Comfort is comforting, but it might narrow our experience at work — and beyond.
In our modern world, discomfort is considered a terrible thing. If not terrible, at least a thing of the past. Dishwashers, washing machines, computers, remote controls—yes, they add convenience, but also a level of comfort our forefathers did not enjoy.
As pain of any kind discourages happiness, we tend to reason, anything that compromises our ability to feel good must be bad. And that’s also particularly true for our careers. Success makes us feel great, not terrible. Such a view, however, is a matter of personal opinion. And it may blind us to hidden opportunities.
Artists throughout history have tried to experience suffering, instinctively if not consciously, to produce works that explore the darker hidden sides of the human condition. This was done, in part, because pain is a reality of life for everybody in some form at some time. Pain is something everybody can relate to. And pain makes a person very present. For such artists, to relieve or to deny pain would be to block the creative thinking, which drives them to explore and express. In fact, Germans have a term for this melancholia, “Weltschmerz”, which means “suffering from the world.” Writers, from Lord Byron to Kurt Vonnegut, have used the term to describe the psychological pain encountered along life’s roller-coaster journey. It was not to be avoided; it was to be understood, investigated and employed.
So I propose that discomfort is good for us. Or, put another way, it tells us that something needs to be addressed. It stretches us by forcing us to view our circumstances through a wholly different lens. Because we’re drawn to safety and security, we do our best to create pleasant comfort zones for ourselves and our loved ones through the cars we drive, the homes we live in, and the places we work. But by resisting discomfort, we deny ourselves an important opportunity: the chance to shake ourselves out of our predictable perspectives and allow ourselves to make knowledgeable observations we could not possibly have made before. Discomfort gives us fresh eyes.Which of the following is NOT a reason why artists throughout history have been exploring sufferings?
| A．Pain is a mirror that can reflect the life of everybody. |
| B．Pain is something that no one can escape from. |
| C．Pain can help them to avoid the creative thinking. |
| D．Pain can strengthen the feeling of existence of a person. |
The term “Weltschmerz” couldn’t be used to describe something like __________.
| A．social inequality | B．mass killings |
| C．racial discrimination | D．great achievements |
The author believes that by challenging discomfort, one may _________.
| A．lose an important chance to make a big fortune |
| B．feel upset and fail to think calmly |
| C．judge and think about the world in a new particular way |
| D．control the situation properly when things go unsteady |
By writing this passage, the author tries to __________.
| A．criticize a world full of comfort |
| B．explain why discomfort is good for us |
| C．persuade people to lead a life full of discomfort |
| D．blame those who enjoy an easy life |
Children like to imagine they are someone else in a game. As a parent you might never guess how it can benefit your child. It helps your child：
Develop Social Skills
As children play pretend games，they explore relationships between family members，friends and coworkers and learn more about how people interact.Playing doctors，they imagine how physicians care for their patients.Imaginative play helps develop empathy(移情) with others.If children can imagine how it feels to be left out of a game or to lose a pet，they are better able to help those in need.They become more willing to play fair，to share，and to cooperate.
Build Selfconfidence
Young children have very little control over their lives.Imagining oneself as a builder of skyscrapers or a super hero defending the planet is inspiring to children.It helps them develop confidence in their abilities and their potential.
Promote Intellectual Growth
Using imagination is the beginning of abstract thought.Children who can see a king's castle in a mound of sand or a delicious dinner in a mud pie are learning to think symbolically.This skill is important in school where a child will have to learn that numbers symbolize groups of objects，letters symbolize sounds，and so on.
Practice Language Skills
Kids who pretend with their friends do a lot of talking.This helps increase their vocabulary，improve sentence structure and develop communication skills.
Get Rid of Fears
Pretending can help children get rid of their fears and worries.When children roleplay the big，bad monster under the bed，they gain a sense of control over him and he doesn't seem quite so big or so bad.Which of the following can help children develop social skills in a game?
| A．Pretending to be a super hero. |
| B．Preparing a delicious dinner with mud. |
| C．Helping a doctor to attend patients. |
| D．Pretending to be a doctor. |
Why can imagination build children's selfconfidence?
| A．It makes them feel as if they were much more powerful than they really are. |
| B．It helps them protect people and make much greater progress. |
| C．It helps them gain control over themselves. |
| D．It makes them more willing to play fair. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
| A．While playing pretend games，children learn to get along with others. |
| B．Playing pretend games helps children to do well while they are in school. |
| C．Playing pretend games only helps children psychologically. |
| D．Playing pretend games is good for children's development. |
The best title for this passage probably is________.
| A．Benefits of Playing Pretend Games |
| B．Tips on How to Improve Your Children's Imagination |
| C．Advantages of Playing Outdoors |
| D．Skills in Playing Pretend Games |
There is an English saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, makes the heart beat quicker and makes people breathe deeper; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programmes. The group that tolerated (忍耐) the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny programme. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain which diminishes both stress and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.According to the passage, which of the following statements is WRONG?
| A．Laughter is good for health. |
| B．Laughter can make you become old quickly. |
| C．Laughter helps to reduce pain. |
| D．Laughter, just like physical exercise, is good for our body. |
The underlined word “diminishes” in the third paragraph means “”.
