When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.
For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved(毫不掩饰的).
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.
In adulthood the things that bring deep joy — love, marriage, birth — also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated(复杂的).
My definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It’s easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.
I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband came home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.
Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I don’t think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her.
We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we’ve got to have. We’re so self-conscious about our “right” to it that it’s making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren’t necessarily happier.
Happiness isn’t about what happens to us — it’s about how we see what happens to us. It’s the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It’s not wishing for what we don’t have, but enjoying what we do possess.As people grow older, they ______.
| A．feel it harder to experience happiness |
| B．associate their happiness less with others |
| C．will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness |
| D．tend to believe responsibility means happiness |
What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 5 and 6?
| A．She cares little about her own health. |
| B．She enjoys the freedom of traveling. |
| C．She is easily pleased by things in daily life. |
| D．She prefers getting pleasure from housework. |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?
| A．Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness. |
| B．Psychologists’ opinion is well proved by Grandma’ case. |
| C．Grandma often found time for social gatherings. |
| D．Grandma’s happiness came from modest expectations of life. |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A．Happiness lies between the positive and the negative. |
| B．Each man is the master of his own fate. |
| C．Success leads to happiness. |
| D．Happy is he who is content. |
One of the most difficult questions to answer is how much a job is worth. We naturally expect that a doctor’s salary will be higher than a bus conductor’s wages. But the question becomes much more difficult to answer when we compare a miner with an engineer, or an unskilled man working on an oil-rig（钻探平台）with a teacher in a secondary school. What the doctor, the engineer and the teacher have in common is that they have devoted several years to studying in order to obtain the necessary qualifications for their professions. We feel instinctively that these skills and these years should be rewarded. At the same time we recognize that the work of the miner and the oil-rig laborer is both hard and dangerous, and that they must be highly paid for the risks they take.
Another aspect we must take into consideration is how socially useful a man’s work is. Most people would agree that looking after the sick or teaching children is more important than, say, selling second-hand cars. Yet it is almost certain that the used-car salesman earns more than the nurse and the schoolteacher.
Indeed, this whole question of just rewards can be turned on its head. You can argue that a man who does a job which brings him personal satisfaction is already receiving part of his reward in the form of a so-called “psychic（精神的）wage”, and that it is the man with the boring, repetitive job who needs more money to make up for the soul-destroying repetitiveness of his work. It is significant that the jobs like nursing and teaching continue to be poorly paid, while others, such as those in the world of sport or entertainment, carry financial rewards out of all proportion to their social worth.
Although the amount of money that people earn is largely determined by market forces, this should not prevent us from seeking some way to decide what is the right pay for the job. A starting point would be to try to decide the ratio（比率）which ought to exist between the highest and the lowest paid. The picture is made more complicated by two factors: firstly by the welfare benefits which every citizen receives, and secondly by the taxation system which is often used as an instrument of social justice by taxing high incomes at a very high rate indeed. Most countries now regard a ratio of 7:1 as socially acceptable. If it is less, the highly-qualified people carrying heavy responsibilities will become disappointed, and might even end up by leaving for another country. If it is more, the difference between rich and poor will be so great that it will lead to social unrest. Why do people naturally expect that doctors should be well-paid?
| A．Their work requires greater intelligence. |
| B．They are under constant pressure at work. |
| C．They work harder than most other people. |
| D．They have studied for years to get qualified. |
In Paragraph 2 and 3, the author indicates that __________.
| A．the talented should do more important work |
| B．unskilled jobs have less social responsibility |
| C．those with more socially useful jobs earn less |
| D．people want to pay more to important services |
Which of the following statements would the author agree?
| A．It’s difficult to define the social value of a job. |
| B．The market will decide what the right pay is for a job. |
| C．People should find a proper ratio between high and low pay. |
| D．Those receiving high salary should carry heavy responsibilities. |
Beat the Burglar
Don’t invite crime---take basic, sensible precautions. Your house and possession are valuable and must be properly protected. When you buy a lock, you buy time. The best prevention is delay and noise which could mean discovery.
