When we think about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, a top great delight.
For a child, happiness has a magic quality. I remember playing police and robbers in the woods, getting a speaking part in the school play. Of course, kids also experience lows, but their delight at tops of pleasure is easily seen，such as winning a race or getting a new bike.
For teenagers, or people under 20 the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love, and popularity. I can still feel the pain of not being invited to a party that almost everyone else was going to. I also recall the great happiness of being invited at another event to dance with a very handsome young man.
In adulthood the things that bring great joy—birth , love , marriage—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. Love may not last; loved ones die. For adults, happiness is complex.
My dictionary explains “happy” as “lucky” or “ fortunate”, but I think a better explanation of happiness is “ the ability to enjoy something”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It’s easy for us not to notice the pleasure we get from loving and being loved, the company of friends, the freedom to love where we please, and even good health. Nowadays, with so many choices and much pleasure, we have turned happiness into one more thing we have. We think we own the right to have it, which makes us extremely unhappy. So we try hard to get it and consider it to be the same as wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren’t necessarily happier.
While happiness may be more complex for us, the answer is the same as ever. Happiness isn’t about what happens to us. It’s the ability to find a positive for every negative, and view a difficulty as a challenge. Don’t be sad for what we don’t have, but enjoy what we do possess.
60. According to the passage, happiness lies in the ability to_______.
A. think of something extraordinary B. experience delight at an old age
C. feel the magic quality of pleasure D. enjoy what one has at the moment
61. In paragraph 3, a teenager looks at happiness mainly in terms of_____.
A. material gains B. social honor
C. spiritual satisfaction D. academic achievement
62. The author implies that when one dreams wealth and finally gets it he____.
A. can realize what happiness is
B. may not end up with happiness
C. may consider it extreme happiness
D. should not feel content with himself
63. The passage aims to tell_______.
A. the great importance of happiness B. the real meaning of happiness
C. the constant dream of happiness D. the changing concept of happiness
