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 (毫无掩饰的).
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.
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 came 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 is 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 us — 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.
1.As people grow older, they ___________________.
A. feel it harder to experience happiness
B. associate their happiness less with others
C. will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness
D. tend to believe responsibility means happiness
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.
3.What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?
A. Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness.
B. Psychologist’ 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.
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. are at a loss to make correct choices.
D. are more likely to be happy.
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.
The United States government wants to know what the public think about its findings on the safety of cloned animals.
The Food and Drug Administration says meat and milk from clones of adult cattle, pigs and goats are safe to eat. An F.D.A. official called them "as safe to eat as the food we eat every day." And when those clones reproduce sexually (有性繁殖), the agency says, their offspring (后代) are safe to eat as well. But research on cloned sheep is limited. So the F.D.A. suggests that sheep clones not be used for human food.
The United States this year could become the first country to approve the sale of foods from cloned animals. First, however, the public will have ninety days to discuss three proposed documents. On December 28th the F.D.A. released a long report, called a draft risk assessment, along with two policy documents.
The agency says it must receive the public’s opinion by April second. The F.D.A. seemed ready to act several years ago, but an advisory committee called for more research. For now, the government will continue to ask producers to honor a request that they not sell foods from cloned animals.
Clones are still rare. They cost a lot and are difficult to produce.
The F.D.A. says most food from cloning is expected to come not from clones themselves, but from their sexually reproduced offspring. It says clones are expected to be used mostly as breeding animals to spread good qualities.
Public opinion studies show most Americans do not like the idea of food from cloned animals. But this research also shows the public knows little about cloning.
Cloning differs from genetic engineering. A cell taken from a so-called donor animal is grown into an embryo in the laboratory. Next, the embryo is placed into the uterus (子宫) of a female animal. If the process is successful, the pregnancy reaches full term and a genetic copy of the donor animal is born.
1.The main purpose of the text is to __________.
A. tell an interesting story
B. give some advice on foods
C. give a report
D. compare different opinions
2. From the passage we know that ___________.
A. foods from cloned animals are popular in America
B. according to F.D.A., some cloned adult animals are safe to eat
C. cloned animals will be easy to produce
D. most foods from cloning is expected to take place of other foods
3.Who believe that foods from cloning are safe to eat?
A. Most Americans B. An advisory committee
C. Critics D. The F.D.A.
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that __________.
A. cloning has much in common with genetic engineering
B. not every cell taken from a donor animal can grow into a genetic copy
C. the donor animal should be a female one
D. cloned animals grow faster than normal ones
5. Which of the following is TRUE about foods from cloning?
A. They come from the sexually reproduced offspring of cloned animals.
B. The government is in favor of foods from cloning now.
C. Only F.D.A. has the right to sell the food.
D. Many countries have sold foods from cloned animals.
BAD weather, bad food and grumpy people – that’s what some people think of first when they think about Britain. Many online commentators even joke that Britons are so grumpy precisely because it constantly rains and they are always hungry.
In fact, many believe that Britons are inherently negative, in contrast to their neighbors across the Atlantic Ocean.
“Americans are more optimistic, due to the fact that they are told they can become the next president of the United States,” Ricky Gervais, a British comedian, told online forum Big Think. “British people are told, it won’t happen to you. And they carry that. They carry that with them. We champion the underdog .”
It’s no wonder that Britons hold the reputation of having a “stiff upper lip” – being cold and not showing any emotion.
Britain’s reputation as a grumpy country may, however, simply be the result of a cultural misunderstanding. According to the BBC, British actor Michael Caine once said: “I think what is British about me is my feelings and awareness of others and their situations. English people are always known to be well-mannered and cold, but we are not cold – we don’t interfere in your situation. If we are heartbroken, we don’t scream in your face with tears – we go home and cry on our own. It’s completely to do with your comfort – we don’t intrude on your space. That’s very English.”
A BBC reader noted that the perceived coldness of British people is actually their way of dealing with hardship. Remembering the terrorist attacks in London on July 7, 2005, Stuart Colley, who lived in the capital at the time, said: “It seemed to me that most people’s response was a ‘cruel’ determination to carry on and not to ‘fall’ into an over-emotional outpouring of grief or anger – despite what many of us felt inside. Our stiff upper lip seems to be something that gives us strength as a society when we most need it.”
1.What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?
A. To list common stereotypes about the UK.
B. To fight common misunderstandings about the UK.
C. To analyze what makes British people grumpy and negative.
D. To list some differences between Americans and British people.
2.Which of the following statements might Ricky Gervais agree with?
A. Britons like challenging the underdog more than Americans do.
B. Americans are more optimistic and realistic than British people.
C. Britons are more comfortable with life’s losers than Americans.
D. Bad weather in the UK is the main thing that makes Britons grumpy.
3.The underlined phrase “interfere in” in the second-to-last paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.
A. think about B. benefit from
C. get in the way of D. have a positive effect on
4. Why does Michael Caine think British people are not cold?
A. They can be heartbroken, and they cry too.
B. They are well-mannered and unwilling to disturb others.
C. They care a lot about what other people think of them.
D. They are taught to face hardships by themselves.
5.With the example of the terrorist attacks in London on July 7, 2005, the author intends to ____.
A. explain why British people tend to be cold
B. reveal that Britons don’t intrude on others’ space
C. present an example in which British people hide their emotions and feelings
D. show how not giving in to emotions can help one to get through a tough time
假定你是李华，看到班上有部分同学在做作业时，不自己独立完成而是抄袭他人的作业，针对这种现象，请你以My Opinion on Copying Others' Homework为题谈谈你自己的看法。
注意：1．短文必须包括下面表格中的所有内容要点，可适当发挥。
2．短文标题与开头已为你写好，不计入总词数。
3．词数120左右。
主要原因 | 作业量大，偏难 |
对功课不感兴趣，懒隋 | |
完成任务，取悦老师 | |
危害及解决办法 | 抄袭不对，违反校规 |
要诚实，勤奋学习 | |
有困难可请教同学和老师 | |
个人看法 | …… |
My Opinion on Copying Others' Homework
It is known to us all that some students copy others' homework...
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间互相修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（^），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下面划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限1词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
My brother Tom was very selfish when he was a little boy. He didn't want share things with other people. For an example，when he bought a chocolate cake，he put them in a secret place. Then he eats it all by himself. He never helped other. He said he is busy. That is，a game of tennis making him very busy. He didn't care if something he did made people angrily. For instance，on a cold night he played strong and loudly music till 4 o'clock in the morning. But he is difference now. He often helps Grandma with housework，Mom with cooking and his classmates with their lessons.
As a working mom with three young sons, keeping the house clean is a big challenge. ______1.__ we clean the house every week, one hour later after cleaning our bedrooms and bathrooms are back to their __________2._(mess) look. When asked, my boys will help neaten their room, clear their plates from the table and pick up their school junk. But I need to remind them______3.____ it again and again.
If I don’t remind them, I will step over all the things _______4.__make my house look like a garbage can. This is quite _______5.___ change from my pre-kid years when I never ______6.___(leave) any waste in the house. ____7.____seems that I cannot get these days back again at my own house.
When last week I found a program called “Share a Healthy Habit” on a newspaper, I saw a great chance to engage my sons in cleaning chores. Why not encourage these behaviors during the summer, while school is out and their life is ________8.__ (relax)?
The goal for my boys is to clean_____9._____own dorm room themselves when they are free. The rewards for clean habits start young and continue as they get ______10.____ (old), so I need to start my plan as soon
