Happy birthday! Do birthday really make peopl...

Happy birthday! Do birthday really make people happy? Of course they do. Birthday celebrate the day when we were born. Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggest another year of growth and maturity—or so we hope. We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older. Most of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others, as well. For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud. For Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful process. But growing old? That is a different story.

Growing old is not exactly for people in youth-oriented(以年轻人为中心) American culture. Most Americans like to look young, act young and feel young. As the old saying goes, “You’re young as you feel.” Older people joke about how many years young they are, rather than how many years old. People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom. But Americans seem to favor those that are young, or at least “young at heart”.

Many older Americans find the “golden years” to be anything but golden. Economically, “senior citizens” often struggle just to get by. Retirement at the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income. Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference. Older people may suffer from poor nutrition, medical care, and housing. Some even experience age discrimination. American sociologist Pat Moore once dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets. She was often treated rudely—even cheated and robbed. However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect.

Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast. Why? People are living longer. Fewer babies are being born. And middle-aged “baby boomers” are rapidly entering the group of the elderly. America may soon be a place where wrinkles(皱纹) are “in”. Marketing experts are ready noticing this growing group of consumer.

1. Growing up is a wonderful thing because ____________.

A. people can celebrate their birthday              B. people can receive many presents

C. people can become more mature and wiser      D. people will feel younger at heart

2.We can infer from the second paragraph that __________.

A. different countries have different opinions on the old age

B. American older people often joke about their old age

C. American culture is very young

D. young people lack experience and wisdom

3. What does the third paragraph mainly tell us?

A. The golden years can make the old earn lots of money.

B. American social security benefits are not good.

C. The old in America are leading a hard life.

D. The old in America have to retire at the age of 65.

4.What does the underlined word “in” in the last paragraph mean?

A. serious              B. disappearing slowly                 C. cool                  D. growing fast

5. According to the text, which of the following is correct?

A. The young are often discriminated in America.

B. The young are more respected than the old in America.

C. Growing old makes people feel proud in America.

D. The old are more respected than the young in America.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

阅读短文，根据所读内容在表格的空格处填上适当的单词或短语，每空不超过3个单词。

Happy birthday! Do birthdays really make people happy ?  Of course they do．Birthdays celebrate the day when we were born．Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggests  another year of growth and maturity（成熟）—or so we hope．We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older．Most of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others, as well．For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud．For Americans, like people in most cultures,  growing up is a wonderful process．But growing old? That is a different story．

Growing old is not exactly for people in youth-oriented（ 以 年轻人为 中心）American culture．Most Americans like to look young, act young and feel young．As the old saying goes, “You’re young as you feel．” Older people joke about how many years young they are,  rather than how many years old．People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom．But Americans seem to favor those that are young, or at least “young at heart”．

Many older Americans find the  “golden years”  to be anything but golden．Economically, “senior citizens” often struggle just to get by．Retirement at the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income．Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference．Older people may suffer from poor nutrition,  medical care,  and housing．Some even experience age discrimination（歧视）．American sociologist Pat Moore once dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets．She was often treated rudely--even cheated and robbed．However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect．

Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast．Why? People are living longer．Fewer babies are being born．And middle-aged “baby boomers” are rapidly entering the group of the elderly．America may soon be a place where wrinkles（皱纹）are “in”．Marketing experts are ready noticing this growing group of consumer．

Title: Different Opinions About 1.____________

高三英语任务型阅读中等难度题查看答案及解析

Do you know what makes you happy? Write a list of all the things that make you happy. How many of them are fun? Most of them? So, if you spend your time doing all these fun things, you’ll be really happy, won’t you?

Well, maybe not. For most people, fun isn’t enough for real happiness. Paul Dolan wrote a book called Happiness by Design. 1. If most of the things on your list are about pleasure, that is what you think makes you happy. But you also need activities with purpose.

2. It’s easy to do well in subjects you like, but subjects you don’t like are less motivating. They’re not fun for you, but you have to study them so you need to find purpose. An “A” in a subject you hate won’t help the world. 3. Each person can study one part until they understand it and then teach it to the rest of the group. The purpose becomes helping the team.

Go back to your list of things that make you happy. 4. Can you add any? Remember, some activities might bring both pleasure and purpose.

Now you need to design a happy life. Paul Dolan believes people should “decide, design, do”. First decide what brings you pleasure and/or purpose -that means your two lists. 5. For example, you might love riding a bike but never have time to do it. So, ride to school or the library or the shops. Some parts of our lives are good or bad luck, but we can still design the rest to make more happiness.

A.But can you be part of a study team with friends?

B.How many of them are activities that bring purpose?

C.There are different ways we can find pleasure in things.

D.He thinks happiness comes from both pleasure and purpose.

E.If you’re a student, your “job” is studying and passing exams.

F.If you think something makes you happy, then it makes you happy.

G.Then, don’t just think about these activities, fill your life with them.

