In Greek mythology（神话）, the gods punished Sisyphus by forcing him to roll a rock up a steep hill for eternity（来世）. But he was probably better off than if they’d forced him to sit and stare into space until the end of time, conclude the authors of a new study on keeping busy. They found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit around.
“The general phenomenon I’m interested in is why people are too busy doing what they are doing in modern society,” says Christopher K. Hsee, of the University of Chicago. “People are running around, working hard, the way beyond the basic level.” Sure, there are reasons, like making a living, earning money, and so on. But, Hsee says, “I think there’s something deeper: We have extra energy and we want to avoid idleness.”
In a study 98 students were asked to plete two surveys. After they had pleted the first they were made to wait 15 minutes to receive the next one. They were given a choice of either handing in the first survey nearby or at a more distant location they had to walk to. Whichever option they chose, they received a chocolate bar. Not everyone chose to go to the faraway location. Two-thirds chose the lazy option. Yet those who chose to stay busy by going to the faraway location were found to be happier than those who had stayed put.
But if the chocolate bars offered at the two locations were different, they were more likely to choose the far location—because they could make up a good and acceptable reason for the trip, Hsee and his colleagues say.
Hsee thinks it may be possible to use this principle—people like being busy, and they like being able to show being busy right or reasonable—to benefit society. “If we can find a way for idle people to engage in activity that is at least not harmful, I think it is better than destructive business,” he says. Hsee himself has been known to give a research assistant a useless task when he doesn’t have anything to do, so he isn’t sitting around the office getting bored and depressed.
【小题1】The author starts the passage with the Greek mythology story to .A．make it easier to understand the passageB．draw readers’ attention to Greek cultureC．show Greek people enjoyed being busyD．bring about the subject of the passage【小题2】According to Hsee, people are busy in modern society because they want to .A．make others think they are not lazyB．keep their energy at the basic levelC．earn more money to support their familyD．avoid the state of having nothing to do【小题3】The underlined phrase “stayed put” in Paragraph 3 probably means .A．remained thereB．kept occupiedC．got aroundD．stayed awake【小题4】How does Hsee’s assistant probably feel while performing a task?A．Blue.B．Empty.C．Contented.D．Trapped.D
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(答案→)D
解析：文章讲述的是作者发现一直保持忙碌的人们比无事可做的人开心。
【小题1】该故事是作者要表达的观点的一个引子。
【小题2】推理判断题。根据I think there’s something deeper: We have extra energy and we want to avoid idleness可知，人们保持繁忙是为了避免无事可做。
【小题3】推理判断题。根据those who chose to stay busy by going to the faraway location were found to be happier than those who had stayed put，可知该次与go to the faraway location 是相反的人，故选择呆在原地。
【小题4】推理判断题。根据give a research assistant a useless task when he doesn’t have anything to do, so he isn’t sitting around the office getting bored and depressed可知，他不会感到无聊和沮丧，即感到高兴。