“To be or not to be.” Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly, or to live dully and meanly. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: “I think, therefore I am.”
But the best definition of existence I ever saw was one written by another philosopher who said: “To be is to be in relations.” If this is true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity(强烈) of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But other than our regular occupation, how much are we alive? If you are interested only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned --- poetry and prose(散文), music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs ---you are dead.
On the contrary, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest --- even more, a new acplishment(成就) --- you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in different kinds of subjects can remain unhappy. The real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.
Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts with new friends, and new ideas and thoughts, too. Where your thoughts are, there will be your life too. If your thoughts are limited only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to your narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live a narrow restricted(有限的, 受约束的) life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China. If you’re interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people. If you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.
To be or not to be --- to live intensely and richly, or merely to exist, which depends on ourselves. Let us widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let us live!
【小题1】What does the author mainly want to do by this passage?A．Argue against an idea.B．Explain some famous sayings.C．Introduce some famous sayings.D．Put forward an idea.【小题2】What does the underlined word most probably mean?A．Somebody who always lives in a world of passion and imagination.B．Somebody who is always interested in making new friends.C．Somebody who always expects the worst to happen.D．Somebody who likes to live a rich and abundant life.【小题3】Which of the following behavior is probably NOT encouraged by the author?A．Thinking more than your own business.B．Caring only about your physical welfare.C．Reading good novels.D．Listening to fine music.【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage?A．To be is to be in relations.B．I think, therefore I am.C．To be or not to be, that is a question.D．A man dies as often as he loses a friend.D
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(答案→)D
解析：本文讲述的一种新的生存理念“To be is to be in relations.”也就是对与外面的世界保持联系，不要孤立也不要隔离。
【小题1】D 主旨大意题。作者在本文中以“To be or not to be.”开头，引起了一个讨论，并介绍了关于存在的另外一个说法 “To be is to be in relations.”也就是对与外面的世界保持联系，不要孤立也不要隔离。故D正确。
【小题2】C 推理题。根据本句. No one who is deeply interested in different kinds of subjects can remain unhappy. The real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.没有一个对本题事物感兴趣的人是不快乐的。真正不快乐的是那些对一切都失去兴趣的人，他们总是预料这最不好的事情发生。这样的人总是很悲观，所以他们很不快乐。故C正确。
【小题3】B 推理题。根据文章第三段前4行But we gain new life by contacts with new friends, and new ideas and thoughts, too. Where your thoughts are, there will be your life too. If your thoughts are limited only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to your narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live a narrow restricted(有限的, 受约束的) life可知这些人只关注自己的问题，他们的生活就被约束住了。故B项只关注自己，这是作者不鼓励的生活方式。故B正确。
【小题4】A 主旨大意题。本文讲述的一种新的生存理念“To be is to be in relations.”也就是对与外面的世界保持联系，不要孤立也不要隔离。故A正确。