In our culture, the sources of what we call a sense of "mastery"—feeling important and worthwhile—and the sources of what we call a sense of "pleasure"—finding life enjoyable—are not always the same. Women often are told "You can’t have it all. " Sometimes what the speaker really is saying is: "You choose a career, so you can’t expect to have closer relationships or a happy family life. " or "You have a wonderful husband and children—what’s all this about wanting a career?" But women need to understand and develop both aspects of well-being, if they are to feel good about themselves.
Our study shows that, for women, well-being has two aspects. One is mastery, which includes self-respect, a sense of control over your life, and low levels of anxiety and depression. Mastery is closely related to the "doing" side of life, to work and activity. Pleasure is the other aspect, and it is made up of happiness, satisfaction and optimism. It is tied more closely to the "feeling" side of life. The two are independent of each other. A woman could be high in mastery and low in pleasure, and vice versa (反之亦然) . For example, a woman who has a good job, but whose mother has just died, might be feeling very good about herself and in control of her work life, but the pleasure side could be damaged for a time.
The concepts of mastery and pleasure can help us identify the sources of well-being for women, and correct past mistakes. In the past, women were encouraged to look only at the feeling side of life as the source of all well-being. But we know that both mastery and pleasure are important. And mastery seems to be achieved largely through work. In our study, all the groups of employed women are valued significantly higher in mastery than women who are not employed.
A woman’s well-being is developed when she takes on multiple roles. At least by middle adulthood, the women who are involved in a combination of roles —marriages, motherhood, and employment —are the highest in well-being, in spite of warnings about stress and strain. .
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that __ __.
A.for women, a sense of "mastery" is more important than a sense of "pleasure" |
B.for women, a sense of "pleasure" is more important than a sense of "mastery" |
C.women can’t have a sen![]() |
D.a sense of "mastery" and a sense of "pleasure" are both necessary to women |
.
The author’s attitude towards women having a career is_ __.
A.negative | B.positive | C.neutral (中立) | D.realistic |
.
One can conclude from the passage that if a woman takes on several social roles, _ __.
A.her life will be richer and more mea![]() |
B.she will be more successful in her career |
C.her chances of getting promoted will be greater |
D.it will be easier for her to overcome stress and strain |
.
The most appropriate title for the passage would be .
A.The Well-Being of Career Women |
B.Sources of Mastery and Pleasure |
C.Two Aspects of Women’s Well-Being |
D.Multiple Roles of Women in Society |
Today I was at the mall waiting for friends, when a lady wearing a knit hat and a sweater came up to me and, shivering, said, “I’m homeless. Would you mind buying me some food?”
In that split second, everything I’d learned since kindergarten flashed through my mind. Don’t talk to strangers… Be a good citizen… People will take advantage of you… Treat others as you wish to be treated…I guess love won the debate. “Sure,” I said. “What would you like?”
She thought and then said, “I’d like to get Chinese food.” We headed upstairs. She ordered soup, an egg roll, white rice, and pepper chicken. I would normally think that was a lot, but she had probably barely eaten in the last few days. I got my usual – lo mein and General Tso’s chicken.
Meanwhile I was eating my lo mein, picking around the cabbage and the other vegetables. Joyce said, “If you don’t like it you can take it back.” I told her that I liked it, but was not fond of the vegetables. She broke into a big grin. “You don’t like vegetables, huh? Neither did I. But now I do.” I immediately felt guilty. How could I be picking at my food across from someone who barely gets to eat at all?
I tried my best to finish, but she seemed to sense my guilt and said, “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want it.” How could she know what I was feeling? I told her the dish was my favorite, but I just eat slowly.
She got up to get a to-go box. “Would you like one?” she asked, but I refused. I realized that this food would probably last her for a few days, and I was glad she had ordered a lot.
“Would you like these?” I asked, gesturing at the food I had left untouched. “Oh, no, thank you,” she said. “This is enough.” I got up to throw my tray away, feeling guilty again.
“I need to meet my friends now,” I explained. “It was so nice to meet you, Joyce.”
“You too, Claire,” she replied with a smile. “Thank you.”
I headed to the theater, and she went back downstairs. I kept puzzling, Why is Joyce homeless? She shouldn’t need people to buy her dinner. She was a nurse. She got good grades. She took pictures for her yearbook. She was the person I hope to be in the future. How could such a good life be rewarded with horrible luck?
Anyway, I wish her the best, and hope that the force that brought us together will help her find what she deserves in life. From the second paragraph we know that the writer ___________.
A.debated with the girl over moral issues |
B.hated having to make a quick decision |
C.hesitated before she decided to reach out |
D.fell in love with the girl at first sight |
The writer felt guilty for a moment because _________.
A.she was particular about food and also wasted so much |
B.she was a strict vegetarian who ate very little |
C.she didn’t order enough food for the girl |
D.she urged the girl to take her share of food |
Why did Joyce end up unemployed and homeless?
A.She was a victim of high education. |
B.She actually had some kind of mental disorder. |
C.She graduated with average grades. |
D.The reason is not yet given. |
The passage is intended to _________.
A.arouse readers' curiosity |
B.explore social problems |
C.teach readers a lesson |
D.share a personal story |
Fear and its companion pain are two of the most useful things that men and animals possess, if they are properly used. If fire did not hurt when it burnt, children would play with it until their hands were burnt away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear didn’t, a child would burn himself or herself again and again, because fear would not warn himself or herself to keep away from the fire that had burnt himself or herself before. A really fearless soldier—and some do exist is not a good soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army. Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which men and animals might soon die out.
In our first sentence we suggested that fear should be properly used. If, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much. Even in your house you are not absolutely safe: an aeroplane may crash on your house, or ants may eat away some of the beams in your roof so that the latter falls on you, or you may get cancer!
