I guess I always knew about the little fish treat, but this past summer it was all I could see. Pipin and Nemo were balancing on one front flipper(鳍), flying through hoops, dancing with the trainer, and we were all applauding — the little kids screaming with delight. That’s when the trainer, who wore a little treat bag on her belt, slipped Pipin and Nemo a fish. Each time they successfully performed a trick, they’d get an immediate reward.
These creatures weren’t really dancing, of course. They were performing a series of movements that they knew would produce a fish. It’s such a good show because the sea lions look like they’re having such fun. These talented performers who love to be in front of an audience seem almost human.
Somewhere in our faith journey, we all have a sea lion moment. You see how you’ve spent years jumping through hoops, balancing a ball on your nose, not because it’s really who you are, but because you’ve always done it and the system rewarded you for your performance. But when you’ve done that for ten or twenty years, you start to ask yourself, “Whose approval am I working for? What do I really believe?” Suddenly you see it: you’ve spent most all your life taking direction from other people. They’ve told you what to believe in, what to work for, what to value, how to live your life. You don’t want to end your life like Sinclair Lewis’s George Babbitt, the middle-aged real-estate broker(经纪人) who has everything and reached the top. But on the last page of Babbitt, George is speaking to his son Ted, who cannot follow in his father’s steps. He wants to leave college and head off on his own way. “Dad, I can’t stand it any more,” the boy says. “Maybe it’s all right for some fellows. Maybe I’ll want to go back some day, but now, I want to get into mechanics.” Babbitt, seeming old and subdued, says, “I’ve never done a single thing I’ve wanted to in my whole life!”
The Good-Bye Gate brings us naturally to a second passage, leading from dependency to self-possession. As you start separating from the whole worn-out system, you discover that where there is supposed to be a self, there really isn’t.
The sea lions were pleased to perform in front of the audience because they ____.

A．will be punished if it refuses it

B．wants to win the trainer’s favor

C．wants to get audiences’ applauses

D．can get food as a reward that way

While watching the sea lions’ performance, the author ____.

A．realized an important life philosophy

B．recalled the similar scene of last year

C．couldn’t help shouting and dancing

D．was happy to see them living freely

By saying “we all have a sea lion moment”, the author means that ____.

A．anyone can make it so long as they work hard

B．sometimes we don’t act following our own will

C．we can also get rewarded if we do something well

D．every human being also has his happy moment

What do you learn about George Babbitt?

A．He has been living a free life of his own.

B．His son ends up Babbitt family’s business.

C．He tends to agree to his son’s choice of life.

D．His son decides to follow his father’s steps.

Which can be the best title for this passage?

A．Challenge Yourself	B．Summer Vacation Fun
C．No Pains, No Gains	D．Now I Become Myself