What is a good life?

"What is a good life?"

I. What is meant by living the good life? Does it mean having lots of money and material possessions, or could it also be achieved in other ways?
The word "good" can have different connotations: Good as moral, and good as pleasant.

II. Can a simple life also be a good life? For some, a good life is the ability to do things with as little dependence on external assistance as possible.

III. _________________________________________.Modern cars include advanced technology, whereas the bicycle is a piece of technology often used to exemplify the simple. The bicycle extends one's own capability and efforts for transportation. It needs no massive outside system beyond that in its operator's control. The automobile, on the other hand, is not only a complex apparatus that requires a complex outside system, but it also requires more work and effort than it produces in transportation. If you take into account all the hours you spend to buy a car, to purchase gas and tires, to maintain and repair it, to pay taxes for the roads to be built or tolls to use them, to insure and license it, and to clean up its pollution, your rate of travel is less than that of a bicycle, and that doesn't count either the hours, the costs, or the frustration spent in traffic jams and accidents.

IV. Using the car when one could easily walk or cycle is not only costly and bad for the environment, but it can also have negative health impacts, such as reduced fitness and even obesity.Obesity leads to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, liver disease, infertility, and many other medical conditions. Obesity is also the underlying cause of sleep apnoea, a condition in which the sufferer snores, and stops breathing for prolonged periods at night, leading to daytime fatigue and drowsiness.

V. If I want a good life, would I choose a mode of transportation that is hundreds of times more expensive, subject to delays on a daily basis, and bad for my health, and the environment?

A. Read the above article and answer the following questions:

1. What would be the best topic sentence for paragraph III?

a. Cars are better than bicycles in a number of ways.
b. Bicycles are better than cars in a number of ways.
c. A good life can never be a simple life.
d. A simple life leads to happiness.

2. What are some of the disadvantages or problems of using car?

3. What is sleep apnoea?

4. What does ‘apparatus” (paragraph III) mean?

5. What does ‘impacts” (paragraph IV) mean?

6. What does 'it' (paragraph III) refer to?

7. What does 'it' (paragraph IV) refer to?


B.Complete the summary of the above article using words from the list below.

pollute,obesity, abandon,health problems, the former, bicycles, heart disease, expenses


In this article the author compares cars with bicycles and argues that the latter
has a lot of advantages over (1) _______.Unlike cars, bicycles do not require any complex system to operate and they do not(2)______the environment. In addition, using cars involves a lot of (3)_______ and cars also require more work and effort than they produce in transportation. When people drive, they also exercise much less than when they ride a bike and this can lead to a number of(4)__________ such as (5)________ and(6) ________. The author therefore believes that people should(7)_________ cars for(8)___________. This way they can lead a good life that is good for themselves and the environment at the same time.

(See answers in the comment section below.)