Passage 1 is from the introduction to a Zen Buddhist (禅宗的佛教僧侣) manual on the art of “mindfulness”, the practice of paying close attention to the present moment. Passage 2 is from an essay by a United States author.
Passage 1
Every morning, when we wake up, we have 24 brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these 24 hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and to others.
Peace is right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We don’t have to travel far away to enjoy the blue sky. We don’t have to leave our city or even our neighborhood to enjoy the eyes of a beautiful child. Even the air we breathe can be a source of joy.
We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing how to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with joy, peace, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.
Passage 2
The argument of both the hedonist (享乐主义者) and the guru (印度教的宗师)is that we were but to open ourselves to the richness of the moment, to concentrate on the feast before us, we would be filled with bliss. I have lived in the present from time to time and can tell you that it is much overrated. Occasionally, as a holiday from stroking one’s memories or brooding (担忧) about future worries, I grant you, it can be a nice change of pace. But to “be here now,” hour after hour, would never work. I don’t even approve of stories written in the present tense. Ads for poets who never use a past participate, they deserve the eternity they are striving for.
Besides, the present has a way of intruding whether you like it or not. Why should I go out of my way to meet it? Let it splash on me from time to time, like a car going through a puddle, and I, on the sidewalk of my solitude (孤独), will salute it grimly like any other modern inconvenience.
If I attend a concert, obviously not to listen to the music but to find a brief breathing space in which to meditate on the past and future. I realize that there may be moments when the music invades my ears and I am forced to pay attention to it, note for note. I believe I take such intrusions gracefully. The present is not always anunwelcome guest, so long as it doesn’t stay too long and cut into my remembering or brooding time.
小题1:The author of Passage 1 would most likely view the author of Passage 2 as _______.| A．failing to respect the feelings of other people | | B．squandering (浪费) a precious opportunity on a daily basis | | C．advocating an action without considering the consequences | | D．attaching too much importance to the views of others |
小题2:The author of Passage 1 would most likely respond to the “argument” (line 1 Passage 2) with_______. | A．absolute neutrality | B．partial acceptance | | C．complete agreement | D．surprised disbelief |
小题3:In Passage 1 line 11, the list (“a job…house”) presents things that most people ________.| A．assume they will eventually obtain | | B．eventually realize are overrated | | C．are unwilling to make sacrifices for | | D．see as worth much effort to acquire |
小题4:In Passage 2 lines 8—10, the “present” is characterized as _________.| A．an unavoidable imposition (强加) | | B．an unsolvable puzzle | | C．a dangerous threat | | D．a burdensome obligation |
小题5:Which of the following phrases from Passage 2would the author of Passage 1 most likely choose as a title for Passage 1?| A．“the hedonist and the guru” (line 1) | | B．“a brief breathing space” (line 11) | | C．“the feast before us” (line 2) | | D．“an unwelcome guest” (line 14) |
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