| When you leave it---lock it! First of all, fit security locks to all doors and windows and a safety chain on the front door. Secondly, use them! If you have any ladders or tools, don’t leave them lying about in the garden, lock them away. “Safe” or “secret” places for keys and valuables are not reliable --- nine times out of ten, they are the first place a thief will look. |
When you move house… When you move into a new home even if it is fitted with security locks, change them. You don’t know who else may have keys. Never let strangers into your house. An official-looking cap is not enough, ask for proof of identity and look at it carefully --- if you are still not satisfied, don’t let the person in. |
| Valuables need special protection Valuables should really be given special protection --- preferably by leaving them with your bank. A small security safe works too, but not to the most determined burglar. It is also important to keep an up-to-date list of valuables and their descriptions. In the case of fine art, paintings, or jewelry, color photographs can sometimes be of assistance to the police if you are unfortunate enough to have them stolen. Enter the details on the back of the pictures. But don’t keep such documents in your house, keep them at the bank or with your insurance company. |
Going on holiday? Don’t talk about your holidays and future plans loudly in public. Do remember to cancel the milk and newspapers and also to draw curtains back. Operate a “Good Neighbor” program to ensure that mail is taken in, the house is checked regularly and that lights are put on. Call at your local police station and tell them you are going away. Make sure that they know how to contact you in case of trouble. Don’t leave cash or valuables in the house --- take them with you or put them in the bank. |
When moving into a new house, you are supposed to __________.
| A．buy a safe | B．change the locks |
| C．visit your neighbors | D．stay away from strangers |
Which is the safest way to protect your valuables?
| A．Taking pictures of your valuables. |
| B．Putting your valuables in your safe. |
| C．Keeping your valuables at the bank. |
| D．Giving a list of your valuables to the police. |
When you are away for holidays, you __________.
| A．should cancel your mail |
| B．shouldn’t leave your keys to your neighbors |
| C．shouldn’t make it known that your home is empty |
| D．should ask the police to check your house regularly |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To inform people of safety standards. |
| B．To introduce the advantages of banks. |
| C．To prove the importance of security locks. |
| D．To educate people on prevention of burglars. |
Clyde, a small-clawed otter, was moved from Auckland Zoo to Wellington Zoo two months ago. The zookeepers hoped he and the other otter Bonnie might start a family together.
But only two days after he arrived, Clyde went missing. He had dug his way under one of the walls and was nowhere to be seen.
The zookeepers set up cages inside the zoo, with plates of Clyde’s favorite fish in them, hoping to catch him.
Two days went by and still there was no sign of Clyde.
At last a couple saw Clyde at their house --- a whole kilometer away in Newtown. Clyde was hiding in an out-of-reach hole outside their laundry.
The zookeepers arrived and set up some more traps to try to catch him. But Clyde is a pretty smart otter. Twice he managed to get the fish out of a trap without being caught.
Five days after he’d escaped, Clyde’s days on the run came to an end when he was finally caught in one of the traps.
It was no good putting Clyde back in his old home---he’d only dig his way out again. So he and Bonnie were put into the zoo hospital. There was no chance of their escaping from there.
Meanwhile, the zookeepers were working hard to make Clyde’s old home safer. They put an iron barrier underground to stop him digging their way out. Then Bonnie and Clyde went home again.
But a month after his first escape, Clyde was out again. Once more the zookeepers came
hurrying to catch Clyde. They found him by following the bubbles he made in the river nearby.
Nobody knew how Clyde had escaped. But this time he was only out for an hour. So---back he went to the hospital again.
Poor Clyde. It seemed that he wasn’t happy at Wellington Zoo, even though he and Bonnie were getting on well together. The keepers didn’t like seeing him unhappy, so they planned to look for a home for him somewhere else.Where was Clyde found after his first escape?
| A．Back in Auckland Zoo. | B．In a river nearby. |
| C．At a house a kilometer away. | D．In the zoo hospital. |
How did zookeepers catch Clyde after his second escape?
| A．They set up cages in the zoo. |
| B．They attracted Clyde with fish. |
| C．They dug a hole outside his home. |
| D．They followed the bubbles in the water. |
What do we know about Clyde?
| A．He often gets ill. |
| B．He is good at digging. |
| C．He likes hiding in a hole. |
| D．He escaped to meet Bonnie. |
Where is the passage most likely to have been taken from?
| A．A news report. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A book review. | D．A research paper. |
William Shakespeare was a writer of plays and poems. Some of his most famous plays are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth. He wrote thirty-seven plays in all. They are still popular today.
