Everyone wants to achieve true happiness in life. But the biggest factor holding most of us back is actually our ownselves. The Huffington Post released a list of seven mistakes we need to let go of in order to become happier people. Let’s take a look.
1.Placing too much emphasis on fulfillment (成就感)
Those who put a lot of pressure on themselves to be happy feel more lonely on a daily basis than those who do not, according to research conducted at the University of Denver, US.
2. Keeping it all in
Keeping it all together during tough times can hurt you. Crying is the body’s emotional response to outside triggers (诱因).By suppressing it, you may be damaging your mental and physical health.
3. Looking at your smart phone all the time
Connecting with others may be the key to happiness, but a recent University of Michigan study found that the more time participants spent on social networking sites, the less happy they felt.
4. Not moving
It’s no secret that a healthy lifestyle is a big part of happiness. Something as simple as a walk can help you increase your creativity and expose you to essential vitamins.
5. Not reflecting on the past
In a 2013 study on nostalgia (怀旧) and emotion, participants reported a higher sense of physiological comfort when they looked back on the past. Affection for heartwarming memories helps people relate their past experiences to the present in order to create a greater sense of meaning.
6. Resisting change
A study on the psychology of choices shows that the human brain naturally tries to avoid loss—but that resistance can cause stress. Whether it’s fear of the unknown or fear of losing what you currently have, the pressure to hold on to the present can harm your future life satisfaction.
7. Not being mindful
Setting aside time for meditation (沉思) allows your body to relax, cultivates an attitude of gratitude and lowers your stress level, according to researchers at University of California, Los Angeles, US.
What is the main purpose of the article?
| A．To inform readers of the benefits of being happy. |
| B．To explain why our happiness depends on our own actions. |
| C．To point out the things we do that prevent us from being happy. |
| D．To discuss some typical characteristics of happy people. |
The underlined word “suppressing” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to .
| A．speaking of | B．holding back |
| C．thinking about | D．taking no notice of |
According to the article, to be a happy person, it is important for us to .
| A．set goals and achieve as much as we can |
| B．avoid recalling the past |
| C．do exercise in our spare time |
| D．spend more time on social networking sites |
According to the article, meditation is helpful mainly because .
| A．it increases our creativity |
| B．it makes us less afraid of the unknown |
| C．it helps us relax and thus reduce our stress |
| D．it allows us to relate our past experiences to the present |
Every Thursday afternoon, my art history class meets not in our usual lecture hall but in the Yale University Art Gallery(美术馆）.
We spend our one-hour class discussing two or three of the paintings, many of which are by artists that we have already studied in class.
The professor begins by selecting one work of art. After giving us a quick background on the artist, he'll open up for class discussion. Everyone is strongly encouraged to give opinions to the work. Not every piece we study is necessarily famous or striking in appearance and subject matter, yet we always manage to make some interesting observations.
In America, professors always take every opportunity to push textbooks aside and expose students to real world experiences.
With some creativity, almost any subject can be applied to such beyond the classroom learning.
My art history class trips to the gallery are but one example.
Many other subjects also offer opportunities to learn outside the classroom, for example business psychology, art, journalism and biology.
A friend of mine from Yale taking an advanced psychology course spends every Saturday working with mentally disabled children.
Her mornings are spent playing with the kids and studying their sometimes uncontrolled behavior. Then in the afternoon she writes a report on her observations.
Students generally appreciate these unique learning opportunities. They're almost always fun and interesting, and professors like them because students learn so much in just a few short months.
No one denies (否认）the value of classroom learning. But it can only take students so far.
Slides and textbooks may do a good job of carrying facts and dates, but creativity and originality (创造性）of thought cannot be taught. They can only be got through first-hand experience. The writer studies art history __________.
| A．in a lecture hall |
| B．in an art gallery |
| C．in a simple way |
| D．in a practical way |
In American universities it is popular for professors to __________.
| A．create textbooks by themselves |
| B．teach their lectures through real world experiences |
| C．ask their students to memorize the texts |
| D．share their experiences with the students |
“Slides and textbooks” in the last paragraph refer to __________
| A．the books students may use in class |
| B．the practical experience |
| C．the theoretical experience |
| D．the advice from the professors |
The writer holds the opinion that __________.
| A．learning outside the classroom is the best way |
| B．teachers should develop students' creativity |
| C．professors had better shorten their lectures |
| D．students should put their textbooks away |
When I was in primary school, sometimes I would meet a girl of the same age as me. Lisa was never active, but she was always very sweet and nice. In the 5th grade she came to my class.
