YOU don’t need millions to be happy. In fact, at The Happiness Institute in Australia, a couple of hundred dollars may be enough.
The institute opened its doors last year, and, since then, men and women of all ages have been paying A$200 an hour (US$140) for l essons on how to feel great.
“You can actually increase your happiness levels. That’s what we teach,” said Timothy Sharp, founder of the institute.
Experts say that only about 15 per cent of happiness comes from income, assets and other financial factors. As much as 85 per cent comes from things such as attitude, life control and relationships.
Most of us are significantly better off financially than our parents and grandparents, but happiness levels haven’t changed to reflect that.
Studies show that once the basic needs of shelter and food are met, additional wealth adds very little to happiness.
Many decades ago, the “sage of Baltimore, Maryland”, editor HL Mencken, defined wealth as earning US$100 more than your “wife’s sister’s husband.”
Behavioral economists now say part of the reason we are richer but not happier is because we compare ourselves to people better off materially.
“The argument is that if you want to be happy there’s a very simple thing you can do: Compare yourself to people who are less well off than you — poorer, smaller house, car,” said Sharp.
The Happiness Institute aims to show you how to overcome these unhappiness factors by focusing on “more than just your bank account.”
“If I compare myself to Bill Gates then I’m always going to be down,” said Sharp.
A better thing to compare with, he said, might be Kerry Packer, Australia’s richest person who has had a kidney transplant and heart surgery in recent years.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. You can increase your happiness levels by attending the classes at the Happiness Institute.
B. Most of us are happier than our parents or grandparents since we earn more.
C. Earning US$ 100 more than your wife’s sister’s husband if you want to be happy.
D. Both Bill Gates and Kerry Packer are examples of those who are extremely rich but obviously unhappy.
2. The underlined phrase has the same meaning as the word _______.
A. healthy B. unhealthy C. free D. wealthy
3. The author wrote the passage to tell us _______.
A. happiness is everything
B. wealth is the foundation of happiness
C. have fun at the Happiness Institute
D. money doesn’t always mean happiness
I had once helped a friend of mine run a watermelon stall. I noticed something interesting. Almost every buyer would lift the melon up to their ear，smartly tap it, apparently trying to listen to something. I wondered what they expected to hear.
Finally I could no longer hold back my curiosity and made bold to ask a customer—an elderly gentleman—about this. Hearing my question，he roared with laughter. Then he replied in a selfmocking(自嘲)tone.“Young lady，I have been doing this for more than fifty years. All I know is that everybody would stare at you as if you were a fool if you just pick up the melon and leave！”
Not long after that，my watermelon stall friend unexpectedly sent me an invitation for her wedding，which really surprised me. I asked her, “How come you are seized by a sudden desire to get married? I don't remember ever hearing you mention that yon've got a boyfriend.” She answered while counting money，“Everyone has to get married anyway，so it is better to get married sooner than later.”
I could think of no word to refute(反驳)her. It seems that everybody is living for everybody else and has forgotten the need of their own heart. It may be safe and save a lot of worries by following others' suit in doing things. The use of We or Us will give one a steady and sure sense of pride. But using the pronoun “I” would often give one a guilty conscience.
I find all these things somewhat funny. We have got used to taking cue from(模仿) others and follow their suit. In turn，we also take it for granted that we should judge the right and wrong of others by our own standard. As a matter of fact，this massive practice is still wrong though we all follow others' suit like this, but we feel at ease and, justified simply because this is the way of us, and so we can have an easy conscience because this has been practiced by so many people.The writer probably feels that it is ________.
| A．necessary for the buyer to tap the watermelon |
| B．foolish of the buyers to buy watermelon without tapping it |
| C．funny that the buyers will tap the watermelons when buying them |
| D．wise of the elderly gentleman to tap watermelons before buy them |
The writer uses the example of her friend's decision of getting married to show that ________.
| A．her friend took no account of others's feeling |
| B．her friend decided to marry just to follow the crowd |
| C．her friend was a person who has strong personality |
| D．everybody in the world should marry for others |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．It may be safe to follow others' suit in doing things. |
| B．I was surprised to receive my friend's invitation for her wedding. |
| C．My experience of helping my friend run a watermelon stall was interesting. |
| D．The use of We or I will give speakers themselves quite different senses. |
Which word can replace the underlined word“justified”in the last paragraph?
| A．Reasonable. | B．Embarrassed. | C．Ashamed. | D．Nervous. |
In which section of a magazine can you read the passage?
| A．Art and Life | B．Sport and Health |
| C．Culture and Society | D．Science and Technology |
To get a chocolate out of a box requires a lot of unpacking: the box has to be taken out of the paper bag in which it arrived, the cellophane (玻璃纸) wrapper has to be torn off, the lid opened and the paper removed, the chocolate itself then has to be unwrapped from its own piece of paper. But this overuse of wrapping is not limited to luxuries. It is now becoming increasingly difficult to buy anything that is not done up in beautiful wrapping.
