Hedonic AdaptationGenerally speaking, people ...

Hedonic Adaptation

Generally speaking, people often return to a set level of happiness despite life’s ups and downs. For instance, people who win the lottery tend to return to roughly their original levels of happiness after the novelty of the win has worn off. The same is true for those who are in major accidents and lose the use of their legs. The change in ability can be damaging at first, but people generally return to their pre-accident levels of happiness after the habituation period. This phenomenon is called hedonic adaptation, a concept studied by positive psychology researchers.

There are activities that are more or less affected by hedonic adaptation. Some of these activities are known as pleasures. They can lift your mood and leave you feeling wonderful, but their effects can be relatively a short time. What’s more, we get used to them relatively quickly. If you have the same meal every day for a week, for example, you may find it to be less pleasurable by the end of the week. Gratifications (满足) are also such activities affected by hedonic adaptation. They can get us into a feeling of “flow” where we don’t notice the passage of time, and where we’re thoroughly engaged in what we’re doing. Gratifications are activities that require more effort and thought, but the payoff is higher as well. The more we engage, the more we enjoy!

Knowing that pleasures don’t last long in their effects may make them seem less worth the effort than gratifications. There are reasons why they can be perfect for certain situations, however. First, they bring a quick lift in mood without a great deal of effort. This is actually quite valuable because there is significant research that shows that a lift in mood can lead to chain reaction of positive feelings. Second, gratifications do take more effort, so when you only have few minutes or a very limited amount of energy, pleasures are often the simpler and more accessible option.

Thankfully, we can do something to move away from the limiting effects of hedonic adaptation and engage in activities that can create a greater level of happiness in life. For example, be sure to make time for hobbies! It doesn’t really matter what the hobby is; as long as it’s one you enjoy, you’ll benefit from it, and these benefits will extend into the rest of your life. It’s also a good idea to help other people as this can create greater meaning in your life, and thus create greater happiness. Enjoying your positive experiences is also a great way to maximize the positive in your life. So at the end of the day, a few days a week, write about three things you enjoyed that day. Then, you’ll be reliving these positive experiences as you write about them, and can relive them again when you read.

高三英语任务型阅读中等难度题查看答案及解析

In 1972, I returned to Miami Beach High School to speak to the drama class. Afterward I asked the drama teacher 　 　 any of my English teachers are still there. Irene Roberts, he tells me, is in the class 　 　 　 down the hall.

　I was no one special in Miss Roberts’ class — just another student who did okay work. I don’t recall any one special bit of wisdom she passed on. Yet I cannot forget her 　 　 　 for language, for ideas and for her students. I 　 　 　 now, many years later, that she is the perfect example of a 　 　 　 teacher. I’d like to say something to her, I say, but I don’t want to 　 　 　 her from a class. Nonsense, he says, she’ll be 　 　 　 to see you.

　The drama teacher 　 　 Miss Roberts into the hallway where stands this 32-year-old man she last saw at 18. “I’m Mark Medoff,” I tell her. “You were my 12th-grade English teacher in 1958.” She 　 　 her head to one side and looks at me, as if this angle might remember me in her 　 　 　 . And then, though armed with a message I want to 　 　 　 in many words, I can’t think up anything more memorable than this: “I want you to know,” I say, “you were 　 　 　 to me.”

　And there in the hallway, this lovely woman, now nearing 　 　 　 age, this teacher who doesn’t remember me, begins to weep; and she encircles me in her arms.

　 　 　 this moment, I begin to sense that everything I will ever know, everything I will ever pass to my students, is an inseparable part of a legacy(遗产) of our ancestors.

　Irene Roberts holds me 　 　 　 in her arms and through her tears whispers 　 　 　 my cheek, “Thank you.” And then, with the briefest of looks into my forgotten face, she 　 　 　 　 back into her classroom, 　 　 　 to what she has done thousands of days through all the years of my 　 　 　 .

On reflection, maybe those were, 　 　 　 , just the right words to say to Irene Roberts. Maybe they are the very words I would like to speak to all those teachers through my life, the very words I would like spoken to me one day by some returning student: “I want you to know you were important to me.”

