When asked about happiness, we usually think of someth.ng extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.

For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved (毫无掩饰的).

In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it's conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.

In adulthood the things that bring deep joy—love, marriage, birth—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated(复杂的).

My definition of happiness is "the capacity for enjoyment". The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.

I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which 1 love. When the kids and my husband came home, 1 enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.

Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I don't think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her.

We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we've got to have. We're so self-conscious about our "right" to it that it's making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren't necessarily happier.

Happiness isn't about what happens to us―it's about how we see what happens to us. It's the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It's not wishing for what we don't have, but enjoying what we do possess.

51. As people grow older, they ______.

A. feel it harder to experience happiness

B. associate their happiness less with others

C. will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness

D. tend to believe responsibility means happiness

53. What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 5 and 6?

A. She cans little about ha own health

B. She enjoys the freedom of trawling

C. She is easily pleased by things in daily life.

D. She prefers getting pleasure from housework

53. What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?

A. Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness

B. Psychologists* opinion is well proved by Grandma's case.

C. Grandma often found time for social gatherings

D. Grandma's happiness came from modest expectations of life,
54. People who equal happiness with wealth and success

A. consider pressure something blocking their way

B. stress their right to happiness too much

C. arc at a loss to make correct choices

D. arc more likely to be happy

55. What can be concluded from the passage?

A. Happiness lies between the positive and the negative.

B. Each nun is the master of his own fate

C. Success leads to happiness.

D. Hippy is he who is content.

Dear Aunty,
After years of her crying. I finally gave in and allowed my daughter to have a cat. I now regret my decision. As someone needs to have a clean, tidy house, I no longer feel relaxed in my own home. If I tell her, “sorry, the cat has to go.” She will be heartbroken. What can I do?
-Feline Phobic
Dear Phobic,
I’m an animal lover and on your kid’s and cat’s side. Tell your daughter your problem. Ask her to help you come up with a plan. Perhaps you can agree to allow the cat only in certain areas of the house. This is a chance for your daughter to develop the sense of responsibility owning a pet requires.
Dear Aunty,
I got the highest grade on a biology test. Now the popular kids think I’m brainy, and want me in their lab group. I knew I was being used. Now, they want my homework. What should I do?
-Lily
Dear Lily.
Popularity can come at a price, but it’s no excuse to cheat. Offer to help new friends with their homework, but don’t give them yours.
Dear Aunty,
I’m one of six assistants in a dental(牙科的) office. But I’m new-there just four months. I’ve tried to join conversations, but they just ignore me. They go shopping together. No one invites me. How can I break into the circle?
-Crystal
Dear Crystal,
Humans run in packs like dogs. When a new dog enters the pack, a lot of discovery goes on. So bring cookies for everyone! Then try making friends with one co-worker. Invite her to lunch. When you get familiar with each other, tell her how hard you’re finding the situation at work. chances are, she’ll take you under her wing.
【小题1】Aunty thinks that Phobic should        .

Look out!Don't get too close to the house ________ roof is under repair．

1. A.
   whose
2. B.
   which
3. C.
   of which
4. D.
   that

Children find meanings in their old family tales. 
When Stephen Guyer’s three children were growing up, he told them stories about how his grandfather, a banker,    33  all in the 1930s, but did not lose sight of what he valued most. In one of the darkest times   34  his strong-minded grandfather was nearly   35  , he loaded his family into the car and   36  them to see family members in Canada with a   37  ,“there are more important thins in life than money. ”
The  38  took on a new meaning recently when Mr. Guyer downsized to a   39   house from a more expensive and comfortable one. He was  40   that his children ,a daughter, 15, and twins, 22, would be upset. To his surprise, they weren’t.   41    , their reaction echoed （共鸣） their great-grandfather’s. What they   42   was how warm the people were in the house and how  43    of their heart was accessible. 
Many parents are finding family stories have surprising power to help children   44   hard times. Storytelling expects say the phenomenon reflects a growing  45   in telling tales, evidenced by a rise in a storytelling events and festivals. 
A university   46   of 65 families with children aged from 14 to 16 found kids’ ability to 47  parents’ stories was linked to a lower rate of anger and anxiety. 
The  48   is telling the stories in a way children can  49    . We’re not talking here about the kind of story that   50  , “When I was a kid, I walked to school every day uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow. ” Instead, we should choose a story suited to the child’s  51   , and make eye contact（接触）to create “a personal experience”. We don’t have to tell children5u 52  they should take from the story and what the moral is . ”

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had  36  a beautiful sports car in a show room, and knowing his father could well   37  it, he told him that was all he wanted.
As Graduation Day came near, the young man awaited 38_  that his father had bought the car. 39 , on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his  40  study room. His father told him how  41  he was to have such a fine son, and told him how  42  he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully  43 gift box.
Curious, and somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and  44  a lovely, leather- bound (皮纸封面) Bible(圣经),  45 the young man's name pressed in gold.   46 , he raised his voice to his father, and said "With 47  your money, you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in  48  . He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very   49 , and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him  50  that graduation day.
Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram（电报）  51  him his father had passed away, and willed（立遗嘱） all his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and  52_ things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden   53 and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still gift - wrapped Bible _54__as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages.
Suddenly, a car key dropped from the back of the  55  . It had a tag (标签) with the date of his graduation on it, and the words PAID IN FULL.