Joy is an emotion experienced by many but understood by few. It often refers to a broad sense of being satisfied with life that appears after experiencing a sense of awe or wonder. It also relates to accomplishing something we’ve wanted for a long time. It’s usually mistaken for happiness, but joy is experienced naturally, while happiness is often pursued.
Joy triggers (引发) a series of physical and psychological changes that can improve our health. When joyous, our breathing becomes faster, our heartbeat increases, and our chest and entire body feel warmer. These changes make our body prepared for movement and also make us feel more mentally prepared to take on life’s challenges. These changes in body and mind are also associated with improved mood.
Interestingly, joy is both a state and a trait (特质). This means that while some of us only experience it as a result of a joyful situation, others have a capacity for it, that is to say, they’re able to experience joy regardless of whether they’ve encountered something joyful. Some research suggests that this capacity is genetic, with estimates that about 30% of people have this “gift for joy”. This means they’re hardly influenced by their external environment and may find it easier to experience joy.
But just because some people may find it easier to experience joy, that doesn’t mean we can do nothing to help boost our experience of it. Sharing and preparing food with others can help us experience more joy, as it can enhance what’s known as psychological flourishing — the highest level of wellbeing. Researchers also find that doing exercise in company with other people or accomplishing an exercise-related goal we never thought we were capable of can lead to joy. Another simple way to boost feelings of joy is by writing down how you feel. In one experiment, participants who spent 20 minutes a day writing about positive experiences for three months reported better moods compared with participants who wrote about different topics.
However, while joy is wonderful to experience, it isn’t the only emotion we’ll feel in our life. It’s important to embrace all the emotions we experience — be that sadness, anger, happiness or joy.
1. What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Joy. | B．Sense. | C．Awe. | D．Wonder. |
| A．make our breath faster | B．increase our heartbeat |
| C．prepare our body for movement | D．make us feel challenged |
| A．Because it’s a result of a joyful situation. |
| B．Because it’s an experience of few people. |
| C．Because it’s a general capacity. |
| D．Because it’s a genetic talent. |
| A．Food is an important source of joy. |
| B．It’s joyful to exercise with other people. |
| C．Being a writer makes you have better moods. |
| D．Joy should be valued more than other emotions. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Should we focus on our goal, or on the process?
What happened to Brenda Martinez, a US Olympic runner, may provide us with the answer. She lost her balance in the 800-meter run and failed to qualify for the Olympics. Instead of focusing on her failure, she prepared to win in the next race. “I just quickly let go of what happened in the 800m and got back to my routine, focusing on all the little things I could do to give me the best chance of running well later in the week,” she told New York Magazine. She said it was this mindset that led to her winning third place in the 1500-meter race about a week later to qualify for the Olympics in Rio. Instead of devoting herself to the goal of participating in the Olympics, she concentrated on the process.
There is a problem with setting goals. Researchers from Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern, found that overemphasizing goals based on measurable outcomes often leads to risk-taking, unethical (不道德的) behavior and reduced motivation. Their results were published in a Harvard Business School report titled “Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting.”
When you become overly focused on achieving the goal, you may lose sight of your original purpose for accomplishing the goal in the first place. Another danger is actually completing the goal without setting a plan for what’s next. For example, some marathon runners experience what’s called the “post-race blues”. Achieving your goal may cause you to drop the good habits that got you there in the first place. Dieters often experience this in what’s called “yo-yo dieting” when they drop down to a desired weight, but then gain all the weight back when they resume (重新开始) their bad habits.
“After you set a goal, it’s best to shift your focus from the goal itself to the process that gives you the best chance of achieving it and to judge yourself based on how well you complete that process, ” columnist Brad Stulberg wrote on the website The Cut.
Ultimately, changing your attention from goals to the process will cause you to achieve little victories on your way to accomplishing long-term goals. Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School psychology professor, wrote that focusing on this process left you with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, regardless of the measurable outcome.
