填空题

Modern life is stressful. The noise and the fast pace of the city take their (36) on the spirit. Everybody knows this, but the sad (37) is how poorly many people deal with it. They attempt to escape from noise into more noise and the empty moments are filled with the (38) noises of electronic entertainment. Many city (39) escape on weekends to country cottage, but they take the city with them, and spend their afternoons out on the lake listening to the (40) of an outboard motor. The seventeenth century French (41) Pascal said "All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone." Sitting quietly and doing nothing is the (42) of the oldest medical practice in the world, Buddhist meditation (冥想). People need the healing force of quiet and (43) . We all need to take a breath, and slow down. It may be (44) . Whenever I visit New York, I am struck by how much everyone seems to be in a rush. (45) . This is all the more reason why they need to find quiet and peace outside of work. (46) . It could be that Pascal knew that, too, because he also said "The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me."