Happiness pays off, studies show.
Psychologists seeking the real secrets of happiness report that very happy people tend to be more extroverted and agreeable than less happy people.
“Our findings suggest that very happy people have rich and satisfying social relationships and spend little time alone compared to average people,” write psychologists Ed Diener and Martin E. P. Seligman in the journal Psychological Science.
Solid social relationships do not promise happiness, but they are an important contributing factor. The very happy people whom the authors studied all said they had good quality social relationships. However, the authors write, there is no single key to high happiness. “High happiness seems to be like beautiful symphonic music--including many instruments, without any one being enough for the beautiful quality.”
Diener regards happiness as “subjective (主观的) wellbeing”--in other words, the person evaluates his or her own quality of life. The question to ask is, “Is my life going well, according to the standards I choose to use?” If the answer is “yes”, then that person is judged to be happy.
Because people evaluate their lives based on happiness, subjective wellbeing is very important. Though necessary, it is not enough for having a good life. “Subjective wellbeing seems quite necessary for the ‘good society’, although it is not enough for that society because there are other things we also value and would want in such a place.” says Diener.
Can subjective wellbeing be measured scientificall? Diener points out three parts contributing to happiness: pleasant emotions and moods, lack of negative emotions and moods, and satisfaction judgment, to which other factors including cheerfulness and feelings of fulfillment may be added.
There is no magic formula for happiness. Diener suggests steps you can take to ensure you are as happy as you can be. Surrounding yourself with good friends and family--people who care about you and whom you care about--is a start. Joining in activities you enjoy and value is also important; whether it’s work or play, keeping busy in an environment enjoyable to you will contribute much to your subjective wellbeing. In addition, a healthy outlook is necessary.The underlined word “extroverted” probably means________.
| A．pleasant and social | B．hardworking and active |
| C．careful and shy | D．warmhearted and helpful |
Happiness and symphonic music are common in that________.
| A．they are both something beautiful |
| B．they both make people feel pleased |
| C．they both depend on more than one factor |
| D．they are both hard to achieve |
According to Diener, a person can be judged to be happy when he________.
| A．has rich and satisfying social relationships |
| B．spends more time with other people |
| C．joins in a lot of activities he enjoys and keeps himself optimistic |
| D．thinks his life is going well according to his own standards |
Which of the following does NOT belong to factors contributing to happiness?
| A．Pleasant moods. |
| B．Negative emotions. |
| C．Satisfaction judgment. |
| D．Feelings of fulfillment. |
Wednesday, October 29,2008.
The United States federal government had two young men in the state of Tennessee arrested on October 22 on unknown charges.
In court documents published on Monday, it came to light that the men had discussed attacking an African – American school and killing 14 of them.
Another crime was about planning to murder Presidential candidate Barack Obama. According to their affidavits (口供), the suspects’ “final act of violence” would be like this: when
they attacked Obama they would wear white suits and top hats and drive “their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows.”
The two suspects are Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Arkansas and Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tennessee. According to the court papers, they met last month over the Internet through a friend. Schlesselman and Cowart are believed to share “very strong views” about White Power.
Schlesselman listed “being racist” as his occupation on his MySpace page. He further wrote: “I'm white. I'm proud. I get angry. I like guns.”
Cowart also had a MySpace page on which photos of guns were presented under a heading of “My Guns”. On his page he wrote, “Better to die quick fighting on your feet than to live forever begging on your knees.”
Some have questioned the pair's ability to carry out the charged plan, but authorities have been very concerned about Obama as the first black presidential candidate from a major party.
“We honestly don't know if they had the ability or the skill to carry out the kind of plan that they talked about.” said Malcolm Wiley, of the United Satates Secret Service in an interview with The New York Times. “But we take any threat seriously no matter how big or how small it is.”
Cowart and Schlesselman are scheduled to appear before a judge on Thursady. The passage is mainly about____________.
| A．Americans’ attitudes towards Barack Obarma | B．two young men planning to commit violence |
| C．the violence in the United States | D．the disadvantages of the Internet |
From the passage, we can know that the two young men_________.
| A．shot 14 students in an African – American school | B．came from the state of Tennessee |
| C．were proud of Barack Obama | D．have not been sentenced yet |
Which of the following shows the right order of the events?
a．The two suspects were arrested.
b．The two suspects will be tried in the court.
c．Cowart set up his MySpace page on the Internet.
d．Malcolm Wiley was interviewed by The New York Times.
| A．a; b; c; d | B．d; c; b; a | C．c; a; d; b | D．c; a; b; d |
What can we infer from the news?
| A．Most of the white people in the United States don’t like Barack Obama. |
| B．The two young men planned to shoot President Barack Obama. |
| C．The two young men were innocent in fact. |
| D．The two young men strongly believed that the president should be a white man |
Many different tribes live in the Ituri rain forest of Africa, but the Pygmies are the most unusual. Most of the men are
not much more than four feet tall. They weigh only about eighty pounds. The women are even smaller and thinner. But in spite of the fact that they are small, these people are perfectly formed men and women.
