WASHINGTON — Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else, according to researchers.
Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found on Thursday.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others --- even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia.
They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000.
“Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus, and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself,” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
“Finally, participants who were randomly (随机地) required to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those required to spend money on themselves,” they said.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor adjustment in spending allocations (分配) --- as little as $5 --- may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,” Dunn said.
This could also explain why people are no happier even though US society is richer.
“Indeed, although real incomes have increased dramatically in recent decades, happiness levels have remained largely flat within developed countries across time,” they wrote.
1.
Dune’s experiment on 630 Americans was to ________.
A. help people make careful plans for their money B. encourage people to be generous to others
C. see how to spend money is important to happiness D. test whether $5 is enough to buy happiness
2.
What can we conclude according to the experiment?
A. Happiness largely depends on the size of your bonus money.
B. Happiness, as a matter of fact, has nothing to do with money.
C. The more money you give away, the happier person you will be.
D. Spending money for the good of society will make you happier.
3.
How many different ways are used by the researchers to test their theory?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
4.
The last sentence of the passage means _______.
A. happiness does not necessary increase as money grows
B. people in richer countries actually have more problems
C. fast economic growth has a bad effect on people’s life
D. great increase of income contributes to keeping happiness level stable
LIDAC MAYNARD
11 Windrift Circle
Methuen, MA
978 – 555 – 4539
JOB OBJECTIVE
Seek special education, primary school, or middle school math teaching position.
EDUCATION
Rivier College, Nashua, NH
Bachelor of Arts in Education – May, 2006
Major: Elementary Education
Have successfully completed PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II. Meet highly qualified testing requirements for Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
November, 2005 – January, 2006
Wilkins Elementary School, Amherst, NH
Student Teacher
· Developed and completed student–centered lessons in all subject areas for various groups of fifth grade special and regular education students.
· Adapted lessons to meet student’s needs by reviewing their backgrounds and learning needs through IEPs.
· Communicated with parents on a regular basis via newsletters, daily or weekly progress reports, phone calls, and email, resulting in increased parental participation at home.
August, 2005 – November, 2005
Charlotte Avenue Elementary School, Nashua, NH
Student Teacher
· Taught reading and writing through Language Experience Approach methods.
· Introduced a Writer’s Workshop appropriate for first grade students to help them to develop their writing skills.
· Developed learning stations in reading and science, enabling students to be more independent learners.
Spring, 2005
Wilkins Elementary School, Amherst, NH
Designed and taught a unit on Insects and Spiders, based on New Hampshire Standards to 23 self-contained, third and fourth grade students with disabilities.
Fall, 2004
Amherst Street Elementary School, Nashua, NH
Taught a class of 24 third grade students with a wide range of abilities.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
· After–School Aid, Amherst School District, Amherst, NH (2004 – 2005)
· Summer Camp advisor, YMCA, Nashua, NH (Summers, 2002 and 2003)
· Big Brother / Big Sister Volunteer, Nashua, NH (2002 – 2005)
1.
What kind of job does Linda want to get?
A. A Big Brother / Big Sister Volunteer. B. A middle school math teacher.
C. A special education advisor. D. A summer camp advisor.
2.
Linda has worked for the following schools EXCEPT ___________.
A. Rivier College, Nashua, NH
B. Wilkins Elementary School, Amherst, NH
C. Charlotte Avenue Elementary School, Nashua, NH
D. Amherst Street Elementary School, Nashua, NH
3.
What can we know about Linda according to the passage?
A. She is merely interested in developing student’s math abilities.
B. She is not active in participating in after–school activities.
C. She is permitted to teach in any of the high schools of New York.
D. She has some teaching experiences in several elementary schools.
She was born to wealth and power in an era when money and politics were left to the men. Later, as The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham became one of America’s most powerful women.
Despite a privileged background, Katharine had to deal, while growing up, with the high demands her mother placed on her children. Katharine’s love of journalism, which she shared with her father, led to her career after college at The Washington Post, the newspaper her father bought in 1933. At the Post, Katharine met Phil Graham, a young, charming lawyer who became her husband. When, in 1945, Katharine’s father chose Phil over her to take over his struggling paper, Katharine didn’t object and stayed at home as a wife and mother of four.
While Phil’s successful efforts to restore the Post to prominence (显著) made the Grahams popular members of the Washington social scene, Katharine privately suffered tremendous pain from her husband’s increasingly abusive behavior and wild mood swings caused by severe depression. When Phil committed suicide (自杀), the 46-year-old Katharine found herself thrown into a new job, that of newspaper publisher. But determined to save the family paper for her children, Katharine rose to the challenge of running the Post, attending meetings in every department, working endlessly to prove herself to her critics, and becoming the toast of Washington.
