Aging brings wrinkles, sagging bodies and frustrating forgetfulness. But getting older is not all bad for many people. Mounting evidence suggests aging may be a key to happiness. There is conflicting research on the subject, however, and experts say it may all boil down to this: Attitude is everything.
Older adults tend to be more optimistic and have a more positive outlook on life than their younger and stressed opposites. The big question is why seniors are happier. A recent study suggests one reason: Older adults remember the past through happy memories. Aging can bring more cheer as people become more comfortable with themselves and their roles in society. The older adults said they were enjoying more time with their family, spending more time on hobbies and having greater financial security and did not have to work.
But others are doubtful about the link between happiness and growing older.
"The notion that those in old age are happiest is misleading," said Richard Easterlin, a professor of economics at the University of Southern California. "It is based on comparing people of different ages who are the same in terms of income, health, family life." Easterlin added, "When you take account of the fact that older people have lower income than younger, are less healthy, and more likely to be living alone, then you will find it hard to accept that they are happier.
In fact, scientists have found that as people age, their health declines and social networks disappear as their friends die, which can make the elderly less happy.
Even if one does give in to age's dark side, health and happiness don't always go hand-in-hand. It's all about attitude. Research by the University of Chicago’s Yang suggests that attitude about life and happiness, is partly shaped by the era in which a person was born. It turns out that individuals who adapt the best to changes also have the highest expected levels of happiness.
Despite the conflicting findings about aging and happiness, the good news is that there doesn’t appear to be a limit to how much happiness one can achieve in one’s life. “Most people desire happiness,” Easterlin said. “To my knowledge, no one has identified a limit to attainable happiness.”
32. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
A. The key factor to older adults’ happiness
B. There is a conflict between aging and happiness
C. No one can define the limit to happiness.
D. The relationship between health and happiness.
33. Why are some seniors happier according to some experts?
A. They focus on what makes them feel good.
B. They have their own circle of friends.
C. They have better income after retirement.
34. What can we learn from the passage?
A. People of the same age have the same sense of happiness.
B. Attitude may play a very important role in happiness.
C. People who adapt the best to changes are more likely to be unhappy.
D. Older adults who have more valuable life experience are more optimistic.
35. What’s the topic discussed in the passage?
A. Whether aging or attitude brings happiness.
B. Why seniors adapt the best to changes in society.
C. What the limit to an elder person’s happiness is.
D. How older people feel compared with younger people.
CABA
健康环保累阅读概念:
健康环保类文章常是介绍科学知识、生活常识和环境保护方面的短文。体裁有记叙文、 说明文、议论文和各种应用文。
健康环保类文章阅读技巧:
健康环保类文章常是介绍科学知识、生活常识和环境保护方面的短文。阅读此类短文要以现象或事物为中心进行思考,理解现象产生的原因、条件和客观规律等。同时要抓住事物的特征、用途和相互关系等。科普环保类文章一般为说明文,从结构上看大致可分为三个部分:
第一部分一般是文章的首段,主要用来提出文章的主题,即文章想要阐述、说明的主要内容;
第二部分是文章的主体,可由若干个段落组成,对文章的主题进行展开说明;
第三部分是结尾段,对文章的主题进行归纳总结。这类文章多用一般现在时,而且一般多使用客观性词语表述。有时为了强调客观性,也常使用被动语态。
从近几年的考试题来看,科普环保类的文章越来越与人们的实际生活相接近。由于此类文章缺乏故事情节,很多同学对此类文章感到费解。但一般的科普类文章都是就事论事,需要逻辑推理和想象的时候较少,因此此类阅读题也没有同学们想象中的那么难,只要多加训练,就能较好地答题。
【阅读策略】
1、概要(Summarizing):
阅完材料后,将所阅材料浓缩,摘要,做出所阅材料的书面或口头梗概。
2、组织(Organization):
阅读后根据阅读内容,识别观点、人物、事件之间的关系以及文章的结构关系。如:时间关系、比较或对比关系、相关关系及因果关系等。
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A. The effects of flu and its symptoms B. Types of virus to cause flu C. People’s attitudes toward flu D. The cause of flu E. The way that flu spreads F. The methods to fight flu |
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Flu (which is short for influenza) is a highly infectious disease, the cause of which is a very tiny organism known as a virus. Several types of flu are recognized, depending on the type of virus that causes the disease.
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Flu can often cause problems in breathing, and general infection of the lung. With elderly and weak people, these added complications often produce serious results. The virus, if not properly treated, can weaken the body so that patient may develop more serious illnesses, such as pneumonia and bronchitis. When people catch flu, they often complain of a headache or a sore throat. They usually have a fever and their temperature rises from the normal 37℃ (98.6) to about 39.5℃ (103). Sometimes a person has a dry hacking cough and aching joints.
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Today many doctors use drugs that fight the disease. And scientists have also developed vaccines that help to prevent it. If the patient has proper treatment, and complete rest in bed, the virus is normally beaten within a week to ten days.
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How does flu spread so quickly? When the infected person breathes out, sneezes or coughs, he gives out droplets of moisture in the breath from his mouth or nose. These remain in the air for some time. Flu viruses are present in these droplets. If a person sneezes in a crowd or poorly ventilated place, such as a lift, viruses can easily be carried from an infected person to a healthy person. This is known as droplet infection. The healthy person will breathe in the viruses given out by the infected person.
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There are three main types of virus that cause flu, which are called type A, B and C. type A is the most powerful of the three, and undergoes minor changes in its genetic material every few years. The new form of the virus is called a strain. The new strain is not affected by the current vaccines. It is said to be “resistant” to them. So doctors must be continually producing new vaccines to combat the new strains of virus.