People hold 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 things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people don’t like the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, mitment(承担的义务)，self-improvement.
Ask a bachelor 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 mitment, for mitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most obvious 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 true happiness is one of the most liberating realizations because true happiness has nothing to do with fun. 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 actully may not be happy at all.
【小题1】According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because A．he is unwilling to take family responsibilitiesB．he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains singleC．he finds more fun in dating than in marriageD．he fears it will put an end to all his fun, adventure and excitement【小题2】 The underlined word bachelor means A．a married manB．a college studentC．a single manD．an academic degree【小题3】From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes results from A．hatredB．misunderstandingC．prejudiceD．ignorance【小题4】To understand what true happiness, one must A．have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime.B．make every effort to liberate oneself from painC．put up with pain under all circumstancesD．be able to distinguish happiness from fun【小题5】What is the author trying to tell us?A．Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain.B．One must know how to attain happiness.C．It is important to make mitments.D．It is pain that leads to happiness.A
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(答案→)A
解析：
【小题1】细节理解题。从第三段一二两行Ask a bachelor 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 mitment, for mitment is in fact quite painful.可知应选A，即 he is unwilling to take family responsibilities。
【小题2】推理判断题。从第三段第一句Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. 可知抵制婚姻也就是不结婚即单身的人，所以选C。
【小题3】推理判断题。从最后一段最后一句 And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actully may not be happy at all.可知我们嫉妒的原因是以前不明白并非所有拥有很多乐趣的人是幸福的，即B误解。
【小题4】推理判断题。从最后一段第一句 Understanding and accepting true happiness is one of the most liberating realizations because true happiness has nothing to do with fun.可知要明白什么是真正的幸福必须知道真正的幸福和乐趣无关，所以选择D。
【小题5】推理判断题。从第一段最后一句 But in fact, the opposite is true: more often things that lead to happiness involve some pain.可知是引起下文。整篇都围绕这句来写。所以选A。即幸福总是伴随痛苦。