Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined 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. In the past half-century, average income 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, and status makes people feel better,” conclude 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-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 only measures of income.” says Michalos.

       Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad“Given 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 emotions 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.”

72.According to the passage, the feeling of happiness        .

A.is determined partly by genes                  B.increases gradually with age

C.has little to do with wealth                      D.is measured by desires

72.Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs      .

A.make them feel much better                        B.provide chances to make friends

C.improse their social position                    D.satisfy their professional interests

74.Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more       .

A.optimistic                  B.successful               C.practical                   D. emotional

75.Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if         .

A.the gap between reality and desire is bigger     B.they have a stronger desire for friendship

C.their income is below their expectation            D.the hope for good health is greater

Decisions, decisions! Our lives are full of them, from the small ones to the life-changing. The right to choose is central to everyone. Yet sometimes we make bad decisions that leave us unhappy or full of regret. Can science help?

  Most of us know little about the mental processes that lie behind our decisions. Luckily, what psychologists(心理学家)are finding may help us all make better choices. Here are some of their amazing discoveries to help you make up your mind.

    Consider your emotions. You might think that emotions are the enemy of decision making, but in fact they're a part of it. Whenever you make up your mind, your brain’s emotional center is active. University of Southern California scientist, Antonio Damasio, has studied people with damage to only the emotional parts of their brains, and found that they were unable to make basic choices about what to wear or eat. Damasio thinks this may be because our brains store emotional memories of past choices, which we use to help the present decision making.

  However, making choices under the influence of an emotion can greatly affect the result. Take anger, for example. A study by Nitika Garg of the University of Mississippi and other scientists found the angry shoppers were more likely to choose the first thing they were offered rather than considering other choices. It seems anger can lead us to make quick decisions without much thinking.

    All emotions affect our thinking and motivation(动机), so it may be best to avoid making important decisions under their influence. Yet strangely there’s one emotion that seems to help us make good choices. The American researchers found that sad people took time to consider the various choices on offer, and ended up making the best choices. In fact many studies show that people who feel unhappy have the most reasonable view of the world.

45.According to the text, what may help us make better decisions?

A. To think about happy times.  

B. To make many decisions at a time.

C. To stop feeling regretful about the past.

D. To learn about the process of decision-making.

46.Damasio’s study suggests that _________.

A. emotions are the enemy of decision making

B. our brain has nothing to do with decision making

C. people with physical damage find it hard to make up their minds

D. our emotional memories of past choices can affect present decisions

47.Why are angry shoppers more likely to choose the first thing they are offered?

A. They often forget their past choices.    

B. They make decisions without much thinking.

C. They tend to save time when shopping.

D. They are too angry to bargain.

48.What do we learn from the text?

A. Emotions are a part of decision making.

B. Sad people always make worst choices.

C. No emotion seems to help us make good choices.

D. Only sad feelings affect our thinking and motivation.


第二节:完形填空(共20小题;每小题1.5分,满分30分)
阅读下面短文,从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
When my son was 11 years old, he got a small job helping out with a traveling carnival in our town. He didn't come home at lunch time, phoning  36  to tell me he was fine and had found a few days' work  37  out at an exhibit. However, after he finished work he  38  for supper as usual.
I asked him how he had  39  at lunch and he told me he had made some new  40  at the carnival, some young men who were twin brothers, and their mom and dad. They had  41  him a few dollars and invited him for lunch  42  for helping them set up their exhibit and wanted him to  43   the next day to help with other chores (杂务).
I was glad he had found new friends but a little  44  about the type of people who might be traveling in a carnival. "Oh, Mum, these are just  45  everyday people like anyone else. They  46   work at a carnival instead of in a store or something". "Come down tomorrow and  47  them yourself," he said.
So the next day I went to the carnival and to the exhibit he had  48  me to. The twin brothers   _49  out to be Siamese (连体的) twins, joined at the chest. He hadn't thought this  50  was noteworthy enough to mention. When I brought it to him, he said, "yes, I  51  that too. Do you know that their mum has to make all their clothes  52  it's so difficult to find anything to fit them? They're also really good  53  . Today, Joe, one on the fight, made me spaghetti (意大利面条) for lunch. "
What others see first in a person is not what a child considers  54  . Where I saw Siamese twins, he saw people having difficulty buying clothes that fit, and young men who were good cooks. It was a   _55  I have thought about many times over the years.
36. A. instead                B. even              C. also              D. besides
37. A. helping             B. helping                    C. taking             D. showing
38. A. did up                       B. gave up                    C. took up                    D. turned up
39. A. sought                       B. managed                  C. worked                    D. acted
40. A. clothes                       B. friends                            C. choices                     D. differences
41. A. paid                          B. charged                    C. lent                          D. owed
42. A. by chance                  B. in return                   C. by turns                   D. in advance
43. A. return                        B. promise                    C. consider                   D. decide
44. A. excited                      B. regretful                   C. worried                    D. optimistic
45. A. humorous                  B. obvious                    C. particular                 D. normal
46. A. just                           B. never                       C. hardly                      D. always
47. A. teach                         B. meet                        C. affect                       D. join
48. A. ordered                      B. directed                    C. forced                      D. persuaded
49. A. worked                      B. left                          C. came                        D. turned
50. A. expression                  B. change                            C. fact                          D. idea
51. A understood                  B. made                       C. noticed                     D. formed
52. A. before                       B. if                             C. after                        D. because
53. A. cooks                        B. doctors                     C. artists                       D. singers
54. A. necessary                   B. important                 C. impossible                D. unlucky
55. A. lesson                        B. festival                     C. task                         D. match

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