）形成对比，这里指代“随便地，漫不经心地 (casually)”做这件事。

31. D (efficiency)。解析：位于 decreased their work 之后，需要填入名词。当爱好既严肃又与工作相似时，花更多时间反而会降低他们的工作“效率 (efficiency)”。

32. F (exhausted)。解析：位于 be left 之后，并与 unable 构成并列，需要填入形容词或过去分词作主语补足语。由于爱好和工作消耗同样的心理资源，人们可能会感到“筋疲力尽 (exhausted)”。

33. H (interfere)。解析：位于情态动词 may not 之后，搭配介词 in，需要填入动词原形。如果爱好与职业完全不同，它可能不会以同样的方式产生“干扰/妨碍 (interfere)”。

34. A (boost)。解析：位于情态动词 can 之后，宾语是 their confidence，需要填入动词原形。发展其他知识和技能可以“提升/增强 (boost)”他们在工作中的信心。

35. L (removed)。解析：固定搭配 `be far removed from`，意为“与...大不相同，与...相去甚远”。攀岩与他们日常的工作活动相去甚远 (removed)。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• a number of：许多，大量（A number of studies have looked at...）
• longer than normal：比平常更长，比平时久
• this is the case：情况就是这样，事实如此（this was only the case when...）
• be left exhausted：处于筋疲力尽的状态，被搞得精疲力竭
• invest resources：投入资源（invest significant psychological resources）
• interfere in/with：干涉，妨碍，干扰（interfere in the same way）
• boost confidence：提升信心，增强自信
• be far removed from：与...大相径庭，与...相去甚远（climbing is so far removed from their day-to-day work）

【亮点句型解析】

• How 引导的宾语从句 (研究/探讨的经典句型)：
  "...recruited 129 hobbyists to look at how the time spent on their hobbies shaped their work life."
  （...招募了129名业余爱好者，以探讨花在爱好上的时间如何影响他们的工作生活。）`how` 引导宾语从句，其中 `spent on their hobbies` 是过去分词短语作后置定语修饰 `time`。这是描述科学研究目的的标杆句型。
• Since 引导的原因状语从句：
  "Since climbing is so far removed from their day-to-day work activities, they can still recover from the demands of their job..."
  （由于攀岩与他们的日常工作活动相去甚远，他们仍然可以从工作的要求中恢复过来...）`Since` 放句首表示“既然，由于”，用于引出不言自明的原因，比使用 `Because` 更加正式、自然。