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


C
Hobbs was an orphan(孤儿). He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work made him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.
One day a lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money.” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures. I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place in the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other.”
“Here is the reading of your uncle’s will(遗嘱),” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it.”
“Yes, I see. I’ll do that,” said the young man.
49.Hobbs wanted to borrow money to _______.
A. study abroad    B. work abroad    C. pay off the debts      D. learn to paint pictures
50.What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” (in Paragraph 2) probably mean?
A. surprised.        B. frightened.       C. satisfied.          D. excited.
51.With the money he got, at first Hobbs _______.
A. planned to have a happy life for a few days
B. decided to give up his work in the factory
C. was to give a dinner to his friends
D. had no idea what to do
52.Hobbs was asked to _______.
A. tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it
B. tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money
C. buy some pictures          
D. read his uncle’s will

Hobbs was an orphan(孤儿). He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work made him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.

One day a lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money.” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures. I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place in the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other.”

“Here is the reading of your uncle’s will(遗嘱),” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it.”

“Yes, I see. I’ll do that,” said the young man.

1.Hobbs wanted to borrow money to _______.

A.study abroad                           B.work abroad

C.pay off the debts                        D.learn to paint pictures

2.What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” (in Paragraph 2) probably mean?

A.Surprised.                             B.Frightened.

C.Satisfied.                              D.Excited.

3.With the money he got, at first Hobbs _______.

A.planned to have a happy life for a few days

B.decided to give up his work in the factory

C.was to give a dinner to his friends

D.had no idea what to do

4.Hobbs was asked to _______.

A.tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it

B.read his uncle’s will

C.tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money

D.buy some pictures

 

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.

1.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

2.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.

3.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

 

Hobbs was an orphan(孤儿). He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work made him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.

     One day a lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money.” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures. I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place in the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other.”

      “Here is the reading of your uncle’s will(遗嘱),” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it.”

      “Yes, I see. I’ll do that,” said the young man.

1... Hobbs wanted to borrow money to _______.

     A. study abroad            B. work abroad

     C. pay off the debts      D. learn to paint pictures

2.. What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” (in Paragraph 2) probably mean?

     A. Surprised.              B. Frightened.

C. Satisfied.              D. Excited.

3.. With the money he got, at first Hobbs _______.

     A. planned to have a happy life for a few days

     B. decided to give up his work in the factory

     C. was to give a dinner to his friends

     D. had no idea what to do

4... Hobbs was asked to _______.

     A. tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it

     B. read his uncle’s will

     C. tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money

     D. buy some pictures

 

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