He was born in 1564 in England. At school he liked watching plays. He decided to be an actor when he finished school at the age of fourteen. In 1582, he married a farmer’s daughter. She was eight years older than he was. Their first child was a daughter. Later they had twins. In 1585, Shakespeare left his hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. His wife and children stayed behind. No one knows why he left or what he did between 1585 and 1592.
At twenty-eight he moved to London and joined a theatre company which opened the Globe Theatre in 1599. He became an actor, and he also wrote plays. He usually acted in his own plays. He earned almost no money from his writing. But he made a lot of money from acting. With the money he bought a large house in his hometown.
At the age of forty-nine, Shakespeare retired (退休) and went to live in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died at the age of fifty-two. He left his money to his family. He left his genius to the world. You still see his plays in English and in many other languages. He is one of the most famous writers in the world.Shakespeare wrote many famous plays except _______.
| A．Hamlet | B．Macbeth |
| C．Romeo and Juliet | D．Man and Superman |
Shakespeare decided to be an actor in _______.
| A．1578 | B．1582 | C．1599 | D．1616 |
In 1585, Shakespeare left his hometown Stratford-upon-Avon _______.
| A．with his wife | B．with his daughter |
| C．with his wife and children | D．alone |
Shakespeare got much money from _______.
| A．writing | B．plays | C．acting | D．retirement |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE? ________.
| A．Shakespeare had two children |
| B．Shakespeare wrote both plays and poems |
| C．Shakespeare left his money to the Globe Theatre |
| D．Shakespeare wrote plays in English and some other languages |
“No man is an island” is a well-known line from John Donne’s Devotion. It was written more than three hundred years ago. Even now people still agree with him. No one can live a completely lonely life. Without other people, life will become empty and sad. We all need to have friends.
For some of us, although making friends is not difficult, feeling shy, we may not want to make the first move. It is also difficult at times to keep the friends we already have.
There are many books about friendship, but Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, written in 1936, is the most famous. This “how to” book about getting along with other people became a best seller. It was later put into 28 languages.
Dale Carnegie’s advice seems to be simple, but can his advice help you? Do you need to change the way you act? Here is the list of advice from his book:
Be friendly and polite.
Always greet with a smile. Begin with “Excuse me” or “Would you please” when you want to ask somebody. Remember to say “Thank you” and try to be as helpful as you can.
Go out of your way to be nice.
Find some time to do special things for other people. Making some soup for a sick neighbour may seem like a little thing to you, but it will make your neighbor feel a lot better.
Remember names.
They say that the sweetest music to a person’s ears is the sound of his or her own name.
Be open-minded.
Try to understand other people’s ways and ideas and learn something from them.
Listen patiently.
When someone is talking to you, look at him or her, listen carefully and say something when necessary.The underlined sentence “No one can live a completely lonely life.” means “_____”.
| A．No one can live a hard life. | B．No one can live without difficulty. |
| C．No one can live alone. | D．No one can live on an island. |
The best title for the passage should be _______________.
| A．How to Make Friends | B．A Famous Book |
| C．Friendship First | D．John Donne and Dale Carnegie |
Some of us find it not easy to make friends because _____________.
| A．we are afraid of making bad friends |
| B．we are shy to take the first action |
| C．we feel sure that we already have enough friends |
| D．we feel worried that we won’t be able to keep our friends |
We can learn from the passage that ________________.
| A．John Donne learned something from Dale Carnegie |
| B．Friends are always friends |
| C．Few people bought Carnegie’s book |
| D．The writer of this passage agrees with John Donne and Dale Carnegie |
Which of the following is not talked about in Carnegie’s book?
| A．Say “Excuse me” before you ask. |
| B．Don’t visit your neighbors too often. |
| C．Think more about others. |
| D．People enjoy hearing their own names. |