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Every January for the past 20 years, I have taken a few moments to consider the answer to the big question, “What is the meaning of life?”. The reason I ask this question year after year is that my answer changes over time, which I find interesting and insightful. There is no objectively correct answer, I believe—only answers that are right for you at any given time. This question is so important—philosophically and practically in terms of how we live our lives— yet we are unable to really think about the answer.
Doing this simple exercise might even help you live longer. According to two separate studies —one with 9,000 participants around age 65 and another with 6,000 people between 20 and 75—those who could explain the meaning and purpose of their lives died later than those who saw their lives as aimless. It didn’t seem to matter what meaning participants ascribed to their lives, whether it was personal (such as happiness), or creative (such as making art). It was having an answer to the question that mattered. The connection to longevity（长寿）could be causal—having purpose may help one manage daily stress, as other research has shown. But it could also be that those who think about life’s meaning are more likely to do other activities that promote good health.
Great thinkers have given the question thought. Leo Tolstoy wrote, “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” Albert Einstein said: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” My favorite answer, though, is “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.”
Some have concluded that life’s meaning is subjective. “There is not one standard meaning for all,” author Anaïs Nin once said. “There is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” I agree, which is why I recommend formulating（构想）your own answer. Taking a few moments to record your response to the question “What is the meaning of life?” is the kind of simple exercise that effectively adds meaning to your life.
And then I suggest answering it every year. Looking back at how your thinking has evolved and been influenced by experience tells you something more about yourself. Then, it gets you closer to a deeper self-understanding.
If you do the annual “meaning” exercise, I suggest not looking at past answers before answering anew. I write them down on the same now-yellowing piece of paper and keep it someplace safe.
The last suggestion is to turn your answer into action. If you conclude, as Tolstoy and Einstein did, that the meaning of life is helping others, that should help motivate you to do more of it.
This is not a theoretical exercise. Whatever small step you take toward finding the meaning of life is a step toward a more meaningful, and longer life. Why not do this simple annual “meaning” exercise from now on?
Knowing Your 1.in Life Can Help You Live Longer | |
Introduction | Many of us 2.to consider the answer to the question “What is the meaning of life?”, though it is important. |
3.of studies | Those who know the meaning and purpose of life enjoy longevity. With purpose, they may 4.with stress and get involved in activities 5. good health. |
Answers to the question | Some famous people think the meaning of life is 6.others. I think a meaningful life is a life with purpose. |
Suggestions | ★Add meaning to your life by recording the answers, which7. depending on individuals. ★Answer the question yearly, which helps you 8.yourself better. ★Don’t 9.to the previous ones while forming a new answer. ★Turn your answer into action, doing what you think right and meaningful. |
Conclusion | Your ever-changing answers may help you live longer and better. Every small step you take toward finding the answers 10.. |
In my class in middle school, there was a girl who was considered the outcast of our class. No one actually knows how this exclusion originated, but we all followed it for no reason at all. One day after lunch, we girls sat on the track field, talking about little things that happened in our little lives. Someone brought her up, and soon the topic transformed to mocking the funny texture of her hair, the awkward way she walked and…. I felt extremely uncomfortable but kept silent, because I didn’t want to be the one “supporting” the common enemy. After all, it’s just a mild ranting session among a trusted group of friends, why should I bring unnecessary tension?
Suddenly, one of my friends pointed her finger towards somewhere behind me. All of us turned around and saw that exact girl, hand still in the air, with a twisted look on her face. She lowered her hand in slow motion, blinked really hard for a few seconds, then turned around and ran off. For a second I wanted to stand up and chase her down to tell her that no one meant what they said, and that she is an amazing person being who she is. But my legs felt so heavy: I didn’t want to make a fool out of myself—why bother taking care of the class clown（小丑）? People would think that I was crazy as well!
No one spoke a word for a long time; we were all so caught up in our thoughts. I tried opening my mouth but couldn’t—no words were coming out. Then one person started talking about the weather, and all of us were more than glad to follow this flow.
