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 questionaire.She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people,but negative emotions much less often.

Why are old people happier?Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it,or they’re more realistic about their goals,only setting ones that they know they can achieve.But Carstensen thinks that with 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.”

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

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.improve their social position

D.satisfy their professional interests

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

A.optimistic

B.successful

C.practical

D.emotional

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

In the past ten years, many scientists have studied the differences between men and women. And they all got the same answer: The sexes(性别) are different, because their brains are different. And this, the scientists say, makes men and women see the world in different ways.

Boys, for example, generally are better than girls at mathematical ideas. Boys also generally are better than girls at the kind of hand and eye movements necessary for ball sports. Girls, on the other hand generally start speaking earlier than boys. And they generally see better in the dark than boys and are better at learning foreign languages.

What makes men and women better at one thing or another? The answer is the brain. The brain has two sides connected by nerve(神经) tracks. The left side generally is used for mathematics, speech and writing. The right side is used for artistic creation(创造) and the expression for emotions(情感). In men and women, different areas in each side of the brain develop differently. In boys, for example, it’s the area used for mathematics. In girls, it is the area used for language skills. Another interesting difference is that the two sides of a man’s brain are connected by a smaller number of nerves than the two sides of a woman’s brain are.

1.Which of the following is the best title of the article?

A. Research on the Brain

B. Men and Women are Different in Brain

C. People’s Different Brains

D. Who Are Better, Boys or Girls

2.__________ men and women think differently.

A. The different brains make

B. Sex makes

C. The different experiences make

D. The influences(影响) of society make

3.According to the article, girls are generally better than boys at __________ in your school.

A. mathematics              B. physics     C. English                          D. chemistry

4.Which of the following is true?

A. The left side of brain in boys generally develops better than that in girls.

B. The left side of brain in girls generally develops better than that in boys.

C. Men are better than women in all things.

D. The area in girls used for language skills develops better.

5.60. The number of nerves connecting the two sides of the brain in men __________.

A. is the same as women’s

B. is different from women’s

C. is larger than women’s

D. is twice as large as women’s

 

LONDON—Archaeologists have discovered a smaller prehistoric(史前) site near Britain’s famous circle of standing stones at Stonehenge.

Researchers have named the site “Bluehenge” after the color of the 27 Welsh stones that were laid to make up a path. The stones have disappeared, but the path of holes remains.

The new circle, unearthed over the summer by researchers from Sheffield University, represents an important find, researchers said Saturday. The site is about a mile away from Stonehenge.

Bluehenge, about 80 miles southwest of London, is believed to date back to about the time Stonehenge was built, about 5,000 years ago.

Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University said he believed the path and stonehenge itself were linked to rituals(仪式) of life and death.

Mike Parker suggested that the ancient funerary rituals began at a different circle site known as “Wood-henge”, which represented the world of the living. The bodies of the dead were then brought down the River Avon to Bluehenge, which represented death, and were finally carried along a ceremonial route known as the Avenue to Stonehenge.

Bournemouth University Professor Tim Darvill, an expert on Stonehenge, told Britain’s Dail Mail that Bluehenge “adds to the richness” of the ancient site’s story.

“This henge is very important because it forms part of the picture of ceremonial monuments in the area and puts Stonehenge into context,” Darvill was quoted(引述) as saying. “It’s no longer Stonehenge standing alone, but it has to be seen in context with the landscape.”

1.How many henges are mentioned in this passage?

A.Two             B.Three        C.Four          D.Five

2.Who believed the Stonehenge is related to ancient ritual of death?

A.Archaeologists from London             B.Welsh researchers

C.Mike Parker Pearson               D.Professor Tim Darvill

3.What does the underlined sentence “It’s no longer Stonehenge standing alone, but it has to be seen in context with the landscape.” in the last paragraph mean?

A.Stonehenge has noting to do with Bluehenge

B.Woodhenge represented the world of living in ancient times.

C.Bluehenge represented death

D.Stonehenge, Woodhenge and Bluehenge should be studied together

4.From the passage we can learn that ______.

A.researchers have named the site “Bluehenge,” because they have found blue huge stones there

B.funerary rituals were carried out along the path starting from Woodhenge, River Avon to Bluehenge, finally Stonehenge.

C.Bluehenge is 1 mile away from London

D.Bluehenge dates back to 2000 BC

 

Long long ago people made fires from lightning(闪电)。 But they had to keep the fire burning, for they couldn’t start it again if there was no lightning. Later, they found out hitting two piece of stone together could make a spark (火花). The spark could fire dry leaves. In this way they could make the fire again if it went out. Them people also learned to make a fire by rubbing. They made a hole on a big piece of wood and put a smaller stick into the hole. They turned the stick again and again. After a few minutes they got a fire.

As years went by, people learned other ways to make a fire. Sometimes they used the heat from sun. they held a piece of glass in the right way and made a piece of paper on fire.

About two centuries ago, people began to make matches (火柴). Matches brought people a quick and easy way to make fire. Today matches are still being used, but people have more new ways to make fires. One of them is to use an electric fire starter. Of course an electric fire starter is much more expensive than a box of matches. But it is more useful.

1.A spark can _________.

A.fire any leaves

B.burn anything

C.burn dry leaves

D.keep fires burning

2.We can also get a fire by _________.

A.making a hole on a big piece of wood

B.putting a smaller stick into the hole

C.turning the stick hard for a while

D.doing all the above together

3.Matches have been used _________.

A.for about two thousand years

B.for about two hundred years

C.since people began to use fire for cooking

D.since people used the heat from the sun.

4.From this passage we know _______.

A.using matches is the easiest and most useful way to make fires

B.people don’t use matches any more since they had electric fire starters

C.today there are only two ways to make fires

D.some forest fires happen from lightning

5.Choose the right order of the ways to make fires people got to know _________.

a. with a match   b. from the sun   c. from lightning 

d. by rubbing   e. with an electric fire starter.

A.d ,b, c, a,e

B.d, c, b, a, e

C.c, d, b, a, e

D.c, b, d, a ,e

 

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