As a single mother,I had to do two jobs,which kept me very busy.

Two months ago,I went to a ___ with Alice. Since I ____went out with her,she seemed very happy. Many parents were there with their children. I sat down on a bench,___Alice playing with other children. About half an hour later,a man of about forty years old came and ___beside me. As I had to go back to work,I stood up and told Alice that we had to ____.

“Can I stay here a little longer?”Alice pleaded.(祈求)

“No,we must go now,”I said,____ Alice just didn’t move.

“Just ten more minutes,”she pleaded again,and I became ___.

“Go now,”I____,and Alice started to cry.____ that,the man sitting on the ____stood up and came to us.

“Why don’t you just let her____ten more minutes?”he asked. Then he told me a ___.He used to be very busy,too. Every time his little son wanted to go out and play,he told him he was ____.One day,his son went out and played ____,and he didn’t come back again—he was hit by a ___driver of a car. The father regretted what he had done to his son,but he never had the ___to play with him again. Hearing the story,I ____.I knelt down and said to Alice,“OK,ten more minutes,and Mom will play ____you.”

____is all about making priorities(优先).What are your priorities?Give someone you____ten more minutes of your time today.

1.A. park B. school C. sea D. cinema

2.A. sometimes B. often C. usually D. hardly

3.A. keeping B. hearing C. finding D. watching

4.A. got off B. sat down C. broke in D. turned up

5.A. go B. shop C. change D. eat

6.A. because B. as C. but D. so

7.A. sad B. pleased C. angry D. excited

8.A. whispered B. wished C. begged D. shouted

9.A. Knowing B. Seeing C. Hoping D. Thinking

10.A. ground B. chair C. bench D. stone

11.A. run B. play C. do D. laugh

12.A. story B. joke C. way D. lie

13.A. busy B. lonely C. boring D. ill’

14.A. suddenly B. alone C. happily D. crazily

15.A. blind B. kind C. drunken D. good

16.A. energy B. interest C. heart D. chance

17.A. stayed up B. took part C. calmed down D. came back

18.A. behind B. with C. for D. under

19.A. Choice B. Joy C. Work D. Life

20.A. appreciate B. dislike C. admire D. love

C

Recently, CCTV journalists have approached pedestrians with their cameras, held a microphone to their mouth and asked a simple question: “Are you happy?”

The question has caught many interviewees off guard. Even Mo Yan, who recently won a Nobel Prize, responded by saying: “I don’t know”.

While the question has become a buzz phrase and the Internet plays host to heated discussions, we ask: What exactly is happiness? And how do you measure it?

In the 1776 US Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson set in writing the people’s unalienable right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Last year, 235 years on, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao told the nation: “Everything we do is aimed at letting people live more happily.” At last year’s National People’s Congress, officials agreed that increasing happiness would be a top target for the 12th five-year plan.

US psychologist Ed Diener, author of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, describes happiness as “a combination of life satisfaction and having more positive than negative emotions”, according to US broadcasting network PBS. This may sound straightforward enough, but it still doesn’t explain what determines people’s happiness.

Many argue that happiness is elusive and that there is no single source. It also means different things to different people. For some, happiness can be as simple as having enough cash.

Researchers believe happiness can be separated into two types: daily experiences of hedonic(享乐的) well-being; and evaluative well-being, the way people think about their lives as a whole. The former refers to the quality of living, whereas the latter is about overall happiness, including life goals and achievements. Happiness can cross both dimensions.

Li Jun, a psychologist and mental therapy practitioner at a Beijing clinic, says: “Happiness can mean both the most basic human satisfaction or the highest level of spiritual pursuit. It’s a simple yet profound topic.”

Chen Shangyuan, 21, a junior English major at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said his idea of happiness always evolves. “At present it relates to how productive I am in a day,” he said. “It might be linked to job security or leisure time after I graduate.”

Then there is the question of measuring happiness. Does it depend on how many friends we have, or whether we own the latest smart phone? Is it even quantifiable?

Economists are trying to measure happiness in people’s lives. Since 1972, Bhutan’s GDP measurement has been replaced by a Gross National Happiness index. It is calculated according to the peoples’ sense of being well-governed, their relationship with the environment, their satisfaction with economic development, and their sense of national belonging.

In 2009, US economist Joseph Stiglitz proposed “to shift emphasis from measuring economic production to measuring people’s well-being”. But is well-being more easily measured?

1.In the second paragraph, the writer gave an example to .

A. support his idea that being famous is the reason to be happy

B. introduce his topic to be discussed

C. tell people winning a Nobel Prize is a great honour

D. show that the question was quite difficult

2.From what Thomas Jefferson and Wen Jiabao mentioned in the passage, we know .

A. people’s happiness is determined by great people

B. people’s happiness is an important target for the development of a country

C. people in all countries have the right to ask the government for a happy life

D. People both in China and America are living a happy life

3.According to the passage, the writer may most likely agree that _________.

A. CCTV journalists are concerned about people’s happiness out of sympathy.

B. the question has led to heated discussions about who are the happiest people in China

C. Bhutan’s new index shows that people there are the happiest in the world

D. it is not easy for us to decide what determines people’s happiness

4.What does the underlined word “elusive” in the sixth paragraph mean?

A. Available.

B. Easy to get

C. Hard to describe.

D. Unimaginable.

5.The best title of the passage is .