In 1971, Katharine ordered the Post to print a copy of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret documents disclosing the truth about the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. What’s more, her courageous decision and support for her journalists prepared the Post to break the most important political story in modern history: Watergate, one of the greatest scandals (丑闻) in American political history. Katharine managed to keep control over the most chaotic (disorder) of situations when it was reported, all the time insisting the news stories be accurate and fair. Watergate made the Washington Post an internationally known Paper and Katharine was considered as the most powerful woman in America.
1.
Katharine Graham was born in a time when women were not ________.
A. given the chance to receive education B. considered as intelligent as men
C. permitted to achieve their goals D. allowed to enter every field
2.
When her husband was chosen to take charge of the newspaper, Katharine Graham ________.
A. was strongly against the idea
B. was not happy to be rejected
C. was willing to take her share of responsibility
D. didn’t believe her husband would do a good job
3.
Which of the following statements is true?
A. It was Katharine Graham’s husband who made the greatest contributions to the Post.
B. When Katharine Graham first took over the Post, her critics doubted her ability.
C. Katharine Graham was successful in her career but suffered severe depression.
D. Katharine Graham was free to do whatever she liked in her early life.
4.
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Ups and downs of The Washington Post.
B. Katharine Graham’s family life and career.
C. Katharine Graham: from housewife to successful publisher.
D. Katharine Graham: a woman who shaped American journalism.
下面短文中有10处错误。请在有错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
增加：在缺词处加上一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不记分。
Liu Kai is a good student and always ready for help others. One day on his way to school, he
saw little girl crossed the road. A car was coming towards him quickly and the girl was very frightened to move. Just now Liu Kai rushed up to her and caught her on the arm. The little girl was saved. She told him where she lived in, and he took her home. When Liu Kai hurried into the classroom, the teacher has already begun his lesson. He told the teacher why he was late. He was then praised for which he had done.
Yuan Longping is a man who 1.w the land, does his research and grows hybrid rice. He is an agricultural 2.p . He 3.d his whole life to finding ways to increase the rice output without 4.e the area of fields. 5.T to his research, more people can be free from 6.h .Yuan is 7.s with his life. He enjoys 8.l to violin music. He cares little about his money and fame. He 9. t________ gives millions of yuan to 10. e_______ others for their research. He is a great person.
On the first day of class, a graduate student from Xi’an Jiaotong University reminded me that, especially in China, “There are always two sides of a coin.” Experiencing China’s May 12 earthquake while living in Xi’an, Shanxi Province just north of the earthquake’s epicenter (地震的震中) in Sichuan with our two daughters, we have indeed seen both sides of what is beginning to be called China’s 5·12 disaster coin.
On television, in newspapers and through the Internet, we learned about the extent (巨大，重要性) of the destruction, and the statistics were horrific – over 69,000 confirmed (确认) dead, some 18,000 missing and more than 374,000 injured.
When we turn off the television and discuss what we as a family have learned from the events of the last several weeks, we find ourselves marveling (觉得惊奇) at how the Chinese are confidently but quietly dealing with this unprecedented tragedy – a disaster that continues with every aftershocks, mudslide and potential flood.
It seems like every school, organization and business is raising money for Sichuan, and young people all over the country are out in the streets looking for donations or giving blood at the many mobile blood vans that are out in full force.
Those who cannot give, like the 75-year-old woman from Sichuan, are volunteering or giving in other ways. An impressive example is the Sichuan policewoman with a newborn child who was nursing many infants whose mothers were killed in the quake.
The national concern over the fate of affected children has been moving. On May 22, there were 1697 orphans, but on June 24, the number dropped to 558; and rest assured, there are more people willing to adopt than there are orphans from Sichuan.
So, while no country or person ever welcomes tragedy, especially something of this magnitude (程度), the earthquake has taught us a great deal about China’s true character and its people’s resilience (韧性). It has also reminded us that the other side of even a dark coin may hold the promise of a brighter future,
(The author is an American Professor of International Relations at Xi’an Jiaotong University.)
1.
When the 5·12 earthquake happened, the author and his family were ________.
A. in Sichuan province B. near the earthquake epicenter
C. in Xi’an Jiaotong University D. in their own country
2.
How many orphans had been adopted from Sichuan by June 24, 2008?
A. 1139 B. 1697 C. 558 D. We don’t know.
3.
The author quoted “ There are always two sides of a coin.” In the passage. Here “ two sides” refers to ________.
A. a dark side and a bright one of a coin
B. the unprecedented tragedy and China’s true character
C. the dead and the victims in the earthquake
D. the destruction and the donations
4.
Which of the following statements is NOT right according to the passage?
A. The whole world has seen all about China’s 5·12 disaster in the news media.
B. A policewoman fed her breast milk to many babies who lost their mothers.
C. Even a 75-year-old woman gave blood at the mobile blood vans.
D. The earthquake brought other natural disasters at the same time.