The package itself is of no interest to the shopper, who usually throws it away immediately. Useless wrapping accounts for much of the refuse put out by the average London house-hold each week. So why is it done? Some of it, like the cellophane on meat, is necessary, but most of the rest is simply competitive selling. This is absurd. Packaging is using up valuable energy and resources and polluting the environment.
Recycling is already happening with milk bottles which are returned to the dairies (牛奶场）, washed out, and refilled. But both glass and paper are being threatened by the growing use of plastic. More dairies are experimenting with plastic bottles.
The trouble with plastic is that it does not rot. Some environmentalists argue that the only solution to the problem of ever increasing plastic containers is to throw away plastic altogether in the shops, a suggestion unacceptable to many producers who say there is no alternative (替代品) to their handy plastic packs.
It is evident that more research is needed into the recovery and re-use of various materials and into the cost of collecting and recycling containers rather than producing new ones. Unnecessary packaging, intended to be used just once, and to make things look better so more people will buy them, is clearly becoming increasingly absurd. But it is not so much a question of throwing away packaging as using it wisely. What is needed now is a more advanced approach to using scarce resources for what is, after all, a relatively unimportant function.The underlined part “this overuse of wrapping is not limited to luxuries” in Paragraph l means ______.
| A．more wrapping is needed for ordinary products |
| B．the wrapping used for luxury products is unnecessary |
| C．more wrapping is used for luxuries than for ordinary products |
| D．too much wrapping is used for both luxury and ordinary products |
Why is packaging important to producers?
| A．It is easy to use it again. |
| B．Packaged things will not go rotten. |
| C．They want to attract more shoppers. |
| D．Shoppers are all interested in beautiful packaging. |
According to the passage, dairies are ______.
| A．reusing their paper containers |
| B．giving up the use of glass bottles |
| C．increasing the use of plastic bottles |
| D．experimenting with the use of paper bottles |
Some environmentalists think that ______.
| A．too much plastic is wasted |
| B．shops should stop using plastic containers |
| C．no alternative can be found to plastic packaging |
| D．plastic packaging should be made more convenient |
An American educational expert, Frederick M. Hess, says that a long summer vacation doesn’t make sense in today’s world.
This summer, 50 million kids will spend much time talking online, watching TV, playing video games and asking older brothers or sisters to take them to the supermarket. They will also be putting their academic futures at risk.
During much of the 20th century, many Americans worked in factories that did not need a college degree but still offered a high salary. Also, in the 19th century, there was no air condition. And poor hygiene (卫生) meant that crowded schools had health risks.
Things have changed. For today’s students, academic skills are key to future success. Many countries don’t give kids an American-style summer vacation. They offer no more than seven consecutive (连续的) weeks of vacation. Most American school districts offer up to 13 weeks. To compete in global marketplace, Americans must be prepared to go up against international competitors.
Summer vacation also causes challenges for today’s families. In the 1960s, more than 60% of families had a stay-at-home mum. Now, two-thirds of American children live families where every adult works. For these families, summer vacation can be more burden than break. Someone must watch the kids.
But the biggest problem may be how summer vacation hurts academic achievement. Scientist have found that disadvantaged students lose important ground in the summertime.
A school year can allow time-limited teachers to conduct richer and more imaginative lessons. Schools would have more time for sports, languages, music and the arts.Before the 20th century, a long summer vacation might ______.
| A．reduce income for Americans |
| B．reduce health risks for students |
| C．cause career failure for Americans |
| D．cause loss in global market for America |
How long does an American-style summer vacation last？
| A．No more than two months. |
| B．Less than three months. |
| C．As long as three months. |
| D．As long as four months. |
According to the text, who will benefit from a long school year?
| A．American students, teachers and parents. |
| B．American students, parents and shop owners. |
| C．American students, parents and international competitors. |
| D．American students, teachers and international competitors. |
How many reasons did the writer give to support his/her opinion?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
An alcohol breath test (ABT) is often used by the police to find out whether a person is drunk while driving. In the United States, the legal blood alcohol limit is 0.08% for people aged 21 years or older, while people under 21 are not allowed to drive a car with any level of alcohol in their body. A “positive” test result, a result over the legal limit, allows the police to arrest the driver. However, many people who tested positive on the test have claimed that they only drank a “non-alcoholic” energy drink. Can one of these energy drinks really cause someone to test positive on an ABT? Researchers in Missouri set up an experiment to find out.
