题目内容

Consumers everywhere are faced with the same dilemma: given limited resources, what sorts of purchases are most likely to produce lasting happiness and satisfaction? Recent research has confirmed that experiential purchases tend to produce greater hedonic (享乐的)gains than material purchases.

The reason why experiences improve with time may be because it is possible to think about experiences in a more abstract manner than possessions. For example, if you think back to a fantastic summer from your youth, you might easily remember an abstract sense of warm sunshine and youthful exuberant (生气勃勃), but you're less likely to remember exactly what you did day-by-day.

Material possessions are harder to think about in an abstract sense. The car you bought is still a car, that great new jacket you picked up cheap is still just a jacket. It’s more likely the experience of that summer has taken on a symbolic meaning that can live longer in your memory than a possession.

Purchasing may have a negative impact on happiness because consumers often buy “joyless” material possessions, resulting in comfort but not pleasure. In general, people adapt to experiences more slowly than to material purchase. This can be seen in both negative and positive purchases: hedonic adaptation would result in a positive experience causing more happiness but a negative experience causing less happiness than the comparable material purchase with the same initial happiness level.

Experience, however, seems to be more resistant to these sorts of unfavourable comparisons. It is because of the unique nature of experience. It’s more difficult to make an unfavourable comparison when there is nothing directly comparable. After all, each of our youthful summers is different.

It’s well established that social comparisons can have a huge effect on how we view what might seem like positive events. One striking example is the finding that people prefer to earn $50,000 a year while everyone else earns $25,000, instead of earning $100,000 themselves and having other people earn $200,000.

A similar effect is seen for possessions. When there are so many flat-screen HD TVs to choose from, it's easy to make unfavourable comparisons between our choice and the others available.

1.An abstract sense in the passage refers to awareness of something __________.

A. you cannot think about

B. you can’ t remember well

C. you cannot understand

D. you cannot see or touch

2.If you make an experiential purchase before a material purchase, you may go to__________.

A. a theatre before going to a store

B. an exhibition before going to a park

C. a mall before going to a grocer's

D. a market before going to a restaurant

3.The example of earnings is given to actually indicate__________.

A. how ridiculous people are B. how people feel content

C. how nearsighted people are D. how people hold prejudice

4. It is implied in the passage that, after their material purchases, people might__________.

A. enjoy their ownership of what they have bought

B. pick every fault in the products they have got

C. regret making a wrong decision to buy the items

D. leave what they’ve purchased untouched at home

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I fell in love with the minister's son the winter I turned fourteen. He was not Chinese. For Christmas I prayed for the boy, Robert. When I found out that my parents had invited the minister's family over for Christmas Eve dinner, I cried in panic. What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners?

On Christmas Eve, my mother created abundant Chinese food. And then they arrived—the minister's family and all my relatives. Robert greeted hello, and I pretended he was not worthy of existence.

Dinner threw me deeper into disappointment. My relatives licked (舔) the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table. Robert and his family waited patiently for a large plate to be passed to them. My relatives murmured with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed fish. Robert made a face. Then my father reached his chopsticks just below the fish eye and picked out the soft meat. “Amy, your favorite,” he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear.

At the end of the meal, my father leaned back and burped (打嗝) loudly, thanking my mother for her fine cooking. “It's a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied,” explained my father to our astonished guests. Robert was looking down at his plate with a reddish face. The minister managed to bring up a quiet burp. I was shocked into silence for the rest of the night.

After everyone had gone, my mother said to me, “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside.” She handed me an early gift. It was a miniskirt. “But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud that you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.”

It was not until years later that I was able to fully appreciate her lesson and the purpose behind her particular menu. For Christmas Eve that year, she had chosen excellent Chinese food.

1. When the writer found out the minister's family would come for Christmas Eve dinner, she cried mainly because ________.

A. she worried about their shabby Chinese Christmas

B. she worried about their Chinese relatives lacking American manners

C. she worried about being laughed at

D. she worried about meeting the minister's family

2.What does “he was not worthy of existence” probably mean? It means ________.

