If your parents were to surprise you with a present on your birthday, which one would you prefer, a trip to the amusement park or a new pair of shoes? According to Science Daily, about onethird of the people are likely to prefer shoes to a fun trip. These people are called "materialists", namely, those who value material goods more than experiences. But which of the two choices makes people happier? Back in 2009, Ryan Howell, a professor at San Francisco State University, found that in the long run, experiences make people happier than possessions. This is because the joy of receiving a new object fades over time as you get used to seeing it every day. Experiences, on the other hand, can continue to bring you joy in the future through happy memories. But materialists should at least be happy when they first buy something, shouldn't they? To figure it out, Howell did another study. He classified a group of adults according to their personality types, ranging from less materialistic to more materialistic. Each person was asked different questions to see how they felt about spending money on material goods versus spending money on experiences. As expected, the more materialistic participants got less happiness from purchases than the less materialistic, because such purchases didn't fit with their personalities and values. But to Howell's surprise, he found that materialists weren't any happier even if they spent money on material items. This is because materialists worry that others may criticize or look down on their choices. "There are certain value systems that are rejected by society," said Howell. "When we find out someone is materialistic, we think less of them, and that drives their happiness down." Another reason is that materialistic people always focus on what they don't have instead of what they have now. This makes them feel less satisfied and grateful. If you happen to be a materialistic person, there's something you can try. "If materialists make more accurate purchases, rather than trying to... What can be the best title for the passage? A) Are You a Materialist? B) How To Acquire Happiness? C) The Best Present for the Birthday D) Which Can Make People Happier?
D
(Question)
John, a famous musician, took his priceless antique violin and played it in the crowded subway station. The music from the violin was delicately streaming throughout the whole station. However, during the one-hour play, only six or seven people were truly appreciating the charming music. A three-year-old kid was so fascinated by the music that he forgot everything around. John only got 52 dollars for his work that day. However, in normal days, when John is about to hold a concert, one ticket can be sold at more than 100 dollars and it is extremely hard to buy a ticket even at such a high price. Therefore, later, many passers-by in the station that day felt deeply regretful for not recognizing the famous musician and missing such a valuable but cheap music feast. I have a very busy friend who had totally changed after knowing that his wife came down with incurable illness. He cooked by himself for the family and took a walk with his wife every day. Nonetheless, his wife still did not manage to conquer the illness and passed away after three months. After that, he often sighed miserably that due to his past busy life, he had missed a lot of beautiful time with his wife. But now, it is impossible to make up for it. It is no use crying over spilt milk. We have missed a lot of precious things in our life without knowing to cherish them. Actually, I also missed something precious before. The reason why we would have missed those precious things is less than simple: we had thought that we could still own them tomorrow. Nevertheless, tomorrow is actually by no means reliable. There was a famous Buddhist monk saying that in many people's lives, they have only done two things: _ The result is that they were always too late to cherish what they had before they lost it. We would often claim to do something when we grow up, or when we have money or when we become old, etc. However, when we reach the condition we have expected, we could no longer realize our wish, because we have lost it by then. The idea the author would like to get across to us seems that _ . A) actions speak louder than words B) a bad beginning makes a bad ending C) the lost will never come back D) each day brings its own bread
(Answer)
C
Ques: Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a _ . At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn't eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate -- refined white rice . When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery -- that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins . The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person's food. Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don't, they can also take vitamin pills. Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to _ . A) help the Javanese with their illness B) find ways to grow better crops C) do some research about the island D) spend his holiday
Ans: A
New research has shown that loneliness may affect ants to a greater extent than many other living creatures. It has long been known that loneliness can lead to a shorter life. In humans, it has even been found to be a driver of high blood pressure, sleep disorder, and depression that's independent of factors like age, race, gender, weight and economic status. However, loneliness has never been identified as a factor that can cut human lifespan by more than a small part of the average. Ants, on the other hand, appear to be far more sensitive to this stress, with loneliness leading to a surprising 91 percent reduction in lifespan. That's at least according to a study that details how "lonely" ants only live up to six days on average. Ants living in a community, on the other hand, were found to live up to about 66 days. In a series of experiments where ants were picked from their colonies and separated, they were found to continuously walk without rest,consuming far more energy than they could ever. The reason for the behavior is that an isolated ant is simple trying to get back to its colony at all costs, and doesn't know what to do without its nest mates. After all, many entomologists would argue that an ant colony is far more a single living entity than its members. If you were to take a single part from a clock, it would simply move aimlessly as well, running without a purpose. However, while there is a difference between aimlessness and loneliness, the researchers found that the latter affects lonely ants more directly. The study indicated that ants can't even eat alone, as they normally collect some of the food they gather in the field in a specialized organ called a crop.This crop is normally shared with other ants back at a nest,but as for a single ant, it simply just sits there, undigested and useless. Why does an isolated ant walk non-stop? A) It attempts to return to its colony. B) It wants to attract other ants to form a colony. C) It hopes to make signals to its mates. D) It has to find more food to survive.
A