A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.
1.According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?
A. Optimistic adults.
B. Middle-aged adults.
C. Adults in poor health.
D. Adults of lower income.
2.Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people________.
A. to fully enjoy their present life
B. to estimate their contribution accurately
C. to take measures against potential risks
D. to value health more highly than wealth
3.How do people of higher income see their future?
A. They will earn less money.
B. They will become pessimistic.
C. They will suffer mental illness.
D. They will have less time to enjoy life.
4.What is the clear conclusion of the study?
A. Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.
B. Good financial condition leads to good health.
C. Medical treatment determines health outcomes.
D. Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.
We have a strange and strong belief in the idea of perfection. Driven by our culture, we struggle for an unattainable ideal: If I have the perfect parents, perfect grades, perfect…, then I would be happy. We seek what we can’t have without remembering that we don’t actually need to be perfect. Imperfection allows us to be human.
Parents, teachers and other high-achieving peers will have us believe that we must be perfect if we wish to remain competitive. However, what job or school requires you to develop a cure for some form of cancer by the age of 18? Although these grades would be admirable achievements, are they worth losing sleep over? We feel like we need the perfect grades to get into the perfect college that will provide us with the perfect education necessary to obtain the perfect job. Making use of our thirst for perfection, the whole college and career industries have emerged claiming to help us reach our goals.
Truth is, you only need to be good enough to get into the conversation. It is what you do afterwards that sets you apart. Focus more on your passions. Don’t worry about anything secondary to your passions. You don’t become an expert at anything if you spent your time trying to succeed in everything you do. You only become an expert when you devote your time to that one project that truly brings you joy.
As members of this society, we have a responsibility to be excellent in what we do, not perfect. Although perfection can be a goal, it should not be the only goal. We only have 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week. Thus, we need to plan what we want to do and cut out the activities we cannot do.
With everything, though, make sure you’re doing enough. Pursuing your passions is not enough of a reason to completely give up on everything else. Try as hard as you can and let your future worry about itself. Worry about your task at hand and you will be successful in achieving your dreams. Most of all, remember that you’re going to be okay.
1.It is implied in Paragraph 1 that there is a culture where ________.
A. Students are driven to learn concepts
B. great importance is attached to perfection
C. imperfect people aren’t happy at all
D. perfect grades result from remembering facts
2.We can infer from the second paragraph that ________.
A. a perfect grade is worth losing sleep over
B. the whole college and career industries are perfect
C. some schools ask students to invent some medicine
D. someone is profiting from our search for perfection
3.According to the author, we should ________.
A. see becoming perfect as our responsibility
B. deal with what we hope to do first
C. set a goal of perfection in our life
D. worry about our future dreams
4.What might be the most suitable title for the passage?
A. How to be perfect
B. Being enough is enough
C. Finding your own passions
D. Giving up your secondary goals
I was at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Bambolim, Goa, in the 1980s. On Inspection Day one year, an officer and his team from the Board of Education were coming to see how our school was run. As usual, our teachers asked us to be prepared.
At the end of the day, Mrs Sushila Tyaji, our Hindi teacher, walked in and told us that the inspector had come and quietly observed the class from the back door. He had also left an adverse remark! That was sad for us. Would we now be punished for having failed our teachers? There were no answers from Mrs Tyaji. Instead, she wrote the Hindi word “dukh” on the blackboard. And then she did something I have never seen a teacher do in my entire school life. She apologized.
“I am sorry for having taught you something wrong,” she said. “I missed out the dots between the letters ‘du’ and ‘kh’. The inspector told me this in the staffroom. I hope you will not make this mistake in future.”
That admission had a significant effect on me. If our teacher can say sorry to us when she is wrong, why can’t I? The incident helped me get rid of two common vices—ego and dishonesty.
Twenty-three years passed. I had to let my teacher know what that lesson meant to me. I recently located Mrs Sushila Tyaji using the Internet and went to meet her with my husband.
She smiled when she heard my story of how her small decades-old apology had transformed me for good. “It’s tough being a teacher. But every once in a while, when an old student comes along and tells us that we did something right, it makes up for everything else,” she said.
1.The underlined word “adverse” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “________”.
