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Last year, CCTV journalists 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 just 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”. 235 years on, Wen Jiabao told the nation, “Everything we do is aimed at letting people live more happily.” At 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 honor
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
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用所给动词的正确形式填空
We have not decided when to have a picnic, it ________(depend) on the weather.
查看习题详情和答案>>Birds that are half-asleep—with one brain hemisphere（半球）alert and the other sleeping—control which side of the brain remains awake, according to a new study of sleeping ducks．
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide range of birds．The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves．The eye controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert．Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once．
Decades of studies of bird groups led researchers to predict extra alertness in the end-of-the-row sleepers which tend to be attacked more easily．Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully on the side away from their companions．Ducks in the inner spots showed no preference for gaze（注视）direction．
Also, birds napping at the end of the line depend on single-hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more often than inner ducks did．Turning 16 birds through the positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found that compared with 12 percent for birds in internal spots, outer birds half-asleep during some 32 percent of napping time．
“We believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness at the same time in different regions of the brain,” the researchers say．
The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing assumption that single-hemisphere sleep evolved（发展）as creatures scanned for enemies．The preference for opening an eye on the lookout side could be widespread, he predicts．He’s seen it in a pair of birds napping side-by-side in the zoo and in a single pet bird sleeping by a mirror．The mirror-side eye closed as if the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed open．
Useful as half-sleeping might be, it’s only been found in birds and such water animals as dolphins, whales, and seals．Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning．
Studies of birds may offer unique insights（深刻的理解）into sleep．Jerome M．Siegel of the UCLA says he wonders if birds’ half-brain sleep “is just the tip of the iceberg．” He supposes that more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other species．
1.According to the passage, birds often half sleep because ______．
A．they have to watch out for possible attacks
B．their brain hemispheres take turns to rest
C．the two halves of their brain are differently structured
D．they have to constantly keep an eye on their companions
2.What is implied about the example of a bird’s sleeping in front of a mirror?
A．An imagined companion gives the bird a sense of security．
B．Birds prefer to sleep in pairs for the sake of their security．
C．The phenomenon of birds napping in pairs is widespread．
D．A single pet bird enjoys seeing its own reflection in the mirror．
3.While sleeping, some water animals tend to keep half awake in order to ______．
A．alert themselves to the approaching enemy
B．emerge（浮现）from water now and then to breathe
C．be sensitive to the ever-changing environment
D．avoid being swept away by rapid currents
4.By saying “just the tip of the iceberg”, Siegel suggests that ______．
A．half-brain sleep has something to do with icy weather
B．the mystery of half-brain sleep is close to being solved
C．most birds living in cold regions tend to be half sleepers
D．half-brain sleep may exist among other species
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Banks are not ordinarily prepared to pay out all account; they depend on depositors(储户) not to demand payment all at the same time. If depositors come to fear that a bank is not sound, that it can not pay off all its depositors, then that fear might cause all the depositor to appear on the same day .If they did, the bank could not pay all accounts. However, if they did not all appear at once, then there would always be funds to pay those who wanted their money when they wanted it. Mrs Elsie Vaught has told us of a terrifying run on the bank that she experienced.
One day in December of 1925, several banks failed to open in the city where Mrs Vaught lived. The other banks expected a run the next day, and so the officers of the bank in which Mrs Vaught worked as a teller(出纳员) had enough funds on hand to pay off as many depositors as might appear. The officer simply instructed the tellers to pay on demand. The next morning a crowd gathered in the bank and on the sidewalk outside. The length of the line made many believe that the bank could not possibly pay off everyone. People began to push and then to fight for places near the tellers’ windows. Clothing was torn, legs and arms broken, but the crowd continued for hours. The power of the panic atmosphere was so great that two tellers, though they knew that the bank was sound and could pay out all depositors, drew their own money from the bank. Mrs Vaught says that she had difficulty preventing herself from doing the same.
1. When would a bank run happen?
A. A bank is closed for one or more days.
B. Too many depositors attempts to draw out their money at the same time.
C. Other banks don’t have enough money.
D. Clerks of a bank take their own money out of the bank
2. The crowd in the bank and on the sidewalk gathered because of _________.
A. demand B. hunger C. doubt D. anger
3. The basic cause of a run on the bank is __________.
A. loss of confidence B. lack of enough funds
C. crowds of people D. inexperienced tellers
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“What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?”The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.
The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people. but here’s the true answer:
The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8,1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.
While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.
As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.
When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.
For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.
My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said , “Thanks for being here.”
For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.
It’s the most important thing I have ever done.
The experience taught me two lessons.
First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people I cared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that--- just be there when someone needed me.
Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.
From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write----or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.
1.When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author __________.
A felt it was not an interesting question
B. thought for a while and spoke his mind
C. gave an answer from a lawyer’s point of view
D. didn’t give the real answer
2.When he saw his friend rush to the hospital, the author could not decide whether to follow mainly because he thought _________.
A. He had to stay with his family B. His friend did not need his help.
C. He would not be of much help D. the baby would be in the doctor’s care
3.What can we infer from the author’s description of the scene at the hospital?
A. He found out that he was in the way.
B. He would have felt guilty if he had not been there.
C. He regretted that he went too later.
D. His friend would have felt better if he had not been there.
4.Which of the following is conveyed in this story?
A.Family and relatives can not take the place of friends.
B.More people are a great comfort when one is in trouble.
C.It is best to be here when someone needs you.
D.You can certainly help a friend if you want to.
5.The author learned from his own experience that_______.
A.what is taught in school is usually of no use.
B.a lawyer cannot learn much in classrooms
C.a lawyer should know people’s feeling first
D.he needs to be able to feel as well as think logically
6.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that the author_______.
A.is fond of writing poems
B.is going to coach the kid’s team
C.is determined to make friends with everybody
D.is fully aware of the importance of being helpful to those in need
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