1.A. that    B. if    C. as    D. when

2.A. just    B. almost    C. nearly    D. about

3.A. kindness    B. respect    C. friendship    D. love

4.A. know    B. learn    C. realize    D. believe

5.A. selfish    B. self-confident    C. self-conscious    D. selfless

6.A. call    B. drag    C. push    D. pull

7.A. upset    B. delighted    C. interested    D. annoyed

8.A. brings    B. takes    C. fetches    D. introduces

9.A. bows    B. raises    C. rises    D. puts

10.A. thought    B. brain    C. attention    D. memory

11.A. announce    B. speak    C. deliver    D. tell

12.A. useful    B. important    C. hopeful    D. beneficial

13.A. retirement    B. enjoyment    C. employment    D. happiness

14.A. Reminding    B. Explaining    C. Remembering    D. Forgetting

15.A. happily    B. straight    C. calmly     D. briefly

16.A. against    B. with    C. off    D. beyond

17.A. escapes    B. gathers    C. disappears    D. fails

18.A. longs    B. continues    C. goes    D. returns

19.A. absence    B. class    C. work    D. task

20.A. or rather    B. in addition    C. as usual    D. after all

高三英语完型填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

It often seems that people have a hard time in speaking a seemingly familiar name. Did you ever have someone's name on the tip of your tongue and yet you were not able to recall it? When this happened，what did you do? Next time this happens again，what should you do?

You should not try to recall it. Instead, just do something else for a couple of minutes and then the name may come into your head. Why? The name is just there, since you have met this person and learned his name. It, waiting there, only has to be dug out. The initial(最初的) effort to recall prepares the mind for operation, but it is the subconscious (下意识的) activities that go to work to dig up a dim（模糊的）memory. Forcing yourself to recall almost never helps because it doesn't loosen your memory; it only tightens it.

That’s why students find the preparatory method greatly helpful in examinations. They read over the questions before trying to answer any of them. Then they answer first the ones of which they are most confident. At the same time, deeper mental activities in the subconscious mind are taking place; work is being done on the more difficult questions. By the time the easier questions are answered, answers to the more difficult ones will usually begin to come into consciousness. It is often just a question of waiting for recall to come to the memory.

You see, forcing ourselves to think hard to recall something usually doesn’t help. Chances are that the harder we think, the more difficulty we face in thinking of what we want to. Offering our mind time to work is what we are expected to do.

高三英语信息匹配中等难度题查看答案及解析

Though some people have suggested that women should return to housework in order to leave more jobs for men, the idea has been rejected by both women and men in public opinion polls（民意测验）．Lately some union officials have suggested that too many women are employed in type of work more suitable for men and that women should step aside to make way for unemployed young men．They argue that women — — especially women in their childbearing years actually delay economic development and result in lower productivity, poor quality and inefficiency．

To solve the problem, they have suggested that the working women stay at home while their husbands or brothers were given double wages．They argue that under these circumstances ~families would retain their same level of income, and women could run the house and raise children much better．

The suggestion has been rejected by 9 out of 10 people polled．A hundred persons in a big city were questioned last summer．Out of 50 women, 46 said they were unwilling to leave their jobs, no matter what the situation was．The other 4 said they would like to return home if their jobs could be taken by their sons or daughters．Of 50 men polled, only 6 said they would like to see their wives give up their jobs, if it meant higher wages for themselves．

Some other people have suggested another way called “phased employment theory ”．The theory suggests that a woman worker take leave from her job when she is seven months pregnant（妊娠） and stay off the job until her baby reaches the age of 3．It suggests that women on leave receive 75 percent of their normal salary and be allowed to return to work after the 3—year period．This will benefit children, women, their families and the society．Some of those polled, both women and men, felt the idea is a good one．It definitely seems to be more acceptable than the suggestion that women return to home forever．

1.Some union officials have suggested that women should return home because _________

A．all of them are employed in unsuitable types of work

B．their participation in work has a bad influence on the economic development

C．most skilled male workers are now unemployed

D．nowadays no one can take care of children except women

2.Some union officials have suggested that if women leave their jobs．

A．they should be allowed to attend school to be trained

B．their jobs should be taken over by the male members of their families

C．their children should also leave their kindergartens

D．the male employees in their families should receive double wages

3.According to the passage, the suggestion that women should return to housework was ________

A．welcomed by women only

B．welcomed by men only

C．opposed by most men and women

D．welcomed by men and women

4.From the passage we can see “phased employment” means ________

A．women are allowed to take leave from their jobs during their childbearing years

B．women stay at home on weekdays and go to work on weekends or holidays

C．a woman should resign her job forever if she has a child

D．two or more women share the same job

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。

首先请阅读下列几种学习英浯的方法：

A. Practice speaking as often as you can-even speaking to yourself is good practice. Try recording yourself whenever you can.

B. It helps if you can learn with someone else. If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working Agree times to meet and set goals for the week. And test each other regularly.