A few weeks later, the teacher told us that a classmate dropped out of school—it was that girl. Her parents told the school that it was the peer pressure that made her want to leave. The teacher wanted to know who the bully was. Again, no one spoke a word. Perhaps it was exactly this cold, hard silence that drove her away. I certainly did not raise my hand—I had never even said anything bad about her; it was my friends who loved to make fun of her awkwardness every day.
Surely, I didn’t bully her physically or with my language, but I kept silent when others did. By failing to stand up for her and offering her support, I was giving tacit（心照不宣的）agreement. This agreement made others think that it was okay to mistreat her, because “no one cares anyways”. Perhaps I did realize I was bullying her—but by convincing myself that I had nothing to do with her leaving, I wouldn’t have to bear the burden of heavy shame on my shoulders.
Real life is not like a Hollywood movie, and the protagonists don’t always have the courage to compensate for our mistakes. In that classroom, my feet were glued to the ground once again, thinking of all the possibilities that could embarrass me in front of the whole class. What if she doesn’t appreciate my effort and just walk off? What if she misunderstands my actions as sympathy and gets upset? Worst of all, what if my own group mates disapprove of my decision? Am I really willing to risk my friendship just to help out one girl that I’ve seldom spoken to?
To be honest, I still don’t have answers to these questions. I don’t know if the answers to those questions even exist. However, what I do know is that nothing will change if I keep thinking and never take actions. Talking to someone in need of support would mean the world to them, while it takes little to none effort for me. So what if those actions are under appreciated? At least I will be satisfied knowing that I did the right thing.
1.What can we conclude from the underlined sentences in Paragraph 2?
A. The author cared about others’ opinions. B. The author’s legs gave out after running.
C. The author was fooled by the classmates. D. The author didn’t like the class clown.
2.Why did the girl drop out of school?
A. Because she had to support her family. B. Because she was bullied by her peers.
C. Because she was scolded by her teacher. D. Because she had conflicts with her peers.
3.Seeing the girl being bullied, the author felt ___________.
A. cheerful and amused B. surprised and stressed
C. frightened and awkward D. uncomfortable and concerned
4.The author didn’t support the girl for the following reasons EXCEPT that ___________.
A. the author wanted to follow the flow
B. the author didn’t want to betray friends
C. the author was prevented by the group mates
D. the author worried about the girl’s misunderstanding
5.Who does the underlined word “protagonists” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
A. people living in real life B. people in Hollywood movies
C. people who are bullied D. people who respect others
6.What will the writer probably do when meeting the same situation next time?
A. She will keep silent and walk away. B. She will stand up for her group mates.
C. She will report the case to the teacher. D. She will not tolerate bullying again.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may soon be a useful tool for doctors. It may help them better understand and treat diseases like breast cancer in ways that were never before possible.
Rishi Rawat teaches AI at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Clinical Science Center in Los Angeles. He is part of a team of scientists who are researching how AI and machine learning can more easily recognize cancerous growths in the breast. Rawat provides information about cancer cells to a computer. He says this data helps the machine learn. “...You can put the data into them and they will learn the patterns and the pattern recognition that’s important to making decisions.”
David Agus is another USC researcher. He believes that “machines are not going to take the place of doctors.” He adds, “Computers will not treat patients, but they will help make certain decisions and look for things that the human brain can’t recognize these patterns by itself.”
Once a confirmed cancerous growth is removed, doctors still have to treat the patient to reduce the risk of cancer returning. The form of treatment depends on the kind of cancer. Currently, researchers take a thin piece of tissue, put it on a small piece of glass and add color to better see the cells. This process could take days or even longer. Scientists say artificial intelligence can do something better than just count cells. Through machine learning, it can recognize complex patterns, or structures, and learn how the cells are organized. The hope is that machines will soon be able to make a quick diagnosis（诊断）of cancer that is free of human mistakes.