高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

Happiness is the only true measure of personal success. Making other people happy is the highest expression of success. 　 1.　 　　 . With that in mind, here are some suggestions that will immediately increase the amount of happiness in your life:

2.　 　　 .

If there’s any big truth about life, it's that it usually lives up to your expectations. Therefore, when you rise from bed, make your first thought: “Something wonderful is going to happen today.” Guess what? You're probably right.

Take time to plan and prioritize(优先处理)

The most common source of stress is the thought that you've got too much work to do. Rather than worry about it, pick one thing that will move you closer to your highest goal and purpose in life. Then do that first.

Eat high quality food slowly

3.　 　　 . Even so, at least once a day try to eat something really delicious, like a small chunk of fine cheese or an imported chocolate. Taste it, focus on it and enjoy it.

Let go of your results

The big enemy of happiness is worry, which comes from focusing on events that are outside your control. Once you've taken action, there's usually nothing more you can do. 4.　 　　 .

End each day with gratitude

Just before you go to bed, write down at least one wonderful thing that happened. It might be something as small as making a child laugh or something as huge as a million dollar deal. 5.　 　　 　 .

A. Start each day with expectations.

B. Give a gift to everyone you meet.

C. Thinking about that thing makes your head hurt.

D. It’s impossible to make others happy if you're not happy.

E. Whatever it is, be grateful for that day because it will never come again.

F. Sometimes we can't avoid eating something quickly and running.

G. Focus on the job at hand rather than some fantasy that might happen.

高三英语信息匹配中等难度题查看答案及解析

Why do some people feel obliged to do the craziest things, while most of us are happy to sit on the sofa and watch their exploits on TV? Robin Styles ponders(考虑)this question.

Generally, we love to watch someone's bravery and drama--a single person against the wilds of nature, testing their endurance beyond belief. And our pleasure is greater because we live a comfortable and increasingly risk-free life, where the greatest test of endurance is getting to work through the rush hour. 1.However, there are countless ways to test the limits of your endurance, if you should wish to do so, by attempting something unpleasant, uncomfortable or just plain dangerous.

American Lynne Cox swims in sub-zero temperatures through the planet's most dangerous oceans wearing only a swimsuit--for fun! According to Lynne, there is always something driving her on. At age 9, when she was swimming in an outdoor pool one day, a violent storm blew up, but she refused to get out of the pool. Something make her carry on. Then she realized that, as the water got colder and rougher, she was actually getting faster and warmer, and she was really enjoying it. At age 14, she broke her first endurance record. Years later, experts discovered that Lynne has a totally even layer of body fat, like a seal. 2..

The famous British explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, has led many major expeditions (远征) in the extreme cold, including walking right round the Arctic Circle. He has also led expeditions in the extreme heat, and discovered the Lost City of Ubar in the Omani desert. 3.Sir Fiennes has said, "If I am getting sick, I find a very powerful way of conquering it is to know that my father would have definitely done it."

4.There is probably no such thing as a "normal" adventurer. Unsurprisingly, risk-takers tend to be single-minded and unusually determined people who hate the stability and routine that most people prefer. They tend to take risks for the "fun" of it. The excitement becomes addictive, and they want more and more of it. Ordinary life seems boring in comparison.

A. She is perfectly made for doing what she does, it seems.

B. Adventurers are clearly different from the rest of us.

C What she did was really beyond our imagination.

D. It seems that many adventurers spend their lives trying to live up to the image of a parent.

E. And most of us would prefer it to remain that way.

F. Many adventurers have amazed the world with their extraordinary skills.

高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

We buy because it makes us happy. For some people, if they're feeling blue, shopping will make them happier because it restores some control in their lives.It's making the choice to buy or not to buy that helps people feel more in control.Retail therapy proves to be a useful and practical thing.

Doing something we find rewarding lights up the brain's pleasure center, which when activated leads to the release of dopamine(多巴胺), which makes us feel good. It's why we can even get addicted to the pleasure of buying. Experiments with the brain's dopamine releases in pleasurable situations have found that expectations also kicks them off to leave us in a joyful atmosphere; we experience pleasure, in other words, when we're looking forward to a fun event as well as during and after it.　 A trip to the mall is also enjoyable in our schedules for the weekend.

Pleasure is not the only reason why we buy things we don't need at all. Ryan Howell, an professor of psychology at San Francisco State University said back in our hunter and gatherer days，when people saw something they wanted, they'd grab it, even if they didn't need it, because it was likely they wouldn't come across that item again. “If you see something that seems to be running in short supply，you're going to get it,” Howell said. These days, such scarcity isn't an issue — we can buy nearly anything we want if we have the means — but we often still approach life like our ancestors did, especially when it comes to a sale. When we see a 50% off clearance price tag, that scarcity impulse kicks into gear, Howell said. The feeling is, if we don't buy that item now, it's going to be gone forever — or at least at that good price.

