Over the last 70 years,researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people a

Over the last 70 years,researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people a

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Over the last 70 years,researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference.Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes.However,of all the factors,wealth and age are the top two.
Money can buy a degree of happiness.But once you can afford to feed,clothe and house yourself,each extra dollar makes less and less difference.
Researchers find that,on average,wealthier people are happier.But the link between money and happiness is complex.In the past half-century,average income has sharply increased in developed countries,yet happiness levels have remained almost the same.Once your basic needs are met,money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends,neighbors and colleagues.
“Dollars buy status,and status makes people feel better,”conclude some experts,which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways—scientists or actors,for example—may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.
In a research,Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires—not just for money,but for friends,family,job,health—rose furthest beyond what they already had,tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap(差距).Indeed,the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone.“The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income,”says Michalos.
Another factor that has to do with happiness is age.Old age may not be so bad.“Given all the problems of aging,how could the elderly be more satisfied?”asks Professor Laura Carstensen.
In one survey,Carstensen interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94,and asked them to fill out an emotions questionaire.She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people,but negative emotions much less often.
Why are old people happier?Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it,or they’re more realistic about their goals,only setting ones that they know they can achieve.But Carstensen thinks that with time running out,older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t.
“People realize not only what they have,but also that what they have cannot last forever,”she says.“A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85,for example,may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.”
小题1:According to the passage,the feeling of happiness______.
A.is determined partly by genes
B.increases gradually with age
C.has little to do with wealth
D.is measured by desires
小题2:Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs______.
A.make them feel much better
B.provide chances to make friends
C.improve their social position
D.satisfy their professional interests
小题3:Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more______.
A.optimistic
B.successful
C.practical
D.emotional
小题4:Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if______.
A.the gap between reality and desire is bigger
B.they have a stronger desire for friendship
C.their income is below their expectation
D.the hope for good health is greater

答案

小题1:A
小题2:C
小题3:C
小题4:A
解析

小题1:这是一道推断题。根据第一段“Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes.”可以推断出幸福感在一定程度上由基因决定。
小题2:这是一道推断题。根据第四段“‘Dollars buy status,and status makes people feel better’...which helps explain why people who can seek status in other way—scientists or actors,for example—may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.”可以推断出演员接受收入低的工作是为了提升社会地位,使自己感觉更好。
小题3:这是一道归纳题。根据倒数第二段“Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it,or they’re more realistic about their goals”可以推断出老年人对待目标更加实际,所以可以感觉更幸福。
小题4:这是一道推断题。根据第五段“people whose desires...rose furthest beyond what they already had,tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap.”可以推断出,如果现实和***差距比较大,比起相差不大的人幸福感差,也就是说感觉相对不幸福。
举一反三
People who have lost the ability to understand or use words due to brain damage are called aphasics(失语症患者).Such patients can be extremely good at something else.From the changing expressions on speakers’ faces and the tones of their voices,they can tell lies from truths.
Doctors studying the human brain have given a number of examples of this amazing power of aphasics.Some have even compared this power to that of a dog with an ability to find out the drugs hidden in the baggage.
Recently,scientists carried out tests to see if all that was said about aphasics was true.THEY STUDIED A MIXED GROUP OF PEOPLE.Some were normal;others were aphasics.It was proved that the aphasics were far ahead of the normal people in recognizing false speeches—in most cases,the normal people were fooled by words,but the aphasics were not.
Some years ago,Dr.Oliver Sacks wrote in his book about his experiences with aphasics.He mentioned a particular case in a hospital.Some aphasics were watching the president giving a speech on TV.Since the president had been an actor earlier,making a good speech was no problem for him.He was trying to put his feelings into every word of his speech.
But his way of speaking had the opposite effect on the patients.They didn’t seem to believe him.Instead,they burst into laughter.The aphasics knew that the president did not mean a word of what he was saying.He was lying!
Many doctors see aphasics as people who are not completely normal because they lack the ability to understand words.However,according to Dr.Sacks,they are more gifted than normal people.Normal people may get carried away by words.Aphasics seem to understand human expressions better,though they cannot understand words.
小题1:What is so surprising about aphasics?
A.They can fool other people.B.They can find out the hidden drugs.
C.They can understand language better.D.They can tell whether people are lying.
小题2:How did the scientists study aphasics?
A.By asking them to watch TV together.
B.By organizing them into acting groups.
C.By comparing them with normal people.
D.By giving them chances to speak on TV.
小题3:What do we learn from this text?
A.What one says reflects how one feels.
B.Aphasics have richer feelings than others.
C.Normal people often tell lies in their speeches.
D.People poor at one thing can be good at another.

