Para1Greenismorethanjustacolor-优题课

I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year-round sun. You may think people in such a splendid, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.
　　Many intelligent people still equate (等同于) happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more lasting emotion.
　　Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
　　I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to wonderful parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”. But in memoir（回忆录）after memoir, they reveal the unhappiness hidden behind all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and lasting loneliness.
　　Ask a bachelor why he refuses marriage, if he’s honest, and he will tell you that he is afraid of making a promise, for promise is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most important features.
　　Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they can. Couples with young children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children.
　　Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating（解放性的）realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can really increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and glamorous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

. We can learn from the passage that____________.

A．fun creates long-lasting satisfaction

B．fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness

C．happiness is lasting whereas fun is short-lived

D．fun that is long-standing may lead to happiness

. To the author, the role Hollywood stars will play is to _________.

A．write memoir after memoir about their happiness

B．tell the public that happiness has nothing to do with fun

C．teach people how to enjoy their lives

D．bring happiness to the public instead of going to parties

In the author’s opinion, marriage____________.

A．affords greater fun	B．leads to raising children
C．indicates duty and devotion	D．usually ends up in pain

Which of the following is the best example of “painful happiness”?

A．Winning lottery by accident.	B．A bachelor refusing marriage.
C．Raising children.	D．Buying some fancy clothes.

If one gets the meaning of the true sense of happiness, he will____________.

A．stop playing games and joking with others

B．keep himself with his family

C．give a free hand to money

D．use his time to increase happiness

It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle, people say “sorry”. When getting off a bus, English passengers say “thank you” rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes unavoidable, and the bus driver is only doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started travelling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of interacting (交往) with people.
People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and retail assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposite to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.
Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers emphasized (强调) several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is showed in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men! Yes, the latter (后者) are a bit tightfisted.

. What is the author’s attitude towards English politeness?

A．He thinks it is artificial.	B．He gives no personal opinion.
C．He appreciates it.	D．He thinks it goes too far.

What can we learn about customers and retail assistants in Germany?

A．A customer never says thank you to a retail assistant.

B．It’s always a retail assistant who says thank you.

C．They may say thank you only once.

D．they always say thank you to each other.

We can learn from the last paragraph that Scottish men __________.

A．are more likely to be involved in a fighting

B．are more polite than English men

C．treat women in a polite way

D．are not so willing to spend money for women

The author of this text is most probably ___________.

A．an Englishman	B．a German
C．a Scottish man	D．a Welshman

The author develops the text through the method of ____________.

A．making comparisons	B．telling stories
C．giving comments	D．giving reasons

There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to grow as people, and to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible for their own education, as they are responsible for what they do in life. Some students do badly in a traditional classroom. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules. For students who worry about these things a lot, it is a good idea to be in an open classroom.
But many students will not do well in an open classroom. For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not make good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is that some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their schools.
You now know what open education is. Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory. In actual fact, it may not work very well in a real class or school. The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Many students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.

．Open education allows the students to _________. .

A．grow as the educated	B．be responsible for their future
C．develop their own interests	D．discover subjects outside class

Open education may be a good idea for the students who .

A．enjoy learning	B．worry about grades
C．do well in a traditional classroom	D．are responsible for what they do in life.

Some students will do little in an open classroom because .

A．there are too few rules	B．they hate activities
C．open education is similar to the traditional education
D．they worry about the rules

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Some traditional teachers do not like it.

B．Many teachers do not believe in open education.

C．Teachers may have problems in open classrooms.

D．The teacher’s feelings and attitudes are important to the students.

．Which of the following best summarizes the passage?

A．Open education is a really complex idea.

B．Open education is better than traditional education.

C．Teachers dislike open education.

D．The writer thinks that open education is a good idea in practice.

