Question

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 (毫無(wú)掩飾的).

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 (復(fù)雜的).

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 come 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 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—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.

1.As people grow older, they ____.

A．feel it harder to experience happiness

B．a(chǎn)ssociate their happiness less with others

C．will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness

D．tend to believe responsibility means happiness

2.What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 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.

3.What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?

A．Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness.

B．Psychologists’ opinion is well proved by Grandma’s case.

C．Grandma often found time for social gatherings.

D．Grandma’s happiness came from modest expectations of life.

4.People who equal happiness with wealth and success ______.

A．consider pressure something blocking their way

B．stress their right to happiness too much

C．a(chǎn)re at a loss to make correct choices

D．a(chǎn)re more likely to be happy

5.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.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.C

3.D

4.B

5.D

【解析】

【文章大意】文章介紹了什么是幸福以及如何獲得幸福。文章最后一段提出了獲得幸福的方法。

1.文中第一段的“…which seems to get rarer the older we get”意思是“隨著年齡的增大，幸福越來(lái)越少”，結(jié)合選項(xiàng)，只能填A(yù)。B錯(cuò)在less with others，是自己；C錯(cuò)在文中沒(méi)有提及fewer risks；D項(xiàng)中的意思，第一段根本沒(méi)有表達(dá)。

2.第五段介紹了幸福的定義，第六段作者舉了一個(gè)有幸福感的例子：作者那天一個(gè)人在家里靜靜地寫(xiě)作，她感到很幸福，孩子回來(lái)之后的吵鬧聲她也很喜歡（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 come home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.）。只有C概括了作者在文中所表達(dá)的意思。

3.A選項(xiàng)錯(cuò)在只提到了satisfying work，而沒(méi)有提到enjoyable leisure time；作者用了“I don’t think that my grandmother…h(huán)ad much of either.”否認(rèn)了心理學(xué)家的看法，排除B和C。

4.答案在第八段（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.），選項(xiàng)B和D中提到了文中所出現(xiàn)的單詞，結(jié)合原文，發(fā)現(xiàn)D和第八段中的最后一句話(huà)意思相反，故選B。

5.最后一段就闡述了如何獲得幸福：在逆境中找到積極的因素(It’s the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative.)以及知足常樂(lè)(enjoying what we do possess)。符合這個(gè)意思的只有D：知足者常樂(lè)，這是倒裝句。B的意思是每個(gè)人都是自己命運(yùn)的主人。