1. Why is Brenda Martinez’s experience mentioned in Paragraph 2?| A．To show opportunity favors the prepared mind. |
| B．To describe how important it is to set big goals. |
| C．To suggest learning from failure can bring success. |
| D．To show how focusing on the process can lead to success. |
| A．The use of unfair means. | B．Ignoring the whole picture. |
| C．Overestimating the setbacks. | D．Being stressed by the risks involved. |
| A．we can’t focus on the goal too much. |
| B．we must keep in mind why we set the goal |
| C．we should resume our habits when completing the goal |
| D．we should accept it is normal to feel down after success |
| A．Ways of judging a goal. | B．Ways to set long-term goals. |
| C．The best chance of achieving goals. | D．Benefits of focusing on the process. |
It was a hot July day. The five boys and I wanted to find some new tricks to play. “Hey!” Ned said, “We haven’t climbed the cliff for a long while.” “Let’s go!” said someone else. And off they went. I hesitated. I longed to be brave and active, like them, but I’d been a sickly child most of my eight years and my mother often told me not to adventure.
“Come on!” called Jerry, my best friend. “Just because you’ve been sick is no reason to be timid.” “I’m coming!” I yelled, and ran along after them.
Through the park and into the woods, we finally approached the cliff, which was only about 60 feet high, but to me it just seemed impossible because it was almost vertical (垂直的).
One by one, the other boys began to climb upward. Then trembling and sweating, I began to climb, my heart beating widely in my skinny chest. At some point, I looked back and was horrified. The ground at the base of the cliff seemed very far below; one slip and I would fall. Soon, the boys were u to the top. Then they left, leaving me clinging (紧握) to the rock alone.
I looked down and was overcome by dizziness: I could never climb back down. It was much too far to go and I would fall and die. But the way up to the top was even worse — higher, steeper and more dangerous; I would never make it.
Time passed and it was getting dark. I began to sob.
After what seemed one hundred years, I heard my father’s comforting voice: “Come on down, boy.”
“No, I can’t,” I howl. “It’s too far, it is too hard, I can’t do it.”
“Listen to me,” my father said. “Don’t think about how far it is and all you have to think about is taking one little step.” I inched backward. Eventually I took the last step down onto rocks at the bottom.
Now whenever I’m faced with a frightening situation, I’ll remind myself not to look at the rocks far below, but at the first small and relatively easy step, feeling a sense of accomplishment with each move, until I have done what I wanted to do.
1. Why did the writer hesitate to climb the cliff at first?(no more than 10 words)2. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 2 probably mean? (no more than 2 words)
3. How does the writer like the cliff?(no more than 10 words)
4. What is the embarrassing situation the writer have to face in Paragraph 5? (no more than 15 words)
5. What’s your attitude towards “fear” in life? Please explain.(no more than 20 words)
【推荐3】The day I first came across a harp (竖琴) is a memory stored by all my senses. In contrast to the vivid color in which I recall this first encounter, I still remember my parents faces turning pale when I announced “I’m going to play the harp!” My parents’ faces reflected then financial fears. But they still rented me a little harp and hired a man to teach me.
I felt complete every time I played the harp. Then something happened: sheet music. Suddenly I had to learn this foreign language in order to continue to play. What was once an effortless pleasure turned into a constant struggle. My dyslexic (诵读困难的) brain fed on the beauty of the music but fought with the way it was taught. I soon found myself stuck in a love-hate relationship.
For my 16th birthday, my parents used their savings to buy me a harp, in the hope that it might settle my relationship with it. But in the weeks that followed the harp exploded.
The remains of the harp sat at the bottom of our stairs for several weeks. Eventually, my father and I built a fire to burn it. It felt strange to burn something that once represented so much, and we both sat there staring in silence. My father said “I know you find it hard to read music. But have you ever thought about just playing?” What he said changed everything for me, “Yeah, but I don’t have a harp anymore.”
