Question

    So many of us hold on to little resentments (怨恨) that may have come from an argument, a misunderstanding, or some other painful event. Stubbornly, we wait for someone else to reach out to us—believing this is the only way we can forgive or rekindle a friendship or family relationship.

An acquaintance of mine, whose health isn’t very good, recently told me that she hadn’t spoken to her son in almost three years. She said that she and her son had had a disagreement about his wife and that she wouldn’t speak to him again unless he called first. When I suggested that she be the one to reach out, she resisted initially and said, “I can’t do that. He’s the one who should apologize.” She was literally willing to die before reaching out to her only son. After a little gentle encouragement, however, she did decide to be the first one to reach out. To her amazement, her son was grateful for her willingness to call and offered an apology of his own. As is usually the case when someone takes the chance and reaches out, everyone wins.

Whenever we hold on to our anger, we turn “small stuff” into really “big stuff” in our minds. We start to believe that our positions are more important than our happiness. They are not. If you want to be a more peaceful person, you must understand that being right is almost never more important than allowing yourself to be happy. The way to be happy is to let go, and reach out. Let other people be right. This doesn’t mean that you’re wrong. Everything will be fine. You’ll experience the peace of letting go, as well as the joy of letting others be right.

You’ll also notice that, as you reach out and let others be “right,” they will become less defensive and more loving toward you. They might even reach back. But if for some reason they don’t, that’s okay too. You’ll have the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your part to create a more loving world, and certainly you’ll be more peaceful yourself.

1.The underlined word “rekindle” in Paragraph 1 probably means “________”.

A.develop B.recover

C.accept D.replace

2.According to the passage, the author’s friend never spoke to her son for three years because ________.

A.she had got an argument with her husband

B.she had disagreed about her son’s marriage

C.she had got an argument about her daughter-in-law

D.she had disliked her son’s wife for many years

3.Which of the following is NOT the reason for people to be unwilling to apologize first?

A.People believe that they are right.

B.People always wait for others to offer an apology first.

C.People consider the position more important than happiness.

D.People want to get an inner satisfaction.

4.The purpose of the passage is to ________.

A.instruct the readers how to apologize

B.teach the readers how to gain inner peace

C.tell the readers to reach out first when there are painful events

D.inform the readers the importance of being forgiving

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇议论文。我们许多人都有一些小小的怨恨，这些怨恨可能来自于争论、误解或其他痛苦的事情。这篇文章的目的是告诉读者，当有痛苦的事情发生时，要先伸出援助之手。

1.词义猜测题。根据第一段中Stubbornly, we wait for someone else to reach out to us—believing this is the only way we can forgive or rekindle a friendship or family relationship. 我们固执地等待着别人向我们伸出援手——相信这是我们能够原谅或重燃友谊或家庭关系的唯一途径。由此推知划线词的意思是“恢复，重新获得”。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段中An acquaintance of mine, whose health isn’t very good, recently told me that she hadn’t spoken to her son in almost three years. She said that she and her son had had a disagreement about his wife and that she wouldn’t speak to him again unless he called first.可知，根据这篇文章，作者的朋友三年没有和她的儿子说话，因为她和她的儿媳发生了争吵。故选C。

3.推理判断题。根据第一段中的Stubbornly, we wait for someone else to reach out to us第三段中We start to believe that our positions are more important than our happiness.和第四段中You’ll also notice that, as you reach out and let others be “right,” they will become less defensive and more loving toward you.可知，“人们想获得内心的满足”不是人们不愿意先道歉的原因。故选D。

4.推理判断题。根据第三段中If you want to be a more peaceful person, you must understand that being right is almost never more important than allowing yourself to be happy. The way to be happy is to let go, and reach out. Let other people be right.可知，这篇文章的目的是告诉读者，当有痛苦的事情发生时，要先伸出援助之手。故选C。