It is an exciting experience to visit a Pygmy encampment for the first time. Before you go, you must send word ahead that you are coming. Some friendly native or trader must take the message to the Tiki-Tikis. Otherwise the whole tribe will disappear into the depths of the jungle long before you have come close enough to be welcomed.
The great Ituri rain forest seems cut off from the rest of the earth. There are living, dead, and dying trees on every side. Except where a clearing has been burned and chopped out, a man may live his whole life in the Ituri and never see farther than twenty yards.
It takes sharp eyes to discover the almost hidden path to the Pygmy camp. The path is no wider than a small man’s foot. No sound breaks the silence in this part of the forest. There are no signs of people.
The stranger must walk carefully. What appears to be a bent branch may prove to be a deadly snake. A spotted gold patch of sunlight may be a crouching leopard(豹).
Even the Pygmy camp comes as a surprise. The leafy shelters in which the little people live are hardly three feet high. They look so much like the surrounding undergrowth that they might easily be passed by. These houses contain no furniture of any sort. The beds are merely plantain leaves spread out on the earth floor. There are no cooking pots: food is eaten raw or smoked over a fire. Spears, bows and arrows are the only possessions of these people. When the tribe moves to a new camp there is nothing to carry except these weapons and babies too small to walk.According to the passage, we can conclude _____.
| A．the Pygmies are the shortest tribe worldwide |
| B．the Pygmies are short but normal in mentality |
| C．most of the Pygmy men are more than four feet |
| D．the Pygmies live in the forest of America |
Paragraph 2 mainly suggests that the Pygmies ______.
| A．are unwilling to communicate with people outside |
B．are very cruel and they will  kill you with the spears |
| C．are friendly to the tourists visiting them for the first time |
| D．move so fast and often that can’t be caught up with easily |
Which of the following w
ord can describe the life of Pygmy?
| A．Quiet. | B．Active. | C．Hard. | D．Busy. |
Which of the following is TRUE of the Pygmy?
| A．Their houses can’t be easily found in the hurt rain forest. |
| B．Their houses, which are three feet high, are made of wood. |
| C．Weapons and cooking pots are their most valuable possessions. |
| D．They are living in harmony with dangerous animals around. |
Paris in the springtime was , is and always will be , something rather special . Wh
y not experience it for yourself with this excellent break for four days ? This attractive city has something to offer to everyone and with prices at just £129.
Your break begins with comfortable bus transfer from local pick-up points and travel to Paris is via cross-channel ferry , arriving at your hotel in the evening . The Ibis is an excellent quality hotel with private equipments in all rooms : satellite TV, radio , telephone and alarm clock . It has a bar and restaurant and is situated about two miles south of Notre Dame enabling you to explore Paris with ease .
The following day , after continental breakfast (included), the bus takes you on a comprehensiv
e sightseeing tour of the city , during which you will see the Eiffel Tower , Champs Elysees , L’Arc de Triomphe , the Louvre ,in fact almost every famous landmark you have ever heard of . You then leave Paris and take a short drive to the magnificent Palace of Versailles , the home of Louis XIV. The tour ends mid-afternoon back in Paris where you will have the remainder of the day at your leisure . In the evening there is a “ Paris by Night” tour showing you the beautiful buildings with bright lights .
Day three takes you to Montmarter , Perhaps the most attractive quarter of Paris and home of the Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge . In the afternoon you are free to explore this beautiful city as you wish , perhaps a pleasure voyage on the River Seine , wander around the beautiful gardens or look among the antique shops （古董店）. In the evening you will have the opportunity to visit the best nightclub in the city , the splendid Paradis Latain . On the final day it’s back to the UK via channel ferry .
