I live in Hollywood. You may think people in such an attractive, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more long-lasting emotion. Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to exciting parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”. But in memoir(回忆录) after memoir, celebrities reveal the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children, and long-time loneliness.
The way people hold on to the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equates happiness actually decreases their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equated with happiness, then pain must be equated with unhappiness. But, in fact, the opposite is true: More times than not, things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very efforts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, charitable work and self-improvement.
1.According to the passage, “fun activities” ____________.
A. are the things we do before we find happiness
B. may help us relax and forget our problems sometimes
C. will lead us to the true happiness
D. could provide long-last positive effects
2.In the author’s opinion, those Hollywood stars ____________.
A. possess happiness because they are rich and famous
B. experience almost all kinds of happy things
C. tell us happiness isn’t equal to fun using their own stories
D. have to suffer a lot before they become successful
3.It is difficult for people to find real happiness because ____________.
A. they believe happiness is the fun life without pain
B. they find pain equals unhappiness
C. they fear to lose what they already have in life
D. they are afraid all their efforts were in vain
4.The main purpose of the text is to ____________.
A. describe the difference between happiness and fun
B. show the true meaning of happiness
C. encourage people to pursue fun activities
D. advise people to find their real life
Twenty years ago, Mark Thatcher, the son of Mrs. Thatcher, was reported missing in the Sahara Desert while competing in the Grand Prix Motor race from Paris to Daker. The sad news, so unexpected, shook the unusually and unhurried politician off her balance. Though she did her best to as if nothing had happened and made her public appearance as usual, people could not fail to notice that she was no longer the old self-assured prime minister who always had everything under . Instead she had become a very sad mother who was unable to from her shock.
One day when she was to at a lunch party, a reporter caught her off her guard by bringing up the of her missing son again. She was mentally unprepared for the question and lost her self-control. Tears were her cheeks she sobbingly told the reporter there was still no news of Mark and that she was very worried about him. She said that all the countries concerned had to do their best to help her find her son. With that she down completely and sobbed silently for quite a while. Gradually she calmed down and started to speak as . It was a very scene which exposed a new side of Mrs. Thatcher’s the public do not usually see. People began to talk about the Iron Woman’s love, a that is common to all human race.
Later Mark returned to his mother’s side, good-humored and all smiles as usual nothing unusual had ever happened. The Iron Woman, , broke down again and was sobbing for a second time.
1.A. outstandingB. busy C. calm D. considerate
2.A. seem B. talk C. doD. pretend
3.A. construction B. controlC. discussion D. pressure
4.A. respond B. relieve C. reduce D. recover
5.A. arrive B. eat C. speakD. read
6.A. subject B. object C. theme D. message
7.A. hardly B. totally C. partly D. mostly
8.A. putting down B. taking off C. getting off D. rolling down
9.A. because B. thoughC. ifD. as
10.A. permittedB. admittedC. promised D. managed
11.A. fellB. wentC. broke D. brought
12.A. agreedB. planned C. announcedD. explained
13.A. moving B. shocking C. interestingD. serious
14.A. quality B. action C. position D. character
15.A. livelyB. likelyC. lovelyD. motherly
16.A. habit B. hobby C. feeling D. thought
17.A. hungry and tired B. safe and funny C. safe and soundD. tired and sleepy
18.A. as if B. even ifC. so that D. if only
19.A. thereforeB. however C. besides D. thus
20.A. made B. heard C. felt D. seen
The fans ______ to see the pop singer the whole afternoon, and they won’t leave until he turns up.
A. have been waiting B. waited C. had waited D. would have waited
She was ______ good terms with her twin sister, because they were two of a kind. In other words, they were identical ______ each other.
A. in; to B.in; with C. on; with D.on; to
The peace talk between the two sides ______, as neither wanted to give in.
A. broke out B. broke up C. broke down D. broke away
No book is ______interesting, so I take up the story______I stopped yesterday?
A.such; which B. so; which C.that; where D. so; when