Question

When asked about happiness, we usually think of someth.ng extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.

For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved (毫無掩飾的).

In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it's conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.

In adulthood the things that bring deep joy—love, marriage, birth—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated(復(fù)雜的).

My definition of happiness is "the capacity for enjoyment". The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.

I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which 1 love. When the kids and my husband came home, 1 enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.

Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I don't think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her.

We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we've got to have. We're so self-conscious about our "right" to it that it's making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren't necessarily happier.

Happiness isn't about what happens to us―it's about how we see what happens to us. It's the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It's not wishing for what we don't have, but enjoying what we do possess.

51. As people grow older, they ______.

A. feel it harder to experience happiness

B. associate their happiness less with others

C. will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness

D. tend to believe responsibility means happiness

53. What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 5 and 6?

A. She cans little about ha own health

B. She enjoys the freedom of trawling

C. She is easily pleased by things in daily life.

D. She prefers getting pleasure from housework

53. What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?

A. Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness

B. Psychologists* opinion is well proved by Grandma's case.

C. Grandma often found time for social gatherings

D. Grandma's happiness came from modest expectations of life,
54. People who equal happiness with wealth and success

A. consider pressure something blocking their way

B. stress their right to happiness too much

C. arc at a loss to make correct choices

D. arc more likely to be happy

55. What can be concluded from the passage?

A. Happiness lies between the positive and the negative.

B. Each nun is the master of his own fate

C. Success leads to happiness.

D. Hippy is he who is content.

Answer 1

【語篇解讀】本文是一篇議論文。首段開門見山提出幸福是隨著年齡的增長越來越難有的一種感覺，隨后從兒童、少年、成年人、自身以及心理學家們的角度來界定何謂幸福。文章最后點明觀點。

段落	關(guān)鍵詞	大意推測
第一部分（Para. 1）	get rarer, the older	開門見山提出問題：談?wù)勑腋?/p> 年齡越大，幸福感越稀有
第二部分（Para. 2-7）	for kids; the teenager; the adults; my definition of happiness，psychologists	不同人群對幸福的界定： 兒童，青少年，成年人，我以及心理學家們對幸福的界定
第三部分（Para. 8-9）	so self-conscious, making us miserable, chase it and equal it with wealth and success, enjoying what we do possess.	得出結(jié)論： 如此下意識的的；使我們很痛苦；追求它，把它等同于財富和成功，享受我們所擁有的。

【解析】

51.A。細節(jié)判斷題。難度：較易。找到題干關(guān)鍵詞get older,定位在第一段。根據(jù)which seems to get rarer the older we get.（我們年齡越大，幸福感越稀有），鎖定正確答案A.（覺得很難體驗到幸福）。

52.C。細節(jié)理解題。難度：中等。找到題干的題眼：Para.5and 6.通讀兩個段落，第五段主要在談?wù)撟髡邔π腋＝缍ǎ合硎芪覀兯鶕碛械木褪切腋�；第六段現(xiàn)身說法，從獨享獨處到享受一家人熱熱鬧鬧的場景，告訴我們：幸福很容易，就在我們身邊。因此，正確答案：她很容易感受日常生活中的事物帶來的幸福，選項C.

53.D。推理判斷題。難度：較難。題干的題眼為Para.7.通讀完整個段落，找到結(jié)論性句子She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her（盡管她沒有休閑的娛樂時間沒有滿意的工作，但她的確有親近的朋友與家人圈，這可能是她幸福的地方吧）。由此可斷定Grandma的幸福來自于對生活的適度期望。

干擾項排除：選項A（哲學家們認為令人滿意的工作是幸福的關(guān)鍵）。由本段的第一句就知道這個說法很片面；選項B（奶奶的個案有力地證明了心理學家們的觀點）。從本段的第二句話可以看出這個說法正好與作者的觀點相反；選項C（奶奶經(jīng)常會找到參加社交的時間）文中并未提及，作者只是提及奶奶有自己的朋友圈，但這不能表明奶奶總能有時間參加社交。

54.B。細節(jié)判斷題。難度：較易。找到題干的關(guān)鍵詞equal，定位在para.8，根據(jù)We’re so self-conscious about our right to it that it’s making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success……（我們?nèi)绱丝粗貙τ谛腋５臋?quán)利以至于它使得我們很痛苦，因此，我追求它，把它等同于財富和成功），因此，鎖定答案stress their right to happiness too much（過分強調(diào)對于幸福的權(quán)利）。

55.D。主旨概括題。難度：較難。對于議論文的文章，重點在首末段。首段可能拋出問題或者提出某個觀點；末段進行總結(jié)概括。本文的首段提出：人們對于幸福的感受，隨著年齡的增長感受幸福的機會越稀有。屬于開篇提出問題。末段末句It's not wishing for what we don’t have ,but enjoying what we do possess（幸福不是渴望我們沒有的；而是享受我們所真正擁有的）。鎖定答案D。

【難句學習】

1. When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.

翻譯：當被問及幸福的時候，我們通常會想起不平凡的事物或者絕對的喜悅，這種幸福感隨著我們年齡的增大感受的機會越稀少。

分析：句子的主干是we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight；when引導的是時間狀語從句，從句省略了we are；which引導的是非限制性定語從句，先行詞為happiness。

2. It's not wishing for what we don’t have ,but enjoying what we do possess

翻譯：幸福不是渴望我們沒有的；而是享受我們所真正擁有的。

分析：本句是由連詞not……but……（不是……而是……）引導的。兩個what從句分別做wish for與enjoy的賓語從句。