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 (yearly) income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, girls 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.
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 alterations (changes) in spending allocations (shares)—as little as $5—may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day，”Dunn said.
1. What is the general idea of the passage?
A. The more you earn, the greater happiness you will get.
B. Spending more money on yourself will make you happier.
C. Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else.
D. You can spend only 5$ a day to get happiness.
2.The underlined word “boost” in the first paragraph probably means_______.
A. help to find B. help to bring C. help to increase D. help to get
3.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Those who spend more money on others can get much more bonus.
B. People usually think spending money on themselves will make them happier.
C. Very small changes in spending your money may be enough to gain happiness.
D. Researchers think that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn.
4.It can be inferred from the 6th paragraph that ______.
A. the volunteers not given 5$ or 20$ spent their own money on themselves.
B. those who spent the money on someone or something else felt happier about it.
C. the volunteers were given 5$ or 20$ as a reward for the experiment.
D. half of the volunteers could spend the money as they liked.
As far back as he could remember，Larry had longed to go to Hollywood and become a film star．The young man’s hopes for success were broken again and again，however．Hollywood just did not seem interesting．When he first came to California，Larry had decided never to give up and return home without success．Therefore，he kept on trying．Someday，he told himself，his big opportunity would come．
Larry found a job parking cars for one of Hollywood’s big restaurants．His pay was elementary，but since the guests were kind enough to give him more money，he managed to make a living．One day he recognized an important film director driving into the parking lot （停车场） and getting out of his car．Larry had recently heard that the man was ready to make a new picture．
Larry got into the car and prepared to drive it on into the lot and park it．Then he stopped，jumped out，and ran over to the director．“Excuse me，sir，but I think it’s only fair to tell you that it’s now or never if you want me in your next picture．A lot of big companies are after me．”
Instead of pushing away the boy，the director laughed，then wrote something on a card and handed it to the young man．“Come and see me tomorrow．”
Larry got a small part in the director’s next film．He was on his way！
1.Which of the following was Larry interested in?
A．Working as a waiter． B．Becoming a film star
C．Parking cars for film stars． D．Owing a big company
2.Why did Larry find a job parking cars?
A．Because he liked the job．
B．Because the parking lot was near Hollywood．
C．To make a living and wait for the opportunity．
D．To see a lot of film stars and work for them．
3.After reading the story what can we infer （推断） about the film director ?
A．He wanted to laugh at Larry．
B．He recognized Larry at first sight．
C．He was kind and gave Larry a try．
D．He thought Larry would become a star．
4.what does the word “elementary” mean in this passage?
A．基本的 B．充足的 C．较高的 D．不达标的
5.“He was on his way”refers to the fact that ________．
A．he gave up and returned home
B．he began to work towards success
C．he took a journey to Hollywood
D．he had difficulty in playing the small part
As a child, I was afraid of everything. At the age of 8, I even became 1 of getting Halloween candy. 2 , on October 31, my twin brother and I went out and 3 to every house in the neighborhood. Most of the houses only had a few steps to the door. It was easy. However, when we 4 one of the bigger houses with 10 tall steps 5 to the front door, which were known to have the best candy, my fear 6 me. My brother was already up the stairs, while I stood 7 at the bottom.
It was 8 that I’d be able to climb all that way, for I was afraid that I might fall over in the dark and 9 my bag of candy. I might 10 my clothes on something. I wanted the candy, but there was no 11 I would go up those stairs to get it. I failed. I lost more than just candy. I lost my 12 .
Fear of the unknown 13 me for a long time. After six years in nursing, I was 14 with the career I had chosen. I faced a 15 : step out into the unknown or 16 the rest of my life at the bottom of those steps, never 17 the best candy.
Finally, with only $100 in my savings account, I started my own business. Whenever I would lose a client (客户), the old fears 18 . However, I’d tasted the candy, and now I don’t 19 when I face difficulties. I believe that, though 20 things can happen when we step out, worse things happen when we don’t.
1.A. afraid B. happy C. fond D. tired
2.A. Hardly B. Normally C. Certainly D. Approximately
3.A. pointed B. rushed C. moved D. traveled
4.A. knocked B. escaped C. reached D. entered
5.A. pointing B. belonging C. opening D. leading
6.A. encouraged B. spread C. prevented D. attracted
7.A. slightly B. frozen C. calmly D. happily
8.A. unlikely B. unlucky C. possible D. pitiful
9.A. fall B. drop C. forget D. lose
10.A. bury B. break C. tear D. catch
11.A. way B. need C. doubt D. wonder
12.A. bag B. life C. way D. confidence
13.A. amused B. controlled C. helped D. ruined
14.A. excited B. concerned C. impressive D. unsatisfied
15.A. difficulty B. cause C. fear D. choice
16.A. save B. spend C. change D. escape
17.A. presenting B. buying C. making D. tasting
18.A. disappeared B. warned C. returned D. reminded
19.A. fear B. cry C. fail D. complain
20.A. big B. fortunate C. bad D. small
—Mr. Hu, have you finished correcting the papers?
—Not yet, the papers _______. You _______ get the results from me by tomorrow.
A. are corrected; will B. are being correcting; should
C. are being corrected; shall D. are being corrected; would
During the Middle Ages, a conventional artist was not interested in showing nature and people _____they really were.
A. who B what C. like D. as
— Is it true that Jack _______?
—Exactly. He damaged a very expensive machine.
A. got fired B. got a fire C. get fired D. fired
