题目内容
ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are decided to a certain degree by
genes. However, of all the factors,wealth and age are the top two.
Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each
extra dollar makes less and less difference.
Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness
is complex (复杂的). In the past half-century, the average income (平均收入) has sharply increased in
developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same. Once your basic needs are met,
money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.
"Dollars buy status (social position), and status makes people feel better," say some experts, which helps
explain why people who can seek status in other ways, scientists or actors, for example, may happily accept
relatively poorly-paid jobs.
In a research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires (欲望) , not just for money,
but for friends, family, job, health, rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than
those who felt a smaller gap (差距). Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better
than income alone. "the gap measures just blow away the measures of only income." says Michalos.
Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad "Civen all the problems of
aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied?" asks Professor Laura Carstensen. In one survey, Carstensen
interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotion questionnaire.
She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people. Some scientists suggest
older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they're more realistic about their time
running out. Older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don't.
"People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever," she says. "A
goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional
responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20. "
B. provide chances to make friends
C. improve their social position
D. satisfy their professional interests
B. they have a stronger desire for friendship
C. the hope for good health is much greater
D. their income is far below their expectation
B. are used to living a hard life because they are kind to others
C. express their positive opinions just as some young people do
D. find it easier to feel happy because they are more realistic
B. is controlled partly by desires
C. has little to do with wealth
D. is decided mostly by genes
阅读理解
B
How much pocket money do you get from your parents every month? Maybe 200 yuan? But for Li Beibei, 30 yuan each month is enough. The only thing she buys is lunch—1.5 yuan each day. “Meat is too expensive for me,” said Li.
Li, 14, is a Junior 1 student at Beijing’s Xingzhi Experimental School. Her parents are migrant workers(外来务工人员). They came to Beijing from a village in Luohe, He’nan two years ago. Her father now works as a cleaner and gets 500 yuan every month. Her mother has no job.
Li Beibei has 460 friends at Xingzhi. Every day, Li gets up at 5:30 am and rides her bike for 20 minutes to get to school. Like many teens, Li has a lot of homework—usually at least one hour every day. But that is not all her work. During the weekdays she helps her mum cook. On weekends, she helps wash clothes. “I could cook when I was eight. Dad said sometimes I cook better than Mum!”
Li said she wanted to be a doctor. “I watch TV and find out there are many people with AIDS in He’nan. Some are kids. They need help,” said Li.
But she is afraid to leave school. “I hope I will always be in school,” said Li. “Dad works hard to get money. I promise him I will study hard to be a good student and a good doctor in the future.”
1.Li Beibei came from ______.
A.Beijing |
B.Liaoning |
C.He’nan |
D.Xingzhi |
2.Which of the following sentences is TRUE? ______.
A.The girl’s parents are both cleaners |
B.Her parents gave her 30 yuan to buy books |
C.The girl often helps her mother do some housework |
D.She studies hardest in her class |
3.She spends ______ on her homework everyday.
A.20 minutes |
B.over one hour |
C.half an hour |
D.two hours |
4.Her wish is to be a doctor because she wants to ______.
A.help poor farmers |
B.help the people with AIDS |
C.make her parents healthier |
D.help poor kids |
5.The best title of the passage should be ______.
A.A City Girl |
B.Hard But Happy Life |
C.A Village Girl’s Hope |
D.A Girl’s School Life |