Can money make you happy? 金钱能买来幸福吗？

你同意“金钱买不来幸福”这个观点吗？一项新的研究结果发现在特定的环境中，有时花费金钱确实可以买来开心。本期《随身英语》讨论如何聪明、合理地安排支出以换来幸福和享受生活的时间。

课文内容 Vocabulary: money 词汇: 金钱 What would make you happy? Really happy? A nice holiday, lazing on a tropical beach? Maybe a blowout meal with friends at a swanky restaurant? Or possibly splashing out on a pair of the latest designer jeans? All these pleasures cost money so does that mean we need lots of cash to feel good or does the old saying 'money can't buy happiness' still ring true?

This well-worn adage has been put to the test by scientists in Canada. They found that when used in the right way, money can bring us happiness. They discovered that when you use money to free up time, by paying someone to do your chores for example, you are happier. In an experiment, individuals reported greater higher life satisfaction if they used $40 to save time rather than spend it on material goods such as a new pair of shoes. But surprisingly, the researchers found that fewer than a third of individuals spent money to buy themselves time each month.

In our hectic lives time is one thing we seem to be short of. People are reporting a 'time famine', where they get stressed over the daily demands on their time. Psychologists say stress over lack of time causes lower well-being and contributes to anxiety and insomnia. But in many countries now, as incomes are rising, there is an option to buy more time.

This can be through hiring a cleaner to clean your house or outsourcing your ironing to someone else – giving us valuable extra hours to do the things we want to do. And in many forward-thinking companies, staff are given the opportunity to buy more time off or work flexibly.

Professor Dunn, who worked with colleagues at Harvard Business School, Maastricht University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, says that "money can in fact buy time. And it buys time pretty effectively… and so my take home message is, 'think about it, is there something you hate doing that fills you with dread and could you pay somebody else to do that for you?' If so, then science says that's a pretty good use of money.''

I would agree that buying more time makes me feel happier and more relaxed. But making time a priority over making money does come at a price; you have less cash to spend on the things you now have time to do. However there's another old saying that 'life is short and time is swift' so there's no time to waste and there's more to life than doing tedious housework!

词汇表 laze 享受，消磨（时光）

blowout 大餐

swanky 奢华时髦的

splash out 花大笔钱

money can't buy happiness 金钱买不到幸福

adage 格言，谚语

chore 日常琐碎的工作

material goods 物质商品

hectic 忙碌的

time famine “时间荒”

insomnia 失眠

income 收入

hire 雇用

outsource 将…交给他人处理

forward-thinking 前瞻性的

effectively 有效地

dread 忧虑

priority 优先考虑的事

come at a price 要付出很高的代价

life is short and time is swift 生命短暂，时光飞逝

tedious 单调乏味的

测验与练习  1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. Give an example of material goods mentioned in the article.

2. Why have many people now got the option to buy more time?

3. Which chores mentioned in the article could you pay someone to do?

4. In the article, Professor Dunn uses the phrase "a pretty good use of money". What does 'pretty good mean'?

5. True or false: If life is short and time is swift, we should earn as much money as we can.

2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处 。

1. My husband took me to Paris for my birthday and we stayed in a ______ hotel.

hectic       splashing out       tedious       swanky

2. Police forces in England and Wales could save £1bn a year by ______ backroom services to private companies.

hiring       effectively       outsourcing       splashing out

3. Getting the leaking roof fixed is a ______ . If we don't get it done, we won't be able to live in the house.

priority       prioritise       priory       priorised

4. Our city council is very ______ as they've introduced electric cars on the streets.

outsourcing       swanky       forward-thinking       tedious

5. Being by the seaside does ______ – with the marked increase in house prices reflecting the demand for rooms with a sea view.

come on a price       come up with a price       come with a price       come at a  price

答案 1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. Give an example of material goods, mentioned in the article.

Designer jeans, a pair of shoes.

2. Why have many people now got the option to buy more time?

In many countries now incomes are rising.

3. Which chores mentioned in the article, could you pay someone to do?

Ironing, cleaning the house.

4. In the article, Professor Dunn uses the phrase "a pretty good use of money". What does 'pretty good mean'?

'Pretty good' means 'fairly'.

5. True or false: If life is short and time is swift, we should earn as much money as we can.

False. The phrase 'if life is short and time is swift' means we should make the most of our time not spend it earning money.

2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处 。

1. My husband took me to Paris for my birthday and we stayed in a swanky hotel.

2. Police forces in England and Wales could save £1bn a year by outsourcing backroom services to private companies.

3. Getting the leaking roof fixed is a priority otherwise we won't be able to live in the house.

4. Our city council is very forward-thinking as they've introduced electric cars on the streets.

5. Being by the seaside does come at a price – with the marked increase in house prices reflecting the demand for rooms with a sea view.