The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.

　　As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment（承担的义务）, self - improvement.

　　Ask a bachelor（单身汉） why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.

　　Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three - day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.

　　Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

1.According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because ____________ .

　　A. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities

　　B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single

　　C. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage

　　D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement

2.Raising children, in the author’s opinion is ____________ .

A. a moral duty                         

B. a thankless job

C. a rewarding task                      

D. a source of inevitable pain

3.From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from ____________ .

A. hatred　　                              

B. misunderstanding　　　　

C. prejudice　　　　                       

D. ignorance

4.To understand what true happiness is one must ____________ .

　　A. have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime

　　B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain

　　C. put up with pain under all circumstances

　　D. be able to distinguish happiness from fun

5.What is the author trying to tell us?

A. Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain．

B. One must know how to attain happiness.

C. It is important to make commitments.    　　

D. It is pain that leads to happiness.

 

阅读理解

　　With his standard Mandarin pronunciation, practiced skills on Chinese expressions and special humour with a Peking accent, Dashan has become a household name across China．

　　People have always wondered how the 36-year-old Canadian can be so skillful in the Chinese language even though it is considered by many as one of the most difficult languages in the world．But to Dashan, the great challenge was a piece of cake due to his deep interest, proper method and the excellent environment he created for himself.

　　“Interest is the best teacher.” That is a universal principle. Even if the 20-year-old Mark Rowswell--Dashan's real name--hadn't fully realized what attracted him to the Chinese department at the University of Toronto in Canada, he was already deeply interested in Chinese culture when he decided to have further study in Beijing.

　　Entering the Chinese department of Peking University in 1988, Dashan felt like a duck in water. Study is always a hard job, no matter how much interest you have. Therefore, effective ways are necessary to improvement. “Learn for life and learn in life”is Dashan's belief.

　　As a freshman at the University of Toronto, the student did study textbooks, which especially aimed on foreign Chinese learners. They did help him build to solid foundation.

　　However, that's far from enough to grasp the Chinese language. Starting in his junior year, Dashan began to read original Chinese novels, Chinese newspapers and even the selected works of Deng Xiaoping. “Only the material for Chinese native readers could give me a proper sense of the language,” he said．

　　The language that is the daily means of communication is the principle that Dashan always keeps in his mind．What you have really learned depends on what you can use, not necessarily your textbooks.

　　To learn in daily life requires a favourable language environment which is also necessary for improvement. Dashan admits it is hard for Chinese English learners to be brought into a good English speaking environment, but insists, “to listen and speak as much as possible does help.”

　　To help Chinese English learners develop a favourable environment, Dashan took part in a VCD programme--“Travel with Dashan”--to teach daily and up-to-date English in real-life situations.

(1)Dashan could learn Chinese very well because of ________.

[　　]

A．his interest

B．practiced skills on Chinese expression

C．his special method

D．Special humour with a Peking accent

(2)The sentence “learn for life and learn in life” here means________

[　　]

A．learn things in our daily life, otherwise it will not last long.

B．we should study in practice all our lives

C．life is difficult, so we'd better learn more to lead a better life

D．language is the necessary part of our daily life, so we must practise it frequently

(3)The main idea of the passage is ________.

[　　]

A．Dashan has become a household name across China

B．how can we master a foreign language in a short time.

C．dashan took park in a VCD programme“Travel with Dashan” to teach English in real-life situation

D．try to learn English under the direction of Dashan, and you'll succeed one day.

(4)The underlined phrase“a piece of cake” here refers to ________.

[　　]

(5)Dashan read the selected works of Deng Xiaoping because ________.

[　　]

A．he admired the former leader of the government

B．he hoped to learn more of the spirits of it

C．he wanted to give him a proper sense of the Chinese language

D．They are very popular in modern times

The way people hold to the belief that a fun - filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.

As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably(不可避免的)brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment (义务), self - improvement.

Ask a bachelor(单身汉)why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.

Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three - day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.

Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates（解放） time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

1. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because _______ .

A. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage

B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single

C. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities

D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement

2. Raising children, in the author’s opinion is ________ .

A. a rewarding task                  B. a thankless job

C. a moral duty                     D. a source of inevitable pain

3. From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from(由…造成)________ .

A. hatred　　 B. ignorance      C. prejudice(偏见)　　　D. misunderstanding

4. To understand what true happiness is one must ________ .

A. have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime

B. be able to distinguish happiness from fun

C. put up with pain under all circumstances

D. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain

5. What is the author trying to tell us?

A. It is important to make commitments     B. One must know how to attain happiness.

C. Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain.   D. It is pain that leads to happiness.

 

Anne Whitney, a sophomore (大学二年级学生) at Colorado State University, first had a problem taking tests when she began college. "I was always well prepared for my tests. Sometimes I studied for weeks before a test. Yet I would go in to take the test, only to find I could not answer the questions correctly. I would blank out because of nervousness and fear. I couldn't think of the answer. My low grades on the tests did not show what I knew to the teacher. “Another student in biology had similar experiences. He said, "My first chemistry test was very difficult. Then, on the second test, I sat down to take it, and I was so nervous that I was shaking. My hands were moving up and down so quickly that it was hard to hold my pencil. I knew the material and I knew the answers. Yet I couldn't even write them down!"
　　These two young students were experiencing something called test anxiety. Because a student worries and is uneasy about a test, his or her mind does not work as well as it usually does. The student cannot write or think clearly because of the extreme tension and nervousness. Contrary to people’s common belief that poor grades are often a result of poor study habits, sometimes test anxiety plays a role in students’ achieving low grades. Recently, test anxiety has been recognized as a real problem, not just an excuse or a false explanation of lazy students.
　　Special university advising courses try to help students. In these courses, advisors try to help students by teaching them how to manage test anxiety. At some universities, students take tests to measure their anxiety. If the tests show their anxiety is high, the students can take short courses to help them deal with their tensions. These courses teach students how to relax their bodies. Students are trained to become calm in very tense situations. By controlling their nervousness, they can let their minds work at ease. Learned information then comes out without difficulty on a test.
　　An expert at the University of California explains, " With almost all students, relaxation and less stress are felt after taking our program. Most of them experience better control during their tests. Almost all have some improvement. With some, the improvement is very great. "
【小题1】To "blank out" is probably______.

A．to be like a blanket	B．to be sure of an answer
C．to be unable to think clearly	D．to show knowledge to the teacher

【小题2】Poor grades are usually believed to be the result of______.

A．poor sleeping habit	B．laziness
C．test anxiety	D．inability to form good study habits

【小题3】Test anxiety has been recognized as______.

A．an excuse for laziness	B．the result of poor study habits
C．a real problem	D．something that cannot be changed

【小题4】A University of California advisor said______.

A．all students could overcome the anxiety after taking a special test anxiety program

B．almost all students felt less stress after taking a University of California advising course

C．students found it difficult to improve even though they had taken a special test anxiety course

D．students found it easy to relax as soon as they entered a University of California advising course