First, the amount of alcohol in 27 different popular energy drinks was measured. All but one had an alcohol level greater than 0.005%. In nine of the 27 drinks, the alcohol level was at least 0.096%.The scientists then investigated the possibility that these small levels of alcohol could be discovered by an ABT. They asked test subjects to drink a full can or bottle of an energy drink and then gave each subject an ABT one minute and 15 minutes after the drink was finished.
For 11 of the 27energy drinks, the ABT did find the presence of alcohol if the test was given within one minute after the drink was taken. However, alcohol could not be discovered for any of the drinks if the test was given 15 minutes after the drink was consumed. This shows that when the test is taken plays an important role in the test result. The sooner the test is conducted after the consumption of these drinks, the more likely a positive alcohol reading will be obtained.What is the legal alcohol level for a 20-year-old driver in the US?
| A．0.000%. | B．0.005%. | C．0.080%. | D．0.096%. |
What is the purpose of the Missouri experiment?
| A．To warn people of the dangers of drinking energy drinks. |
| B．To introduce a new method of calculating blood alcohol levels. |
| C．To discover the relation between energy drinks and ABT test results. |
| D．To change the current legal alcohol limit for drivers in the United States. |
The underlined word “subjects” in Paragraph 2 refers to_____.
| A．the things that are being discussed |
| B．areas of knowledge studied in school |
| C．the person in an experiment |
| D．the people who belong to a country |
Which of the following affects the ABT test result most for energy drink consumers?
| A．The age of the person who takes the test. |
| B．The place where the test is given. |
| C．The equipment that the test uses. |
| D．The time when the test is taken. |
I’ve spent over a year in India, and in those 365 plus days, I’ve learned a lot about getting around Indian cities. My biggest lessons have been learned through being cheated, particularly by taxi and rickshaw (人力车) drivers, but that doesn’t mean those are bad ways to travel, as long as you know what you’re doing. Below are the best ways to get around the city of Delhi, India, and tips for how to keep from being the victim of scams (欺骗).
Taking taxis is a great way to get around the city of Delhi and chances are, if you arrive in Delhi by plane, as soon as you make it through customs, you’ll be swarmed by Indian taxi drivers. At the Delhi airport, be sure to arrange for a taxi to your hotel at one of the two Delhi Traffic Police Taxi Booths. One is inside the airport, and one is outside. The key is to make sure to go to a booth run by the police, rather than by independent taxi drivers.
Rickshaws are one of my favorite ways to get around Indian cities, partly because it’s how the locals often travel. Auto-rickshaws are more common, but bicycle rickshaws are still used in Old Delhi. If you do have a chance to take a bicycle rickshaw, you should do it at least once for a unique experience that should only set you back about 15 rupees. Auto-rickshaw rates around Delhi range between 30 and 80 rupees, depending on distance.
If you really want to travel around Delhi like the locals, take a public bus. Indian buses become very crowded and most do not have air conditioning. They are, however, very cheap. A bus trip won’t set you back any more than 15 rupees, as long as you stay within the city limits. Since Indian buses get so crowded, try to board the bus at the start of the route so you can get a seat.
The train is a great way to get around within the city of Delhi. Fares are reasonable, between six and 22 rupees. All departure announcements are in both Hindi and English, and tokens can be purchased for between six and 22 rupees. What is the author trying to do through this text?
| A．Expect us to travel around Delhi. |
| B．Show his/her experiences in Delhi. |
| C．Give some advice of traveling in Delhi. |
| D．Explain the difficulties of traveling in Delhi. |
What should you do to avoid being cheated when taking a taxi at the Delhi airport?
| A．Go to a police-run booth. |
| B．Go out of the airport. |
| C．Show your ticket to the driver. |
| D．Pay more to the drivers to keep safe. |
The author suggests taking a rickshaw in order to ______.
| A．save some money |
| B．gain some unique experience |
| C．enjoy the comfortable trip |
| D．help the local rickshaw drivers |
Which may be the topic that follows?
| A．Car rentals in Delhi |
| B．Food and drink in Delhi |
| C．Weather conditions in Delhi |
| D．Hotel recommendations in Delhi |