单选题 Taking charge of yourself involves putting to rest some very prevalent myths. At the top of the list is the notion that intelligence is measured by your ability to solve complex problems; to read, write and compute at certain levels; and to resolve abstract equations quickly. This vision of intelligence asserts formal education and bookish excellence as the true measures of self-fulfillment. It encourages a kind of intellectual prejudice that has brought with it some discouraging results. We have come to believe that someone who has more educational merit badges, who is very good at some form of school discipline is "intelligent". Yet mental hospitals are filled with patients who have all of the properly lettered certificates. A truer indicator of intelligence is an effective, happy life lived each day and each present moment of every day.
If you are happy, if you live each moment for everything it's worth, then you are an intelligent person. Problem solving is a useful help to your happiness, but if you know that given your inability to resolve a particular concern you can still choose happiness for yourself, or at a minimum refuse to choose unhappiness, then you are intelligent. You are intelligent because you have the ultimate weapon against the big N. B. D. -Nervous Break Down.
"Intelligent" people do not have N. B. D. It's because they are in charge of themselves. They know how to choose happiness over depression, because they know how to deal with the problems of their lives.
You can begin to think of yourself as truly intelligent on the basis of how you choose to feel in the face of trying circumstances. The life struggles are pretty much the same for each of us. Everyone who is involved with other human beings in any social context has similar difficulties. Disagreements, conflicts and compromises are a part of what it means to be human. Similarly, money, growing old, sickness, deaths, natural disasters and accidents are all events, which present problems to virtually all human beings. But some people are able to make it, to avoid immobilizing depression and unhappiness despite such occurrences, while others collapse or have an N. B. D. Those who recognize problems as a human condition and don't measure happiness by an absence of problems are the most intelligent kind of humans we know; also, the most rare.

单选题 According to the author, the conventional notion of intelligence measured in terms of one's ability to read, write and compute
[A] is a widely held but wrong concept.
[B] will help eliminate intellectual prejudice.
[C] is the root of all mental distress.
[D] will contribute to one's self-fulfillment.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查对信息的捕捉和推理能力。
[解题要点] 第一段第二句和第三句告诉我们“聪明”的传统定义,接着告诉我们这一定义所带来的不好的后果,传统定义所认为的“聪明人”很多都过着很不快乐的生活,据此判断A项为正确答案。B项与原文意思相反。C项与原文意思不符,在作者看来,聪明因素不在于传统意义上的读,写,计算等能力,但读写能力并不一定就是带来精神沮丧的根源,故C项不对。D项不符原文意思。
单选题 It is implied in the passage that holding a university degree
[A] may result in one's inability to solve complex real-life problems.
[B] does not indicate one's ability to write properly worded documents.
[C] may make one mentally sick and physically weak.
[D] does not mean that one is highly intelligent.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查推理判断。
[解题要点] 题目中间的是“怎样才是聪明人”,文章第一段第五句和第六句提到“我们相信受教育程度高的人,善于遵守学校纪律的人是聪明的,但精神病院里面全是那些拥有高等知识证书的人”。从中可知本文作者不认同传统意义上的“聪明人”,在文章后面,作者还指出了他所认为的真正的“聪明人”。综合全文,不难看出,作者认为传统意义上的关于“聪明人”的观点是错误的。
单选题 The author thinks that an intelligent person knows
[A] how to put up with some very prevalent myths.
[B] how to find the best way to achieve success.
[C] how to avoid depression and make his life worthwhile.
[D] how to persuade others to compromise.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查考生归纳中心思想的能力。
[解题要点] 本文论述的是“怎样的人才能算作聪明的人”。首先,作者对传统定义卜的聪明人做否定,接着在第二段和第三段,作者详述了怎样才算是一个聪明人,最后一段则教读者如何做一个聪明人。A、 D两项与文章中心意思相反。B项“寻找成功的道路”与主旨无关。
单选题 In the last paragraph, the author tells us that
[A] difficulties are but part of everyone's life.
[B] depression and unhappiness are unavoidable in life.
[C] everyone should learn to avoid trying circumstances.
[D] good feelings can contribute eventual academic excellence.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查文章的细节,要求考生正确理解文章的重要论点。
[解题要点] 最后一段中第二、三、四句说到“充满艰难困苦的人生对每一个人都是一样的”。文章讨论的就是学会正视困难,寻找幸福,与 B项所说的“人生难免不幸基调正好相反”。C项、D项与题意不符。
单选题 According to the passage, what kind of people is rare?
[A] Those who don't emphasize bookish excellence in their pursuit of happiness.
[B] Those who are aware of difficulties in life but know how to avoid unhappiness.
[C] Those who measure happiness by an absence of problems.
[D] Those who are able to secure happiness though having to struggle against life.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查对文章的信息的理解。
[解题要点] 文中最后一句“懂得困难或灾难在所难免,但不以是否遭遇困难或灾难为快乐的衡量标准,这样的人才是聪明人”,恰与B项“知道生活中有困难存在,但知道如何避免不快乐的人”吻合。D项“尽管要与生活斗争,但仍能保持快乐”,是一个很具迷惑性的选项,但原文指的多是认识层面的态度问题,而D项已落实到行动问题,而且原文没提到“聪明人”和困难斗争的问题。