In general, it seems reasonable to suppose that we should prefer peace and quiet to noise. And yet most of us have had the experience of having to adjust to sleeping in the mountains or the countryside because it was initially “too quiet”, an experience that suggests that humans are capable of adapting to a wide range of noise levels. Research supports this view. For example, Glass and Singer (1972) exposed people to short bursts of very loud noise and then measured their ability to work out problems and their physiological reactions to the noise. The noise was quite disruptive at first, but after about four minutes the subjects were doing just as well on their tasks as control subjects who were not exposed to noise. Their physiological reactions also declined quickly to the same levels as those of the control subjects.
But there are limits to adaptation and loud noise becomes more troublesome if the person is required to concentrate on more than one task. For example, high noise levels affect the performance of subjects who were required to monitor three dials at a time, a task not unlike that of a plane pilot or an air-traffic controller. Similarly, noise did not affect a subject’s ability to track a moving line with a steering wheel, but it did affect the subject’s ability to repeat numbers while tracking (Finkelm and Glass 1970).
Probably the most significant finding from the research on noise is that its predictability is more important than how loud it is. We are much more able to “tune out” long-lasing background noise, even if it is quite loud, than to work under circumstances with unexpected disturbance of noise. In Glass and Singer’s study, in which subjects were exposed to bursts of noise as they worked on a task, some subjects heard loud bursts and others heard soft bursts. For some subjects, the bursts were spaced exactly one minute apart (predictable noise); others heard the some amount of noise overall, but the bursts occurred at random intervals (unpredictable noise). Subjects reported finding the predictable and unpredictable noise equally annoying, and all subjects performed at about the same level during the noise portion of the experiment. But the different noise conditions had quite different after-effects when the subjects were required to proofread written material under conditions of no noise. The study shows that the unpredictable noise produced more errors in the later proofreading task than predictable noise; and soft unpredictable noise actually produced slightly more errors on this task than the loud predictable noise.
Apparently, unpredictable noise produces more fatigue than predictable noise, but it takes a while for this fatigue to take its toll on performance.
When talking about people’s difficulty in sleeping in the mountains, what can be inferred in the passage?

A．They usually do not prefer peace and quiet to noise.

B．They may be exposed to short bursts of very strange sounds.

C．They prefer to h

ear a certain amount of noise while they sleep.

D．They may not have adapted to a higher noise level in the city.

What did Glass and Singer find in their noise experiment?

A．Problem-solving is much easier under quiet conditions.

B．Physiological reactions prevent the ability to work.

C．Bursts of noise hardly disturb problem-solving in the long term.

D．The physiological reactions of the control subjects declined quickly.

Researchers discovered that high noise levels are not likely to affect the __________.

A．successful performance of a single task

B．tasks of pilots or air traffic controllers

C．ability to repeat numbers while tracking moving lines

D．ability to monitor three dials at once

What does “take its toll on performance” in the passage probably mean?

A．Destroy the performance completely.

B．Have a negative effect on the performance.

C．Improve the performance greatly.

D．Have a positive influence on the performance.

One often hears that children should arrive at school “ready to learn.” For most children, the acquisition of reading and math skills starts in the first grade. In states where kindergarten is compulsory, it begins even earlier.
Many parents, teachers, and politicians maintain that preschool is the best way to prepare children to learn. There is no real consensus, however, about how this preparation should be achieved.
For some, early childhood education relates to the development of the whole child. They think that preschool should encourage exploration and discovery. Group activities teach positive social behaviors such as sharing, kindness, and patience. Time spent alone encourages independence. Learning letters and counting is important only for children who show an interest in them. Advocates of this approach stress that each child is unique and should learn at his or her own pace.
Other people refer to research showing that children are ready to absorb basic academic concepts by age 3 or 4. They claim that early introduction to letters and numbers lays the foundation for later academic excellence. Since the 1980s, many people have stressed the value of preschool and point to the success of programs -such as Head Start - that target low-income children.
Is there proof that an academic curriculum in preschool will lead to academic success? Studies have not been conclusive. In the short term, evidence suggests that middle-class children who attend preschool are ahead of their peers in maths and language skills as well as in social skills, when they enter school. However, the same studies show that the gap narrows considerably by the time children reach age 8.
Children living in poverty are a different matter. Those enrolled in programs such as Head Start seem to do better than impoverished children who do not attend a preschool. For instance, youngsters in one group enrolled in the program, tracked until the age of 21, earned higher scores on intelligence tests, were more likely to graduate from high school, and demonstrated more interest in higher education.
The idea of public preschool raises many issues. Providing Head Start for all children would be a financial burden on communities that already struggle to fund current school programs. Also, where would a sufficient number of teachers trained in early childhood development be found?

Advocates of the development of the whole child believe school readiness is______ .

A．showing eagerness in exploration and discovery

B．learning basic skills, such as knowing letters and counting

C．showing great interest in basic academic concepts

D．demonstration of intellectual , social and emotional skills

According to the passage, Head Start is most probably______ .

A．a preschool program that supports disabled children

B．a program that helps impoverished children attend a school

C．an organization that aims to improve current school programs

D．a program that helps design the academic curriculum in preschool

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Preschool benefits middle-class children more than poor children.

B．Most children start school with similar language and social skills.

C．Providing Head Start for all children has encountered great difficulties.

D．All children are ready to absorb basic academic concepts by age 3 or 4.

Which of the following may best summarize the main idea of the passage?

A．An academic curriculum in preschool will lead to academic success.

B．Preshool is helpful, despite the disagreement about what it should offer.

C．Children enrolled in preschool demonstrate more interest in learning.

D．Preschool education shouldn't be a financial burden on communities.