I used to chase happiness a lot when I began to work. I would run after different experiences--goals, achievements and success, because I was quite sure that once I caught up with them, happiness would be with me. It was during that period that I learned happiness was a very fast runner.
Later, I tried to sneak up on happiness. I thought if I didn’t care too little or too much but just enough, it wouldn’t see me coming and then I could catch it.
It turned out that happiness is similar to owls, for both of them have 360-degree vision and extremely sharp hearing. Finally, I decided to sit still, very quietly, until happiness forgot I was there, let down its guard and got close to me. This, surprisingly, worked better than either of the other two ways.
After reading a passage in Time, I think I know the reason. Apparently, for Americans, the chase of happiness is just linked to achieving individual goals which is different from that in other cultures. In many cultures, happiness is regarded as a social phenomenon that happens most readily when it is shared. But our society puts the responsibility for catching happiness on each individual’s shoulders --a heavy burden indeed.
On Facebook, there are a lot of unbelievably happy people doing amazing happiness—producing things every day. However, most of the time, no one is really that happy all the time behind the scenes.
I also like what a famous businessman told Time reporter Mandy Oaklander, “A happy life doesn’t consist of happy moments but every moment of the day.”
Now you know how to get happiness, don’t you?
1. What did the author learn from his first period of chasing happiness? (no more than 10 words)2. How do you understand the underlined word in Paragraph 2? (no more than 5 words)
3. What does the chase of happiness mean to Americans? (no more than 6 words)
4. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 5? (no more than 12 words)
5. Do you think you’re on the way to chasing happiness? Please explain. (no more than 25 words)
（1）向Chris表示感谢并赞同他的看法；
（2）你对口号的理解（奥运精神、同享共创未来、中国发出邀请等）；
（3）表达期望。
要求：不少于100词：开头已给出, 不计入总词数。
参考词汇：主题口号official motto
一起向未来Together for a Shared Future
Hi, Chris,
I want to express my most sincere appreciation to you.
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