She was absent a lot, and one day I had the courage to ask why. She told me she was sick, and she explained she wore a wig(假发）because her medicine made her lose her hair. We left it at that. Anytime Lisa came to class—seldom—I would hang with her on the playground.
I received much ridicule(嘲弄）from my friends for this because they thought I was ignoring them for Lisa. My family education taught me to be nice, and I felt Lisa's needs were much more important than others I knew.
It had been months since Lisa was in our class, and one day our teacher was crying. She explained Lisa died the day before and would no longer be our classmate. She told us Lisa had fought a battle(斗争）with cancer for years.
I was shocked. Lisa never spoke of her illness as if it could kill her. Well, all these years I have kept Lisa in my mind and heart. When I go through the important events in my life, I think of Lisa.
I've had a strong wish recently to find her mother and father. I'd like to tell them that though they never met me, their daughter had a sweet effect(影响）on my life. I have no idea what her parents' first names are. I write to your column(栏目 ) and hope you can point me in the right direction.
Lisa was such a lovely girl. Maybe her parents would be comforted by the fact that after all these years they are not the only ones who remember her. The underlined sentence in Para. 2 probably means __________
| A．we kept on talking about her illness later |
| B．we discussed the topic and then left together |
| C．we just stopped talking about her illness |
| D．we went away after talking about her illness |
Why was the author being laughed at?
| A．Because she wore a wig to school. |
| B．Because she always played with Lisa. |
| C．Because she cried in the classroom. |
| D．Because she lost her friends because of Lisa. |
What did the author learn from Lisa?
| A．To keep your illness a secret. |
| B．To be nice to everyone everywhere. |
| C．To face challenges in life bravely. |
| D．To put others' needs above yours. |
The author wrote this passage mainly to __________.
| A．remember a true friend |
| B．ask for help to find a friend's parents |
| C．show her concern for a friend |
| D．tell her experience of fighting cancer |
Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick—Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia. Walter, then 9，began making silly faces at the little boy sitting across from him.
Soon after, Ryan, who was 3 at the time, made his way into Walter's room and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume and ride his Big Wheel to his cousin Catlyn's house.
Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan. “He inspired me to survive my cancer，” said Walter, now 17，a football player and snowboarder. “Seeing him happy all the time made me happy. How could I be upset if he had it so much worse than me?”
For the past few years, Walter, who lived with his family in Elgin, wondered what had happened to his little friend. Without so much as a last name, Walter asked the hospital staff to track down a number or address, but privacy laws prohibited the staff from giving out information.
"As I was going to bed one night, it popped in my head：6Google it. Google what you know，"said Walter's mother, Erzsi Gemzsi. She typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain tumor”. Much to her surprise a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. Finally, they had found him. But when she clicked her mouse, the news was devastating.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8，2005. He was 6.
When she picked up Walter from school the next day, she broke it to him. “It hit me pretty hard，” Walter said. “ I was crying for a week straight. ”
The Facebook page was for the Ryan Lamantia Foundation, a nonprofit foundation that Ryan's family formed after his death. The organization raises money for pediatric (小儿科的）brain tumor research.
Walter logged on right away and left this message：
"I have wanted nothing more than to talk to (Ryan's) parents and tell them ( their) son is my hero. My trips to（the hospital)were always dreadful, until the day I(met) Ryan. ”
Ryan's mom's eyes filled with tears as she read Walter's post. She said，“It made us so proud. ”What made a deep impression on Walter Wetzel?
| A．Ryan's way to communicate with others. |
| B．Ryan's love for his costume and Big Wheel. |
| C．Ryan's panic when suffering from brain cancer. |
| D．Ryan's happiness though suffering from brain cancer. |
What can be learned from the passage?
| A．Ryan was working for a foundation. |
| B．Walter was recovering from his leukemia. |
| C．Walter and Ryan often wrote to each other after they left the hospital. |
| D．After Ryan left the hospital, he was in good health. |
The underlined word "prohibited" in Paragraph 4 is the closest to "__________" in meaning.
| A．banned |
| B．permitted |
| C．advised |
| D．published |
How did Walter manage to know Ryan's information?
| A．One of his friends came to tell him. |
| B．Ryan's mother telephoned Walter and told him. |
| C．His mother googled Ryan's information and found it. |
| D．The Ryan Lamantia Foundation contacted him and told him. |
They were sitting together on a dull afternoon when Hannah hurried in with a telegram. Mrs March read and dropped it with her hands shaking. Jo picked up the telegram and read it in a frightened voice：Mrs March, your husband is very ill. Come at once. S. Hale, Blank Hospital, Washington.
