张明波

Why are humans never content？

喜欢和别人比较、对外界充满好奇、有野心以及想要取悦他人都有可能导致我们对生活感到不满。

难词探意

1. pessimistic /?pes??m?st?k/ adj. 悲观的

2. incessantly /?n?sesntl?/ adv. 持续不断地;不停地

Why are humans never content？ Although this sounds a bit too pessimistic， maybe craving for things and desiring incessantly is in our very nature. Also， this may be the reason why we never feel satisfied with our present condition， and always strive to do better for ourselves in the future.

Comparing ourselves to others with respect keeps us unhappy about our own lives， and leads to low self?esteem. We tend to rarely focus on our own unique talents and abilities， or what we already have. Comparing with others shifts our focus away from the positive aspects of our own life， and we tend to become disheartened， thinking about what others have that we do not.

Human beings have always been very curious. Curiosity is what made us come out of our cave?dwelling times， and led us to all the technological and intellectual advancements we now see around us. But this very same curiosity also makes us attracted to things we do not know about， or do not have. We are always curious to find out more about objects or experiences that are new and unfamiliar to us. Therefore， human curiosity has proved to be a double?edged sword.

Human ambition has never known any bounds. It is human ambition that enabled us to set foot on the moon. We have， to some extent， conquered nature and made our lives more comfortable and possibly more pleasurable. But being ambitious makes us strive harder to improve ourselves and acquire better things. Because of having future ambitions， we are never happy about our present achievements and fulfilled ambitions.

We do so many things just to please others and to improve our image in their minds. In our efforts to please others， we forget that they are also people like us who are never satisfied with anything for more than just a short period of time. So， trying to improve our self?esteem by creating a better impression on others never leads to any satisfaction.

Reading Check

1. What cant cause our unhappiness about our own lives？

A. Focusing on our own abilities. B. Curiosity.

C. Comparing with others. D. Wanting to please others.

2. What will happen if we compare ourselves to others？

A. Becoming positive in our own life.

B. Feeling disappointed at something we dont have.

C. Realizing we are as talented as others.

D. Being inspired and striving to live better lives.

3. What does the underlined part “a double?edged sword” in the third paragraph mean？

A. Curiosity makes us content with our life.

B. Curiosity can kill us like a sharp sword.

C. We are curious to explore the unfamiliar objects or experiences.

D. Curiosity leads us to advanced life but also makes us unhappy with ourselves.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph？

A. We care little about our image in front of others.

B. One may feel satisfied with what he has for a long time.

C. Everyone will sometimes want to improve himself and acquire better things.

D. Creating a better impression on others will fail to bring us much satisfaction.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

It is human ambition that enabled us to set foot on the moon.

【信息提取】這是一个强调句，句中it is...that...为强调句型。

【句式仿写】直到他孩子回家，他才上床睡觉。

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