Question

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Sadness is unpleasant, and in a society where personal happiness is prized above all else, there is little tolerance for falling in despair. Especially now we’ve got drugs for getting rid of sad feelings — whether it’s after losing a job, the break-up of a relationship or the death of a loved one. So it’s no surprise that more and more people are taking them.

But is this really such a good idea? A growing number of voices from the world of mental health research are saying it isn’t. They fear that the increasing tendency to treat normal sadness as a disease is playing fast and loose (行為輕率). Sadness, they argue, serves a useful purpose—and if we lose it, we lose out. Yet many psychiatrists (精神病醫(yī)生) insist not. Sadness has a nasty habit of turning into depression(抑郁), they warn. Even when people are sad for good reason, they should take drugs to make themselves feel better.

So who is right? Is sadness something we cannot live without or something horrible never to touch?

There are lots of ideas about why feeling sad should become part of human life. It may be a self-protection strategy, as other primates (靈長類) also show signs of sadness. A losing monkey that doesn’t show sadness after it loses a fight may be seen as continuing to challenge the winning monkey — and that could result in death.

In humans sadness has a further function: we may display sadness as a form of communication. By acting sad, we tell other community members that we need support.

Then there is the idea that creativity is connected to dark moods. There are plenty of great artists, writers and musicians who have suffered from depression or disorder. Scientists found that people with signs of depression performed better at a creative task, and negative moods make people think deeply over the unhappy experience, which allows creative processes to come to the front. There is also evidence that too much happiness can be bad for your career. A doctor found that people who scored 8 out of 10 on a happiness test were more successful in income and education than 9s or 10s. The happiest people lose their willingness to make changes to their lives that may benefit them.

53. The underlined word “this ” refers to ________.

   A. taking medicine   B. falling in despair              C. losing a job              D. feeling sad

54. The author believes sadness is ________.

   A. a good thing for people’s health             B. something horrible never to touch

C. a necessary function of humans’       D. always to be treated as depression

55. Some animals show their sadness in order to ________.

   A. cheat their enemy                                 B. protect themselves 

C. comfort the loser                                D. challenge the winner

56. We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.

  A. people with great creativity tend to be happier   

B. unhappy experiences contribute to a greater career

C. too much happiness can be bad for your career

D. the happiest people are the most successful ones

Answer 1

 53 — 56  ACBB