Over the last 70 years, researchers have been...

Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are decided to a certain degree by genes. However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two.

Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference. Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness is complex. In the past half-century, the average income has sharply increased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same. Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.

“Dollars buy status (social position), and status makes people feel better,” say some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways, scientists or actors, for example, may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.

In his research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires, not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health, rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap. Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone. “The gap measures just blow away the measures of only income.”says Michalos.

Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad “Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied?” asks Professor Laura Carstensen. In one survey, Carstensen interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotion questionnaire. She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people. Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic about their time running out. Older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t.

“People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever,” she says. “A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.”

1.Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs__________.

A. make them feel much better

B. provide chances to make friends

C. improve their social position

D. satisfy their professional interests

2.Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if _________.

A. the gap between reality and desire is bigger

B. they have a stronger desire for friendship

C. the hope for good health is much greater

D. their income is far below their expectation

3.We can infer from the passage that older people _________.

A. would like to have more goodbye kisses than young people

B. are used to living a hard life because they are kind to others

C. express their positive opinions just as some young people do

D. find it easier to feel happy because they are more realistic

4.According to the passage, the feeling of happiness _________.

A. increases gradually with age

B. is controlled partly by desires

C. has little to do with wealth

D. is decided mostly by genes

九年级英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

In a US study, researchers measured (测量) the happiness of 4739 people over 20 years. The study found that a person’s happiness depends on the happiness of people he connects with. Surprisingly, it also found that happiness spreads not only between direct friends, but also among friends of your friends’ friends! And those good feelings seem to have the greatest influence among friends of the same sex (性别).

“People with more good friends are less likely to develop depression (情绪低落) and worry,” says Dr. Toupey Luft. “Though you can’t choose your family or workmates, you do have control over friendships.” With a little effort, you can add more positive (正面的,积极的) relationships to your social circle. Here’re the suggestions:

“Nobody is all positive or all negative,” says Luft. “But there are people you may feel more positive. Use that as your way to check people and keep records.” When spending time with others, pay attention to your feeling. Are you feeling tired and unhappy？To help you keep records, Luft suggests taking a moment when you get home to write down what your feeling is when around them.

While it’s great to gather with positive friends, it’s also good to stay with others in the same life situations. “But if you’re all just complaining (抱怨) and nothing is changing, it’s not healthy,” says Luft. Are your friends negative, or are you doing most of the complaining? Considering the answers to these questions can help you decide if you want to stand in front of them. Or you could let the relationship disappear slowly.

Sometimes your hobbies can lead to true friendships. Check out newspapers and websites to find a group or class for something you enjoy. These friends can always be there for you and can care each other through difficulties, illness and death.

Not into groups? Look for individual (个人的) communication instead. Luft says, “Set small goals, such as having coffee with one new person, and develop friendship according to a plan. If someone suggests going for lunch sometime, set a date.”

“If you’re feeling disappointed (失望) with a friend, try talking about what you both need,” says Luft. For example, tell her what you want during hard times in your lives. While your friend may need to be left alone, you may want caring phone calls. With some friends you laugh and have fun together at the movies—and that can be enough. With others, you pay attention to your deep connection.

1.What does your happiness depend on, according to the passage?

A. How people you connect with feel.

B. How many friends you have.

C. What situation you are in now.

D. What kind of friends you have.

2.What does the first suggestion want us to do?

A. To measure our happiness.

B. To check people around.

C. To join a group for hobbies.

D. To leave negative friends.

3.Which of the following is true?

A. We often have many friends during good times but few during hard times.

B. It’s necessary to complain about something but not right to do so for long.

C. Joining a group can bring better friendship than making individual friends.

D. All the suggestions tell us to add positive relationship to our social circle.

4.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that ______.

A. when your friend is sad, you should call her up

B. when your friend leaves you, you need comfort

C. friends’ needs may be quite different sometimes

D. people may behave differently during hard times

九年级英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

In the last eight years, a lot of bees have disappeared. Scientists have been studying why those bees have been leaving their hives(蜂房)and not returning. They believe that their living environment may be changing.

Now, the US government is stepping in to help fight this problem. President Barack Obama has asked for $50 million(310 million yuan ) in his 2015 budget(预算)to fight this problem, and has announced the start of the Pollinator Health Task Force. This group will work on keeping the US bee population healthy and strong, and will show people what they can do to help bees.

Even though many people may not like bees, they are an important part of how we grow food. As pollinators(花粉传授者), they move from one plant to another. Through pollination, plants can grow seeds(种子)and fruit. It's said that at least 90 kinds of plants including nuts,　 fruits and vegetables depend on bees for pollination.

The new Pollinator Health Task Force will work hard to protect bees, and build new hives for pollinators. It also plans to start a public education activity to make more people know the importance of pollinators, and actions that can be taken to protect them. The group will reach out to schools, libraries, museums and so on.

Obama said that helping save the bee population will avoid other losses for the agricultural sector (农业部门), and will help protect the health of the environment.

1. What is the major problem that scientists have been studying?

A.　 Why a lot of bees can't give birth to babies.

B.　 Why many bees won't return after leaving their hives.

C.　 Why many hives have disappeared in the last eight years.

D.　 What environment bees should live in.

2.According to scientists，maybe the change of 　　　　 has caused the problem of bees' disappearance.

