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Teenagers at one German school are learning how to achieve happiness alongside other traditional subjects such as math and languages.
The class sit in a circle with their eyes shut and they count from one to ten: someone starts, the next voice comes from the far right, a third from the other side.
The aim of the game is to listen for an opportunity to shout out the number without clashing (冲突) with another voice or leaving a pause. On the first try, most of the young Germans try to be first, while a few are too shy to join in, but by the fifth time round, they develop a rhythm. The message: give other people space but also confidently claim your own. This is a requirement for social well-being.
The Willy Hellpach School in Heidelberg is the first in the nation to develop a happiness course. It is intended for students preparing for university entrance exams.
“The course isn’t there to make you happy,” Ernst Fritz-Schubert, the school principal, warned pupils, “but rather to help you discover the ways to become happy.”
Cooking a meal together is one of the class exercises. Improving body language under the guidance of two professional actresses is another.
The course is taught for three periods a week. Despite the happy subject, the pupils themselves insist it is no laughing matter.
“In the first period, we had to each say something positive about another member of the class and about ourselves. No laughing at people,” said Fanny, 17.
Research by the school shows it is not the first to start happiness classes: they also exist at some US universities, mainly based on positive thinking, using findings from studies of depression.
68. This passage is written to .
A. introduce the happiness course in a German school
B. describe all the traditional courses in a German school
C. arouse the readers’ interest in happiness
D. help students struggle against being sad
69. According to the passage, the happiness course is__________.
A. created by the Willy Hellpach School
B. to make all the students happy all the time
C. required to be taken by the first year students
D. to help students discover the way to happiness
70. It can be inferred from the passage that__________.
A. the students’ self-respect can also improve happiness
B. the students just took the course as a laughing matter
C. the students can certainly become happy after the course
D. the students waste time learning something without value