“All of a sudden, we have the computing power to really do it in real time...We couldn’t have done this, we didn’t have the computing power to do this several years ago, but now it’s all changed.” Agus adds that the process could be done “for almost no cost in the developing world.” He says that having a large amount of information about patients is important for a machine to effectively do its job in medicine.
A doctor faces a series of critical decisions every day. The best a doctor can do is to make those decisions as informed as possible. Some of them are still hard to make. A doctor can ask people of whom he values their opinions and that’s it. Imagine discussing these with an AI system that is even more rational（理性的）than anyone else.
The University of Southern California researchers are now only studying breast cancer. But doctors predict artificial intelligence will one day make a difference in all forms of cancer.
1.According to Rawat and David Agus, AI can be used to ___________.
A. take the place of doctors B. treat all forms of cancer
C. remove doctors’ mistakes D. help doctors diagnose cancer
2.From the passage, we learn that doctors may benefit from AI because it can ___________.
A. use data to recognize patterns of cancer
B. decide on the form of cancer treatment
C. reduce the risk of cancer returning
D. monitor the medical procedure
3.What does the underlined word “critical” in Paragraph 6 mean?
A. reliable B. important
C. evident D. doubtful
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A. How Do AI Systems Work? B. Can AI Cure Cancer?
C. Can AI Make Doctors Better? D. How Can Doctors Use AI?
Beyoncé Knowles can do something that many humans struggle with: sing and dance at the same time. But, it turns out this great ability is not unique to humans. The superb lyrebird, already known to be a gifted singer, can perform coordinated(协调的)songanddance routines(一套舞蹈动作)that put most humans to shame.
The superb lyrebird is one of only two lyrebird species living in Australia, the other named Albert’s lyrebird. Male lyrebirds have tails in the shape of an ancient musical instrument when spread out. Like most animals with beautiful body parts, the males use their tails to attract females. Each one sets up a small mound(小丘)on the forest floor, where he walks around proudly and sings. He also shows his tail by holding it over his head.
Lyrebirds are gifted mimics(模仿者), so their songs combine their own calls, the songs of other species, and sounds they have heard in the forest. That would be enough showing off for other animals, but male superb lyrebirds also dance.
Anastasia Dalziell of the Australian National University in Canberra filmed 12 lyrebirds in the wild. She found that males only danced during four song types, and that each song type was accompanied by a specific move. “Lyrebirds match different dance styles to different types of songs, ”she says. For example, when the male sang a series of rapid notes he also stepped to the side and held his tail wide. Another song type was accompanied by jumping and moving up and down, with the tail held narrow.
“Our results suggest that the coordination between song and dance—like movements we see in humans can occur in other animals,” says Dalziell. Female lyrebirds might prefer males that are better at coordinating song and dance, although there is no evidence of that yet.
1.Beyoncé Knowles is mentioned in Paragraph 1 to ___________.
A. put most humans to shame
B. introduce the topic of lyrebirds
C. show the author’s admiration for her
D. share the experience of the famous singer
2.According to the passage, male lyrebirds attract females by ___________.
A. performing on a mound and showing their tails
B. walking in the forest with the heads held up
C. having tails shaped like a musical instrument
D. singing and dancing with other male lyrebirds
3.What may Anastasia Dalziell agree with?
A. Both human beings and animals are born singers and dancers.
B. Female Albert’s lyrebirds are fond of copying and showing off.
C. Male superb lyrebirds are gifted at coordinating song and dance.
D. Male lyrebirds can sing four songs, each accompanied by a move.
Some people find visiting ordinary museums to be a bit dull. Fortunately for them, there are unusual museums to check out, such as underwater museums!
How can you visit and what can you see?
Many underwater museums are supported by companies that offer guided tours. A trained guide leads groups around a stunning underwater display of statues in each museum. Depending on the depth of the museum, visitors may be able to view the sculptures from a glass bottomed boat or by swimming on the surface. Other underwater museums are deeper and are most accessible to scuba divers.
Why are the museums underwater?
