Middle Age: a Low Point for Most
People around the globe hit the height of their misery and depression in middle 1 , a newntemational study suggests. The finding by British and American researchers was based on ananalysis of well-being among approximately 2 million people in 80 nations. With few exceptions,the observation appears to apply across the board, regardless 2 gender (性别), culture, geography, wealth, job history, education, and marriage or parental status.
"The scientific fact seems to be that happiness and positive mental health follow a giant 'U'3through life," said study author Andrew J. Oswald, a professor of economics at WarwickUniversity in Warwickshire, England. "For the average person, it's high when you're 20, and then itslowly4and bottoms out in your 40s. But the good news is that your5health picks upagain, and eventually gets back to the high levels of your youth."
The finding was 6 on the pooling of several different sources of happiness data,including: two multi-decade happiness/satisfaction surveys (first launched in the 1970s), involvingabout 500,000 American and Western European men and women; four rounds of the 80-nation"World Values Survey" 7 between 1981 and 2004 in North America, Eastern and WesternEurope, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Central and South America; and a 2004-2007 survey 8nearly 1 million Britons.
The bottom-line: For most people throughout the world, the highest probability for9strikingis around 44 years of age.
In the United States, however, some as-yet unexplained 10differences were observed,
with happiness among men dipping the most in their early 50s, whereas women hit their nadir (最低点 ) around the age of 40.
The researchers cautioned that cheerful people tend to live longer than unhappy 11 – a fact that might have skewed (使偏斜) the overall finding. But they also suggested that evidence of a happiness 12might simply reflect a midlife choice to give up long-held but no longer tenable (守得住的) aspiration (志向 ) , followed by a senior's sense of gratitude for having successfully endured 13 others did not.
"That said, some might fred it helpful simply to understand the general14of mental healthas they go through their own life," said Oswald. "It might be useful for people to realize that if theyare15in their 40s this is normal. It is not exceptional. And just knowing this might help."
1. A. age
B. place
C. height
D. degree
2. A. of
B. for
C. to
D. by
3. A. color
B. size
C. shape
D. letter
4. A. improves
B. moves
C. rises
D. falls
5. A. mental
B. personal
C. general
D. physical
6. A. focused
B. concluded
C. decided
D. based
7. A. measured
B. conducted
C. checked
D. inspected
8. A. calling
B. counting
C. involving
D. passing
9. A. cancer
B.depression
C. accident
D. injury
10. A. race
B.gender
C. education
D. income
11. A. men
B.people
C. women
D. couples
12. A. curve
B.line
C. axis
D. table
13. A. unless
B.because
C. while
D. if
14. A. moods
B.figures
C. views
D. trends
15. A. weird
B. low
C. old
D. weak
答案与解析：
1.A。这里考查的是词汇。题干：一项国际调查显示，全世界的人们在中问的时候会到达悲伤沮丧的顶点。结合下文可知，此处表达年龄的含义，故选A(年龄)。
2.A。这里考查的是介词。题干：除几个特例外，这个调查适用于各地，__________性别、文化、地理位置、财富、工作历史、教育、婚姻和父母的阶层。固定短语regardless of意为“不管，不顾”，符合句意，所以答案为A。
3.C。这里考查的是词汇。题干：科学表明，人生中的快乐和心理健康成U__________。很显然，此处表达“呈现U形状态”，故C(形状)为正确答案。
4.D。这里考查的是词汇。题干：平均来讲，在20岁的时候它是最高的，然后慢慢地，在40岁的时候__________最低。很显然，此处从最高“降到”最低，故D为正确答案。
5.A。这里考查的是词汇。题干：但是好消息是你的健康又恢复了，最终达到年轻时的水准。根据上文，“科学表明，人生中的快乐和心理健康是成u字形的”可知此处选择mental(精神上的，思想的)，故选A。
6.D。这里考查的是词汇。题干：这个发现是__________一系列不同幸福数据的集合得来的。此处考查短语be based on(根据，以……为基准)，故选择D。
7.B。这里考查的是词汇。题干：这个调查包括美国和西欧的50万男女;1981年到2004年4轮80国的“世界价值调查”，包括北美、东欧、西欧、亚洲、非洲、澳大利亚、美国中部和南部;并且2004——2007年调查近l00万英国人。四个选项：measure(测量)，conduct(开展)，check(检查)，inspect(视察)，可知conduct最符合题意，因此选择B。
8.C。这里考查的是词汇。题干：这个调查包括美国和西欧的50万男女;l981年到2004年4轮80国的.“世界价值调查”，包括北美、东欧、西欧、亚洲、非洲、澳大利亚、美国中部和南部;并且2004——2007年调查近一百万英国人。很显然此处表达“包含，涵盖”的意思，因此C(包括)为正确答案。
9.B。这里考查的是词汇。题干：最低线：对世界上大多数人来说，最可能的是在44岁左右发生的。此处讲最低线，因此空格处应和“低”为近义词，故B(萧条，衰落)为正确答案。
10.B。这里考查的是词汇。题干：在美国发现了一些无法解释的区别：男人的幸福点在50多岁时最低，而女人是在40岁的时候达到最低点。此处的对比点是男人和女人，因此空格处为gender(性别)，所以选择B。
11.B。这里考查的是词汇。题干：研究者发现那些活得开心的人比活得不开心的__________要活得长久。对比“和”前后的短语可知此处应选择people，故答案为B。
12.A。这里考查的是词汇。文章中提到幸福点有最高点也有最低点，因此应该是曲线，故选择A。
13.C。这里考查的是词汇。此处表达转折含义，应选择while(然而)，故答案为C。
14.D。这里考查的是词汇。题干：也就是说，仅仅理解人生中心理健康的大体也是有好处的。根据曲线，我们可以了解心理健康的大体趋势和走向，因此D(趋势)为正确答案。
15.B。这里考查的是词汇。题干：这有可能帮助人们认识到，如果他们40岁的年龄__________，这是很正常的。后一句接着讲这不是例外，因此此处选择low(低于)。
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