(2013*,D)When asked about happiness,we usually think of something extraordinary,an absolute delight,which seems to get rarer the older we get. For kids,happiness has a magical quality.Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved . In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes.Suddenly it's conditional on such things as excitement,love and popularity.I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party. In adulthood the things that bring deep joy-love,marriage,birth-also bring responsibility and the risk of loss.For adults,happiness is complicated . My definition of happiness is "the capacity for enjoyment".The more we can enjoy what we have,the happier we are.It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends,the freedom to live where we please,and even good health. I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday.First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunchbox and had the house to myself.Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing,which I love.When the kids and my husband came home,I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day. Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work.I don't think that my grandmother,who raised 14 children,had much of either.She did have a network of close friends and family,and maybe this is what satisfied her. We,however,with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area,have turned happiness into one more thing we've got to have.We're so selfconscious about our "right" to it that it's making us miserable.So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success,without noticing that the people who have those things aren't necessarily happier. Happiness isn't about what happens to us-it's about how we see what happens to us.It's the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative.It's not wishing for what we don't have,but enjoying what we do possess. As people grow older,they _ . A) feel it harder to experience happiness B) associate their happiness less with others C) will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness D) tend to believe responsibility means happiness
A
How to describe the rising philosophy of the day ? I'd say it is data-ism . We now have the ability to gather huge amounts of data . This ability seems to carry with it certain cultural assumptions--that everything that can be measured should be measured ; that data is a transparent and reliable lens that allows us to filter out emotionalism and ideology ; that data will help us do remarkable things--like foretell the future . At the outset let me celebrate two things data does really well . First , it's really good at exposing when our intuitive view of reality is wrong . For example , nearly every person who runs for political office has an intuitive sense that they can powerfully influence their odds of winning the election if they can just raise and spend more money . But this is largely wrong . After the 2006 election , Sean Trende constructed a graph comparing the incumbent campaign spending advantages with their eventual victory . There was barely any relationship between more spending and a bigger victory . Likewise , many teachers have an intuitive sense that different students have different learning styles : some are verbal and some are visual , some focus on details and some on whole . Teachers imagine they will improve outcomes if they tailor their presentations to each student . But there's no evidence to support this either . Second , data can clarify patterns of behavior we haven't yet noticed . For example , I've always assumed people who frequently use words like " I , " " me , " and " mine " are probably more self-centered than people who don't . But as James Pennebaker of the University of Texas notes in his book , The Secret Life of Pronouns , when people are feeling confident , they are focused on the task at hand , not on themselves . High-status , confident people use fewer " I " words , not more . In sum , the data revolution is giving us wonderful ways to understand the present and the past . Will it transform our ability to predict and make decisions about the future ? We'll see . Why do many teachers favor the idea of tailoring their presentations to different students ? A) They think students prefer flexible teaching methods . B) They will be able to try different approaches . C) They believe students learning styles vary . D) They can accommodate students with special needs .
C
*Question*
My six-year-old granddaughter stared at me as if she were seeing me for the first time."Grandma, you are an antique ,"she said. "You are old. Antiques are old. You are my antique." I was not satisfied to let the matter rest there. I took out the Webster's Dictionary and read the definition to Jenny.I explained, "An antique is not only old, it's an object existing since or belonging to earlier times...a work of art... piece of furniture. Antiques are treasured,"I told Jenny as I put away the dictionary. "They have to be handled carefully because they sometimes are very valuable. In order to qualify as an antique, the object has to be at least 100 years old." "I'm only 67,"I renunded Jenny. We looked around the house for other antiques, besides me. There was a desk that was handed down from rone aunt to another and finally to our family. "It's very old,"I told Jenny."I try to keep it polished and I show it off whenever I can. You do that with antiques." There was a picture on the wall purchased at a garage sale. It was dated 1867. "Now that's an antique," I boasted. "Over 100 years old." Of course it was marked up and scratched and not in very good condition. "Sometimes age does that," I told Jenny. "But the marks are good marks. They show living, being around. That's something to display with pride. In fact, sometimes, the more an object shows age, the more valuable it can become." It was important that I believed this for my own self-esteem. Our tour of antiques continued. There was a vase on the floor. It had been in my house for a long time. I was not certain where it came from but I didn't buy it new. One thing about antiques, I explained to Jenny, was that they usually had a story. They'd been in one home and then another, handed down from one family to another, traveling all over the place. They'd lasted through years and years. They could have been tossed away, or ignored. or destroyed, or lost. But instead, they survived. For a moment, Jenny looked thoughtful. "l don't have any antiques but you," she... What can be the best title for the passage? A) Jenny's Antique B) A Story of Antiques C) A Tour of Antiques D) Grandma's Antique
**Answer**
A