A
It’s a familiar feeling. Your friend has made the team for Saturday’s big game, and you take certain pleasure in telling him you can’t be there to watch him play. You smile, but that voice in you asks, why him and not you?
Envy is a fault that we like to keep secret. It raises its ugly head when we focus on what we want but don’t possess now, or we may even wish for and take pleasure in someone losing it. Feelings of unfairness are part of being human, but when you focus on them, you can never get out of your dark emotions. And that makes you feel bad.
So is there a solution? Is there anything you can do to stop the most ungenerous emotions?
Well, why not turn envy on its head, and make it the encouragement you need for selfimprovement? The best weapon against envy is not to compete where you can’t shine, but to do your absolute best where you can.
Start by making peace with yourself, and accept the gifts which make you unique. Make an agreement with yourself to be the best you can be. Then find out exactly the circumstances and qualities in others that start your envy. Is it someone’s singing voice, their work promotion, or their new car? Envy shows us the things we’d like to have, so make a plan to earn what’s important to you. Sign up for a night class. Start a training program. Give up a treat or two, and start saving for what you want.
And aim for real pleasure in the achievements and good fortune of others. Cheer on your friend when he scores that goal. Enjoy your best friend’s wedding day. Then go out and do something special, and make you wonderfully proud of yourself.
【解题导语】 本文是一篇说明文。忌妒会给人带来不良情绪。本文作者提出应对忌妒的最好方法就是将自己的强项发挥到极致，为自己感到骄傲，同时也为别人取得的成功而快乐。
21．The first paragraph is meant to ________．
A．give examples
B．tell the main idea
C．introduce the topic
D．ask the question
C 解析：推理判断题。作者在文章第一段举出一个让人感觉忌妒的例子是为了引出话题，即如何应对忌妒给人带来的不良影响，因此选C。
22．When envy appears, we actually ________．
A．ignore its existence
B．have feelings of unfairness
C．share it with friends
D．lose something of our own
B 解析：细节理解题。根据第二段中的“Feelings of unfairness are part of being human”可知，忌妒感出现时，我们确实感到不公平，觉得为什么别人可以拥有，自己却没有，因此选B。
23．What is the best way to help stop envy?
A．Developing your own strength to the full.
B．Competing for what you are not good at.
C．Forgetting about the things you can’t get.
D．Trying to get anything that makes you envy.
A 解析：细节理解题。根据第四段的“The best weapon against envy is not to compete where you can’t shine, but to do your absolute best where you can.”可知，停止忌妒的最好方法就是将自己的强项发挥到极致，因此选A。
24．What is the author’s attitude towards people with envy?
A．Subjective. B．Objective.
C．Unconcerned. D．Worried.
B 解析：观点态度题。作者客观地介绍了忌妒给人带来的消极影响，并提出了应对忌妒、使人过得快乐的有效方法，因此选择B。subjective“主观的”；objective“客观的”；unconcerned“不关心的”；worried“担心的”。
