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Old though this topic seems to be, the relationship between money and happine

游客2024-11-06  4
问题    Old though this topic seems to be, the relationship between money and happiness never ceases to be a hot debate. Can money always bring happiness? Read the excerpt carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 WORDS, in which you should:
   1.   summarize briefly the author’s opinion;
   2.   give your comment.
   Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
   Write your article on ANSWER SHEET FOUR.
   Excerpt
                              Everything That Rises Must Converge
   Poets, songwriters and left-wing politicians hate the idea, but for decades the evidence of opinion poll has been clear: money buys happiness and the richer you are, the more likely you are to express satisfaction with your life. A survey of 43 countries published on October 30th by the Pew Research Centre of Washington, DC, shows that people in emerging markets are within a whisker of expressing the same level of satisfaction as people in rich countries. It is the biggest qualification to the standard view of happiness and income seen so far.
   The Pew poll asks respondents to measure, on a scale from zero to ten, how good their lives are. (Those who say between seven and ten are counted as happy. ) In 2007, 57% of respondents in rich countries put themselves in the top four tiers; in emerging markets the share was 33 % ; in poor countries only 16% —a classic expression of the standard view.
   But in 2014, 54% of rich-country respondents counted themselves as happy, whereas in emerging markets the percentage jumped to 51%. This was happening just at a time when emerging markets’ chances of converging economically with the West seemed to be receding.
   Rich countries did not experience steep decline in happiness. The decreases in America and Britain were tiny (a percentage point) , while the share of happy Germans rose 13 points. A large drop in formerly joyful Spain ensured a modest overall decline for the rich. But the convergence happened thanks to huge improvements in countries such as Indonesia ( + 35) and Pakistan ( + 22).   In 12 of the 24 emerging markets, half or more people rate their life satisfaction in the top tiers of the ladder.
   This is not to say the link between income and satisfaction has been snapped. Poor countries still lag behind: only a quarter of the people there are in the happy tiers—half the level of the other two groups. There is also a clear link between happiness and income growth (as opposed to income levels). China’s GDP rose at an annual average rate of 10% in 2007 -2014 and its happiness level rose 26 points.
   Within countries, richer people express more satisfaction than their poorer neighbours. The study divided respondents into categories with higher and lower incomes and fewer and more household goods. In every country in every group, richer folks with more goods expressed higher levels of happiness. So at a personal (as opposed to national) level, money does buy happiness. And if you ask people about different aspects of their lives—health, family life, religion, standard of living—it turns out that satisfaction with living standards still has the biggest influence on happiness.
   But the secret of happiness has been scattered around. Women tend to be happier than men. Married people are happier than unmarried ones. Latin Americans are more satisfied than people in other emerging markets. Asians are the most optimistic; Middle Easterners the least. Income still matters. But it has been dethroned.
选项
答案    Money and Happiness
   The recent opinion poll shows there is a direct link between money and happiness. Among three categorized countries—the rich, the emerging and the poor, this trend is surprisingly similar though there was a sharp rise of satisfaction in emerging countries. Within a nation, this link remains the same, which shows that satisfaction with living standards matters most to people. Despite other factors such as gender, marital status, and different regions, income still counts most though slightly dethroned.
   A glance of the streets with flow of limousines and soaring skyscrapers lined up may give you an illusion that you were roaming in metropolises such as New York or Tokyo. No. This is nothing but a snapshot of the second-tier cities in China. With the stunning accumulation of wealth, do people relish the fruits of it with happiness and fulfillment?
   Though evidence from opinion polls and watertight studies chants time and again the merits of wealth which can ensure our very basic necessities such as food and accommodation, beyond the point of offering us a comfortable life, money can do much less than we expect. Money may well buy bling bling but it can’t buy beauty; money can bring medicine to our door but it can’t buy health; money can even materialize marriage but it can’t buy true love. Ironical though it seems to be, money sometimes shoots its furious backlash at people who are too obsessed with it to realize the real aim of our life. Its sabotaging power engulfs and siphons milk and honey out of our precious life.
   Money, a tinder to bless or woe, is but a simple tool which empowers us to pursue bliss in life. So instead of burying ourselves in the savage magic of money, we should aim high to a more promising Canaan.
解析    本题探讨的是金钱与幸福之间的关系这一古老话题，属于品德修养类话题。题目要求简要概括所给材料中关于金钱与幸福的观点，并发表自己的评论。在具体行文方面，考生可以开篇点题，简要概括材料中的观点；然后提出自己对这一问题的观点并给出充分的论据支撑；最后总结全文，重述论点或者升华主题。
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