The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain free 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 (不可避免的) brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement,
religious commitment (义务), 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 couples 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 (解放) 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 finds more fun in dating than in marriage
B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single
C. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities
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 rewarding task
B. a thankless job
C. a moral duty
D. a source of inevitable pain
3. From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from(由…造成)_______.
A. hatred
B. ignorance
C. prejudice(偏见)
D. misunderstanding
4. To understand what true happiness is one must ________.
A. have as much fun as possible during one's lifetime
B. be able to distinguish happiness from fun
C. put up with pain under all circumstances
D. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain
5. What is the author trying to tell us?
A. It is important to make commitments.
B. One must know how to attain happiness.
C. Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain.
D. It is pain that leads to happiness.
