1 . Living Well with Others
A good life is one that is beneficial to living well with others, while living comfortably and honestly. However, not everyone can deal with the relationship well with others.
This article will cover some ideas you may want to consider.
Smile at those around you. It’s often been said that a smile is catching. Research suggests that’s true. Studies suggest that friendly engagement (交往) with others improves happiness levels, at least in part.
Help others. Studies have shown that helping others has a direct relation to individual happiness.
Value your friendships with others. The quality of a person’s friendship has a direct effect upon their well-being. Friends can increase a sense of your sense of belonging and purpose.
| A．Taking time to care for others has been important to understand “the good life”. |
| B．They’re looking to explore new ways to make their life better. |
| C．When meeting someone for the first time, shake hands with them. |
| D．Treat others with honesty, respect and kindness. |
| E．People are more likely to treat a smiling person better than a non-smiling person. |
| F．Treat others how you wish to be treated. |
| G．They will also help prevent you from developing bad habits. |
2 . Sometimes trees can be a little too respectful of one another’s boundaries. Or maybe they just stop growing when they get too close. The phenomenon is called crown (树冠) shyness-the tops of individual trees do not touch each other, creating a visible gap between the tree crowns.
Experts aren’t exactly sure why the naturally occurring phenomenon happens, but they’ve been studying it for decades and have a few theories. In 1955 a biologist Putz noticed that the trees, which grow close together, can rub against each other when the wind is strong enough. The resulting abrasion (磨损) helps form and maintain the shyness gaps. In 1986, this theory was backed up by Dr. Miguel Franco, who noticed that the branches of Picea sitchensis and Larix kaempferi trees suffered physical damage during abrasion, which killed the leading branches. The presence of broken tips at the points where branches meet lends support to the abrasion theory.
However, one Malaysian scholar suggests that shyness gaps result from the influences individual trees have on one another. Trees cannot move, so if they have nearby neighbors, they are forced to compete for resources, especially light. According to this theory, each tree forces its neighbors into a pattern that maximizes resource collection and minimizes harmful competition. Trees grow in the direction of light, so branches would naturally try to avoid other plants that could shade them or prevent their growth, creating a gap between the tree crowns.
Another possible reason for crown shyness is to prevent the spread of harmful insects, which could eat the tree’s leaves. Still someone believes the best scientific explanation so far is that the leaves of the tree release certain chemicals to stop other trees from growing too close.
The answer could be just one of the above, or a combination of more. But some species have been adapted to take advantage of crown shyness to grow into shapes that go well with nearby trees and therefore economic profits can be maximized out of the phenomenon.
1. What is crown shyness according to the text?| A．A behavior exhibited by insects in the crown of trees. |
| B．A disease that affects the leaves of certain tree species. |
| C．A phenomenon where trees grow taller than surrounding ones. |
| D．An occurrence where crowns of trees avoid touching each other. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Critical. | C．Tolerant. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．The blowing wind effect. | B．The release of a special chemical. |
| C．A natural way of shade avoidance. | D．An adaptation to stop insect spreading. |
| A．A further explanation of the theoretic framework. |
| B．Supporting evidence for the research conclusions. |
| C．A reasonable doubt about the research implications. |
| D．Practical application of crown shyness phenomenon. |
3 . Van Gogh painted sunflowers for the first time in the summer of 1886. Two years later, his interest appeared again after he settled in Arles. After he had invited the French artist Paul Gauguin, whom he admired, to join his Studio of the South, he began painting sunflowers to brighten up the whitewashed walls of the yellow house he was living in, not far from the town’s railway station.
Gauguin accepted Van Gogh’s invitation. When he began dragging his heels, Van Gogh painted the last two of the four original Sunflowers for the modest bedroom where his guest would sleep following his arrival that autumn. “Van Gogh saw the Sunflowers for Gauguin’s bedroom as a way of attracting his friend to come from Brittany,” says Bailey.
According to Martin Gayford, “Gauguin was very surprised by the Sunflowers, which he repeatedly praised and asked for as a gift. Years later, Gauguin himself painted some sunflower pictures.”
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers stand for his relationship with Gauguin. “I think he painted them for the joy of it,” says Jansen. “Van Gogh was at the height of his powers in the summer of 1888,” explains Bailey. “He painted the Sunflowers quickly and with great energy and confidence.” Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in late August, “I’m painting quickly now, which won’t surprise you when it’s a question of painting large Sunflowers.”
Van Gogh recognized at once that he had created something important and that his sunflowers were so different. As he told Theo in January 1889, while other artists were known for painting other flowers, “The sunflower is mine.” This, in fact, explains the reason for the popularity of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers today.
1. Van Gogh painted sunflowers in 1888 in order to ________.| A．give them to Gauguin | B．make his living |
| C．decorate his house | D．show his artistic talent to others |
| A．In the British museum | B．In Gauguin’s bedroom |
| C．In the town’s railway station | D．In a rich businessman’s house |
| A．Putting up his paintings. | B．Packing up his baggage. |
| C．Preparing for his departure. | D．delaying his coming. |
| A．Van Gogh was not good at painting large Sunflowers |
| B．Van Gogh had much trouble in painting the Sunflowers |
| C．Van Gogh didn’t like his Sunflowers at all at that time |
| D．Van Gogh realized the Sunflowers would make him known |
4 . How do we make good things out of bad? How do we look at ourselves? Can there be a
There was an elderly woman who needed to walk down to the river every morning to
One of the buckets was newer, perfectly sealed (密封) and
One day, on the walk down to the river, the cracked bucket that had always felt like it wasn’t as good as the other bucket said to the elderly woman, ‘‘I want you to know that water has been
We all have a few cracks, but choose to see how it’s exactly those
| A．riper | B．wiser | C．broader | D．brighter |
| A．order | B．fetch | C．drop | D．boil |
| A．carried | B．repaired | C．searched | D．lost |
| A．store | B．school | C．cottage | D．farm |
| A．purified | B．held | C．hid | D．heated |
| A．leak | B．absorb | C．pollute | D．empty |
| A．reasonably | B．suddenly | C．amazingly | D．typically |
| A．running | B．escaping | C．spilling | D．climbing |
| A．ordinary | B．comfortable | C．boring | D．difficult |
| A．mark | B．replace | C．reward | D．combine |
| A．smiled | B．sighed | C．shouted | D．defended |
| A．wall | B．tree | C．path | D．border |
| A．abandoned | B．saved | C．booked | D．planted |
| A．picked | B．watered | C．removed | D．spread |
| A．characteristics | B．buckets | C．cracks | D．strengths |