A. Are You Happy?

B. The Measurement of Happiness

C. GDP and Happiness

D. The Secret of Happiness

C

The drug store was closing for the night. Young Alfred Higgins, the shop-assistant, was ready to go home. Mr. Carr, the boss, stared at him and said “Hold on, Alfred. Maybe you'd be good enough to take the things out of your pockets and leave them here before you go.” Alfred's face got red. After a little hesitation, he took out what he had stolen. Mr. Carr said, “Maybe I should call your mother and let her know I'm going to have to put you in prison.”

Alfred thought his mother would come rushing in, eyes burning with anger. But, to his surprise, she arrived wearing a smile. “Hello, I'm Alfred's mother. Is he in trouble?” she said. Mr. Carr was surprised, too. He had expected Alfred's mother to come in nervously, shaking with fear, asking with wet eyes for a mercy for her son. But no, she was most calm, quiet and pleasant and was making Mr. Carr feel guilty…. Soon Mr. Carr was shaking his head in agreement with what she was saying. “Of course”, he said, “I don't want to be cruel. You are right. Sometimes, a little good advice is the best thing for a boy at certain times in his life and it often takes the youths long time to get sense into their heads.” And he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins's hand.

Back home, without even looking at Alfred, she said, “You are a bad luck. It is one thing after another, always has been. Why do you stand there so stupidly? Go to bed.” In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. There was no shame in him, just pride in his mother's strength. He felt he must tell her how great she was. As he got to the kitchen, he saw his mother drinking a cup of tea. He was shocked by what he saw. His mother's face was a frightened, broken one. It was not the same cool, bright face he saw earlier in the drug store. As she lifted the tea cup, her hand shook. And some of the tea splashed on the table. Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. He watched his mother without making a sound. The picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth coming to an end. He saw all the troubles he brought his mother in her shaking hand and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him for the first time he had ever really seen his mother.

1. Which of the following is probably said by Mrs. Higgins while talking to Mr. Carr?

A. “Please, for God's sake, you know, he is just a kid.”

B. “I can't believe it! You are treating my son like that!”

C. “You know, it takes time for a youth to truly grow up.”

D. “Punishment makes sense because it teaches about the law.”

2. What does the underlined phrase "his mother's strength"(Para. 3) refer to?

A. Mrs. Higgins's calmness and communicating skills.

B. Mrs. Higgins's attitude towards parental sufferings.

C. Mrs. Higgins's love and care for her son Alfred.

D. Mrs. Higgins's greatness as a woman.

3. After the incident, young Alfred would probably ________.

A. feel ashamed of her mother B. change his attitudes towards life

C. learn to live an independent life D. hate Mr. Carr for hurting her mother

阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该选项标号涂黑。

I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren't something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief at a Chinese funeral.

My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried piteously at her desk. Somehow we got through the day's work. The next day was the funeral.

Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy(悼词) and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: "There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven." Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute, weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man's mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. She almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion.

In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more cathartic to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.

Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting at the funeral had been restrained(克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it's the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.

1.At the funeral, ________.

A. five individuals made speeches

B. the boss’s speech was best thought of

C. the writer was astonished by the scene

D. everyone was crying out loudly

2.According to the writer, people in the West ________.

A. prefer to control their sadness in public

B. cry their eyes out at the public funeral

C. are not willing to be sad for the dead

D. have better way to express sadness

3.It is implied that ________.

A. Chinese express their sadness quite unlike other peoples

B. the English might cry noisily for the dead in Dickens’ time

C. victims of terrorist bombings should be greatly honored

D. English funeral culture is more civilized than the others

4.This passage talks mainly about_______.

A. an editor’s death

B. funeral customs

C. cultural differences

D. western ways of grief

Son’s Help

Mr. Lang worked in a factory. As a driver, he was busy but he was paid much. His wife was an able woman and did all the housework. When he came back, she took good care of him and he never did anything at home. So he had enough time when he had a holiday. A few friends of his liked gambling(赌博) and he learned it soon. So he was interested in it and hardly forgot anything except gambling. He lost all his money and later he began to sell the television, watches and so on. His wife told him not to do it but he didn’t listen to her. She had to tell the police. He and his friends were punished for it. And he was hardly sent away. After he came out of lockup(拘留所), he hated her very much and the woman had to leave him. It was New Year’s Day. Mr. Lang didn’t go to work. He felt lonely and wanted to gamble again. He called his friends and they came soon. But they were afraid the police would come. He told his five-year-old son to go to find out if there were the policemen outside. They waited for a long time and didn’t think the police would come and began to gamble. Suddenly opened the door and in came a few policemen. ―“I saw there weren’t any policemen outside, daddy,” said the boy, ―“so I went to the crossing and asked some to come.”

1.Mr. Lang was paid much because _______.

A.he worked in a factory

B.he had a lot of work to do

C.he had worked there for a long time

D.he was a driver

2.Mrs. Lang did all housework because _______.

A.she wouldn’t stop her husband gambling

B.she couldn’t find any work

C.she thought her husband was tired

D.her husband spent all time in gambling

3.The woman had to leave Mr. Lang because _______.

A.he wouldn’t stop gambling

B.he had been put into lockup

C.he was hardly sent away by the factory

D.he didn’t love her any longer

4.Which of the following is right?

A.The boy thought his father needed some policemen.

B.The boy hoped his father would stop gambling soon.

C.The boy hoped his mother would come back.

D.The boy hoped his father would be put into lockup again.

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