Everyone is at it, even my neighbors. I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn’t done an eBay deal. So, I decided to try my hand at online auction (网上拍卖).

Buying for beginners: Sign up on www. ebay. co. uk. Most items（e.g. tables, computers, and books）ready for auction will come with a picture and a short description; others may be marked with “ Buy It Now ” and have a fixed price. You can buy these right away.

If the item is being auctioned, you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bids（出价）for you. The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid, then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again. Auctions last up to 10 days and when they finish you get an email telling you whether you have won the item.

How to pay: Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a check or postal orders. The easiest way is through PayPal, an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card (信用卡).

Selling made simple: If you plan to sell on eBay, it helps to include a picture of the item. I followed my friends’ advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10-day auction, starting on a Thursday. This way buyers had two weekends to bid.

The big things in life: It’s easy to post a small item, but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collected or sent by delivery men. Check the ways of delivery before you bid.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

2.After bidding for an item, a buyer __________.

3.The easiest way of making payment mentioned in the passage is __________.

Spring is the time to go out and enjoy the weather and scenery．Here are some events to attend in March of 2012 in Oregon!

Oregon Country Fair（OCF）, 9 am to 7 pm on March 8 - 10

OCF first started in 1969, and it’s blossomed into an outstanding example of what a non - profit should be. OCF is an event of shopping & atmosphere, and food ranging from Indian & Afghani cuisine to Italian & France cuisine．Wonderful craft & music never stop．From the time you get there until the time you leave, everyone has a smile on their faces, and they wave and say hello．For tickets, go and visit www．Oregoncountryfair．org．

30^th Annual Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament, 8 am to 6 pm on March 12 - 14

The Annual Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament is an amateur tournament that draws amateur volleyball players to the small town of seaside, as well as AVP Team players who are the best volleyball players．In the past years, it has drawn more than 700 teams playing on over 80 volleyball courts．Just go west, and you can’t miss it．It is about 20 miles south of Astoria．To learn more about it, visit the website www．Seasideor．com．

Hood to Coast Relay, 3:30 am to 6:45 pm on March 26 - 27

The Hood to Coast Relay is a 200 - mile - long relay that consists of 15, 000 runners and 4, 100 volunteers．It’s the largest relay in the world, which goes from Mt．Hood to Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Oregon．People of the Oregon coast fear Hood to Coast, because local towns and streets are flooded．There are audiences cheering riders on, and many people set up stations to give riders water．If you would like to get the race route maps, visit the website www. Hoodtocoast. com．

Other event information

To learn about other events, visit the website www. Aadfv. Blogspot. com．

1.OCF covers the following EXCEPT ________．

2.When was the first Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament held in Oregon?

3.If Lisa wants to learn more about an outing in Oregon, she may visit _______．

4.Locals of the Oregon coast are afraid of the relay because ________．

Spring is the time to go out and enjoy the weather and scenery．Here are some events to attend in March of 2012 in Oregon!
Oregon Country Fair（OCF）, 9 am to 7 pm on March 8 - 10
OCF first started in 1969, and it’s blossomed into an outstanding example of what a non - profit should be. OCF is an event of shopping & atmosphere, and food ranging from Indian & Afghani cuisine to Italian & France cuisine．Wonderful craft & music never stop．From the time you get there until the time you leave, everyone has a smile on their faces, and they wave and say hello．For tickets, go and visit www．Oregoncountryfair．org．
30^th Annual Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament, 8 am to 6 pm on March 12 - 14
The Annual Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament is an amateur tournament that draws amateur volleyball players to the small town of seaside, as well as AVP Team players who are the best volleyball players．In the past years, it has drawn more than 700 teams playing on over 80 volleyball courts．Just go west, and you can’t miss it．It is about 20 miles south of Astoria．To learn more about it, visit the website www．Seasideor．com．
Hood to Coast Relay, 3:30 am to 6:45 pm on March 26 - 27
The Hood to Coast Relay is a 200 - mile - long relay that consists of 15, 000 runners and 4, 100 volunteers．It’s the largest relay in the world, which goes from Mt．Hood to Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Oregon．People of the Oregon coast fear Hood to Coast, because local towns and streets are flooded．There are audiences cheering riders on, and many people set up stations to give riders water．If you would like to get the race route maps, visit the website www. Hoodtocoast. com．
Other event information
To learn about other events, visit the website www. Aadfv. Blogspot. com．
【小题1】OCF covers the following EXCEPT ________．

1. We can learn from the passage that exchanges of tickets purchased ________.

A. are free of charge                                                       B. are not available until the last business day

C. will not be given a big cash discount            D. need to contact the box office directly

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Latecomers will not be permitted to enter the theatre.

B. There is a special area for children in the theatre.

C. The audience is not allowed to take photos in the theatre.

D. Children can talk in a low voice during the performance.

3. According to the passage, the audience ________.

         A. can receive their tickets by mail                    B. can see the performance online

         C. can’t take cell phones to the theatre          D. can’t return tickets in any case

Years ago, a cigarette commercial asked if you were smoking more, but enjoying it less. That describes the way many of us live today. We are doing more, but enjoying it less. And when that doesn’t work, we compound the problem. In our frantic search for satisfaction, we try stuffing still more into our days, never realizing that we are taking the wrong approach.

The truth is simple; so simple it is hard to believe. Satisfaction lies with less, not with more. Yet, we pursue the myth that this thing, or that activity, will somehow provide the satisfaction we so desperately seek.

Arthur Lindman, in his devastating book, “The Harried Leisure Class,” described the futility of pursuing more. His research focused on what people did with their leisure time. He found that as income rose, people bought more things to occupy their leisure time. But, ironically, the more things they bought, the less they valued any one of them. Carried to an extreme, he predicted massive boredom in the midst of tremendous variety. That was more than twenty years ago, and his prediction seems more accurate every year.

Lindman, of course, is not the first to discover this. The writer of Ecclesiastes expressed the same thought thousands of years ago. It is better, he wrote, to have less, but enjoy it more.

If you would like to enjoy life more, I challenge you to experiment with me. How could you simplify your life? What could you drop? What could you do without? What could you stop pursuing? What few things could you concentrate on?

The more I learn, the more I realize that fullness of life does not depend on things. The more I give up, the more I seem to gain. But words will never convince you. You must try it for yourself.

Arthur Lindman predicted twenty years ago that ______.

A. more things brought more value   B. the more people had, the less they valued them

C. people didn’t like to pursue more   D. massive boredom came from less variety

What does the article suggest to make our life happier?

A. To enjoy more things.             B. To buy more things.

C. To sell things we do not need.       D. To get rid of useless things.

The passage is probably written to ___________.

A. introduce Arthur Lindman and his book       B. tell the readers what is satisfaction

C. introduce how to simplify people’s life         D. persuade people to simplify their life