Ralph Emerson once said that the purpose of life is not to be happy, but to be useful, to be loving, to make some difference in he world. While we appreciate such words of wisdom, we rarely try to follow them in our lives.
拉尔夫·爱默生曾经说过，生命的目的不是为了快乐，而是为了有用，充满爱心，在世界上产生一些改变。虽然我们欣赏这样的智慧之言，但我们很少在生活中努力去践行。

Most people prefer to live a good life themselves, ignoring their responsibilities for the world. This narrow perception of a good life may provide short-term benefits, but is sure to lead to long-term harm and suffering. A good life based on comfort and luxury may eventually lead to more pain be-cause we spoil our health and even our character, principles, ideals, and relationships.
大多数人更喜欢过好自己的生活，忽视了他们对世界的责任。这种狭隘的好生活观可能会带来短期的好处，却肯定会导致长期的伤害和苦难。基于舒适和奢华的好生活最终可能导致更多的痛苦，因为我们糟蹋了我们的健康，甚至是我们的品格、原则、理想和关系。

What then, is the secret of a good life? A good life is a process, not a state of being : a direction, not a destination. We have to earn a good life by first serving others without any expectation in return because their happiness is the very source of our own happiness. More importantly, we must know ourselves inside out. Only when we examine ourselves deeply can we discover our abilities and recognize our limitations, and then work accordingly to create a better world.
什么才是美好生活的秘诀？美好生活是一个过程，而不是一种状态：一个方向，而不是一个目的地。我们必须通过首先为他人服务而无需期望回报去赢得美好生活，因为他们的幸福是我们自己幸福的根源。更重要的是，我们必须彻底了解自己。只有当我们深入检查自己时，才能发现我们的能力并认识到我们的局限性，然后相应地努力创造一个更美好的世界。

The first requirement for a good life is having a loving heart. When we do certain right things merely as a duty, we find our job so tiresome that we’ll soon burn out. However, when we do that same job out of love, we not only enjoy what we do, but also do it with an effortless feeling.
拥有一颗充满爱心是获得美好生活的第一个要求。当我们仅仅因为义务而做某件事时，我们会发现我们的工作是如此繁重，以至于很快就会气馁。然而，当我们出于爱心来做同样的工作时，我们不仅享受我们所做的事情，而且会毫不费力地完成它。

However, love alone is insufficient to lead a good life. Love sometimes blinds us to the reality. Consequently, our good intentions may not lead to good results. To achieve desired outcome, those who want to do good to others also need to equip themselves with accurate world knowledge. False knowledge is more dangerous than ignorance. If love is the engine of a car knowledge is the steering wheel(方向盘). If the engine lacks power, th car can’t move; if the driver loses control of the steering, a road accident probably occurs. Only with love in heart and the right knowledge in mind can we lead a good life.
然而，仅有爱是不足以过上美好生活的。有时候，爱会使我们对现实产生盲目，因此我们的善意并不一定会带来良好的结果。为了达到预期的效果，那些想要善待他人的人也需要装备准确的世界知识。虚假的知识比无知更加危险。如果说爱是车的引擎，那么知识就是方向盘。如果引擎缺乏动力，车就无法移动；如果司机失去对方向盘的控制，可能会发生交通事故。只有心怀爱意并且头脑中充满正确的知识，我们才能过上美好的生活。

With love and knowledge, we go all out to create a better world by doing good to others. When we see the impact of our good work on the world we give meaning to our life and earn lasting joy and happiness.
用爱和知识，我们全力创造一个更美好的世界，对他人行善。当我们看到我们的善行对世界的影响时，我们赋予了我们的生命意义，获得了持久的喜悦和幸福。

1. What effect does the narrow perception of a good life have on us?
   A. Making us simple-minded B. Making us short-signted.
   C. Leading us onto a busy road. D. Keeping us from comfort and luxury.
   答案：B

2. According to the author, how can one gain true happiness?
   A. Through maintaining good health.
   B. By going through pain and suffering.
   C. By recognizing one’s abilities and limitations.
   D. Through offering help much needed by others.
   答案：D

3. According to Paragraph 4, doing certain right things with a loving heart makes one__.
   A. less selfish B. less annoying
   C. more motivated D. more responsible
   答案：C

4. In what case may good intentions fail to lead to desired results?
   A. When we have wrong knowledge of the world.
   B. When our love for the world is insufficient.
   C. When we are insensitive to dangers in life.
   D. When we stay blind to the reality.
   答案：A

5. According to Paragraph 5, life can be made truly good when __.
   A. inspired by love and guided by knowledge
   B. directed by love and pushed by knowledge
   C. purified by love and enriched by knowledge
   D. promoted by love and defined by knowledge
   答案：A