Two weeks later, an old and small harp turned up. I threw away all my music books and started playing by ear and from the heart. All the passion came back. Music is so much more than dots (小圆点) on a page. If you feel it and are excited by it, stick to it. Had I let traditional music teaching techniques put me off playing the harp, I would have lost a part of myself.
1. What was the author’s parents’ reaction to her decision?| A．They were excited and hopeful about it | B．They purchased her a harp immediately |
| C．They showed concern but agreed to it | D．They hesitated over it for a long time |
| A．It took away her enjoyment of playing the harp | B．It was beneficial to foreign language learning |
| C．It led to her encountering difficulty in reading | D．It was an effective way of appreciating music |
| A．Astonished | B．Sorrowful | C．Frightened. | D．disappointed. |
| A．Hard work pays off | B．Strike while the iron is hot |
| C．The simplest way is the best way | D．Never give up on what you really want to do |
【推荐1】The Great Barrier Reef's outlook remains “very poor” despite coral (珊瑚) recovery over the past year, Australian government scientists said Monday, just days before a UNESCO ruling on the site's world heritage (遗产) status.
The United Nations cultural agency recommended last month that the world's largest reef (珊瑚礁) system be placed on its endangered list because of damage to the corals largely caused by climate change.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) said the corals were now in a “recovery window” after a decade of harmful heat stress and cyclones (旋风). But such opportunities were becoming rarer due to the influence of climate change, the government agency, which has monitored the reef for 35 years, said in its annual report released today. “The increasing emergence of climate-related extreme weather events and starfish outbreaks is causing more severe and frequent pressures, giving the reef fewer opportunities like this to recover,”CEO Paul Hardisty said. The scientists surveyed 127 reef sites in 2021 and found hard coral cover had increased at 69 of the 81 locations surveyed in the past two years.
Separate scientific research released last October found the 2, 300-kilometre (1, 400 miles) system had lost half its corals since 1995, with a series of ocean heatwaves causing mass coral death.
Britta Schaffelke, research program director at AIMS, said the latest findings provided a slight hope that the reef still has the power of recovering. But she added that its future is still very poor because of the dangers of climate change and other factors that are affecting the reef.
UNESCO has urged Australia to take urgent climate action but the government has long resisted calls to commit to net zero emissions (排放) by 2050. The government has said it hopes to meet the target “as soon as possible” without harming its economy, insisting dealing with climate change requires a global effort. The reef was worth about US $4. 8 billion a year in tourism for the Australian economy and there are fears that an “in danger” listing could weaken its tourist appeal.
1. What is the major cause of the damage to the corals?| A．The climate change. | B．Lack of money. |
| C．Over development. | D．Too many tourists. |
| A．The result of the survey. |
| B．The efforts AIMS has made. |
| C．The slight chance of the recovery. |
| D．The terrible situation of the climate. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Positive. |
| C．Intolerant. | D．Anxious. |
| A．Australia wants to put the reef on the endangered list. |
| B．The Australian government has ignored UNESCO's demand. |
| C．Australia hopes to keep a balance between emission target and its economy. |
| D．The Australian government refuses to take its share of responsibility of climate change. |
【推荐2】Recently, some scientists have created a new type of rice that not only has a meaty pink color but is also packed with beef protein (蛋白质) and fat cells (细胞).
Rice is already one of the most nutritious foods available in nature, but thanks to some scientific ‘magic’, it could soon become an available, sustainable alternative to meat. The researchers managed to create a type of rice laced (添加) with beef protein and fat cells. The new pink rice has 8 percent more protein and 7 percent more fat than regular rice, and while it doesn’t yet taste like beef, it does carry a “unique smell, including a slight taste which is characteristic of meat”. Hopefully, this new pink rice could one day become a complete meal by itself, ensuring a rich, sustainable food supply for the whole world and reducing the food shortage stress in the world.
