Question

When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.
For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved (毫無掩飾的).
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.
In adulthood the things that bring deep joy—love, marriage, birth—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated (復雜的).
My definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It’s easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.
I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband come home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.
Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I don’t think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this what satisfied her.
We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we’ve got to have. We’re so self-conscious about our “right” to it that it’s making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren’t necessarily happier.
Happiness isn’t about what happens to—it’s about how we see what happens to us. It’s the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It’s not wishing for what we don’t have , but enjoying what we do possess.
【小題1】As people grow older, they ____.

A．feel it harder to experience happiness

B．a(chǎn)ssociate their happiness less with others

C．will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness

D．tend to believe responsibility means happiness

【小題2】What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 5 and 6?

A．She cares little about her own health.

B．She enjoys the freedom of traveling.

C．She is easily pleased by things in daily life.

D．She prefers getting pleasure from housework.

【小題3】What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?

A．Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness.

B．Psychologists’ opinion is well proved by Grandma’s case.

C．Grandma often found time for social gatherings.

D．Grandma’s happiness came from modest expectations of life.

【小題4】People who equal happiness with wealth and success ______.

A．consider pressure something blocking their way

B．stress their right to happiness too much

C．a(chǎn)re at a loss to make correct choices

D．a(chǎn)re more likely to be happy

【小題5】What can be concluded from the passage?

A．Happiness lies between the positive and the negative

B．Each man is the master of his own fate.

C．Success leads to happiness.

D．Happy is he who is content.

Answer 1

【小題1】A
【小題2】C
【小題3】D
【小題4】B
【小題5】D

解析【文章大意】文章介紹了什么是幸福以及如何獲得幸福。文章最后一段提出了獲得幸福的方法。
【小題1】文中第一段的“…which seems to get rarer the older we get”意思是“隨著年齡的增大，幸福越來越少”，結合選項，只能填A。B錯在less with others，是自己；C錯在文中沒有提及fewer risks；D項中的意思，第一段根本沒有表達。
【小題2】第五段介紹了幸福的定義，第六段作者舉了一個有幸福感的例子：作者那天一個人在家里靜靜地寫作，她感到很幸福，孩子回來之后的吵鬧聲她也很喜歡（First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband come home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.）。只有C概括了作者在文中所表達的意思。
【小題3】A選項錯在只提到了satisfying work，而沒有提到enjoyable leisure time；作者用了“I don’t think that my grandmother…h(huán)ad much of either.”否認了心理學家的看法，排除B和C。
【小題4】答案在第八段（We’re so self-conscious about our “right” to it that it’s making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren’t necessarily happier.），選項B和D中提到了文中所出現(xiàn)的單詞，結合原文，發(fā)現(xiàn)D和第八段中的最后一句話意思相反，故選B。
【小題5】最后一段就闡述了如何獲得幸福：在逆境中找到積極的因素(It’s the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative.)以及知足常樂(enjoying what we do possess)。符合這個意思的只有D：知足者常樂，這是倒裝句。B的意思是每個人都是自己命運的主人。