C. Practice improvising (即兴的) ways of getting your meaning across even if you don’t know the exact words or phrase. Think of things you might want to say whenever you have time. An example is the use of tenses. Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to get your meaning across.

D. Guesswork is important in learning a new language. When listening to recorded material, you aren’t expected to understand everything the first round. If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time. Learn to make maximum (最大限度) use of all the clues (提示) you can pick up.

E. A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning, but don’t try to learn too much vocabulary at once.

F. If you are the person on the bus, street or restaurant asking how you can improve your English, you are on the right track. The only way to improve your speaking is by speaking. Don’t worry about a bad accent or forgetting words or not being understood.

以下是学习者在学习英语中所遇到的闲难。请将这些困难与他们所对应的学习方法匹配起来。

1.Jack’s vocabulary is very small. He is very anxious to improve his English. Therefore, he wants to enlarge his vocabulary in a short time and tries his best to memorize new words as many as possible at a time.

2.Market’s pronunciation is poor. And she doesn’t know how to improve her pronunciation. She is very worried and doesn’t know what to do.

3.Alice has difficulty in understanding the meaning of the English text. So she looks up the new words in the dictionary in order to understand everything. However, she made little process in English.

4.Although Peter wants to communicate with people on the bus when he is on the way home, he is afraid of being laughed at because of his poor accent.

5.Lyme can’t express herself clearly in English because she sometimes forgets some key words and doesn’t know the tenses exactly.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Very often we will have to speak to a large audience. For example, we may need to give a talk, in which case most of us will be shy and embarrassed. There is no 　　 　　　 for this. If a few simple rules are 　　　 , anyone can speak well in 　 　　　 . First of all, the talk should be well 　　　 . In this way we 　 　　　 a good command of what we are going to say and 　　　 up our confidence. By working hard we can get some necessary facts or information 　 　　　 ; as a result, we feel much 　 　　　 .

There are 　 　　　 things we should know when we are preparing our 　　　 . The first one is what we are trying to do and what we want to tell our　 　　　 . The second thing is who our audience will be. If we are talking to　 　　　 , our talk should be simple. If we are speaking to adults or older people, we can make it 　　　 if necessary. The third thing we should know is for how 　　　 we should talk, and 　　　 we should make sure that we 　　　 to that time.

It has been 　 　　　 that the main 　 　　　 of any talk is that your 　 　　　 should bring you and the audience together. If you keep that in mind and speak clearly and honestly in a(n) 　　　 manner, your speech will surly be a successful one.

1.A. time 　　　　 B. room 　　　　 C. way　　　　　　　 D. need

2.A. studied 　　 B. decided 　　 C. followed 　　　 D. permitted

3.A. home 　　　　 B. public 　　 C. silence　 　　 D. order

4.A. prepared　　 B. made　　　　 C. listened 　　　 D. spoken

5.A. reduce 　　 B. gain 　　　　 C. increase 　　　 D. win

6.A. clear 　　　 B. look 　　　　 C. build　　　　　 　 D. keep

7.A. wrong 　　　 B. ready　　 C. false 　　　　 D. useful

8.A. greater 　　 B. smarter 　　 C. cooler　　　　　 D. better

9.A. three 　　　 B. four 　　　　 C. two　　　　　　　 D. many

10.A. talk 　　　 B. plan　　　　 C. class 　　　　 D. program

11.A. students 　 B. teachers 　 C. children 　　　 D. audience

12.A. girls 　　 B. boys 　　　　 C. children 　　　 D. babies

13.A. original　 B. complex 　　 C. exciting 　　　 D. strong

14.A. long 　　　 B. soon　　　　 C. often　　　　　 　 D. far

15.A. so　 　　　　 B. but 　　　　 C. then　　　　　　 　 D. yet

16.A. lead 　　　 B. take 　　　　 C. get　　　　　　　 D. stick

17.A. said 　　　 B. expected　 C. explained　　　 D. caused

18.A. mistake 　　 B. purpose 　　 C. choice　　　　 D. phrase

19.A. idiom 　　 B. impression C. idea　　　　　　 D. imagination

20.A. confusing B. ordinary 　 C. rude　　　　　　 D. Impressive

高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

　　　　 students English well, the teacher tries to speak English in class very often.

A. Teaching　　 B. Taught

C. To teach　　 D. Teach

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

It is often ________ that human beings are naturally equipped to speak.

A. said       B. to say     C. saying     D. being said

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

I don’t like the way ____ he often uses to speak to me.

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

It is often________that human beings are naturally equipped to speak.

A.said　　 B.to say　　 C.saying D.being said

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析