Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.
The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five.
The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
【小題1】What is the best title of the passage?

A.The older a person is, the happier he grows. 
B.The more lighthearted a person is, the happier he is. 
C.The older a person is, the more clever he grows. 
D.The older a person is, the more stressed he feels. 
【小題2】 We can learn from the research that _________.
A.only when people get older, will they feel happier 
B.older people usually have no worries in their life 
C.older people are more likely to be thankful in life 
D.stress levels among the youngest are the highest of all 
【小題3】According to the researchers, what is probably the reason why people grow happier when they get older?
A.When people get older, they can’t remember bad experiences. 
B.When people get older, they have no young children to care about. 
C.When people get older, they don’t care about their feelings. 
D.When people get older, they learn to adjust their feelings. 
【小題4】 What would the writer probably deal with in next paragraph?
A.Advice to the young people on how to keep happy. 
B.Why women at all ages are more sad, stressed and worried. 
C.Advice to the old people on how to live longer. 
D.Why people will grow happier with their ages. 
【小題5】 What do you think the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is?
A.A Gallup organization. B.A university in New York. 
C.A popular science magazine. D.A research institution 


【小題1】A
【小題2】C
【小題3】D
【小題4】B
【小題5】C

解析試題分析:文章主要講述研究證明人隨著年齡增長(zhǎng)快樂(lè)程度也會(huì)升高的趨勢(shì),年紀(jì)老的人比年輕時(shí)候更為樂(lè)觀。
【小題1】標(biāo)題選擇題。根據(jù)文章原句happiness increases as people get older,可以得知選擇A
【小題2】細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第7短的as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have,可以得知選擇C
【小題3】 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第7段里的 have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences,可以得知年齡大的人更懂得控制和調(diào)整情緒。選擇D
【小題4】推斷題。根據(jù)文章最后一段的內(nèi)容和However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men可以推斷作者接下來(lái)要解釋女性的消極情緒更多的原因,選擇B。
【小題5】推斷題。根據(jù)第五段的The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.可以推知這是一本有文字的讀物或文獻(xiàn)。選擇C
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