In my experience, one of the greatest reasons of unhappiness is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are．When we see something we don’t like, we wish it could be different–we cry out for something better．That may be human nature, or perhaps it’s something that has been grown in our culture．
The root of the unhappiness isn’t that we want things to be different, however, it’s that we decided we didn’t like it in the first place．We’ve judged it as bad, rather than saying, “It’s not bad or good, but it just is．”
Here is an example．I have written a paper, A Beautiful Method to Find Peace of Mind．Quite a few people think it bad after reading it because I think people should expect things to go differently than you planned, and that you should accept that, instead of encouraging people to change themselves or the environment as much as possible．You could accept it as the way the world works–as the way things actually are．And try to understand why that is, and follow it, as it is．
This can be useful to whatever you do: whether it be how other people act at work, how politics works and how depressing the news media can be．Accept these things as they are, and try to understand why they’re that way．
It’ll save you a lot of sadness because you’ll no longer say, “Oh, I wish things didn’t go bad!”
If you really understand what I mean, you can try a different way to live in this world:accept, and understand．It might lead to some interesting results．
1．What is the major reason why we feel unhappy in the writer’s opinion?
A．We are never satisfied with ourselves and the environment around us．
B．When we see something that makes us unhappy, we don’t know what to do．
C．We feel hard to accept the way things happen themselves．
D．No matter how happy we are, we never want to be happy．
2．What do you think the writer may say to himself when he meets something unhappy?
A．How could I have made such a stupid mistake?
B．I should have done better．It’s all my fault．
C．Why is it all against my plan? It can’t be so bad．
D．Well, I know all is what it is meant to be．Take it easy．
3．Why do some people think badly of the writer’s new paper after reading it?
A．The writer hasn’t shown an encouraging attitude in his paper．
B．The writer asks people to try to make things better．
C．The writer reminds the people that things will go exactly as you’ve planned．
D．The writer doesn’t think it a good idea to accept the things go naturally．
4．The statements below are based on the writer’s points of view, EXCEPT_______
A．Unhappiness may be caused by human nature that we always want things to be better．
B．Why we don’t like the thing is that we have regard it as bad in the beginning．
C．The news media shouldn’t be so depressing if the reporters worked harder．
D．The best way to avoid feeling unhappy is to accept the things as they are．
May: Happenings from the Past
May 5, 1884
Isaac Murphy, son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby. He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times.
May 9, 1754
Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon (漫画), showing a snake cut in pieces with the words “Join or Die” printed under the picture.
May 11, 1934
The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought (干旱), blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington, D.C.
May 19, 1994
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64.
May 24, 1844
Samuel F.B Morse taps out the first message, “What hath God wrought,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Md.We know from the text that Buchanan is ______.
| A．Isaac’s father |
| B．a winning horse |
| C．a slave taking care of horses |
| D．the first racing horse in Kentucky |
What is the title of the first American political cartoon?
| A．Join or Die | B．Pennsylvania Gazette |
| C．What Hath God Wrought | D．Kentucky Derby |
In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die?
| A．1934 | B．1960 | C．1964 | D．1994 |
Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history?
A. Washing to, D.C. B. New York City C. Kentucky D. Pennsylvania
Liverpool city council (市政厅) want to clear the city of fat pigeons (鸽子). They say that people are feeding the birds, which makes them fat. The pigeons get bigger because they normally eat seeds (种子) and insects (昆虫) for their main food, not high-fat junk food they are eating in the city centre.
The council want people to know that everyone who feeds the pigeons makes the streets crowded (拥挤)with these birds. They hope to encourage the birds to move away from the city centre and into parks and open spaces.
Ten robotic birds have been brought into the city centre to scare the pigeons away and visitors are asked not to give the pigeons any food. The mechanical birds—known as ‘robops’—will sit on the roofs of buildings. They can be moved around to different places. They look like a peregrine falcon, which is a bird that kills pigeons. They even make noises and flap their wings to scare the pigeons. They hope that the pigeons will go away before the city becomes the European Capital of Culture in two years. Liverpool city council want to clear the city of fat pigeons because ______.
| A．the pigeons are eating junk food |
| B．the pigeons might get killed |
| C．the pigeons make the city center crowded |
| D．the pigeons sit on the roofs of buildings |
What do we know about a peregrine falcon?
| A．It scares the robotic birds. | B．It is an enemy of the pigeons. |
| C．It looks like a pigeon. | D．It likes the food people give it. |
Which of the following is probably true according to passage?
| A．The robots will fly around the city center like real birds. |
| B．Pigeons get fat because they eat seeds and insects. |
| C．Liverpool is the European Capital of Culture. |
| D．The pigeons like the food that people give them. |
Scientists would like to place a huge mirror in space above the earth. It might be sixty miles wide. It would be used to catch the rays (光线) of the sun. It would direct the sun’s rays upon the earth as a child might do to make sunlight dance on the wall with a hand mirror.
Why do they want to do this? The sun’s rays could be helpful in many ways. They could light up cities by night. The warm rays could stop frosts (霜冻) which might come at night and hurt fruit crops. They could melt (融化) dangerous icebergs in the ocean. Perhaps they could change cloud movements and bring rain where it is needed. The huge mirror would ______.
| A．stand 60 miles in height (高度) | B．be 60 miles from side to side |
| C．cover 60 miles of the earth | D．be 60 miles above the earth |
The mirror would be used to ______.
| A．reflect (反射) sunlight | B．absorb (吸收) sunlight |
| C．see what the earth looks like | D．see how clouds move |
The strong light from the mirror could possibly ______.
| A．hurt fruit crops | B．set fire to cities |
| C．bring longer daytime | D．shine through walls |
The huge mirror is ______.
| A．something in a story | B．already made |
| C．just an idea | D．to be made soon |
For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed very busy with business，and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough，he rode out a great deal.