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A. People may lose control of life occasionally.

B. People tend to be controlled by purchasing desire.

C. Purchase can comfort people when they are upset.

D. The concept of retail therapy was once a false idea.

2.What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. Experiments.　　 B. Expectations.

C. Dopamine releases.　　 D. Pleasurable situations.

3.What can we infer according to the last paragraph?

A. A good bargain can’t be missed.

B. Our ancestors grabbed things for survival.

C. We should watch out for the trap of the sale.

D. Our ancestors had similar attitude with us to things wanted.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A. Why We Buy Things

B. To Purchase As You Wish

C. The Approach to Happiness

D. The Relaxation in Modern Life

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Flowers make people happy. And while that might seem obvious, there hasn’t been much research to prove the point until now.

Some new studies by Rutgers University scientists support the idea strongly, and the experts go on to assume that flowers have flourished on this planet, with their beauty evolving in recent thousands of years, partly because humans are so attached to them.

In a test, bunches of flowers were sent by florists to 113 men and women in a retirement community. All 113 got flowers and a notebook, but some got them earlier and received a second bunch when the others got theirs. By now you can guess the outcome. The more flowers, the more smiles.

The results of the studies got the scientists to thinking about how the flower industry of today has evolved into growing things that serve no other purpose than emotional (情感上的) satisfaction. Nature won’t even pollinate (授粉) many of the domesticated flowers. Just among roses, there are so many types created by humans that, clearly, flowers aren’t what they used to be. But it’s likely our collective hand has played a role longer than you might think.

Geneticist (遗传学家) Terry McGuire suggests that nature’s prettier flowers got to survive and develop well because people didn’t destroy them when they cleared for agriculture. Instead, they grew them and have been doing so for over 5,000 years. “Because they’re a source of pleasure, we take care of them. In that sense they’re like dogs. They are the pets of the plant world.” McGuire says.

Here is one way that might have worked:

Many species of flowers that are now planted used to grow only when the ground was disturbed, McGuire explains. “As humans moved into agricultural settings, these flowers would have been weeds.” “These flowers might have been tolerated because of their beauty. The seeds would have been preserved and replanted. Over time, the best of these flowers might have been selected and the seeds more carefully preserved.”

1.The underlined word “theirs” probably means ________.

A. flowers B. notebooks

C. flowers and notebooks D. a second bunch of flowers

2.Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A. We keep dogs because they make us happy.

B. People grow flowers for thousands of years.

C. The more flowers people get, the happier they are.

D. People left all the flowers alive when clearing land.

3.According to Terry McGuire, one possible way of flower evolution is ________.

a. the most beautiful flowers were chosen

b. people replanted the seeds of the flowers

c. flowers were wild plants at the beginning

d. people protected the prettier flowers while clearing land

A. c, d, b, a, B. c, b, d, a

C. c, d, a, b D. c, b, a, d

4.What is the best title of this passage?

A. More Flowers, More Smiles B. Flowers: Pets of Plant World

C. Human’s Affection & Flowers’ Evolution D. Human’s Love Towards Flowers

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

People believe that mutual understanding _______ a happy marriage.

A. takes to   B. makes for   C. brings down   D. depends on

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.What can make the woman happy?

A. Helping people. B. Getting a good job. C. Earning much money.

2.What does the woman want to work as?

A. A programme hostess. B. A teacher. C. A storyteller.

高三英语长对话中等难度题查看答案及解析

Everyone wants to be happy, but not everyone can make it. Do you want to have a good mood every day? If so, the following steps will be useful to you.

Be grateful.

1. They can be simple things like the purple flower on the sidewalk, the beautiful sunset, and the hot shower you take every day. When you have a grateful heart, you’11 cherish them and be naturally filled with happiness.

2.

When you put your mind, heart and soul into what you’re doing, you’re creating a happiness state—called the “flow”. When you’re living in the flow, you’re less likely to mind what others may think about you, and less bothered by unimportant things. The result? More happiness, of course!

Become a problem solver.

Happy people are problem solvers. 3. Instead, they face up to the challenge and channel their energies into finding a creative solution. By becoming a problem solver, you’ll build up your self-confidence and your ability to accomplish whatever you determine to do.

Practice forgiveness.

Hatred and anger are forms of self-punishment. When you forgive, you’re　 actually practicing kindness to yourself. 4. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s through our mistakes that we learn and grow to become a bigger and better person.

Give back.

Doing good is one of the surest ways to feel good. According to Harvard, when people do good, their brains become active in the very same reward center that is stimulated when they experience other rewards. 5.

A. Go with the flow.

B. Focus on what you are doing.

C. And most importantly, learn to forgive yourself.

D. When they face a challenge in life, they don’t fall into a sad state.

E. When they meet with difficulties, they will solve them on their own.

F. So It’s not a surprise that people who care more about others are happier.

G. Slow down, look around, and pay attention to the little details in your life.

高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析