One of the greatest sources of unhappiness, in my experience, is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are.

When we see something we don’t like, we wish it could be different -- we cry out for something better. That may be human nature, or perhaps it’s something that’s ingrained（根深蒂固的）in our culture.

The root of unhappiness is that we decided we didn’t like it in the first place. We’ve judged it as bad, rather than saying, “It’s not bad or good, as it just is.”

An example: in my recent post（帖子）, A Beautiful Method to Find Peace of Mind, quite a few commentators thought my outlook was negative, pessimistic, or fatalistic（听天由命的）... because I said you should expect people to mess up, expect things to go differently from what you planned. Above all, you should embrace that.

It’s too negative to expect something to go wrong, they said. However, I think it’s only negative if you see it as negative, or if you judge it as bad.

Instead, you could accept it as the way the world works -- as the way things actually are. And try to understand why they are that way.

Does it mean you can never change things? Not at all. But changing things is not because you can’t accept things as they are, but because you enjoy the process of change of learning and growing.

Can we make this world a better place? Again, that’s an assumption that it’s a bad place fight now. But instead, you could say the world is just what it is -- and that’s neither good nor bad. You can say that you’ll continue to try to do things to help others, to grow as a person, to make a difference in this world -- not because you’re such a bad person now, but because that’s the path you choose to take, because you enjoy that path.

As you catch yourself judging, and wishing for different -- try a different approach: accept, and understand. It might lead to some interesting results.

1. Which of the following statements is correct according to the author?

    A. We can never change things because we can’t accept them.

    B. We shouldn’t try to do whatever we can to help others and make a difference.

    C. It’s wrong of you to expect things to go differently.

    D. There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

2. What’s the main idea of the whole passage?

    A. The world is a good place for us to live in.

    B. Unhappiness comes from what we want to be different.

    C. You might as well accept the world as it is and try to embrace it.

    D. Let’s make the world more beautiful.

3.Where does the passage probably come from?

    A. A novel.       B. A news story.      C. A travel guide.     D. A magazine.

One of the greatest sources of unhappiness, in my experience, is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are.
When we see something we don’t like, we wish it could be different -- we cry out for something better. That may be human nature, or perhaps it’s something that’s ingrained（根深蒂固的）in our culture.
The root of unhappiness is that we decided we didn’t like it in the first place. We’ve judged it as bad, rather than saying, “It’s not bad or good, as it just is.”
An example: in my recent post（帖子）, A Beautiful Method to Find Peace of Mind, quite a few commentators thought my outlook was negative, pessimistic, or fatalistic（听天由命的）... because I said you should expect people to mess up, expect things to go differently from what you planned. Above all, you should embrace that.
It’s too negative to expect something to go wrong, they said. However, I think it’s only negative if you see it as negative, or if you judge it as bad.
Instead, you could accept it as the way the world works -- as the way things actually are. And try to understand why they are that way.
Does it mean you can never change things? Not at all. But changing things is not because you can’t accept things as they are, but because you enjoy the process of change of learning and growing.
Can we make this world a better place? Again, that’s an assumption that it’s a bad place fight now. But instead, you could say the world is just what it is -- and that’s neither good nor bad. You can say that you’ll continue to try to do things to help others, to grow as a person, to make a difference in this world -- not because you’re such a bad person now, but because that’s the path you choose to take, because you enjoy that path.
As you catch yourself judging, and wishing for different -- try a different approach: accept, and understand. It might lead to some interesting results.
【小题1】 Which of the following statements is correct according to the author?

Though war is something people hate, Director Feng Xiaoning often exposes his audience to it.

“If we don’t impress the audience, who are without the painful experience of war, with the cruel injury to life and human nature war causes, how can we bring them a love of peace and objection to war?” asked the director with a glance in his eyes.

After Red River Valley and Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River, both of which star Chinese model and actress Ning Jing, Feng drew a satisfactory full stop to his war trilogy (三部曲) last month with Purple Sunset.

The film tells a story which took place in 1945, at the very moment when World War II was drawing to an end. A Chinese peasant and a Soviet woman soldier flee into a forest, where they seize a Japanese girl. They follow the girl in the hope that she will take them out of the forest, but instead they arrive in a Japanese base. Humanity (人道主义) prevents them from killing the young, innocent (无辜的) victim of Japanese militarism. This humanity, the longing for peace and eagerness to survive, make the three unite.