During this time，all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house，when he would sometimes pass me coldly， and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me，because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening，several days later，I was invited to talk to Mr.Rochesterafter dinner. He was sitting in his armchair，and looked not quite so severe，and much less gloomy. There was a smile on his lips， and his eyes were bright，probably with wine. As I was looking at him，he suddenly turned， and asked me，“Do you think I am handsome，Miss Eyre? ”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it: “No，sir.” “Ah，you really are unusual! You are a quiet， serious little person， but you can be almost rude.” “Sir，I'm sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn't matter，or something like that，” “No，you shouldn't! I see，you criticize my appearance，and then you stab (刺) me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance (抵消) your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind，and said quickly，“Yes，you're right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one，and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you， and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man，take my word for it，but I have done wrong. It wasn't my character，but circumstances which were to blame. Why do I tell you all this? Because you're the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to， because you're sympathetic and give them hope.”
It seemed he had quite a lot to talk to me. He didn't seem to like to finish the talk quickly，as was the case for the first time.
“Don't be afraid of me， Miss. Eyre，”he continued. “You don't relax or laugh very much，perhaps because of the effect Lowood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me，and laugh， and speak freely. You're like a bird in a cage. When you get out of the cage， you'll fly very high. Good night.”At the beginning Miss Eyre's impressions of Mr. Rochester were all except_________.
| A．busy | B．sociable | C．dull | D．changeable |
The underlined sentence means___________.
| A．Only by meeting him around the house sometimes did I know a little about him. |
| B．Only by coming to the house could I know about him. |
| C．I occasionally met him but my knowledge about him was poor. |
| D．What I knew about him was limited in the house. |
From what Mr. Rochester told Miss Eyre，we can conclude that he wanted to ___________.
| A．tell her all his troubles |
| B．tell her his life experience |
| C．blame her for misunderstanding him |
| D．change his circumstances |
At the end of the passage，Mr.Rochestersounded __________.
| A．rude | B．cold | C．polite | D．encouraging |
According to the passage，which of the following statements is WRONG?
| A．Miss Eyre was atLowoodSchoolbefore she came to Mr. Rochester’s house. |
| B．Miss Eyre didn’t see Mr. Rochester often. |
| C．Miss Eyre was honest，brave and confident. |
| D．Miss Eyre was brave，polite and warm-hearted. |
Since 1950, the amount of information about the nutrition of food has increased by nearly 900 percent. Besides this fact, obesity has risen by 214 percent and nearly two out of every three adults in America are overweight or obese. Being overweight is not only an appearance problem, and it also increases the risk of various diseases including diabetes, sleep disorder and cancer.
With so much nutritional knowledge easy to find, we cannot simply ignore our present obesity epidemic(流行病). We know that fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin. Though we are overweight, many of us choose junk food over healthy food out of habits. One explanation for our strong desire for junk food is that we learn to connect junk food with positive feelings when we are young, and changing this attitude requires a huge amount of confidence and determination. Fortunately, new research published in May 2012 has shown a simple and accessible way to make healthier food choices- the one that doesn’t rely on great determination.
The research was based on two separate studies and it was carried out by T. Bettina Cornwell of the University of Oregon and Anna R. McAlister of Michigan State University. In the first study, 60 adults between the ages of 19 and 23 were questioned about the role of food and drinks. The survey tells us that adults prefer sweetened drinks with high-calorie, salty foods, to sweetened drinks with vegetables.
In the second study, 75 children between the ages of 3 and 5 were gathered for some experiments including drinks served with vegetables. The preschooler experiments were carried out under different situations and on different days. The researchers found that the children chose to take more green vegetables when they were served with water instead of a sweetened drink.
According to Cornwell, children learn to connect high calorie, sugary drinks such as cola, with high fat foods such as French fries, from a very early age. McAlister adds that early taste development appears to play an important role in food choices later in life. Meals served at home and meals offered at restaurants, set the stage for this idea and for the preference to choose junk food over healthy food, when beginning to take sweetened drinks.
“Our taste preferences are heavily influenced by regularly eating particular food and drinking particular drink,” states Cornwell. “If the drink on the table goes against both adults and children eating their vegetables, then perhaps it is time to change that drink… and to serve water with all meals. Restaurants could easily use water as free drink for children’s meals and charge extra money for other drinks.” Both McAlister and Cornwell are confident that serving water with meals could effectively reduce the nation’s obesity rates, diabetes rates and ever rising healthcare costs.What may cause the risk of diseases according to the text?
| A．Over nutrition. | B．Obesity. | C．Unbalance diets. | D．Junk food. |
What makes many of us choose junk food according to the author?
| A．Positive feelings about food. | B．High calorie of junk food. |
| C．Nice taste. | D．Eating habits. |
The underlined word “accessible” in Paragraph 2 means”_________”.
| A．quick | B．useful | C．easy to change | D．easy to get |
From Paragraph5, we know that __________.
| A．children may like sugary and high-calorie drinks even from an early age |
| B．early preference for food and drink may influence food choices later in life |
| C．easy preference for drinks should not be allowed in most of the restaurants |
| D．restaurants should provide the same food and drink as those at home |
Which would be the best title for this text?
| A．Stop children drinking sugary drinks |
| B．Drink water to eat more healthy |
| C．Change eating habits to lose weight |
| D．Eat healthy food at home |