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On June 5, 1981 the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, U.S. announced the presence of a rare, infectious disease in five American homosexuals(同性恋). Soon doctors were finding similar cases all over the country and the world. The AIDS epidemic(流行病)had officially begun. By 1983 it was clear that AIDS had spread around the world. More than twenty years later, AIDS has left twenty-six million dead and another forty million infected.  AIDS has become the worst medical disaster ever experienced by mankind.
Hundreds of young people between the ages of 20 and 45 died each week during the early years of the U.S. AIDS. More than 600,000 cases of AIDS have been reported since 1981 in the United States, and it is estimated that there may be as many as 900,000 Americans infected with HIV.
Though the rate of HIV infections continues to increase in the United States, the number of AIDS cases has fallen sharply since 1996, when antiretroviral drugs came onto the market. Unfortunately, the AIDS epidemic continues today in Africa and much of Asia, where antiretroviral treatment is not available and health care is far from enough. AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, and the No. 1 cause of death due to infectious disease.
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was first separated in 1983 by a team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. That discovery made it possible to develop a test for AIDS and trace back to victims who may have died before doctors were aware of the disease.
However, scientists still don"t know exactly how and where AIDS started. Finding the source of AIDS could be important in developing a vaccine(疫苗) and be important in mapping the future course of the epidemic.
小题1:It can be inferred from the passage that       
A.antiretroviral drugs will be obtained easily all over the world
B.the best way to stop AIDS is to develop a vaccine
B.scientists will soon find a way to cure AIDS
D.there will be fewer AIDS cases in the world in the future
小题2:Which areas are the most worrying places where AIDS spreads quickly? 
A.Africa.B.Asia.C.The United States.D.France.
小题3:The number of AIDS cases has greatly decreased in the United States due to the fact
A.a team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris succeeded in separating HIV
B.some effective medicine has been invented
B.scientists understand AIDS better and better.
D.The rate of HIV infections continue to rise in the United States
小题4:What"s the importance of the discovery of the source of AIDS?
A.It can be used to develop a test for AIDS.
B.It can stop HIV forming AIDS.
B.It can reduce the rate of death caused by AIDS.
D.It can help develop a drug to prevent AIDS.
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Winter depression (or winter blues) is a common affliction (折磨) for those who live in our northern climate. Its clinical name is seasonal affective disorder (or SAD) and up to 5% of the population (especially in northern states) may suffer from it. Seasonal affective disorder is characterized by feelings of sadness and depression that occur in the winter months when the temperatures drop and the days grow short . The depression is often associated with excessive eating or sleeping and weight gain. Women are twice to three times more likely to suffer from the winter blues than men.
There are many effective treatments for winter depression, some of which you can do to help yourself. Increasing your daily exposure to as much natural light as possible can be helpful to many. Any time that you have the opportunity to gain access to more sunlight in the winter months, you should try to do so. Taking walks throughout the day (even if you don’t normally do so), sitting next to a south-facing window at your office, in a classroom, or at home will increase your sunlight exposure. Exercising next to a window or outdoors (when possible) is another activity that can help.
Although it may be difficult to do, maintaining your schedule and lifestyle will help to keep the depression at bay. A regular pattern of sleep is the most important thing to maintain. It may be helpful, for instance, to have your bedroom lights on a timer to turn on a half-hour before you wake. This may help in waking at a regular time every morning, when it is still dark outside in the winter months.
Light therapy has shown to be an effective treatment for seasonal affective disorder. While you can purchase expensive, specialized light therapy lighting fixtures for your home or office, some inexpensive alternatives are also available. Another lighting technique to try is to replace commonly used light bulbs in your home with brighter full spectrum (also known as broad spectrum) light bulbs. While more expensive than regular light bulbs, these bulbs provide light that is similar to natural sunlight.
If none of these techniques seem to help your depressive symptoms, you should consider consulting your family physician or a mental health professional. The winter blues are a form of depression and can be readily treated w ith medications or psychotherapy when other self-help methods aren’t effective. Don’t be afraid to talk about this condition with a professional; it’s nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. With a little effort, the winter blues can be beaten
小题1: What do we know about winter depression?
A.It is very common where the weather is cold.
B.It may lead to weight gain.
C.It occurs when the temperatures drop.
D.It seldom affects men.
小题2:What is the most important factor in the therapy introduced in the second paragraph?
A.Exposure to natural light.
B.Sports in winter months.
C.Outdoor activities.
D.Sunlight through the window.
小题3:What does “to keep the depression at bay” mean in the third paragraph?
A.To shorten the duration of the depression.
B.To use light to resist the depression.
C.To keep the depression manageable and minimal.
D.To delay the occurrence of the depression.
小题4: For winter depression, light therapy ___________.
A.is much more effective than other kinds of therapy
B.is so expensive that some may not be able to afford it
C.encourages people to do outdoor exercises
D.needs specialized bulbs to replace ordinary ones
小题5:We can infer from the passage that __________.
A.self-help methods do not work 100% of the time
B.medications or psychotherapy is much more effective
C.mental health professionals don’t recommend self- help methods
D.most people prefer self-help methods to medications

