Years ago, a cigarette commercial asked if you were smoking more, but enjoying it less. That describes the way many of us live today. We are doing more, but enjoying it less. And when that doesn’t work, we compound the problem. In our frantic search for satisfaction, we try stuffing still more into our days, never realizing that we are taking the wrong approach.

The truth is simple; so simple it is hard to believe. Satisfaction lies with less, not with more. Yet, we pursue the myth that this thing, or that activity, will somehow provide the satisfaction we so desperately seek.

Arthur Lindman, in his devastating book, “The Harried Leisure Class,” described the futility of pursuing more. His research focused on what people did with their leisure time. He found that as income rose, people bought more things to occupy their leisure time. But, ironically, the more things they bought, the less they valued any one of them. Carried to an extreme, he predicted massive boredom in the midst of tremendous variety. That was more than twenty years ago, and his prediction seems more accurate every year.

Lindman, of course, is not the first to discover this. The writer of Ecclesiastes expressed the same thought thousands of years ago. It is better, he wrote, to have less, but enjoy it more.

If you would like to enjoy life more, I challenge you to experiment with me. How could you simplify your life? What could you drop? What could you do without? What could you stop pursuing? What few things could you concentrate on?

The more I learn, the more I realize that fullness of life does not depend on things. The more I give up, the more I seem to gain. But words will never convince you. You must try it for yourself.

Arthur Lindman predicted twenty years ago that ______.

A. more things brought more value   B. the more people had, the less they valued them

C. people didn’t like to pursue more   D. massive boredom came from less variety

What does the article suggest to make our life happier?

A. To enjoy more things.             B. To buy more things.

C. To sell things we do not need.       D. To get rid of useless things.

The passage is probably written to ___________.

A. introduce Arthur Lindman and his book       B. tell the readers what is satisfaction

C. introduce how to simplify people’s life         D. persuade people to simplify their life

完型填空(共20小题;每小题1.5分,满分30分)
阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。 
For long, a little boy was wondering why his deskmate could rank 1st in the class whenever he wanted to, while he himself failed to: he only ranked 21st.
At home, he asked his Mom, “Mom, am I more   21 than others? I feel I am obedient and as careful as him, but   22 I always fall behind? ” Hearing the words, Mom was aware that her son began to  23  the sense of self-respect, which was now being injured by the ranking system.  24  at him, she went wordless, not knowing  25  to explain.
In another test, the son ranked 17th, while his deskmate remained 1st. Back home he   26  the same question. Mom really wanted to inform his son that   27  differs, which means that students ranking 1st are supposed to be cleverer than normal ones.  28 , was this discouraging answer the one that her son was constantly  29  about? Thank goodness she did not open her mouth.
How to answer her son’s question? There were times when she felt an urge to say, “You are too lazy. You are not as hard-working as others…”but she stopped   30  imagining her son suffering from the pains of unsatisfied grades and rankings. She thought it   31  to put any additional burden on his son and was trying to find out a perfect answer.
Time passing swiftly, the son   32  primary school. Despite studying harder and better, he was still unable to keep up with his deskmate. To show her pride of him, Mom decided to   33  him to the sea. During the trip, she managed to give an answer.
Now, the son no longer worries about his   34 , and there are no boring guys who would inquire his grades in primary school, because,   35  the 1st ranking, he is admitted to Tsinghua University. Back home in winter vacation, he was invited to   36 the students and parents in his high school, In the speech, he mentioned a valuable experience in his childhood, “…When my mother and I were lying on the   37 , she pointed to the front and said, “Do you see the seabirds struggling for food over there ?When the waves come near, little birds can rise   38 while awkward seagulls would take more time to complete the process. However, have you noticed birds that finally fly  39 the endless ocean are none other than the awkward seagulls?” The speech   40  many mothers present to tears, including his mother.

【小题1】
A.considerateB.carelessC.stupidD.clever
【小题2】
A.what ifB.how comeC.how aboutD.what for
【小题3】
A.loseB.haveC.winD.beat
【小题4】
A.ShoutingB.GlaringC.StaringD.Pointing
【小题5】
A.whichB.whyC.whenD.how
【小题6】
A.raisedB.metC.answeredD.got
【小题7】
A.intelligenceB.rightC.knowledgeD.strength
【小题8】
A.ThereforeB.StillC.ThusD.However
【小题9】
A.enthusiasticB.curiousC.crazyD.clear
【小题10】
A.ifB.beforeC.unlessD.when
【小题11】
A.cruelB.importantC.disappointedD.necessary
【小题12】
A.attendedB.startedC.finishedD.entered
【小题13】
A.guideB.takeC.bringD.push
【小题14】
A.homeworkB.belongingsC.healthD.rankings
【小题15】
A.inB.byC.withD.on
【小题16】
A.teachB.deliverC.addressD.face
【小题17】
A.floorB.roadC.bankD.beach
【小题18】
A.quicklyB.suddenlyC.slowlyD.sharply
【小题19】
A.intoB.throughC.acrossD.throughout
【小题20】
A.madeB.movedC.impressedD.inspired

The first time I saw Carlos I would never have believed he was going to change my life.I had my arms full of books and I was rushing into the classroom when 1 ran into something solid. It was Carlos.
"My... you're tall," he said. The whole class burst out laughing .
“Take that seat,” Mr. McCarthy told the cocky(骄傲自大的) newcomer Carlos,pointing to the only empty one , in the back of the room.
Carlos laughed widely. "But I need a couple of dictionaries."
The bell rang for classes. As I stood up to go, I saw Carlos coming toward me. "I'm sorry I embarrassed you," he said . I looked straight ahead over the top of his black hair. "That's all right."
"I ought to know better." He was still blocking my way. "What's your name?" "Karen Forbes." He held out his hand. Unwillingly, I shook hands with him. He looked up at me seriously with his brown eyes. " I am Carlos . I don't see why you're so touchy."
It was the school elections that made me think of Carlos again. Carlos was voted vice-president.“How come ?”I kept asking myself, "How come this shrimp(虾)who’s only been in town for a little over a month gets to be so popular?"
So on that morning,I stopped Carlos and said,“It doesn't seem to bother you — being short.” He looked up at me, "Of course I mind being short.But there isn’t anything I can do about it. When I realized I was going to have to spend my life in this undersized skin, I just decided to make the best of it and concentrate on being myself." "You seem to get along great,” I admitted, "But what about me? The trouble with you is you’re afraid to be yourself. You’re smart. And you could be pretty. In fact, you might be more than pretty.” I felt myself turning red…
【小题1】It is a story about a short boy who            .

A.won the school electionB.is ashamed of his height
C.has learned to accept his sizeD.is embarrassed by his class
【小题2】From the text, we can see Carlos is          .
A.handsome and proudB.humorous and confident
C.diligent but shyD.honest but sensitive
【小题3】The underlined word "touchy" in paragraph 8 probably means          .
A.movedB.cheerfulC.curiousD.annoyed
【小题4】According to the text, which is the most likely ending?
A.The author didn’t want to make friends with Carlos
B.Carlos and the author argued with each other.
C.The author changed her attitude towards Carlos.
D.Carlos was elected president of the student committee.

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