| A．delays | B．prevents | C．increases | D．reduces |
Why do doctors hold laughter clinics?
| A．Because they want to earn more money. |
| B．Because they think they will help the patients recover from illnesses. |
| C．Because they want to improve their patients’ health. |
| D．Because they want their patients to laugh more. |
According to the author, we should __________ in our life.
| A．laugh as much as possible |
| B．watch more funny films |
| C．smile all the time |
| D．spend time in the laughter clinics |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Both laughter and physical exercise are good for health. |
| B．Laughter clinics can help patients improve their condition. |
| C．Laughter can reduce the effect of pain. |
| D．Laughter is the best medicine. |
Most of the flowers in nature are red, orange and yellow. If we have seen a black flower, it’s a chance in million. People have made a census ( 普查 ) to colors of more than four thousand kinds of flowers and discovered that only eight of them are black. As we know, sunlight is formed by seven different colored lights. The wave length of each light is different, so the quantity of heat in each light is also different. Flowers, especially their petals ( 花瓣 ) , are easy to be harmed by high temperature. Black flowers can take in all the light waves which cause the flowers to dry up in a high temperature. So black flowers can rarely survive sunlight. But red flowers, orange flowers and yellow flowers can protect themselves from sunlight by reflecting the red light, orange light and yellow light, each of which has a large quantity of heat.It is _________ to see a black flower.
| A．impossible | B．seldom | C．common | D．no chance |
The passage tells us that ________________.
| A．black flowers are so weak that it is difficult for them to grow up. |
| B．there is only eight black flowers in nature. |
| C．sunlight is formed by seven different colored lights, so the wave length of each light is different. |
| D．black flowers can take in the light of all the wave lengths which make them dry up because of high temperature. |
Which of the following ideas is NOT true?
| A．People have found that only a few kinds of flowers are black. |
| B．Flowers are easy to be harmed by very high temperature. |
| C．Red, orange and yellow flowers can also absorb the light of all wave lengths. |
| D．The black flowers cannot protect themselves from sunlight. |
Americans like to travel on their yearly holiday. Today, more and more travelers in the United States are spending nights at small house or inns(客栈)instead of hotels. They get a room for the night and the breakfast the next morning.
Rooms for the night in private(私人的)homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years. In the past five to ten years, these bed-and-breakfast places have become popular in the United States. Many of these America’s bed-and-breakfast inns have only a few rooms; others are much larger. Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms, others do.
Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel. Usually the cost is much less. Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone’s home. The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit. Many vacationers say that they enjoy the chance to meet local families.Americans take a holiday trip _________.
| A．all the year round | B．for years | C．every year | D．every other year |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Some Americans like to stay at bed-and-breakfast homes instead of at hotels. |
| B．The bed-and-breakfast inns are private homes open to vacationers. |
| C．The bed-and-breakfast inn owners provide a morning meal for their visitors and a room for the night. |
| D．The bed-and-breakfast inns have been popular in America for a long time. |
Staying at the bed-and-breakfast inns, _________.
| A．the travelers needn’t pay anything |
| B．the travelers don’t have to pay for the telephone or television |
| C．the travelers can meet and talk with the local people |
| D．the owners will show the travelers around the area |
One night about nine o’clock, Dr. Eyck, a surgeon, had a phone call from Dr. Haydon at the hospital in Clens Falls. The surgeon was asked to go there at once to operate on a very sick boy who shot himself while playing with a gun.
The doctor was soon on his way to Clens Falls. It was 60 miles away. And it was snowing heavily in the city. The surgeon thought he could get there before 12 o’clock.
A few minutes later, the doctor was stopped by a man in an old black coat. Gun in hand, the man ordered the doctor to get out. Then the man drove the car down the road, leaving the doctor in the falling snow.
It was after 2 o’clock in the morning when the doctor arrived at the hospital in Clens Falls. Dr. Haydon told him that the boy had died an hour before.
The two doctors walked by the door of the hospital waiting room. There sat the man in the old black coat with his head in his hands.
“Mr. Cuninghan,” said Dr. Haydon to the man, “This is Dr. Eyck. He is the surgeon who walked all the way from Albany to save your boy.”Dr. Haydon asked Dr. Eyck to come to Clens Falls because _____.
| A．Dr. Eyck knew the boy was wounded by a shot |
| B．The boy needed the help of a surgeon |
| C．Dr. Eyck was the boy’s father |
| D．Dr. Eyck was Haydon’s friend |
The surgeon was late because ________.
| A．he was stopped by the police |
| B．the weather was rather terrible |
| C．Clens Falls was too far from Albany |
| D．his car was taken away |
Choose the right order of the following events given in the story.
a. Dr. Eyck was asked to come to the hospital in Clens Falls.
b. Dr. Eyck arrived at the hospital.
c. The boy shot himself. d. The boy died.
e. The man in an old coat reached the hospital. f. Dr. Eyck was robbed of his car.
| A．c, e, f, a, b, d | B．a, c, f, d, b, e |
| C．c, a, f, e, d, b | D．a, c, f, e, d, b |
The boy could have been saved if ______.
| A．he had not been sent to the hospital |
| B．his father hadn’t arrived in time |
| C．Dr.Eyck had arrived earlier than the man |
| D．Dr. Eyck had arrived there two hours earlier |