Included in the price of £129 per person :
●Return comfortable bus travel to Paris
●Return ferry crossings
●3 nights housing in a twin bedded room in a Central Paris hotel with private facilities
●Continental breakfast during your stay
●Guided sightseeing tour of “Paris by Day” and Paris by Night”
●Visit to the Chateau of Versailles (admission not included )
●Tour around Montmartre
●Services of experienced bi-lingual tour guide at all times
What is the purpose of this passage ?
| A．To show the price of traveling to Paris . | B．To tell tourists the routs to Paris . |
| C．To introduce the city of Paris . | D．To attract tourists to Paris |
During the stay in Paris , the tourists will_________.
| A．have free time for half a day |
| B．live in a hotel two miles away from Paris |
| C．have a “Paris by Night” tour on he first evening |
| D．have a pleasure voyage on the River Seine together |
What does the underlined word quarter
mean in the passage ?
| A．A period of 15 minutes . |
| B．An area of a town . |
| C．A coin used in the US and Canada worth 25 cents . |
| D．One of four equal parts into which something can be divided . |
According to the passage , which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The Palace of Versailles is not in the center of Paris . |
| B．The tourists can telephone in the Ibis without paying . |
| C．It will take you a long time to got to Montmartre from Paris. |
D．The  to urists will spend the night in the antique shops on the third day . |
On a cold January morning in a Washington, DC Metro Station, a man with a violin played for about an hour. During that time about 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After 3 minutes a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on. Four minutes later the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat without stopping and continued to walk. After 6 minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and walked away. After 10 minutes, a 3-year-old boy stopped but his mother dragged him along hurriedly. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
Finally only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money, but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $ 32. When he finished playing, no one applauded.
The violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate (复杂的) pieces ever written, with a violin worth $ 3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $ 100 each.
The program was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about understanding, taste, and people’s social position. In a common place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we appreciate beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
If we do not take a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, how many other things are we missing? The first paragraph is aimed to tell us ______.
| A．the man chose a bad place for playing | B．what background the story was set in |
| C．how busy people were that morning | D．many people showed interest in music |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．none of the passers-by were fond of music |
| B．beauty can only be enjoyed in particular places |
| C．in a way, the violinist was mistaken as a beggar |
| D．Joshua Bell first played the violin in the station |
According to the writer, people should _____.
| A．listen to as many great musicians as possible |
| B．try to create beautiful things for others to enjoy |
| C．show kindness to anyone whether they’re rich or not |
| D．notice and appreciate what’s going on in their daily life |
Japan's 24-hour convenience stores, already struggling with lagging sales and growth, may soon face yet another threat - moves to limit business hours and close the stores late at night. The district of Saitama, which borders Tokyo, may follow in the footsteps of the western city of Kyoto and urge convenience stores to close during late 
night hours in an effort to limit carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）emissi
ons, Japanese media reported.
Kyoto, a former capital, wants to persuade convenience and other 24-hour stores to close late at night so as to improve evening views of the city and cut down on energy use. The Nikkei business daily said closures could last from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The move is strongly opposed by the industry, which fears a bad impact on an already troubled sector also grappling with the specter of a higher tobacco tax, which could hit overall sales.
"Even if we only operate the stores for 16 hours, we can't stop the refrigerators," said Toshiro Yamaguchi, the president of Seven-Eleven Japan Co, which is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd, at a news conference in Saitama on Tuesday. He said such cuts in operating hours would reduce each store's profit by 20 percent. "If this happens, our current business model will lose its foundation."
Analysts said that while it is difficult to estimate the potential impact of the move without a concrete plan, their overall impression was that it was likely to be negative. "This could cut profits and lead to less efficient operations and the increased loss of opportunities," said Masafumi Shoda, an analyst at Nomura Securities. "But it depends on the store -- urban stores do better than others. There are some in the countryside that are inefficient."
Some have suggested that if governments were sincere about reducing carbon emissions there were much more efficient methods, such as cutting back on the huge number of automatic vending machines（自动售货机）Which of the followings was the first to try to limit convenience store hours?
| A．Saitama | B．Tokyo | C．Kyoto | D．Nomura Security |
What's the main goal of the proposal?
| A．To give employees more free time. |
| B．To limit carbon dioxide emissions. |
| C．To sell more tobacco products. |
| D．To reduce each store’s profit. |
How's the convenience store sector doing in Japan?
| A．It is not mentioned. | B．It's doing great. Business is booming. |
| C．Not very well. | D．It’s about to close. |
According to the passage, which convenience stores are generally more successful?
| A．The ones in big cities. | B．The ones in the countryside. |
| C．The ones in Tokyo. | D．The ones in Saitama. |
According to the convenience store industry, what impact would closing for the night have on a typical store?
| A．It could cause a 10% increase in sales. |
| B．Its effect would be maximal. It would close soon. |
| C．Its effect would be minimal. People would simply shop earlier. |
| D．It could cause a 20% decrease in profits. |
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