“To be or not to be.” Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly, or to live dully and meanly. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: “I think, therefore I am.”
But the best definition of existence I ever saw was one written by another philosopher who said: “To be is to be in relations.” If this is true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity(强烈) of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But other than our regular occupation, how much are we alive? If you are interested only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned --- poetry and prose(散文), music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs ---you are dead.
On the contrary, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest --- even more, a new accomplishment(成就) --- you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in different kinds of subjects can remain unhappy. The real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.
Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts with new friends, and new ideas and thoughts, too. Where your thoughts are, there will be your life too. If your thoughts are limited only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to your narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live a narrow restricted(有限的, 受约束的) life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China. If you’re interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people. If you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.
To be or not to be --- to live intensely and richly, or merely to exist, which depends on ourselves. Let us widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let us live!
小题1:What does the author mainly want to do by this passage?
A．Argue against an idea.
B．Explain some famous sayings.
C．Introduce some famous sayings.
D．Put forward an idea.小题2:What does the underlined word most probably mean?
A．Somebody who always lives in a world of passion and imagination.
B．Somebody who is always interested in making new friends.
C．Somebody who always expects the worst to happen.
D．Somebody who likes to live a rich and abundant life.小题3:Which of the following behavior is probably NOT encouraged by the author?
A．Thinking more than your own business.
B．Caring only about your physical welfare.
C．Reading good novels.
D．Listening to fine music.小题4:What is the main idea of the passage?
A．To be is to be in relations.
B．I think, therefore I am.
C．To be or not to be, that is a question.
D．A man dies as often as he loses a friend.