“Imagine obtaining all the nutrients we need from cell-cultured protein rice,” said Park So-hyeon, co-author of the study. “Rice already has a high nutrient level, but adding protein and fat from animals can further improve it.”
The rice is firmer and crisper than natural grains, and when cooked they remain their traditional appearance. While the rice doesn’t really taste like beef yet, it “offers a pleasant and new flavor experience,” and pairs well with a variety of dishes.
For their first experiments, scientists used cells from hanwoo cattle killed at the local butchery, but in the future, they plan to use sustainable supplies of cells that can be maintained in the lab. They are also exploring the possibility of lacing the rice with other types of meat or fish, in order to meet different tastes. For now, the percentage of protein in the new rice is still relatively low. To actually replace meat, researchers would need to increase protein content significantly.
1. What can we know about the new type of rice?| A．It tastes like beef. | B．It looks better. |
| C．It has replaced meat. | D．It contains more fat. |
| A．It may bring down the food cost. |
| B．It may help people become stronger. |
| C．It may help ensure world food safety. |
| D．It may satisfy the tastes of different people. |
| A．The disadvantages of the new rice. |
| B．The tastes the new rice has already had. |
| C．The ways the scientists made the new rice. |
| D．The scientists’ plan to improve the new rice. |
| A．To advertise a new type of rice. | B．To call on people to save food. |
| C．To compare different kinds of rice. | D．To introduce the findings of a study. |
【推荐3】In Japan many workers for large corporations have a guarantee of lifetime employment. They will not be laid off during recessions or when the tasks they perform are taken over by robots. To some observers, this is capitalism at its best, because workers are treated as people not things. Others see it as necessarily inefficient and believe it cannot continue if Japan is to remain competitive with foreign corporations more concerned about profits and less concerned about people.
Defenders of the system argue that those who call it inefficient do not understand how it really works. In the first place not every Japanese worker has the guarantee of a lifetime job. The lifetime employment system includes only “regular employees.” Many employees do not fall into this category, including all women. All businesses have many part time and temporary employees. These workers are hired and laid off during the course of the business cycle just as employees in the United States are. These “irregular workers” make up about 10 percent of the nonagricultural work force. Additionally, Japanese firms maintain some flexibility through the extensive use of subcontractors. This practice is much more common in Japan than in the United States.
The use of both subcontractors and temporary workers has increased markedly in Japan since the 1974-1975 recession. All this leads some people to argue that the Japanese system really is not all that different from the American system. During recessions Japanese corporations lay off temporary workers and give less business to subcontractors. In the United States, corporations lay off those workers with the least working experience. The difference then is probably less than the term “lifetime employment” suggests, but there still is a difference. And this difference cannot be understood without looking at the values of Japanese society. The relationship between employer and employee cannot be explained in purely contractual terms. Firms hold on to the employees and that employees stay with one firm. There are also practical reasons for not jumping from job to job. Most retirement benefits come from the employer. Changing jobs means losing these benefits. Also, teamwork is an essential part of Japanese production. Moving to a new firm means adapting to a different team and at least temporarily, lower productivity and lower pay.
1. According to the passage, a woman in Japan _________.| A．cannot get a lifetime job | B．is impossible to get a part time job |
| C．will be employed for life | D．is among the regular workers |
| A．They don’t want to lose their retirement benefits. | B．They are not adaptable people. |
| C．Any change of jobs will make them less paid. | D．They get used to the teamwork. |
| A．those who want to change jobs frequently in Japan should think twice |
| B．those who are first laid off by American corporations are temporary workers |
| C．the use of subcontractors makes Japanese firms less flexible |
| D．the Japanese system is totally different from the American system |
| A．The extremely hard situation during recessions. |
| B．The extensive use of subcontractors in Japan. |
| C．The characteristics of corporations in the United States. |
| D．The features of lifetime employment in Japan. |
