The way people hold to the belief that a fun filled, painfree life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
　　As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment (承担的业务) , self improvement.
　　Ask a bachelor (单身汉) why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
　　Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night's sleep or a three day vacation. I don't know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couple who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
　　Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
　　1. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because .
　　A. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities
　　B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single
　　C. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage
　　D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement
　　2. Raising children, in the author's opinion, is .
　　A. a moral duty
　　B. a thankless job
　　C. a rewarding task
　　D. a source of inevitable pain
　　3. From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from .
　　A. hatred
　　B. misunderstanding
　　C. prejudice
　　D. ignorance
　　4. To understand what true happiness is one must .
　　A. have as much run as possible during one's lifetime
　　B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain
　　C. put up with pain under all circumstances
　　D. be able to distinguish happiness from fun
　　5. What is the author trying to tell us?
　　A. Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain.
　　B. One must know how to attain happiness.
　　C. It is important to make commitments.
　　D. It is pain that leads to happiness.

　　"Welcome to the U. S. A. I Major Credit cards accepted !"
　　By the millions they are coming—no longer the tired, the poor, the wretched masses longing for a better living. These are the wealthy. "We don't have a budget," says a biologist from Brazil, as she walks with two companions through New York City's South Street. "We just use our credit cards."
　　The U. S. has long been one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, but this year has been exceptional. First there was the World Cup, which drew thousands from every corner of the globe; then came the weakening of the U.S. dollar against major currencies. Now the U. S., still the world's superpower, can also claim to be the world's bargain basement (廉价商品部) . Nobody undersells America these days on just about everything, from consumer electronics to fashion clothes to tennis rackets. Bottom retail prices— anywhere from 30% to 70% lower than those in Europe and Asia—have attracted some 47 million visitors, who are expected to leave behind $ 79 billion in 1994. That's up from $ 74 billion the year before.
　　True, not everyone comes just for bargains. There remains an undeniable fascination in the rest of the world with all things American, nourished by Hollywood films and U. S. television series. But shopping the U. S. A. is proving irresistible. Every week thousands arrive with empty suitcases ready to be filled; some even rent an additional hotel room to hold their purchases. The buying binge (无节制) has become as important as watching Old Faithful Fountains erupt in Yellowstone Park or sunbathing on a beach in Florida.
　　The U.S. has come at last to appreciate what other countries learned long ago: the pouring in of foreign tourists may not always be convenient, but it does put money in the bank. And with a trade deficit at about $130 billion and growing for the past 12 months, the U.S. needs all the deposits it can get. Compared with American tourists abroad, visitors to the U.S. stay longer and spend more money at each stop; an average of 12.2 night and $1624 a traveler versus the Americans' four night and $ 298.
　　1. From what the Brazilian biologist says, we know that tourists like her .
　　A. are reluctant to carry cash with them
　　B. simply don't care how much they spend
　　C. are not good at planning their expenditure
　　D. often spend more money than they can afford
　　2. The reason why 1994 was exceptional is that .
　　A. it saw an unusually large number of tourists to the U. S.
　　B. it witnessed a drop in the number of tourists to the U. S.
　　C. tourism was hardly affected by the weakening of the U.S. dollar that year
　　D. tourists came to the U.S. for sightseeing rather than for bargains that year
　　3. By saying "nobody undersells America" (Line 4, Para. 3), the author means that .
　　A. no other country underestimates the competitiveness of American products
　　B. nobody expects the Americans to cut the prices of their commodities
　　C. nobody restrains the selling of American goods
　　D. no other country sells at a lower price than America
　　4. Why does the author assert that all American things are fascinating to foreigners?
　　A. Because they have gained much publicity through the American media.
　　B. Because they represent the world's latest fashions.
　　C. Because they embody the most sophisticated technology.
　　D. Because they are available at all tourist destinations.
　　5. From the passage we can conclude that the U.S. has come to realize .
　　A. the weakening if the U.S. dollar can result in trade deficits
　　B. the lower the retail prices, the greater the profits
　　C. tourism can make great contributions to its economy
　　D. visitors to the U.S. are wealthier than U.S. tourists abroad