Simplify+your+Life

Years ago, a cigarette commercial asked if you were smoking more, but enjoying it less. That describes the way many of us live today. We are doing more, but enjoying it less. And when that doesn’t work, we compound the problem. In our frantic search for satisfaction, we try stuffing still more into our days, never realizing that we are taking the wrong approach. The truth is simple; so simple it is hard to believe. Satisfaction lies with less, not with more. Yet, we pursue the myth that this thing, or that activity, will somehow provide the satisfaction we so desperately seek. Arthur Lindman, in his devastating book, “The Harried Leisure Class,” described the futility of pursuing more. His research focused on what people did with their leisure time. He found that as income rose, people bought more things to occupy their leisure time. But, ironically, the more things they bought, the less they valued any one of them. Carried to an extreme, he predicted massive boredom in the midst of tremendous variety. That was more than twenty years ago, and his prediction seems more accurate every year. Lindman of course, is not the first to discover this. The writer of Ecclesiastes expressed the same thought thousands of years ago. It is better, he wrote, to have less, but enjoy it more. If you would like to enjoy life more, I challenge you to experiment with me. How could you simplify your life? What could you drop? What could you do without? What could you stop pursuing? What few things could you concentrate on? The more I learn, the more I realize that fullness of life does not depend on things. The more I give up, the more I seem to gain. But words will never convince you. You must try it for yourself.
 * [[image:pls-dont-smoke--large-msg-126005761133.jpg width="400" height="299" align="left"]]SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE **

QUESTIONS a. When do people normally start buying more things? b. Why do people buy more and more according to the text? a. The idea of having a lot and enjoying it little can be found in one of the books of the Bible. b. We try to find satisfaction by selling all the things at home that we do not need anymore. a. Done or arranged in a hurry and a state of excitement or confusion. b. That has a great effect. 1. Arthur Lindman wrote a. a novel. b. The Harried Leisure Class. c. Ecclesiastes. 2. Lindman wrote his book a. ten years ago. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">b. twenty years ago. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">c. more than twenty years ago. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">3. We can make our life happier if we <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">a. get rid of useless things. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">b. buy more things. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">c. sell things we do not need. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">4. Simplifying our life is <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">a. nonsense. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">b. our duty. <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">c. a good piece of advice.
 * <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">1. Answer the following questions using your own words. (2 points) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">2. Are the following statements ****//<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">true //****<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">or ****//<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">false //****<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">? (1 point) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">3. Find a word or phrase in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning to: (1 point) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT','serif'; font-size: 15.3333px;">4. Choose a, b or c in each question below. Only one choice is correct. (2 points) **