Parents often say that they don't mind what their children do in life just as long as they are happy. Happiness and pleasure are almost universally seen as among the most precious human goods.1.
Philosopher Jeremy Bentham believed that all sources of pleasure are of equal quality, but John Stuart Mill disagreed. Mill argued for a difference between higher and lower pleasure.2.Lower pleasure, in contrast, requires mere (仅仅的；纯粹的) senses.
The entire debate assumes a clear divide between the physical and the mental.3.What will it mean for our ideas about pleasure?
4.Food is usually considered to be the lower pleasure. All animals eat, using the senses of smell and taste. It doesn't require any complex cognition (认知) to conclude that something is delicious. However, these people failed to appreciate something that the French food writer Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin captured. That is, "Animals feed; man eats; only the man of intellect(才智) knows how to eat."
Eating shows that the difference between higher pleasure and lower pleasure is not what you enjoy but how you enjoy it.5.Preparing it using the powers of reflection and attention turns it into a higher pleasure.
A. The dining table is a good place to start.
B. Wolfing down your food is a lower kind of pleasure.
C. What's the real difference between high and low pleasure?
D. What happens if the physical and the mental cannot be separated?
E. All philosophers believed that cookery could never be a form of art.
F. Higher pleasure depends on human abilities such as self-awareness or language use.
G. However, disagreements will be caused about whether some forms of pleasure are better than others.
Whenever we see a button (按钮), we are eager to press it because we know something will happen. This is true in most cases, for example on a doorbell and on the “on/off” button on the TV. But some buttons are actually fake, like the “close” button on a lift.
Many people are in the habit of pressing the “close” button because they don’t have the patience to wait for the lift doors to shut. But lifts’“close” buttons are a complete scam, at least in the US—the doors will not close any faster no matter how hard you press.
It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the US, making sure that all lifts stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only US firefighters and repairmen can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys.
But to normal lift riders, the buttons aren’t completely useless. According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control.
“Perceived (能够感知的) control is very important. It reduces stress and increases well-being,” Ellen J. Langer, a psychology professor, said, “Having a lack of control is associated with depression.”
Experts have revealed that a lot of buttons that don’t do anything exist in our lives for this same purpose. For example, many offices in the US have fake thermostats (温度调节器) because people tend to feel better when they think they can control the temperature in their workspace.
But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little “white lies”, they still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort.
“That habit is here to stay,” John Kounios, a psychology professor, said, ‘‘Even though I have real doubts about the traffic light buttons, I always press them. After all, I’ve got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not press the button in the hope that this one will work?”
1.What was the author’s main purpose in writing the article?
A. To describe some different kinds of fake buttons.
B. To analyze(分析) the functions (作用) of fake buttons.
C. To explore people’ different habits when it comes to pushing buttons.
D. To explain the advantages and disadvantages of fake buttons.
2.What does the underlined word “scam” mean?
A. Trick. B. Tool.
C. Button. D. Joke.
3.According to John Kounios, people who press fake buttons ______.
A. don’t know that what they press is fake B. should give up this habit
C. consider what they do to be meaningless D. probably do so to kill time
In today's society, almost half of all marriages in America end in divorce, which means many children have divorced parents, and 1 am by no means a rare case.There are plenty of other people understanding the difficulty of having separated parents and living in two households. Despite this, people who haven't personally experienced divorce really have no idea what it's like.
My parents have handled divorce and joint custody(监护) well, at least better than expected. Occasionally my parents put up the curtain to block my brother and I from the reality and I will get a glimpse of the not-so-bright-and-sunny reality, the fact that my parents simply don't like each other, let along get along. They try to make sure my brother and I don't overhear the argument and do their best to keep my brother and I out of their issues.
Last Mother's Day I woke up at my dad's house with a text message from my mom saying, "Call me when u can."I rolled out of bed and dialed her number. On the other end of the phone I could hear my mom's trembling voice. "Your dad isn't letting me have you until 7 tonight. " I knew Mother's Day was important to her and me. I began to get angry with my dad, but I told myself that getting mad and fueling my mom's anger towards my dad wouldn't help. Later my father told me that he had planned to spend time with my grandma and step-mom for Mother's Day, which I understood and accepted but I also understood why my mom wouldn't accept it.
While having divorced parents is difficult, I have learned a lot about how to deal with conflict from an early age and I've been blessed with an extremely large family, which is an amazing network of support.
1.The author uses the first paragraph to show us that .
A. living as a child of divorced parents is normal but not easy
B. the number of divorced parents is increasing rapidly at present
C. people are not aware of what problems divorced parents are facing
D. the experience of being a child of divorced parents is painful but worth
2.We can infer that the author's divorced parents try to .
A. build up a good relationship with each other
B. prevent their children getting involved in their affairs
C. inspire their children to be confident about their future
D. prove that they are concerned about their children's safety
3.The passage implies that the author is .
A. mad and angry
B. reliable and responsible
C. energetic and creative
D. understanding and considerate
You may probably meet most of the powerful graduation speakers, here who are well-known people in their fields. I think the schools couldn't have picked better speakers than them, because they set good examples,deeply inspiring us in our daily life.
1) Steve Jobs, Stanford University:
"Remembering you're going to die, and the best way I know is to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose. There is no reason not to follow your heart. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice... "
2) Oprah Winfrey, Stanford University:
"I consider the world, this Earth, to be like a school... And the secret I've learned to get ahead is being open to the lessons from the grandest universe of all. Don't react against a bad situation. And the solution will arise from the challenge. So don't give up easily, acting with responsibility... "
3) Bono, University of Pennsylvania:
"For four years you've been buying, trading, and selling everything you've got in this market-place of ideas. Your pockets are full, even if your parents' are empty, and now you've got to figure out what to spend it on... The world is more flexible than you think and it's waiting for you to hammer it into shape... "
4) Michael Dell, University of Texas at Austin:
"Now it's time for you to move on to what's next and obtain your desire. But you must not let anything prevent you from taking those first steps. Don't spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity, or sometimes you'll miss the right opportunity. Recognize that there will be failures and obstacles. But you will learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. "
1.Who wants to express "Don't live your life in regret?"
A. Michael Dell. B. Bono.
C. Steve Jobs. D. Oprah Winfrey.
2.Which of the following can best describe what Oprah Winfrey says?
A. To break some of the rules.
B. To overcome the fear of loss.
C. To go all out to achieve our goals.
D. To be brave and keep trying to the end.
3.What Michael Dell said is to urge people to
A. listen to their own heart
B. pursue their own dreams
C. create their own journey
D. correct their own mistakes
4.What can we be likely to gain from these powerful graduation speeches?
A. Some life lessons.
B. Some well-known people.
C. Some social skills.
D. Some effective solutions.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.How did the couple order their meal?
A. By speaking English.
B. By using body language.
C. By speaking slow and poor Chinese.
2.Why did the couple call the waiter back?
A. To change their order.
B. To ask him to walk their dog.
C. To order some food for their dog.
3.How might the couple probably feel in the end?
A. Angry. B. Satisfied. C. Tired.
4.What do we know about the waiter?
A. He lost the couple's dog.
B. He misunderstood the couple.
C. He only knew a little French.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.In what competition did the woman come first?
A. A design competition.
B. A swimming competition.
C. A computer software competition.
2.Why will the woman go to London?
A. It's the prize of the competition.
B. She will accept a prize in London.
C. She will enter a competition in London.
3.How will the woman go to London?
A. By ship. B. By train. C. By plane.
4.What does the man think of flying?
A. Exciting. B. Too expensive. C. Unpleasant.