A. offensive B. unfavorable
C. encouraging D. unforgettable
2.At the end of Inspection Day, Mrs Tyaji ________.
A. praised the students for their hard work
B. expressed her disappointment in the students
C. told the students that she had made a mistake
D. punished the students for their bad behavior
3.What did the author learn from Mrs Tyaji ?
A. Honesty is the best policy
B. Comfort is better than rude
C. One can never be too careful
D. It is better to be safe than sorry
4.The author’s word during the visit made Mrs Tyaji feel ________.
A. guilty B. contented
C. surprised D. embarrassed
HOLIDAY FUN AT THE POWERHOUSE
500 HARRIS STREET ULTIMO •TELEPHONE (02)9270111
Join in the holiday fun at the powerhouse this month linked to our new exhibition, Evolution & Revolution: Chinese dress 1700s to now. DON’T FORGET our other special event, the Club Med Circus School which is part of the Circus（马戏团）！150 years of circus in Australia exhibition experience!
◆Chinese Folk Dancing: Colorful Chinese dance and musical performances by The Chinese Folk Dancing School of Sydney. Dances include: the Golden and the Chinese drum dance. A feature will be the Qin dynasty Emperor’s count dance. Also included is a show of face painting for Beijing opera performances.
Sunday 29 June and Wednesday 2 July in the Turbine Hall, at 11:30 am & 1:30 pm.
◆Australian Chinese Children’s Arts Theatre: Well-known children’s play experts from Shanghai lead this dynamic youth group. Performance include Chinese fairy tales and plays.
Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 July in the Turbine Hall, at 11:30 am & 1:30 pm.
◆Chinese Youth League: A traditional performing arts group featuring performance highlights such as Red scarf and Spring flower dances, and a musician playing Er Hu.
Sunday 6 to Tuesday 8 July in the Turbine Hall, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.
◆Kids Activity: Make a Paper Horse: Young children make a paper horse cut-out. (The horse is a frequent theme in Chinese painting, including a kind of advancement.) Suitable for ages 8-12 years.
Sunday 28 June to Tuesday 8 July in the Turbine Hall, 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm.
◆Club Med Circus School: Learn circus skills, including the trapeze, tramp lining and magic. Note only for children over 5. There are 40 places available in each 1 hour session and these must be booked at the front desk, level 4, on the day.
Enjoy unlimited free visits and many other benefits by becoming a Family member of the Powerhouse. Our family memberships cover two adults and all children under the age of 16 years at the one address.
Members receive Power line, our monthly magazine, discounts in the shops and restaurants, as well as free admission to the Museum. All this for as little as $50.00 a year! Call (02)9217 0600 for more details.
1.When can you watch the Chinese drum dance?
A. On July 2. B. On July 3. C. On July 6. D. On July 8.
2.To learn the magic tricks, you can go to ________.
A. Kids Activity.
B. Chinese Youth League.
C. Club Med Circus School.
D. Children’s Arts Theatre.
3.What is required if you want to enjoy free visits to the Museum?
A. Calling (02)92170600.
B. Gaining family membership.
C. Coming for the holiday fun.
D. Paying powerline $50.00 a year.
书面表达
假如你是李丽，正在家乡的一所普通高中就读。最近你的叔叔给你来信，建议你到他所在城市的一所重点学校读书，并列举了那里的优势：环境优美，名师众多，教学设施先进，升学率高。请你写一封100词左右的回信表示感谢并说明拒绝去那里读书的理由。
注意：1．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
2．文章的开头和结尾已给出。
Dear Uncle，
I'm very glad to receive your letter and thank you very much for your loving care.
Best wishes!
Yours sincerely，
LiLi
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有l0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（八），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：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：l.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Life is a long journey, during that you are to experience ups and downs. Only by hold a proper attitude will you be able to control the unexpected in life. What happens years ago is still fresh in my mind. When Dad was out of work, my family was reduced to poor. The tough situation left me in low spirit. However, Mom stayed calm, working hardly in the field as usual. Whenever I complained on our difficulty, she always comforted me, “Don't lose your heart. Everything will be OK！" Then came the news Dad found another well-paid job. The experience taught me what important it is to be optimistic when in trouble.