A.　 time　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.　 food

C.　 weather　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　 their living environment

3. What role do bees play in growing food

A.　 They pollinate, helping plants grow seeds and fruit.

B.　 They can help keep Earth healthy.

C.　 They can help plants grow more grains of pollen.

D.　 They can make fruit and vegetables grow bigger.

4.To fight this problem, the Pollinator Health Task Force will do the following EXCEPT　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 .

A.　 make new hives for bees

B.　 let more people learn the importance of bees

C.　 make people know what they can do to protect bees

D.　 make the agricultural sector pay more attention to this problem

九年级英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

In the last eight years, a lot of bees have disappeared. Scientists have been studying why those bees have been leaving their hives(蜂房)and not returning. They believe that their living environment may be changing.

Now, the US government is stepping in to help fight this problem. President Barack Obama has asked for $50 million(310 million yuan ) in his 2015 budget(预算)to fight this problem, and has announced the start of the Pollinator Health Task Force. This group will work on keeping the US bee population healthy and strong, and will show people what they can do to help bees.

Even though many people may not like bees, they are an important part of how we grow food. As pollinators(花粉传授者), they move from one plant to another. Through pollination, plants can grow seeds(种子)and fruit. It's said that at least 90 kinds of plants including nuts,　 fruits and vegetables depend on bees for pollination.

The new Pollinator Health Task Force will work hard to protect bees, and build new hives for pollinators. It also plans to start a public education activity to make more people know the importance of pollinators, and actions that can be taken to protect them. The group will reach out to schools, libraries, museums and so on.

Obama said that helping save the bee population will avoid other losses for the agricultural sector (农业部门), and will help protect the health of the environment.

1.What is the major problem that scientists have been studying?

A.　 Why a lot of bees can't give birth to babies.

B.　 Why many bees won't return after leaving their hives.

C.　 Why many hives have disappeared in the last eight years.

D.　 What environment bees should live in.

2. According to scientists，maybe the change of has caused the problem of bees' disappearance.

A.　 time　　　 B.　 Food

C.　 weather　 D.　 their living environment

3. What role do bees play in growing food?

A.　 They pollinate, helping plants grow seeds and fruit.

B.　 They can help keep Earth healthy.

C.　 They can help plants grow more grains of pollen.

D.　 They can make fruit and vegetables grow bigger.

4.To fight this problem, the Pollinator Health Task Force will do the following EXCEPT 　　 .

A.　 make new hives for bees

B.　 let more people learn the importance of bees

C.　 make people know what they can do to protect bees

D.　 make the agricultural sector pay more attention to this problem

九年级英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The Japanese Macaca monkey has been studied in the wild for over 50 years. In 1952, on one small Japanese island, scientists dropped some 26  in the dirt for the monkeys. The monkeys liked their taste, but they found the dirt   27.

One clever 18-month-old monkey found she could 28 the problem by washing the sweet potatoes in a nearby river. She taught this to her mother. Her 29 also learned this new way and they taught their mothers, too.

All the younger monkeys 30 learned to wash the dirty sweet potatoes to make them 31 to eat. But many old monkeys found it very hard to learn this and still ate the 32 sweet potatoes.

Then something very surprising 33. In the autumn of 1958, scientists found that the monkeys on other nearby 34 began washing their sweet potatoes too. Scientists still don’t fully understand how this knowledge was 35 from one island to another.

九年级英语完型填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Over the last 90 years, the Olympic flame(火焰) has been carried by thousands of people, mostly on foot. On April 21, at the Temple of Hera in southern Greece, the Olympic flame was lit again. This marked the official countdown(倒计时) to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in August.

This year for the Rio Olympics, there will be about 12,000 torchbearers(火炬手). The special thing is, for the first time in history, Syrian refugee(难民) Ibrahim AI-Hussein was a torchbearer while passing the torch in Greece. It wanted to show a message: sports can make the world better. There were also some Chinese faces that you may know, for example, Chinese actor Yang Yang, who passed the Olympic flame in Greece.

And after a week in Greece, the flame went to the International Olympic Committee Headquarters in Switzerland, and it later travelled to Brazil by plane on May 3. There, the flame will begin a tour, visiting 329 cities and towns of the world’s fifth largest country.

Answer the following questions with No More Than Eight Words.

1.When was the Reo Olympic flame lit? __________________________________

2.How many torchbearers pass the torch for the Rio Olympics?_____________________

3.Why was Ibrahim AI-Hussein chosen to pass the torch? __________________________

4.How did the flame travel from Switzerland to Brazil? ___________________________

5.Where does the actor Yang Yang come from? ________________________________

九年级英语任务型阅读中等难度题查看答案及解析

There has been great________ (发展) of online shopping over the last 10 years.

九年级英语根据中/英文提示填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

—How happy the grandparents are!

—Yes, they　　　　　 for fifty years.

A. have been married　　　　　　 B.　 have married

C. How got married　　　　　　 D.　 married

九年级英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

In the past few years, thousands of films all over the world.

A. have produced B. have been produced

C. are producing D. are being produced

九年级英语单选题中等难度题查看答案及解析

—How happy the grandparents are!

—Yes，they________ for fifty years.

A. have been married　　 B. have married

C. have got married　　 D. married

九年级英语单选题中等难度题查看答案及解析