Question

These days, it seems that almost all of us are too serious．My older daughter often says to me, “Daddy, you’ve got that serious look again．” Even those of us who are committed to non-seriousness are probably too serious．People are frustrated and anxious about almost everything -- being five minutes late, witnessing someone look at us wrong or say the wrong thing, paying bills, waiting in line, overcooking a meal, making an honest mistake -- you name it, and we all lose perspective（理性判斷） over it．

The root of being anxious is our unwillingness to accept life as being different, in any way, from our expectation．Very simply, we want things to be a certain way but they’re not a certain way．Life is simply as it is．Perhaps Benjamin Franklin said it best: “Our limited perspective, our hopes and fears become our measure of life, and when circumstances don’t fit our ideas, they become our difficulties．” We spend our lives wanting things, people, and events to be just as we want them to be -- and when they’re not, we fight and we suffer．

The first step in recovering from over-seriousness is to admit that you have a problem．You have to want to change, to become more easygoing．You have to see that your own anxiety is largely of your own creation -- it’s made up of the way you have set up your life and the way you react to it．

The next step is to understand the link between your expectations and your frustration level．Whenever you expect something to be a certain way and it isn’t, you’re upset and you suffer．On the other hand, when you let go of your expectations, when you accept life as it is, you’re free．

A good exercise is to try to approach a single day without expectation．Don’t expect people to be friendly．When they’re not, you won’t be surprised or bothered; if they are, you’ll be delighted．Don’t expect your day to be problem-free．Instead, as problems come up, say to yourself, “Ah, another barrier to overcome．” As you approach your day in this manner you’ll notice how elegant life can be．Rather than fighting against life, you’ll be dancing with it．Pretty soon, with practice, you’ll lighten up your entire life．And when you lighten up, life is a lot more fun．

1.Why are people easily frustrated and anxious these days?

A．Because their children are disappointing．

B．Because they have to look serious in public．

C．Because life is becoming a greater burden．

D．Because people have lost sensible judgment．

2.According to Benjamin Franklin, what was the cause of over-seriousness?

A．The fact that people’s perspective, hopes and fears are limited．

B．The fact that people can’t change life itself．

C．The fact that things fail to meet people’s expectations．

D．The fact that circumstances turn out to be difficult．

3.In what pattern is this article developed?

A．Phenomenon, causes and solutions．

B．Problems, explanation and conclusion．

C．Examples, causes and arguments．

D．Phenomenon, analysis and conclusion．

4.What might be the best title for the passage?

A．People seem to be too serious

B．Life is simply as it is

C．Hopes can turn into difficulties

D．A good exercise removes over-seriousness

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述現(xiàn)在的人們似乎都太過嚴(yán)肅，而這種嚴(yán)肅甚至是焦慮的根源就在于生活往往與人們的期望不符，提出了三條解決辦法：承認(rèn)自己有問題，理解期望和沮喪的關(guān)系，沒有期望的過每一天。

1.．People are frustrated and anxious about almost everything……you name it, and we all lose perspective（理性判斷） over it．人們幾乎對每件事都感到很沮喪很焦慮……說起它，我們都失去了理性的判斷，可知焦慮的原因就是失去了理性的判斷，故選D

2.Our limited perspective, our hopes and fears become our measure of life, and when circumstances don’t fit our ideas, they become our difficulties．我們有限的視角，我們的希望以及恐懼變成了我們對生命衡量的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，當(dāng)情況不符合我們的想法時，他們就變成了我們的困難，可知他認(rèn)為焦慮的起因就是事情不符合我們的期望，故選C

3.The first step …..第四段The next step….闡述了解決的辦法，可知本文就是按照現(xiàn)象、原因、辦法的模式進(jìn)行的，故選A

4.These days, it seems that almost all of us are too serious．這些天，我們大多數(shù)似乎都太過嚴(yán)肅，之后本文就描述了現(xiàn)在人們?nèi)菀捉箲]的現(xiàn)狀，產(chǎn)生焦慮的原因以及解決辦法，都是圍繞太過嚴(yán)肅展開，故最佳標(biāo)題就是人們太過嚴(yán)肅了，故選A

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