The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead to use fear as your servant and guide. Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take.
In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger. For example, you see a car coming straight towards you. Fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well.
In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you can’t prevent an aeroplane crashing onto your house. In this case, fear has given you its warning; you have examined it and decided on your course of action, so fear of this particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it.Children would play with fire until their hands were burnt away if _________.
A.they were given no warning beforehand | |
B.they had never burnt themselves | |
C.they had no sense of pain | D.they were fearful of the fire |
A really fearless soldier _____________.
A.is of great use to the army | B.is not a real soldier |
C.is nothing but a dead soldier | D.easily gets killed in a battle |
People sometimes succeed in timely avoiding the danger because _________.
A.they have gained experience | B.they jump out of the way in time |
C.they are calm in the face of danger | |
D.they are warned of the danger by fear and take quick action |
What's the writer's suggestion when the danger can't be avoided?
A.You have to try to overcome it. | B.Fear can really help you to run away. |
C.Fear always helps you stay safe. | D.Fear is of great use to you. |
Sheep Smarter than Thought
London—Sheep, like turkeys and ostriches, are not considered the most clever animals. British scientists said last Wednesday humans may have underestimated the woolly creature. They could be much smarter than we think.
Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, southern England, have shown that the animals have a good memory system and are extremely good at recognizing faces—which they think is a sure sign of intelligence.
Behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick and his friends trained 20 sheep to recognize and distinguish 25 pairs of sheep faces and used electrodes (电极) to measure their brain activity , which showed they could remember 50 faces for up to two years .
“If they can do that with faces, they have to have reasonable intelligence; otherwise, what is the point of having a system for remembering faces and not remembering anything else?” Kendrick said in an interview.
So hours of seemingly mindless eating grass may not be so mindless after all.
Kendrick believes sheep got their reputation as dumb (unable to speak, unintelligent) animals because they live in large groups and do not appear to have much individuality and are frightened of just about everything.
“All animals, including humans, once they are frightened, don’t tend to show signs of intelligent action,” he explained.
In research reported in the science journal Nature, Kendrick and his team showed that sheep, like humans, have a specialized system in the brain which allows them to distinguish between many different faces which look extremely similar.
“The most important finding (of the study) is that they are able , both from a behavioral point of view and from looking at the way the brain is organized , to remember a large number of individuals for a very long time,” said Kendrick. “It is a very strange system. They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans.”From the first paragraph we can find that______. .
A.people used to think sheep are smarter than the other animals |
B.people used to raise sheep in a wrong way |
C.people don’t consider sheep as clever animals |
D.people have done a lot of research on sheep |
From what Kendrick said in the interview we learn that_____. .
A.scientists have learned everything about sheep’s intelligence |
B.scientists have learned a little about sheep’s intelligence |
C.scientists can’t do anything more about sheep’s memory |
D.scientists do not have to research animals’ memory |
As is known in the passage,__________.
A.sheep are among the week animals |
B.it is not right for people to raise sheep in groups |
C.when sheep eat grass in the field their minds may be active |
D.if people feel frightened, they may become braver |
About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table, I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked, “So, how have you been?” And the boy—who could not have been more than seven or eight years old—replied. “Frankly, I've been feeling a little depressed lately.”
This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn't find out we were “depressed”, that is, in low spirits, until we were in high school.
Undoubtedly a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don't seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?
Human development depends not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of gaining social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new social positions. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages; traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation(揭示) machine has been equipped in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation (诱惑), many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more attractive moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information which children will gain. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials. According to the author, feeling depressed is ____________.
A.a sure sign of a m![]() |
B.a mental state present in all humans, including children |
C.something that cannot be avoided in children's mental development |
D.something hardly to be expected in a young child |
According to the author, that today's children seem adult-like results from ____________.
A.the widespread influence of television |
B.the poor arrangement of teaching content |
C.the fast pace of human scientific development |
D.the rising standard of living |
What does the author think of communication through print for children?
A.It enables children to gain more social information. |
B.It develops children's interest in reading and writing. |
C.It helps children to read and write well. |
D.It can control what children ![]() |
What does the author think of the change in today's children?
A.He feels their adult-like behavior is so funny. |
B.He thinks the change worthy of note. |
C.He considers it a rapid development. |
D.He seems to be upset about it. |
The American book Who Moved My Cheese has been a bestseller all over the world. It teaches people how to face changes in their lives. Now its author Spence Johnson has written a book just for teens. The book tells us that when facing change in our lives, like a new school or new friends, don't be afraid. Instead, use this change to make a better life. The book gives an example of a change at school. A school is changing from having two terms to three terms because there are too many students.
Several teens are talking about this. Most of them are unhappy and worried. But Chris is not. He laughs and tells a story about two mice, two “little people” and some cheese.
The four are in a maze looking for the cheese. Here, cheese means something important in life, like moving to a new class or getting into college. But they find the cheese is gone. The mice realize that they can’t change what has happened and have to find more cheese. This means finding different dreams. The little people, however, can’t do this. They are afraid of change so they find no cheese.
After Chris finishes the story, the friends understand one thing: to get more cheese, move in a new direction quickly. His friends understand how this can be used in the changes all teens face, such as doing well at school or having good relationships or just feeling good about yourself. The book Who Moved My Cheese is __________.
A.written a![]() |
B.read across the world |
C.sold only in America | D.loved only by teens |
What does the text mainly discuss?
A.Never change in our life. | B.Change whenever you like . |
C.Change with the changes. | D.Pay attention to the changes, |
The underline word “four”(paragraph 3) refers to __________.
A.mice and little people | B.students |
C.cheese | D.readers |
In our lives, we should learn from __________.
A.mice | B.little people | C.Chris | D.Spence Johnson |