听力训练 Exercise
1. What are our lives made up of according to the passage?
2. What can promote our economy according to the passage?
3. For many of us, what is an ongoing mantra of our lives?
4. Much of our lives is spent , returning, taking care of, cleaning, putting away, moving, and things. We acquire through purchase, gifts, and inheritance. Once we are owners, possessions demand a large of our life energy.
5. Most of us experience a range of intense emotions toward possessions. As , we are trained consumers. We often purchase with feelings, however. We know we have too much .
6. Gaining a understanding of your relationship to the material world can your enjoyment of the things you have. It helps to that you're to want more things.

Words & Phrases 词汇与短语
Words 词汇
inheritance 遗传；遗产
mantra 咒语；颂歌
ongoing 正在进行的
power 推动；使......有力量

Phrases 短语
a large portion of 一大部分
be conditioned to 习惯于
let go of 放手，释放
put away 放好，储备备用听力答案
1. Our choices about possessions.
2. Strong desires.
3. I need it! I want it! I have to have it!
4. purchasing, getting rid of, possessions, portion
5. complex, Americans, mixed, stuff
6. deeper, enhance, recognize, conditioned听力原文
Things: We Own Them, They Don't Own Us
How do we become more skillful in our relationship to things? Much of our lives is spent purchasing, returning, taking care of, cleaning, putting away, moving, and getting rid of things. We acquire possessions through purchase, gifts, and inheritance. Once we are owners, possessions demand a large portion of our life energy. What do we do with the things we no longer use and the things that belonged to the people we loved dearly? Our choices about possessions shape our lives.

Most of us experience a complex range of intense emotions toward possessions. As Americans, we are trained consumers. We often purchase with mixed feelings, however. We know we have too much stuff. At the same time, we often feel, in fact are conditioned to feel, that we don't have enough.

Gaining a deeper understanding of your relationship to the material world can enhance your enjoyment of the things you have. It helps to recognize that you're conditioned to want more things. Strong desires power our economy. An American Buddhist teacher, Sharon Salzburg, tells a story about a friend who said that when she was learning to talk,her favorite phrases were: "I need it! I want it! I have to have it!" For many of us, this is an ongoing mantra of our lives.Understanding both the will to own and the impact of owning can free us to let go of things we no longer want or need.参考译文

物质生活感言

我们如何才能变得更善于处理与物品的关系？我们一生中大多数时间都花在购买、归还、照管、打扫、保存、移动或丢弃物品上。我们通过购买、接受馈赠和继承遗产来获得财产。一旦我们成为拥有者，财产就会占用我们一生的大部分精力。我们如何处理那些不再使用或属于我们亲爱的人的物品呢？我们在财产问题上的选择塑造了我们的生活。

我们大部分人对所有物都经历过复杂而强烈的情感。作为美国人，我们是训练有素的消费者。然而，我们购物是通常心情很复杂。我们知道我们已经拥有太多物品。同时我们也常常感觉到，事实上是习惯性地感觉到，我们拥有的还不够。

对与物质世界的关系的更深了解能够提高你拥有物品的快乐。它可以使你认识到你习惯了想要更多的物品。强烈的欲望推动了我们的经济。一位美国的佛教老师莎伦?萨尔兹伯格在讲她的一位朋友的故事时说，她学习说话的时候，最喜欢说的就是：我需要它！我想要它！我必须拥有它！，对我们大多数人来说，这是伴随我们生活的咒语。了解拥有的愿望和拥有的结果能够使我们对我们不想要或者不需要的物品放手。