题目内容
Mom was right! If you say thank you, for even the smallest gift or slightest show of kindness, you’ll feel happy.
Gratitude, says Robert A. Emmons, a professor or psychology at the University of California, is an important element of happiness. In his recent took, Thanks!, Emmons uses the first major study on gratitude to prove mom’s point. In acknowledging and developing this much-ignored expression of thankfulness, he explains how people have benefited---- even improved their health.
As one of the leading scholars of the positive psychology movement, he admits gratitude may be difficult to express. He advises you to begin by admitting that life is good and full of events and elements that make daily existence a wonder. Second, recognize that the source of life’s goodness is more than just you. That source may be your mom, a friend, partner, child, colleague at work or play, or any combination of these.
Gratitude is always other-directed, notes Emmons. You can be pleased or angry with yourself and feel guilty about doing something wrong, but you can never be grateful to or for yourself.
Expressing gratitude shouldn’t be a reaction; it should be a state of mind. To feel grateful when life is a breeze and you have more than you need is easy. To feel grateful in time of crisis---- anger, hatred and bitterness----is easier. Also, too many people are aware of life’s blessings only after these are lost.
It’s crisis and chaos ---- danger, disease, disability and death ---- that bring many individuals to realize just how dependent they are on others. Yet it’s the way each of us begins life and ends it. It’s too bad that so many people waste those decades in between labouring under the illusion they are self-sufficient, says Emmons.
The abundance of voices expressing gratitude from his studies of individuals with chronic health problems is many. But Emmons goes beyond his “groundbreaking” science to make his case for gratitude by including the inspirational writings of philosophers, novelists and saints, as well as the beliefs of various religions and their respective scriptures. Taken together, these observations are summed up quite nicely by famous humanist Albert Schweitzer, who said the secret of life is “giving thanks for everything.”
To enable and embrace gratitude, Emmons encourages the readers of Thanks! To keep a gratitude diary. He even provides easy-to-follow directions on how to practice and develop gratitude.
I’m not a reader or advocate of self-help books, but I am thankful for the reference I found in a newspaper article to the research Emmons was conducting on gratitude involving organ donors and recipients. The chance discovery led me to this book.
Mom implied that kindness seems to find its way back to the giver because life really is all about giving, receiving and repaying. So I’ll pay attention to her professional advice and say: Thank you, professor Emmons.
【小题1】What is the text mainly discussed?
A.There are many ways of being thankful. |
B.Gratitude is important to happiness. |
C.Mom is great for her being thankful. |
D.Being thankful will keep you fit. |
A. Professor Emmons supports mom’s study on psychology.
B. mom is as great a psychologist as Professor Emmons.
C. Professor Emmons is a famous psychologist.
D. mom is right about her viewpoint on gratitude.
【小题3】It will be easier for you to feel grateful when ___________.
A.you live a comfortable life |
B.you receive gifts on your birthday |
C.you get help during your hard times |
D.you are congratulated on your success |
A.It is enough to thank others orally. |
B.Whether you are thankful is always up to you. |
C.Remember to be thankful anytime and anywhere. |
D.It is easier to be thankful for yourself than for others. |
A.one-sided | B.reasonable | C.puzzling | D.helpful |
【小题1】B
【小题2】D
【小题3】C
【小题4】C
【小题5】D
解析
完型填空(共20小题;每小题1.5分,满分30分)
阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer students begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. 21 Robby said that it had always been his mother’s 22 to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student.
Hard as Robby tried, he lacked the 23 of music. However, he persisted and at the end of each weekly 24 he’d always say, “My mom’s going to hear me play someday.” But it seemed 25 . I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to 26 him up. She always 27 and smiled but never visited my class. Then one day Robby 28 coming to our lessons. He telephoned me and said his mother was 29 .
A few weeks after that, I was 30 my students for the upcoming recital when Robby came and asked me 31 he could be in the recital. “Miss Hondorf… I’ll just go to play!” he insisted.
The night for the recital came. The high school gym was 32 with parents, friends and relatives. The recital 33 well. Then Robby came up on stage. I was 34 when he announced that he had chosen Mozart’s Concerto No. 21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I had heard 35 his fingers were light on the keys. They even 36 on the keys… He played so well that everyone was on their 37 in wild applause (鼓掌). In tears I ran up on stage. “Oh Robby! How 38 you do it?”
“Well Miss Hondorf… I 39 on practicing at home. Remember I told you my mom was sick? Well, 40 she had cancer and passed away this morning. She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play…”
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A.Although | B.Because | C.But | D.Thus |
A.idea | B.dream | C.desire | D.imagination |
A.feeling | B.knowledge | C.education | D.sense |
A.trial | B.attempt | C.performance | D.lesson |
A.helpless | B.hopeless | C.senseless | D.worthless |
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A.went | B.kept | C.continued | D.stuck |
A.unfortunately | B.suddenly | C.strangely | D.actually |
Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life.
We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day,my mother spoke to me in her gentle,loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I would walk again if I want to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her.A year I returned to school—walking on my own !
When the Great Depression(大萧条)hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel(汽车旅馆)for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, Mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business,we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed.Fifteen years later,we had the largest hotel system in the world—Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $1billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.
【小题1】What Kemmons’mom often told him during his childhood was______
A.caring | B.moving | C.encouraging | D.interesting |
A.Doctors | B.Nurses | C.Friends | D.Mom |
A.His terrible experience in the hotel |
B.His previous business success of various levels |
C.His mom’s support |
D.His wife’s suggestion |
A.Modest,helpful and hard—working |
B.loving, supportive and strong—willed(有坚强意志的) |
C.careful, helpful and beautiful |
D.strict, sensitive and supportive. |
A.Self-cofidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family |
B.Mom’s encouragement, clear goals. Self—confidence and hard work |
C.Clear goals,mom’s encouragemen, a poor family and higher education. |
D.Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities |