The right to pursue happiness is promised to Americans by the US Constitution, but no one seems quite sure which way happiness ran. It may be we are issued a hunting license but offered no game. Jonathan Swift conceived of happiness as “the state of being well-deceived,” or of being “a fool among idiots,” for Swift saw society as a land of false goals.
It is, of course, un-American to think in terms of false goals. We do, however, seem to be dedicated to the idea of buying our way to happiness. We shall all have made it to Heaven when we possess enough.
And at the same time the forces of American business are hugely dedicated to making us deliberately unhappy. Advertising is one of our major industries, and advertising exists not to satisfy desires but to create them—and to create them faster than anyone’s budget can satisfy them. For that matter, our whole economy is based on addicting us to greed. We are even told it is our patriotic duty to support the national economy by buying things.
Look at any of the magazines that cater to women. There advertising begins as art and slogans in the front pages and ends as pills and therapy in the back pages. The art at the front illustrates the dream of perfect beauty. This is the baby skin that must be hers. This, the perfumed breath she must breathe out. This, the sixteen-year-old figure she must display at forty, at fifty, at sixty, and forever. This is the harness into which Mother must strap herself in order to display that perfect figure. This is the cream that restores skin, these are the tablets that melt away fat around the thighs, and these are the pills of perpetual youth.
Obviously no reasonable person can be completely persuaded either by such art or by such pills and devices. Yet someone is obviously trying to buy this dream and spending billions every year in the attempt. Clearly the happiness-market is not running out of customers, but what is it they are trying to buy?
Defining the meaning of “happiness” is a perplexing proposition: the best one can do is to try to set some extremes to the idea and then work towards the middle. To think of happiness as achieving superiority over others, living in a mansion made of marble, having a wardrobe with hundreds of outfits, will do to set the greedy extreme.
1. From the first two paragraphs of the passage we may infer that ____.
2. In “advertising exists not to satisfy desires but to create them” (Line 3, Para.3), “them” refers to ____.
3. In the author’s view, buying things is regarded as ____.
4. It is implied by the author that the magazines are ____.
5. The best title for the passage maybe ____.
问题1选项
A.the US Constitution gives people the right to pursue happiness
B.American people are at a loss as how to gain happiness
C.Jonathan Swift did not believe in happiness itself
D.American people tend to buy their happiness
问题2选项
A.people’s desires
B.advertisements
C.various senses of happiness
D.the forces of American business
问题3选项
A.a patriotic duty
B.supporting the national economy
C.something addicting us to greed
D.being taken in by advertising
问题4选项
A.sheer art and slogans
B.full of lure and deception
C.very useful for professional women
D.useless, like cream, tablets and pills
问题5选项
A.The pursuit of happiness
B.The right to pursue happiness
C.The false goals of American people
D.The misguiding force of advertising
第1题:D
第2题:A
第3题:C
