Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found on Thursday.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others—even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual (yearly) income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, girls for others and donations to charity.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000. “Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor alterations (changes) in spending allocations (shares)—as little as $5—may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,”Dunn said.
60. What is the general idea of the passage?
A. The more you earn, the greater happiness you will get.
B. Spending more money on yourself will make you happier.
C. Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else.
D. You can spend only 5$ a day to get happiness.
61. The underlined word “boost” in the first paragraph probably means_______.
A. help to find B. help to bring C. help to increase D. help to get
62. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Those who spend more money on others can get much more bonus.
B. People usually think spending money on themselves will make them happier.
C. Very small changes in spending your money may be enough to gain happiness.
D. Researchers think that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn.
63. It can be inferred from the 6th paragraph that ______.
A. the volunteers not given 5$ or 20$ spent their own money on themselves.
B. those who spent the money on someone or something else felt happier about it.
C. the volunteers were given 5$ or 20$ as a reward for the experiment.
D. half of the volunteers could spend the money as they liked.
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
C
Being able to multitask—doing several things at the same time—is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.
What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices(电子产品)as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.
Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they cat at the family table.
Multitasking also affects young people’s performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets(器具)on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response(反应). However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.
1.What does the underlined word “juggle” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
A. Want to buy B. Take the place of.
C. Use at the same time D. Seek for information from.
2.In Paragraph 3, the author points out that .
A. family members do not cat at the family table
B. family member do not greet each other
C. young people live happily in their families
D. young people seldom talk with their family members
3.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Multitasking is harmful to young people’s development.
B. Young people benefit a lot from modern gadgets
C. Multitasking is an important skill to young people.
D. Young people must learn skills for future jobs.
4.The author develops the passage mainly by .
A. providing typical examples
B. following the natural time order
C. comparing opinions from different fields
D. presenting a cause and analyzing its effects
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
John Denver has got international fame as a pop star, songwriter, actor and environmental activist ( 环境保护者). Songs like Take Me Home, Country Road, Rocky
Mountain High and Annie's Song have become very popular. But less than thirty years ago, John Denver was a young man with little more than a fine voice, a guitar, and a dream. Growing up in conservative (保守的) family, he was not believed to drop out of college and head to Los Angeles, where the music scene was flowering. Nor was he believed to succeed.
In Take Me Home, John Denver talked about the story that shaped his life, with the story of the rich inner journey of a shy Midwestern boy. With honesty and cleverness, he wrote about his childhood, the feeling of moving to Los Angeles as the 60s came, his first lucky breaks, his first songwriting success with leaving on a Jet Plane and finally got a world fame.
He also wrote about his relationship with his first and second wife, as well as his parents, his children, his partners through his life and his friends.
Honest and rich in the book that only a natural-born storyteller could write so well, Take Me Home is very good from the beginning to the end. It's like spending a few days with a good friend.
This passage is probably about .
A. a book written by John Denver B. the life and cause of John Denver
C. how to write pop songs D. what Los Angeles was like
Take Me Home is a name of .
A. a famous book B. a folk song in Los Angeles
C. a wonderful movie D. a pop song by John Denver
From this passage, we can conclude that .
A. John Denver's family didn't want him to leave college
B. he often had trips when he was a shy boy
C. he moved to Los Angeles with his parents
D. his family believed he would succeed
John Denver wrote his songs about many things except .
A. his first success in songwriting
B. his family members including his parents, his wives and his children
C. the problems of environment
D. his life in los Angeles
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Being able to multitask―doing several things at the same time―is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.
What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices(电子产品)as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.
Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they cat at the family table.
Multitasking also affects young people’s performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets(器具)on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response(反应). However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.
64. What does the underlined word “juggle” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
A. Want to buy
B. Take the place of.
C. Use at the same time
D. Seek for information from.
65. In Paragraph 3, the author points out that .
A. family members do not cat at the family table
B. family member do not greet each other
C. young people live happily in their families
D. young people seldom talk with their family members
66. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Multitasking is harmful to young people’s development.
B. Young people benefit a lot from modern gadgets
C. Multitasking is an important skill to young people.
D. Young people must learn skills for future jobs.
67. The author develops the passage mainly by .
A. providing typical examples
B. following the natural time order
C. comparing opinions from different fields
D. presenting a cause and analyzing its effects
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科目:高中英语 来源:2010届湖北省高考英语总复习练习系列七 题型:阅读理解
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
Big things were happening in my life the summer I turned 13. In the middle of that summer, my parents shook my entire world and turned it upside down when they told me they were getting a divorce. I couldn't believe that our family was going to break up. Though I always knew my parents weren't very happy and they often fought, I still wanted my family to stay the same.
My life changed completely after the divorce.My mother and I moved into a small apartment across town,while my father and brother,Bill, stayed in our house.I now became a visitor whenever I went to see my dad and Bill on the weekends. And immediately I had my soon-to-be stepfather,Dan,whom I showed no interest in.I was clearly depressed, especially after Dan and my mother married and I realized that there was no way that things could change back to the way they had been.
Even though I resisted all Dan's attempts to get to know me and wasn't very nice to him, he never gave up on me. Gradually, I began to trust him. I realized that we actually had some things in common, especially when it came to movies and TV shows. We spent a lot of time together hanging out watching TV. That gave us a chance to talk and get to know each other.
Better still, Dan showed an interest in me that I had never experienced from my own father. Dan was always around when I needed advice on school or friends. Once I began to warm up to Dan, the three of us began spending a lot of time together. We often went out to eat and took short trips. Eventually, I discovered that I finally had the happy family that I had always wanted.
I now realize my parents were right about getting the divorce. Their breakup was the best thing to happen for all of us. My father also found happiness- he remarried and had another child, my half-sister, Michelle.
At 13, I learned an important truth-change is not always the worst thing that can happen. Sometimes, it is just what we need the most.
61.According to the passage, which of the following statements is WRONG?
A.Their parents didn't love each other any longer. B.The writer didn't want his parents to divorce.
C.Their parents' divorce hurt the writer much. D.The writer was in low spirits all the time.
62.The writer and Dan have the same interests EXCEPT______.
A.seeing movies B.surfing the internet C.having talks D.watching TV
63.What does the author think of his stepfather?
A.Trustful. B.Interesting. C.Helpful. D.Boring.
64.Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
A.Divorce Is Not Always the Worst. B.A Devoted Stepfather.
C.There Is a Change in My Life. D.A True Story.
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科目:高中英语 来源:安徽省安庆市2009-2010学年度高一下学期第二次月考英语试卷 题型:阅读理解
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每题2分)
Bamboo (竹子) is one of nature’s (自然) most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist reported one bamboo plant which grew 1.5 meters (4 feet) in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1, 000 kinds of bamboo.
Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters (1 foot) across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.
Bamboo has been used to make many things such as hats and kitchen tools(厨房用具). Because it is strong, bamboo is also used to build buildings.
Many Asian countries have used bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for buildings and supporting (支撑) new buildings and bridges while they are being built.
In Africa, poor farmers are taught how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap way to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water.Bamboo pipes (管子) help poor farmers bring water to their thirsty fields without spending a lot of money.
1.How is bamboo like grass?
A.It grows quickly. B.It’s wood. C.it is easy to cut. D.It is very thin.
2.Though you can see bamboo everywhere, it doesn’t grow .
A.in China B.in Europe C.on mountains D.in Africa
2.Why is bamboo used by African poor farmers? Because .
A.it is cheap B.it has different colors C.it is strong D.it has been used by Asians
3.In Asia, bamboo has been used for .
A.a short time B.many thousands of years
C.many hundreds of years D.about 100 years
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