“If people are touched by justice, tolerance and unselfishness, I think I have achieved my goal,” Feng said. Feng admits that there are violent and bloody scenes in the film, such as tanks fighting and Japanese burning Chinese people alive, to show the cruelty of the war. But that’s never his personal preference, he says.

“Everyone who has watched my films can tell how much I hate war,” he said. “I wrote all the things for my war films by myself. Whenever I finished one, I felt as though I had suffered great pain.”

Feng regards every one of his productions as an opportunity to learn about human nature and humanity. In spite of violent scenes which frighten and sicken the audience, a balance is sought with beautiful scenery. Just like the snowy mountains in Red River Valley and the grand plateau (高原) in Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River, a beautiful vast grassland appears in this film. “I used to study art, and I appreciate beautiful things,” Feng said. “I believe that films should offer the audience a chance to enjoy beauty.”

1.Director Feng Xiaoning shot war film because _____.

A. he was deeply interested in such a topic

B. he wanted to give the audience the painful experience of war

C. he hoped to arouse people’s love of peace and objection to war

D. he dreamed of becoming a world-famous director

2.All of the following belong to Feng’s war trilogy except _____.

A. Red River Valley                   B. Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River

C. Purple Sunset                      D. In the Mood for Love

3.A Chinese peasant and a Soviet woman solider seized a Japanese girl so that _____.

A. they could find the Japanese base easily

B. she could take them out of the forest

C. they could kill her for revenge

D. it would cause the Japanese militarism to give in

4.Scenes of Japanese burning Chinese people alive in the film are to ______.

A. show that war is cruel

B. attract people’s interest

C. show Feng’s personal preference in dealing with details

D. make the film moving and interesting

    Do you wonder why you prefer chocolate to fish, science-fiction movies instead of romantic comedies or jazz rather than rock? The reason may have become obvious long before you were born, coming at the start of your family tree.

    Researchers recently looked into heritable (可继承的) effects on consumers shopping habits and discovered people appear to inherit---through genetics, fondness for specific products such as chocolate, movies, jazz, ears and mustard.

“We found that many, though not all of them are in fact heritable or influenced by genetic factors.” said marketing professor Itamar Simonson in Stanford University and assistant marketing professor Aner Sela in the University of Florida.

They surveyed fraternal (异卵性的) and identical (同卵性的) twins on their consumer patterns. Results show far more similarities among responses from identical twins, who unlike fraternal twins share matching genes.

Emily Easley said she can totally see shopping habits being genetic, based on her and her mother’s shopping behaviors

“We commonly purchase the same thing.” said Easley. “One time I came home and was wearing a new purple T-shirt with some floral design around the neck and found that my mom had bought the exact same one, in the same color. It’s always just so interesting to visit her and see my exact clothing in her closet.”

    Researchers also revealed people seem to inherit other tendencies that affect financial decisions such as choosing a compromise (妥协) option, avoiding extremes, and looking for the best option available.

    Dianne Marlz said her grandmother, mother, daughter and she all have shopped carefully in their lifetimes.

    “So is that inherit?” she asked. “It depends on your definition. My children definitely got it from me, as I did from my mother and from hers. But I think it’s more a matter of  having observed the behavior and decision-making process of the elder, who had the most impact on each of us. Some of it is definitely taught.”

    Researchers are quick to note they don’t completely believe the effects of mature (养育) but rather want to illustrate nurture’s and nature’s combined influence on consumer judgment and choices.

    “The current research suggests that heritable and other inherent preference components play a key role in behavior and deserve much more attention in marketing and decision-making research.” they said in a statement.

59. The author presents this passage mainly by ________.

   A. providing several examples

   B. testing an idea by reasoning

   C. analyzing some data

   D. describing the result of a research

60. Easley told a story of her mother to _________.

   A. complain about her mother wearing her clothes

   B. prove her mother had no taste for clothing

   C. show her mother’s genes influenced her in shopping

   D. express her gratitude to her mother for buying her clothes

61. In the opinion of Dianne, _________.

   A. parents should teach children hoe to do the shopping

   B. female family members like to go shopping

   C. spending money wildly is her family tradition

   D. shopping habits are more nurtured than inherit

62. The passage mainly tells us that genes may ________.

   A. influence the way you shop

   B. change your way of doing things

   C. lead to bad behaviors

   D. affect all your decisions greatly