A. he should not exist

B. he was worthless

C. the writer was not interested in his existence

D. the writer expected his coming

3. The dinner threw the writer deeper into disappointment mainly because ________.

A. she childishly expected all of them to act in the same way as Americans did at table

B. her father reached his chopsticks to pick fish for her

C. her father leaned back and burped loudly

D. her relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks

4.We can infer from the passage that ________.

A. the writer appreciated her mother's lesson years later

B. the mother prepared to show Chinese different food culture

C. the writer must be proud that she is different

D. the minister's family really enjoyed the food

More than four decades ago British scientist Robert Edwards first witnessed the miracle of human life growing inside a test tube at his Cambridge lab. Since that ground-breaking moment, more than four million babies have been born through IVF and in 2010 his great contribution to science was finally recognized as he was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine.

The prize for Dr Edwards, who was given a Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Award in 2008, includes a £900,000 cheque. The Nobel Assembly described IVF as a "milestone in modern medicine".

With the help of fellow scientist Patrick Steptoe, the Manchester-born physiologist developed IVF - leading to the birth of the world's first test tube baby. Dr Steptoe died 10 years later but their work has transformed fertility treatment and given hope to millions of couples.

It was a scientific breakthrough that transformed the lives of millions of couples. They said: "His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a disease which makes human unable to have a baby. This condition has been afflicting a large percentage of mankind including more than 10% of all couples worldwide."

Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, made international headlines when she was born in Oldham, Gtr Manchester, in 1978 to parents Lesley and John who had been fruitlessly trying for a baby since 1969.

Ivf-in-vitro fertilisation is the process whereby egg cells are fertilised outside the body before being implanted in the womb. After a cycle of IVF, the probability of a couple with infertility problems having a baby is one in five — the same as healthy couples who conceive naturally.

Professor Edwards, who has five daughters and 11 grandchildren, began his research at Cambridge University in 1963, after receiving his PhD in 1955.He once said: "The most important thing in life is having a child. Nothing is more special than a child." With the help of fellow scientist Patrick Steptoe, Prof. Edwards founded the Bourn

Hall clinic in Cambridge shire, which now treats more than 900 women a year. Each year, more than 30,000 women in Britain now undergo IVF and 11,000 babies are born as a result of the treatment.

But his work attracted widespread criticism from some scientists and the Catholic Church who said it was "unethical and immoral".

Martin Johnson, professor of reproductive(生殖的) sciences at the University of Cambridge, said the award was "long overdue". He said: “We couldn't understand why the Nobel has come so late but he is delighted - this is the cherry on the cake for him.”

Professor Edwards was too ill to give interviews but a statement released by his family said he was "thrilled and delighted".

1.What is Robert Edwards‘ contribution to science?

A. Challenging a disease which stops human having a baby.

B. Seeing the wonder of the first tube baby growing

C. Enabling millions of couples to live a better life.

D. Helping couples with infertility to have tube babies.

2. What does the underlined word “afflicting”(Paragraph 4)most probably refer to?

A. Troubling B. Developing

C. Improving D. Confusing

3. Why did Professor Edwards begin his research on tube baby?

A. Because he thought it of great significance to have a child in life.

B. Because the birthrate around the world was unexpectedly low then.

C. Because a special child did make a difference to an ordinary family.

D. Because his fellow scientist wanted to give hope to the unlucky couples.

4.It can be inferred from Paragraph 8 and Paragraph 9 that ___________.

A. some people envied Professor Edwards for his being awarded.

B. different opinions were voiced on Professor Edwards‘ finding.

C. Professor Edwards deserved the prize for his breakthrough.

D. the prize was late because the finding was first considered immoral.

5. What might be the best title for the passage?

A. Life Stories of Robert Edwards

B. Preparations for Having a Baby

C. Nobel Prize for IVF Expert Edwards

D. Treatment of Infertility in a Lab

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