1 . The best TED Talks on gratitude (感激)

David Steindl-Rast: Want to be happy? Be grateful

This 15-minute talk, from “monk and interfaith scholar” David Steindl-Rast, discusses gratitude and specifically its relationship to happiness. In the talk, Steindl-Rast argues that: “it is not happiness that makes us grateful” but “gratefulness that makes us happy”.

Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.

This 10-minute talk comes from photographer Louie Schwartzberg, with the aid from the above-mentioned Steindl-Rast. In the talk, Schwartzberg presents some of his photographs of nature and explains how they can lead to feelings of gratitude with a story about life from a child’s perspective (视角) as well as life from an elderly man’s perspective.

Brian Doyle: 365 Days of Thank You

This 8-minute talk comes from Brian Doyle, who discusses how a near-death experience led him to start thinking about the role of gratitude in his life. Specifically, Doyle made a commitment to sincerely thank one person in his life every single day for a full year. This short talk is not just an inspiring story but might cause the viewers to consider how they can be grateful in their daily lives.

Hailey Bartholomew: 365 Grateful Project

This 12-minute talk from Hailey Bartholomew is, like Doyle’s, centered on a daily, year-long project. Unlike Doyle’s, however, Bartholomew’s focuses on photography and using photography to find gratitude in her life every day. Photographers who enjoyed Schwartzberg’s TED Talk should give this one a watch, as should anyone who wants to go through a similar project to find the gratitude in their own lives.

1. What makes people happy according to David Steindl-Rast?

A．Beauty.

B．Gratitude.

C．Nature.

D．Faith.

2. What can we know about Brian Doyle’s talk?

A．It shows many pictures.	B．It’s based on a year-long project.
C．It’s the shortest of all the talks.	D．It tells about a child’s experience.

3. In which column of a website can you read the passage?

A．Education.

B．Opinion.

C．History.

D．Lifestyle.

2 . Beverly Cleary, the celebrated children’s author whose memories of her Oregon childhood were shared with millions through the likes of Ramona and Beezus Quimby and Henry Huggins, has died. She was 104.

Trained as a librarian, Cleary didn’t start writing books until her early 30s, when she wrote Henry Huggins, published in 1950. Children worldwide came to love the adventures of Huggins and his neighbours Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, Beezus Quimby and her younger sister, Ramona. They live in a real street in Portland, Oregon, the city where Cleary spent much of her youth.

Ramona, perhaps her best-known character, first appeared in Henry Huggins with only a brief mention. “All the children appeared to be only children, so I threw in a little sister and she didn’t go away. She kept appearing in other books,” Cleary said.

Cleary herself was an only child and said the character wasn’t a mirror. “I was a well-behaved little girl, not that I wanted to be,” she said. “At the age of Ramona, in those days, children played outside. We played hopscotch(跳房子) and jump rope and I loved them and always had wounded knees.”

Cleary stopped writing recently, because she said she felt it was important for writers to know when to quit. “I even got rid of my typewriter. It was a nice one but I hate to type. When I started writing I found that I was thinking more about my typing than what I was going to say,” she said in 2016. Although she put away her pen, Cleary re-released three of her most treasured books with three famous fans writing forewords for the new editions.

Cleary’s books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and inspired many programmes, such as a 10-part PBS series, Ramona and the 2010 film Ramona and Beezus. Cleary was asked once what her favourite character was. “Does your mother have a favourite child?” she responded.

1. What do we know about Cleary?

A．She was a late starter as an author.

B．She wrote true stories in her books.

C．She published her first book in the 1930s.

D．She drew writing inspiration from her neighbours.

2. What can be learned about Ramona in Cleary’s books?

A．She was a well-behaved little girl.	B．She was an only child of her family.
C．She had an impressive first appearance.	D．She played an increasingly bigger role.

3. Which of the following best describes Cleary as a child?

A．Clever.

B．Active.

C．Lonely.

D．Quiet.

4. What did Cleary do after quitting writing?

A．She added her fans’ words to her books.

B．She learned to type quickly and correctly.

C．She translated her books into other languages.

D．She made TV programmes based on her books.