阅读理解
I live in the land of
Disney, Hollywood and year-round sun. You may think people in such a glamorous,
fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas
about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent
people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness
have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act.
Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more abiding
emotion.
Going to an amusement
park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help
us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not
bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought
that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness
has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant
access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that
spells "happiness". But in memoir after memoir, celebrities reveal
the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug
addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and profound loneliness.
Ask a bachelor why he
resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If
he's honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For
commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure
and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most
distinguishing features.
Similarly, couples
that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over
painful happiness. They can dine out ever they want and sleep as late as they
want. Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night's sleep or a
three-day vacation. I don't know any parent who would choose the word fun to
describe raising children.
Understanding and
accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most
liberating realizations we can ever come to. It liberates time: now we can
devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It
liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do
nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from
envy: we now understand that all those rich and glamorous people we were so
sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be
happy at all.
(1)
Which of the following is true?
A . Fun creates long-lasting satisfaction.
B . Fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness.
C . Happiness is enduring whereas fun is short-lived.
D . Fun that is long-standing may lead to happiness.
(2)
To the author, Hollywood stars all have an important role to play that is to ________.
A . write memoir after memoir about their happiness
B . tell the public that happiness has nothing to do with fun
C . teach people how to enjoy their lives
D . bring happiness to the public instead of going to glamorous parties
(3)
Having infant children ________.
A . are lucky since they can have a whole night's sleep
B . find fun in tucking them into bed at night
C . find more time to play and joke with them
D . derive happiness from their endeavor
(4)
If one gets the meaning of the true sense of happiness, he will ________.
A . stop playing games and joking with others
B . make the best use of his time increasing happiness
C . give a free hand to money
D . keep himself with his family
答案: C
B
D
B