Sadness is unpleasant, and in a society where personal happiness is prized above all else, there is little tolerance for falling in despair. Especially now we’ve got drugs for getting rid of sad feelings — whether it’s after losing a job, the break-up of a relationship or the death of a loved one. So it’s no surprise that more and more people are taking them.
But is this really such a good idea? A growing number of voices from the world of mental health research are saying it isn’t. They fear that the increasing tendency to treat normal sadness as a disease is playing fast and loose. Sadness, they argue, serves a useful purpose—and if we lose it, we lose out. Yet many psychiatrists insist not. Sadness has a unpleasant habit of turning into depression they warn. Even when people are sad for good reason, they should take drugs to make themselves feel better.
So who is right? Is sadness something we cannot live without or something horrible never to touch? There are lots of ideas about why feeling sad should become part of human life. It may be a kind of self-protection, as other primates (灵长类) also show signs of sadness. A losing monkey that doesn’t show sadness after it loses a fight may be seen as continuing to challenge the winning monkey — and that could result in death.
In humans sadness has a further function: we may display sadness as a form of communication. By acting sad, we tell other community members that we need support.
Then there is the idea that creativity is connected to dark moods. There are plenty of great artists, writers and musicians who have suffered from depression or disorder. Scientists found that people with signs of depression performed better at a creative task, and negative moods make people think deeply over the unhappy experience, which allows creative processes to come to the front. There is also evidence that too much happiness can be bad for your career. A doctor found that people who scored 8 out of 10 on a happiness test were more successful in income and education than 9s or 10s. The happiest people lose their willingness to make changes to their lives that may benefit them.
63. The underlined word “this” refers to ________.
A. taking medicine B. falling in despair
C. losing a job D. feeling sad
64. The author believes sadness is ________.
A. a good thing for people’s health B. something horrible never to touch
C. a necessary function of humans D. always to be treated as depression
65. Some animals show their sadness in order to ________.
A. cheat their enemy B. protect themselves
C. comfort the loser D. challenge the winner
66. We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.
A. people with great creativity tend to be happier
B. unhappy experiences contribute to a greater career
C. too much happiness can be bad for your career
D. the happiest people are the most successful ones
Compassion is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into actions. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register（收款机）with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash（现金）, had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.
I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.
Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.
What had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.
41. The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits______.
A. promised to obey the store rules B. forgot to take any money with him
C. hoped to have the food first and pay later D. could not afford anything more expensive
42. Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?
A. kind and lucky B. poor and lonely
C. friendly and helpful D. hurt and disappointed
43. The writer acted upon the store rules because___________.
A. he wanted to keep his present job B. he felt no pity for the old gentleman
C. he considered the old man dishonest
D. he expected someone else to pay for the old man
44. What does the writer learn from his experience?
A. Wealth is more important than anything else. B. Helping others is easier said than done.
C. Experience is better gained through practice.
D. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.
November not only marks the publication of Toni Morrison’s eagerly anticipated(期待) eighth novel, Love, but it is also the tenth anniversary of her Nobel Prize for Literature. Morrison is the first black woman to receive a Nobel, and so honored before her in literature are only two black men: Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian playwright, poet and novelist, in 1986; and Derek Walcott, the Caribbean-born poet, in 1992. But Morrison is also the first and only American-born Nobel prizewinner for literature since 1962, the year novelist John Steinbeck received the award.
Like Song of Solomon, Love is a multigenerational story, revealing the personal and communal legacy(遗产) of an outstanding black family. As Morrison scholars will tell you, Love is the third volume of a literary master’s trilogy(三部曲)investigating the many complexities of love. This trilogy began with Beloved(1988), which deals with a black mother’s love under slavery and in freedom. Jazz (1993), the second volume, tells a story of romantic love in 1920s Harlem. This latest novel looks back from the 1970s to the 1940s and ’50s.
The emotional center of Love is Bill Cosey, the former owner and host of the shabby Cosey’s Hotel and Resort in Silk, North Carolina, described in the novel as “the best and best-known vacation spot for colored folk on the East Coast.” We get to know Cosey through the memories of five women who survive and love him: his granddaughter, his widow, two former employees, and a homeless young girl.
The latest novel, Love, had been described in the promotional material from her publisher as “Morrison’s most accessible work since Song of Solomon.” This comparison to her third novel, published in 1977, was an effective selling point.
61. What would be the best title for the text?
A.Toni Morrison’s latest novels B.Toni Morrison and her trilogy
C.Toni Morrison and her novel Love D.Toni Morrison, the Nobel prizewinner
62. What can we learn about John Steinbeck?
A.He was a black writer. B.He was born in America.
C.He received the Nobel Prize after Morrison
D.He was the first American novelist to win a Nobel
63. The similarity between Love and Song of Solomon is that they both _____.
A.belong to the same trilogy together with Beloved
B.concern families of more than one generation
C.deal with life of blacks under slavery D.investigate life in 1920s Harlem
64. The novel Love mainly describes ______.
A.the best-known vacation spot for blacks
B.the life of an outstanding black family under slavery
C.the miserable experience of the five women in Harlem
D. the memories of five women about Bill Cosey
Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless, “he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.
Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy,’” Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1,800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.
56. The turning point in Saunders’ life came when _____
A.he started to play ball games B.he got a mountain bike at age 15
C.he ran his first marathon at age 18 D.he started to receive Ridgway’s training
57. We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.
A.dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy B.built up his body together with Saunders
C.hired Saunders for his cold-water experience
D.won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic
58. What do we know about Saunders?
A.He once worked at a school in Scotland.
B.He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.
C.He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.
D.He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.
59. The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.
A. Excited B. Convinced C. Delighted D. Fascinated
60. It can be inferred that Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.
A.was accompanied by his old playmates B.set a record in the North Pole expedition
C.was supported by other Arctic explorers D.made him well-known in the 1960s
When I was in the third grade, I was picked to be the princess(公主)in the school play. For weeks my mother had helped me practice my lines. But once onstage, every word disappeared from my head. Then my teacher told me she had written a narrator's(解说者的)part for the play, and asked me to change roles. Though I didn't tell my mother what had happened that day, she sensed my unhappiness and asked if I wanted to take a walk in the yard.
It was a lovely spring day. We could see dandelions(蒲公英)popping through the grass in bunches, as if a painter had touched our landscape with bits of gold. I watched my mother carelessly bend down by one of the bunches. "I think I am going to dig up all these weeds," she said. "From now on, we'll have only roses in this garden."
"But I like dandelions," I protested. "All flowers are beautiful—even dandelions!"
My mother looked at me seriously. "Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn't it?" she asked thoughtfully. I nodded. "And that is true of people, too," she added.
When I realized that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry and told her the truth.
“But you will be a beautiful narrator, ”she said, reminding me of how much I loved to read stories aloud to her.
Over the next few weeks, with her continuous encouragement, I learned to take pride in the role. The big day finally came. A few minutes before the play, my teacher came over to me. “Your mother asked me to give this to you,” she said, handing me a dandelion. After the play, I took home the flower, laughing that I was perhaps the only person who would keep such a weed.
56.The girl did not play the role of the princess mainly because_______.
A.she felt nervous on the stage. B.she lost her interest in that role.
C.she preferred the role of the narrator D.she had difficulty memorizing her words
57.Why did the mother suggest a walk in the garden?
A.To remove the dandelions B.To enjoy the garden scene
C.to have a talk with her daughter. D.to help her daughter with the play.
58.What is the main idea of the story?
A.Everybody can find his or her own way to success. B.Everybody has his or her own value in the world.
C.Everybody should learn to play different roles D.Everybody has some unforgettable memory.
The Marches were a happy family. Poverty, hard work, and even the fact that Father March was away with the Union armies could not down the spirits of Meg, Jo, Beth,Amy, and Marmee, as the March girls called their mother.
The March sisters tried to be good but had their share of faults. Pretty Meg was often displeased with the schoolchildren she taught; boyish Jo was easy to become angry; golden-haired schoolgirl Amy liked to show up; but Beth, who kept the house, was loving and gentle always.
The happy days passed and darkness came when a telegram arrived for Mrs. March. “Your husband is very ill,” it said, “come at once.” The girl tried to be brave when their mother left for the front. They waited and prayed. Little Beth got scarlet fever (猩红热) when she was taking care of the sick neighbor. She became very ill but began to recover by the time Marmee was back. Then Father came home from the front and at that joyful Christmas dinner they were once more all together.
Three years later the March girls had grown into young womanhood. Meg became Mrs. Brooke, and after a few family troubles got used to her new state happily. Jo had found pleasure in her literary efforts. Amy had grown into a young lady with a talent for design and an even greater one for society. But Beth had never fully regained her health, and her family watched her with love and anxiety.
Amy was asked to go and stay in Europe with a relative of the Marches’. Jo went to New York and became successful in her writing and had the satisfaction of seeing her work published there. But at home the bitterest blow was yet to fall. Beth had known for some time that she couldn’t live much longer to be with the family and in the springtime she died.
News came from Europe that Amy and Laurie, the grandson of a wealthy neighbor, had planned to be married soon. Now Jo became ever more successful in her writing and got married to Professor Bhaer , and soon afterwards founded a school for boys.
And so the little women had grown up and lived happily with their children, enjoying the harvest of love and goodness that they had devoted all their lives to.
56. The members of the March family were Father March, Mrs. March and their _______.
A. four daughters B. five daughters
C. son and four daughters D. son and five daughters
57. Who was the most successful in career (事业) among the March girls?
A. Jo. B. Beth. C. Amy. D. Meg.
58. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. The March Family B. The March Parents
C. The March Girls D. The March Relatives
59. It can be inferred from the passage that the March family had ______.
A. both happiness and sadness B. wealthy neighbors
C. more girls than boys D. a lot of rich relatives