第4题:B
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
From the first two paragraphs of the passage we may infer that ____. 从文章的前两段我们可以推断出____。
A. the US Constitution gives people the right to pursue happiness A. 美国宪法赋予人们追求幸福的权利
B. American people are at a loss as how to gain happiness B. 美国人不知道如何获得幸福
C. Jonathan Swift did not believe in happiness itself C. 乔纳森•斯威夫特不相信幸福本身
D. American people tend to buy their happiness D. 美国人倾向于购买他们的幸福
【答案】D
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据原文前两段的内容可知，美国宪法赋予美国人民追求幸福的权利，但似乎谁也说不清幸福跑到哪里去了。Jonathan Swift提出了虚假目标的说法，但这种说法不是美国式思维。然而，我们（美国人）似乎执迷于花钱买幸福的理念。由此可知，选项D符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“美国宪法赋予人们追求幸福的权利”定位到第一段第一句“美国宪法向美国人承诺了追求幸福的权利”，是原文句子的摘录，不需要推理就可得知，属于以偏概全；
B选项“美国人不知道如何获得幸福”与第二段第二句“我们似乎确实热衷于花钱获得幸福的想法”相矛盾，属于反向干扰；
C选项“乔纳森•斯威夫特不相信幸福本身”原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
In “advertising exists not to satisfy desires but to create them” (Line 2, Para.3), “them” refers to ____. 在“广告的存在不是为了满足欲望，而是创造他们”（第3段第2行）中，“他们”指的是____。
A. people’s desires A. 人们的欲望
B. advertisements B. 广告
C. various senses of happiness C. 各种幸福感
D. the forces of American business D. 美国商业的力量
【答案】A
【考查点】语义推断题。
【解题思路】根据题干的关键信息定位到第三段句意“广告的存在不是为了满足欲望，而是为了创造欲望。”由此可知，这里的“them”指代的是前半部分提到的“desire”。所以选项A正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“广告”与题干句子“广告的存在不是为了满足欲望”不相符，属于曲解原文；
C选项“各种幸福感”原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
D选项“美国商业的力量”定位到第三段第一句，与题目句子不相关，属于出处错位。
第3题:
【选项释义】
In the author’s view, buying things is regarded as ____. 在作者看来，买东西被视为____。
A. a patriotic duty A. 爱国的责任
B. supporting the national economy B. 支撑国民经济
C. something addicting us to greed C. 使我们贪婪的东西
D. being taken in by advertising D. 被广告骗了
【答案】C
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据第三段最后两句“这样一来，我们的整个经济就是建立在使我们沉迷于贪婪（addicting us to greed）的基础上的。甚至有人告诉我们，通过购买东西来支持国家经济是我们的爱国义务（our patriotic duty）。”由此可知，作者认为购物是使我们沉迷于贪婪的东西，所以选项C正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“爱国的责任”和B选项“支撑国民经济”都是别人的观点，而题目问的是作者的观点，属于张冠李戴；
D选项“被广告欺骗了”在文中没有提及，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
It is implied by the author that the magazines are ____. 作者暗示这些杂志是____。
A. sheer art and slogans A. 纯粹的艺术和口号
B. full of lure and deception B. 充满了诱惑和欺骗
C. very useful for professional women C. 对职业女性非常有用
D. useless, like cream, tablets and pills D. 像药膏、药片和药丸一样没用
【答案】B
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据第四段的内容可知，作者提及，现在的杂志为了迎合女性的口味，开头的几页广告都是艺术和口号，到了结尾的几页就都变成了药丸和疗法。由此可知，作者认为杂志充满了诱惑和欺骗，选项B符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“纯粹的艺术和口号”定位到第四段第二句“广告在头版以艺术和口号开始，在封底以药片和治疗结束。”并不是说完全是艺术和口号，属于推理过度；
C选项“对职业女性非常有用”原文中并没有特别提及“职业女性”，属于无中生有；
D选项“没用的，像药膏、药片和药丸一样”原文不是说这些杂志像药膏、药片和药丸一样，属于曲解原文。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The best title for the passage maybe ____. 也许____是这篇文章最好的标题。
A. The pursuit of happiness A. 追求幸福
B. The right to pursue happiness B. 追求幸福的权利
C. The false goals of American people C. 美国人民的虚幻目标
D. The misguiding force of advertising D. 广告的误导力量
【答案】A
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】结合原文内容可知，前两段作者提及美国人追寻不到幸福的方向，而且倾向于花钱买幸福；接着作者讲到了人们是如何花钱来购买幸福的案例；最后作者指出幸福很难定义，关键在于个人如何看待。由此可知，本文主要是围绕着追寻幸福这一话题展开，所以选项A正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“追求幸福的权利”原文第一段第一句虽有提及，但不是全文的主要内容，本文主要是围绕着追寻幸福这一话题展开的，属于以偏概全；
C选项“美国人民的虚幻目标”是Jonathan Swift的观点，说明美国人追寻不到幸福的方向，属于曲解原文；
D选项“广告的误导力量”是作者举例来说明人们是如何花钱来购买幸福的，属于曲解原文。