The girls moved close to their mother. All their happiness vanished in a moment.
“I shall go at once，” said Mrs March. “Oh, my children！” For several minutes, there was only the sound of crying, and then Hannah hurried away to get away to get things ready for the long journey.
"Where's Laurie? " Mrs March asked. "Here，" said the boy. "Oh, let me do something! " "Send a telegram back，" said Mrs March. “The next train goes early in the morning. Now, I must write a note to Aunt March. ”
Jo knew that the money for the journey must be borrowed from Aunt March, and she wanted to do something to help her father. Laurie went off to take the note to Aunt March and to send the telegram. Jo got some things from the shops.
“Father will need good food and wine to help him get better, and there won't be much at the hospital，" said Mrs March. "Beth, go and ask Mr Laurence for a couple of bottles of wine. ，，
Laurie came back with a letter and money from Aunt March, but Jo did not return. It was in the late afternoon that Jo came back and gave her mother some money.
“That's to help make Father comfortable and bring him home，99 she said.
“Twenty-five dollars!” said Mrs March. “My dear, where did you get it?” Jo took off her hat. "My dear, there was no need for this，" said Mrs March. "Don't cry, Beth，" said Jo. “I'll soon have curly hair again. ”
After their mother went away, they all helped Hannah with housework. News of their father came, telling them he was slowly getting better. The underlined word “vanished” in Paragraph 2 probably means __________.
| A．burst |
| B．disappeared |
| C．jumped |
| D．rushed |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Mrs March was not rich. |
| B．Hannah was younger than Jo and Laurie. |
| C．The children didn't care about their father. |
| D．Mrs March left for the hospital immediately. |
How did Jo get the money?
| A．By asking her friends for help. |
| B．By helping others work. |
| C．By selling her nice hair. |
| D．By breaking her pig bank. |
It can be learned from the passage that Mrs March's children were __________.
| A．selfish |
| B．kind |
| C．helpful |
| D．delighted |
It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a hurt brain. Without enough blood, the brain lives only three to five minutes. Sometimes the hurt brain gets better by itself. More often the doctors can't fix the hurt brain. Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help. It is dangerous to work on the brain. The doctor might make the person worse if he works on the brain.
Dr. Robert J. White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help. He thinks doctors should try to make the brain become very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctors a longer time to do something for the brain.
Dr. White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs. Then he opera-ted on them. He made the monkeys' blood go through a machine. The machine cooled the blood. Then the machine sent the blood back to the monkeys' brains. When the brain temperature was 10 degrees. Dr. White stopped the blood to the brain. After 30 minutes he turned the blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations, the monkeys were like they were before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them.
Dr. White's idea works well on the monkeys. Are there other problems with human beings? Dr. White thinks doctors will use his idea on human beings. He thinks it will help people who have heart problems, too. A person doesn't have to die when his heart stops? doctors can start it again. The problem comes when the brain is without blood for three to five minutes—the person has a living body, but a dead brain. Maybe in the future, doctors will try Dr. White's idea. When the person's heart stops, the doctors will quickly try to cool the brain. They will have 30 minutes to start the heart again. Maybe there will be no problem with the brain. People probably die when __________.
| A．their brain dies |
| B．their heart stops |
| C．they stop breathing |
| D．their brain becomes very hot |
Dr. White thinks his idea about cooling the brain will work because __________.
| A．he has tried it on people |
| B．he has tried it on monkeys |
| C．he has tried it on heart problems |
| D．he has tried it on himself |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Doctors can begin the heart again in five minutes. |
| B．Doctors can begin the heart again after 30 minutes. |
| C．Doctors can change patients' hearts. |
| D．Doctors can change a person's face. |
According to the writer，__________.
| A．it is not difficult to repair the brain damage |
| B．it is worse to make a mistake on the brain than any other part of the body |
| C．brain is not an important part in one's body |
| D．brain doesn't need blood |