When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer as we get older.
For kids, happiness has a magical quality: Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved (毫不掩饰的).
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 (复杂的).
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(忽视) 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 lunchbox and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband came home, I 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 most.
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.
1. As people grow older, they _____ .| A．care less about their happiness |
| B．feel it harder to experience happiness |
| C．will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness |
| D．tend to believe responsibility means happiness |
| A．She cares little about her own health |
| B．She enjoys the freedom of traveling |
| C．She prefers getting pleasure from housework |
| D．She is easily pleased by things in daily life |
| A．stress their right to happiness too much |
| B．consider pressure something blocking their way |
| C．are at a loss to make correct choices |
| D．are more likely to be happy |
| A．Happiness lies in wealth | B．Each man is the servant of his own fate |
| C．Happy is he who is content | D．Success leads to happiness |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】English is full of colourful phrases to describe shyness. Someone shy might be called shrinking violet or a wallflower, while for especially nervous types we have the curious expression: they wouldn’t say “boo” to a goose.
None of these are traditionally seen as positive descriptions, even if you like geese. In a culture of go-getting high achievers, shy people don’t come first. Or that’s what the self-help industry would have you believe. Bookshops are filled with vital tomes (大部头书籍) that promise to help beat social fears and find success in life, love and business. That is why one book, Shrinking Violets: A Field Guide to Shyness, bucks the trend. It became a sudden success across English-language media recently for its new take-on shyness.
Author Joe Moran says that despite struggling with shyness and longing for loneliness all his life, being shy can also be “a gift”. Freed from the constant urge to participate and compete in social situations, people are liberated to look at the world in new ways, and gain fresh insights.
Indeed, many of the world’s great thinkers and artists are introverts (内向的人). Scientists Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein preferred their own company; actress Keira Knightley often finds herself tongue-tied at parties; and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling claims she used to be too nervous to even borrow a pen.
Moran told BBC Future, “I think shyness probably does turn you into an amateur anthropologist (人类学家), really — you are more likely to be an observer.”
So, while extroverts make all the noise, they don’t necessarily have the best ideas.
If you’re shy, you’ve probably known this for a long time. You just don’t shout about it.
1. Why did the author mention many famous shy people?| A．To point out the harm shyness brings. |
| B．To disconnect shyness and success. |
| C．To show the reasons for shyness. |
| D．To prove shyness contributes to science. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Critical. |
| A．praised for his grace |
| B．admired for his character |
| C．laughed at for his shyness |
| D．told off for his nervousness |
| A．Goes against the trend and succeeds. |
| B．Changes the public idea completely. |
| C．Becomes unpopular and unaccepted. |
| D．Becomes the major concern of people. |
Sometimes, you feel as if you’re on top of the world and all the questions on your maths test might seem easy. But occasionally you feel horrible, and you lose things and cannot focus on our schoolwork.
For more than 20 years, scientists have suggested that high self-esteem(自尊) is the key to success.Now, new research shows that focusing just on building self-esteem may not be helpful. In some cases, having high self-esteem can make people less likeable or more upset when they fail in something.
“Forget about self-esteem,” says Jennifer Crocker, a psychologist at the University of Michigan, US. “It’s not the important thing.”
Feeling good
Crocker’s advice may sound a bit strange. After all, feeling good can be good for you.Studies show that people with high self-esteem are less likely to be depressed, anxious, shy, or lonely than those with low self-esteem.
However, after reviewing about 18,000 studies on self-esteem, Roy Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University, has found that building up your self-esteem will not necessarily make you a better person.
He believes that violent people often have the highest self-esteem of all. He also said:“ There’s no evidence that kids with high self-esteem do better in school.”
Problems
All types of people have problems. People with high self-esteem can have big egos(自我) that can make them less likeable, said Kathleen Vohs, a psychology professor at Columbia University.People with high self-esteem tend to think more of themselves, VOhs says. People with low self-esteem are more likely to rely on their friends when they need help.
What to do
Researchers say it is best to listen to and support other people. Find positive ways to contribute to society. If you fail in something, try to learn from the experience. “The best therapy(药方) is to recognize your faults,” Vohs says. “It’s OK to say, ‘I’ m not so good at that,’ and then move on.”
1. What does the underlined part “on top of the world” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．Quite helpful. | B．Extremely happy. |
| C．Very unlucky. | D．Rather upset. |
| A．is not important at all |
| B．makes people more likeable |
| C．helps you do better at school |
| D．may not be the key to success |
| A．Feeling good doesn’t mean you lead a happy life. |
| B．People with high self-esteem always seek others’ help. |
| C．People with high self-esteem tend to be selfish. |
| D．People with low self-esteem are often more popular. |
| A．with high self-esteem |
| B．with low self-esteem |
| C．who contribute significantly to society |
| D．who are in need of support |
【推荐3】Are you happy?
Happiness is important in our life. Are you happy? Do you want to be happy every day? Follow me, and you will lead a happy life.
Smile.
It is not hard to be happy.
| A．Happiness is close to you as long as you keep doing the above three things every day. |
| B．Be confident. |
| C．When you meet difficulties, what do you do? |
| D．A smile can make you strong, and a smile can also make you happy. |
| E．Being happy is the only important thing in one’s life. |
| F．Talk to others. |
| G．Do your best. |
