A: Spot Dictation
Directions: In this part of the test, you
will hear a passage and read the same passage with blanks in it. Fill in each of
the blanks with the word or words you have heard on the tape. Write your answer
in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET. Remember you will hear
the passage ONLY ONCE.
What does it mean to relax Despite (1)
thousands of times during the course of our lives, (2)
have deeply considered what it’s really about.
When you ask
people what it means to relax, most will answer in a way that suggests that
relaxing is something you (3) —you do it on vacation, in a
hammock, (4) , or when you get everything done. This
implies, of course, that most other times should (5) ,
agitated, rushed, and frenzied. Very few actually come out and say no, but this
is (6) . Could this explain why so many of us operate as if
life were one great (7) Most of us postpone relaxation
until our "in-basket" (8) . Of course it never
is.
It is useful to think of relaxation as (9)
that you can access on a regular basis rather than something (10)
some later time. You can relax now. It’s helpful to remember that
relaxed people can still be (11) and, in fact, that
(12) go hand in hand. When I’m feeling upright, for example, I
don’t even (13) . But when I feel relaxed, my writing
(14) .
Being more relaxed (15)
training yourself to (16) to the dramas of life,
turning your melodrama into a mellow drama. It comes, in part, from
(17) over and over again (with loving kindness and patience) that
you (18) in how you respond to life. You can learn to
relate to your thinking as well as (19) in new ways. With
practice, making these choices (20) a more relaxed
self.