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健康问题一直是生活中的热点话题。尤其对于女性来说,你知道穿矮高跟鞋和纯粹的高跟鞋对你身体健康的影响吗?
Healthy knees aren"t the main consideration in choosing high heels, but new research says chunky heels are just __________as spindly stilettos(细高跟鞋).
"It takes a long time to feel the effects of knee osteoarthritis(骨关节炎)— and once you do, it is too late," said Dr. Casey Kerrigan, leading researcher of the study and associate professor at Harvard Medical School"s department of physical medicine.
"I compare it to smoking — one cigarette is not painful, but over a lifetime it is. Wide-heeled shoes feel comfortable, so women wear them all day long, "Kerrigan said.”They are better for your feet than stiletto heels, but just as had for your knees.”
The idea that high heels are bad for your health isn"t new — scientists have warned women for years that they contribute to problems ranging from corns to hammer toes, tendonitis, knee pain, sprained(扭伤)ankles and back problems.
But in 1998, Kerdgan and a team of Harvard researchers were the first to link high heels and knee osteoarthritis, a painful joint disease that destroys cartilage(软骨)surrounding the knee.
The first study looked only at stiletto heels, and Kerrigan said she wanted to study the chunky high-heeled shoes she noticed many women wearing.
"This study confirms what we all intuitively(直觉地)know that high-heeled shoes of any kind are not good for our health," said Dr. Glenn Pfeifer, a San Francisco doctor and member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons who was not connected to the study.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?
                                                                           
2. Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?
In my opinion, it is similar to smoking, for smoking one cigarette does little harm but if you smoke all your life, it’ll be very painful.
                                                                          
3. Please fill in the blank in the passage with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence.(within ten words)
                                                                          
4. What do you think of wearing the chunky heels according to the passage? (within 30 words)
                                                                          
5. Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.
题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
Do junk food ads make kids fat? Should they be banned? Based on the evidence, more and more experts say yes. The latest support comes from a group of New Zealand experts who say they"ve made a link between kids watching television and bad health.
Researchers from the University of Otago in Dunedin studied 1000 children from age 3 to 26.They found that those who watched television more than two hours a day had higher levels of obesity(肥胖), blood cholesterol(胆固醇)and smoking — as well as lower levels of physical fitness — when they reached adulthood than kids who watched less than two hours a day.  
Why? Partly because while they are watching TV kids aren"t getting out, exercising and playing with other kids, and burning off the calories. But more insidiously(不知不觉地), while watching TV, they"re being shown a lot of ads for drinks and foods of uncertain nutritional value, most of which are full of sugar and fat.
Across the globe, about 155 million kids are obese, according to the International Obesity Task Force. The dangerous thing is not just the well-being of these kids as they grow up, but hundreds of billions of dollars of health costs spent on adults with heart disease, diabetes(糖尿病), and the disabilities these disease will cause.
In Australia, two thirds of children are overweight and one third are obese. Twenty years ago, only about ten per cent were obese. And Australia has the greatest amount of junk food ads per hour of television than any other country in the world, including the US and the UK. About 30 per cent of all ads in kids" viewing time are for food or drinks. Most of them are for junk food: burgers, chips, soft drinks and sweets —high in fat, salt or sugar.
Here in Australia, experts are also calling for a ban on TV advertising of junk food to kids. The Coalition on Food Advertising to Children (CFAC) wants to make changes to laws, hoping it can ban all food advertising on TV during the time of the day when children under 12 years old are watching. This includes early and afternoon time, and evening TV between 5 pm and 9 pm.
小题1:From the passage, we can infer that the underlined word “obsess” probably means ______.
A.very strongB.very weak
C.very confidentD.very fat
小题2:According to the passage, how many hours can kids watch TV a day if they want to be healthier in the future?
A.more than 120 minutes a dayB.less than 120 minutes a day
C.180 minutes or so a dayD.240 minutes or so a day
小题3:______ has the greatest amount of junk food ads per hour of TV?
A.AustraliaB.ChineseC.CanadaD.Germany
小题4:In the author’s opinion, the junk food ads on TV are bad for kids’ health because _______.
A.They are very expensive and harmfulB.They waste a lot of kids’ spare time
C.They persuade kids to eat junk foodD.They are more inviting and interesting

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