Underwater museums have many functions. One of their aims is to create a man-made reef environment where sea creatures can live. That’s why some of the museums are located in areas that were damaged by hurricanes or are considered underwater ‘‘deserts’’. The statues in the museum are designed in a way that encourages the growth of coal and plant life. Over time, the statues and plants attract a growing number of fish to the area.
Florida, U.S.A.
Florida is home to different types of underwater museums. The state’s newest underwater museum, the Underwater Museum of Art, can be found off the coast of Grayton Beach. This part of the Gulf Mexico is an underwater desert, so creators hope that the exhibit will improve the marine ecosystem.
Cancun, Mexico
For years, Cancun has been a popular tourist destination. And one of the major draws is the water. The Museo Subacuatico de Arte is an ideal place for snorkelers and first-time divers. There they can enjoy more than 500 statues that help to make up a man-made reef. This museum was created to offer visitors a replacement for the areas natural reef, which has been damaged.
Canary Island, Spain
Museo Atlantico, off the coast of Lanzarote, has an impressive display of more than 300 statues. They were created by the same sculptor who made the Cancun statues. They focus on man’s interaction with the marine world.
1.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. If the underwater museum is very deep, viewers can pay a visit by boat or by swimming.
B. Underwater museums are partly intended to rebuild the damaged ecosystem in the sea.
C. The underwater museum in Cancun gives tourists a chance to view the natural reef.
D. States in Museo Atlantico are similar to those of Cancun because of the same sculptor.
2.What is the author’s purpose of writing this essay?
A. To persuade. B. To amuse.
C. To inspire. D. To inform.
Without warning, my father would knock on the door in the middle of night, drunken and begging my mother to open it. Later on, they lived their ______ lives and my mother was ____my family independently.
My father was always claiming he had been planning to do something for us, but he had no ______. The man who was ______ to love us, in fact, lacked the ______ of what it truly meant to love a child.
Maybe it was his complicated relationship to his father that made him ______. Maybe it was the pain ______ with a life of misfortune. Who knows? Whatever it was, it stole him from us, and ______ from me. Not understanding me, he simply ______ me—not just emotionally, but ______ as well. Never once did he hug me.
My best memories of him were from his ______ at participation. Once every month or two, he would ______ and drive us to Trucker’s Paradise. To me, the games were fun but easily forgotten. It was the ______ of my father that was most treasured.
It wasn’t until I was much older that I would find evidence of my father’s love.
When my favorite personal computer came onto the market, I convinced myself that I had to have it even though its price was far ______ my mother’s reach. I mowed （割草）every yard I could find that summer, ______ it still wasn’t enough. Then my dad agreed to help me ____the rest of the money by selling watermelons. This was the first time that I had ever spent time alone with him. He laughed and repeatedly ______ me as “my boy”, a phrase he relayed with a sense of ______.
It just goes to show that however distant the father and however broken the ______, there is still a need for even the smallest bit of ______ of a father’s love. Although he had never told me that he loved me, I would regard that day as the greatest evidence of that fact.
1.A. brief B. separate C. severe D. unbearable
2.A. wishing for B. looking for C. applying for D. providing for
3.A. intention B. permission C. possession D. attention
4.A. advised B. required C. supposed D. instructed
5.A. allocation B. affection C. guarantee D. comprehension
6.A. cautious B. distant C. greedy D. selfish
7.A. connected B. related C. faced D. decorated
8.A. directly B. officially C. temporarily D. particularly
9.A. supported B. ignored C. appreciated D. blamed
10.A. physically B. mentally C. spiritually D. psychologically
11.A. comments B. responses C. attempts D. focuses
12.A. light us up B. bring us up C. put us up D. pick us up
13.A. absence B. reference C. presence D. preference
14.A. beyond B. within C. below D. over
15.A. otherwise B. yet C. so D. or
16.A. raise B. rise C. arise D. arouse
17.A. recognized B. regarded C. introduced D. treated
18.A. shame B. pride C. achievement D. guilt
19.A. surroundings B. feeling C. gesture D. bond
20.A. warning B. signal C. evidence D. mark
