Question

    Eudaimonia is an Ancient Greek word, particularly stressed by the philosophers Plato and Aristotle, which deserves far more attention than it has because it corrects the shortfalls (缺失）in one of the most central, but troubling words in our modem language: happiness.

When we nowadays try to clearly express the purpose of our lives，it is the word “happiness” that we commonly turn to. We tell ourselves and others that the most important principle for our jobs, our relationships and the conduct of our day-to-day lives is the pursuit of happiness. It sounds like an innocent enough idea, but too much reliance on the term means that we frequently unfairly tend to quit or, at least, heavily question a great many challenging but worthwhile situations. The Ancient Greeks did not believe that the purpose of life was to be happy; they proposed that it was to achieve Eudaimonia, a word which has been best translated as “fulfilment”.

What distinguishes happiness from fulfilment is pain. It is very possible to be fulfilled and—at the same time—under pressure, suffering physically or mentally, overburdened and, quite frequently, in an irritable (易怒的）mood. This is a slight psychological difference that is hard for the word “happiness” to capture, for it’s tricky to speak of being happy yet unhappy, or happy yet suffering. However, such a combination is readily accommodated within the respected and noble-sounding idea of Eudaimonia.

The word encourages us to trust that many of life’s most worthwhile projects will sometimes be in conflict with contentment, and yet will be worth pursuing. Properly exploring our professional talents, managing a household, keeping a relationship going, creating a new business venture or engaging in politics... none of these goals are likely to leave us cheerful and grinning on a daily basis. They will, in fact, involve us in all manner of challenges that will deeply exhaust and weaken us, provoke (激怒）and wound us. And yet we will perhaps, at the end of our lives, still feel that the tasks were worth undertaking. Through them, we’ll have achieved something deeper and more interesting than happiness.

With the word Eudaimonia in mind, we can stop imagining that we are aiming for a pain-free existence—and then blaming ourselves unfairly for being in a bad mood. We’ll know that we are trying to do something far more important than smile all the time: we're striving to do justice to our full human potential.

1.What do we know about “Eudaimonia” from the passage?

A.It was first created by two Greek philosophers.

B.It has received a lot of attention from the public.

C.It still has some shortfalls that need to be corrected.

D.It was regarded as the purpose of life in ancient Greece.

2.According to Paragraph 3, happiness      .

A.is the opposite of fulfillment

B.is free from physical or mental pain

C.stresses the psychological difference

D.serves as a respected and noble life goal

3.We can learn from the passage that     .

A.aiming for happiness may lead to wrong self-blaming

B.goals that wound and weaken us result in happiness

C.challenges leading to contentment are worth undertaking

D.feeling fulfilled means we should avoid tough situations

4.The passage encourages the readers to      .

A.find fulfillment with all efforts B.seek for a pain-free existence

C.keep optimistic whatever happens D.balance happiness and suffering

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。介绍了古希腊人的生活目标，Eudaimonia与happiness的区别，鼓励人们尽一切努力寻找满足感。

1.推理判断题。由第二段“The Ancient Greeks did not believe that the purpose of life was to be happy; they proposed that it was to achieve Eudaimonia, a word which has been best translated as “fulfilment”.古希腊人不相信生活的目的是快乐；他们提出，生活的目的是为了实现Eudaimonia，这个词最好翻译 理解为“满足”可知，在古希腊，Eudaimonia被认为是生活的目的。故D选项正确。

2.推理判断题。由第三段“What distinguishes happiness from fulfilment is pain. It is very possible to be fulfilled and—at the same time—under pressure, suffering physically or mentally, overburdened and, quite frequently, in an irritable mood. This is a slight psychological difference that is hard for the word “happiness” to capture”快乐与满足的区别在于痛苦。在压力下、在身体上或精神上遭受痛苦、负担过重以及经常处于易怒的情绪下，是很有可能得到满足的。这是一个微小的心理差异，这很难让“幸福”这个词捕捉到。可知,幸福没有身体或精神上的痛苦。故B选项正确。

3.推理判断题。由末段“With the word Eudaimonia in mind, we can stop imagining that we are aiming for a pain-free existence—and then blaming ourselves unfairly for being in a bad mood.”想到了eudaimonia这个词，我们就可以不用想象我们的目标是一个没有痛苦的生活，不用不公平地责怪自己心情不好。可知，追求幸福可能导致错误的自责。故A选项正确。

4.推理判断题。由第四段“The word encourages us to trust that many of life’s most worthwhile projects will sometimes be in conflict with contentment...Through them, we’ll have achieved something deeper and more interesting than happiness.”可知，这篇文章鼓励读者尽一切努力找到满足感。故A选项正确。