A
Rich as a King
WilliamⅠ, who conquered England some 930 years ago, had wealth, power and an army. Yet although William was very rich by the standard of his time, he had nothing like a flush toilet (抽水马桶), paper towels, or riding lawn mower (除草机). How did he get by?
History books are filled with wealthy people who were poor compared to me. I have storm windows, Croesus did not. Entire nations trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldn’t buy cat food. Czar Nicholas lacked an electric saw.
Given how much better off I am than so many famous dead people, you’d think I’d be content. The trouble is that, like most people, I compare my wealth with that of living people: neighbors, school classmates, famous TV people. The greed I feel toward my friend Howard’s new kitchen is not reduced by the fact that no kings ever had a refrigerator with glass doors.
There is really no rising or falling standard of living. Over the centuries people simply find different things to feel sad about. You’d think that simply not having disease would put us in a good mood, but no, we want a hot bath too.
Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to realize that even by today’s standards the things I own are pretty nice. My house is smaller than the houses of many investment bankers, but even so it has a lot more rooms than my wife and I can keep clean.
Besides, to people looking back at our era from a century or two in the future, these bankers’ fancy counter tops and my own worn Formica will seem equally shabby. I can’t keep up with my neighbors right now. But just wait.
【文章大意】这是一篇说明文。文章通过将过去的历史人物和目前的生活进行对比, 得出我们要学会对当今的生活感到满足的感悟。
1. What does the underlined phrase “get by” in the first paragraph mean?
A. Succeed as a king.
B. Deal with complains.
C. Get some extra money.
D. Live in a satisfactory way.
【解析】选D。词义猜测题。根据上文Yet although William was very rich by the standard of his time, he had nothing like a flush toilet, paper towels, or riding lawn mower. (尽管按照当时的标准来看, 威廉非常富有, 但他却没有抽水马桶、纸巾和割草机。)再结合下文I have storm windows, Croesus did not. Entire nations trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldn’t buy cat food. Czar Nicholas lacked an electric saw. (我有防风窗, 克罗伊斯没有。整个国家都在亚历山大大帝面前战栗, 但他却买不到猫食。沙皇尼古拉没有电锯。)作者列举了过去的历史人物和现在的生活设备相对比, 是为了突出古人和现在的人对生活的满足方式不同, 故get by此处应理解为“过一种令人满意的生活”。故选D。
2. How many historical figures are mentioned to compare lives in the past and present?
A. 3. B. 4. C. 5. D. 6.
【解析】选B。细节理解题。第一段提到了WilliamⅠ, 第二段提到了Croesus, Alexander the Great与Czar Nicholas, 故文章一共提到了四位历史名人来对比过去和现在。故选B。
3. According to the passage, the author intends to .
A. tell us to be content with life
B. warn us to live in a simple way
C. teach us to learn lessons from life
D. encourage us to struggle for wealth
【解析】选A。目的意图题。根据倒数第二段Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to realize that even by today’s standards the things I own are pretty nice. 可知作者认为获得幸福的一个方法就是意识到即使以今天的标准来衡量, 我拥有的东西也是相当不错的。即作者想要告诉我们要对生活感到满足。故选A。
4. What’s the author’s attitude towards life?
A. Doubtful. B. Optimistic.
C. Uncaring. D. Cautious.
【解析】选B。推理判断题。根据倒数第二段Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to realize that even by today’s standards the things I own are pretty nice. 可知作者认为获得幸福的一个方法就是意识到, 即使以今天的标准来衡量, 我拥有的东西也是相当不错的。可知作者是一个积极乐观的人。故选B。
【知识拓展】佳词积累
1. be filled with 充满……
2. compared to 与……相比
3. better off 境况较好的
4. in a good mood 心情好
5. look back 回顾
6. keep up with 跟上; 保持; 不落后
