1 . How can we live more meaningfully? To find out, I spent five years interviewing hundreds of people and reading through thousands of pages of psychology, neuroscience and philosophy.    1    The first pillar is belonging. Belonging comes from being in relationships where you’re valued and where you value others as well. But some groups and relationships deliver a cheap form of belonging.     2     It lives in moments among individuals, and you can choose to cultivate belonging with others.

       For many people, belonging is the most essential source of meaning, those bonds to family and friends.     3     Now, finding your purpose is not the same thing as finding that job that makes you happy. The key to purpose is using your strengths to serve others.

The third pillar of meaning is about stepping beyond yourself.     4     Transcendent states are those rare moments when you’re lifted above the busy daily life.

Now, the fourth pillar of meaning, I’ve found, tends to surprise people. The fourth pillar is storytelling. The story you tell yourself is about yourself.     5     It helps you understand how you became you. But we don’t always realize that we’re the authors of our stories and can change the way we’re telling them. We can edit, interpret and retell our stories.

A．But true belonging springs from love.

B．But it is in a completely different way: transcendence.

C．We’re constantly creating our lives, adding to our story.

D．For others, the key to meaning is the second pillar: purpose.

E．Bringing it all together, I found four pillars of a meaningful life.

F．Creating a narrative from the events of your life brings clearness.

G．And the studies show that people who have meaning in life live longer.

2 . Glen was walking along the shore with his son Terry after supper. Suddenly, Glen noticed a scorpion (蝎子) _______in the tide, trying to get back to the _______. Glen tried to pick it up, but it stung (刺) him and _______ back into the tide. Glen tried again and was _______ again.

“Dad, leave him alone! He’s not worth _______.” Terry shouted. But Glen tried one more time. This time he _______ and threw the scorpion onto the beach. Terry said, “Why _______ time on such a tiny creature who’s too stupid to know it’s being _______?” Glen answered, “Son, the scorpion stings me in his _______. I chose to help him ________ that’s in my nature.”

Glen was teaching his son a(n) ________ lesson about being humans. Like the scorpion and other species, we’re born with a nature for ________ and tend to be selfish. ________, we also have a sense of sympathy (同情心) and the power to ________ so that we can act beyond our self-interest.

Human nature is ________. It’s our nature to be kind, loving and generous as it is to be cruel, ________ and dishonest. We sometimes ________ nice nature, but sometimes we act like scorpion ________ by negative nature.

No one is born with good or bad ________. We’re born with the ability to choose to have either. When we choose to be good, we are ________.

1.

A．floating

B．crying

C．swimming

D．struggling

2.

A．water

B．beach

C．boat

D．ocean

3.

A．fell

B．ran

C．jumped

D．went

4.

A．stuck

B．hit

C．stung

D．failed

5.

A．raising

B．picking

C．saving

D．catching

6.

A．did it

B．missed it

C．got it

D．made it

7.

A．keep

B．waste

C．devote

D．focus

8.

A．observed

B．protected

C．helped

D．fed

9.

A．nature

B．purpose

C．kindness

D．mind

10.

A．if

B．while

C．though

D．because

11.

A．valuable

B．private

C．difficult

D．interesting

12.

A．food

B．survival

C．attack

D．love

13.

A．Strangely

B．Normally

C．Luckily

D．Worryingly

14.

A．learn

B．copy

C．think

D．educate

15.

A．complex

B．simple

C．easy

D．interesting

16.

A．careless

B．enthusiastic

C．caring

D．selfish

17.

A．follow

B．develop

C．believe

D．use

18.

A．concerned

B．driven

C．suffered

D．affected

19.

A．fame

B．mood

C．temper

D．character

20.

A．confident

B．good

C．final

D．true