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Thursday, 22 September 2016
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Reading
Read the article about people and happiness.
Five sentences have been removed. Which sentence (A–F) fits each gap (1–5)?
There is one extra sentence you do not need to use.
A
However, there were also signs of stress in British society.
B This
could be used on supporting childcare, parenting, or help for mental health.
C He
added that we know from other European countries that this is sensitive to how
businesses reach highs and sink to lows.
D
However, a lot of young people think that wealth and celebrity will make you
happy.
E The
experts predicted that the financial decline would be deep and long.
F People were happiest, however, with their
personal relationships and mental wellbeing.
Great Britain – Or Is It?
If someone asked you how happy the people in your country are, what
would you say? The British government recently asked the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) to carry out a survey to find out if people in the country
are, in general, happy or not. Most Britons report being satisfied with life,
with concerns over work and finances overtaken by happiness gained from children,
relationships, and where people live.
The government survey was released just days after economists made
one of the most depressing forecasts of recent times about long-term economic
growth. (–––– 1 ––––) Not only that, but it would leave the public worse off
than they were ten years ago. Despite this, the survey paints a picture of the
country largely emotionally unaffected by the crisis.
The survey of 4,200 adults is part of the British Prime Minister’s
£2 million drive to get a better idea of how the country is doing, rather than
just focusing on budgets and figures. People were asked various questions about
their lives and were asked to give marks out of ten about how they felt about
these areas. The ONS’s work showed that on average people rated their life
satisfaction at 7.4 out of 10. When asked whether things they did in life were
worthwhile, people on average gave a score of 7.6. (–––– 2 ––––) Happiness with
people’s financial situation had the lowest average score of 6.2 out of 10, followed
by work situation, with 6.7 out of 10. When asked specifically about
satisfaction with the balance between time spent on work and on other areas of
life, low scores were also given, with an average of 6.4 out of 10.
The answer to the question, ‘Overall, how anxious did you feel
yesterday?’ caused some worry. More than a quarter rated this 5 out of 10 –
where 10 was feeling ‘completely anxious’. (–––– 3 ––––) These areas of life
had the highest average scores, with both scoring at 8.3 out of 10.
Lord Richard Layard, professor at the London School of Economics,
said it was likely that life satisfaction would fall as the situation gets
worse. (–––– 4 ––––) And when things are going badly and times are hard, people
start to feel less happy with their lives.
The professor, who founded the Action for Happiness group to promote
well-being, said policymakers – the people who make important financial
decisions – could use the data to lessen the pain of recession. But they would
need to first identify how to measure happiness, then work out what makes
people ‘miserable or happy’. Lastly, they ought to assess how much happiness
one can create by spending taxpayers’ cash. (–––– 5 ––––)
Paul Allen of the ONS said another big factor in happiness was
health. He said they saw that people who responded when their health was bad,
reported anxiety. He added that they were trying to build up a picture of how
people rate happiness. ‘One of the most revealing aspects of the emerging
science around happiness is about language. Britons associated happiness with
being ‘calm, relaxed, and peaceful’ rather than ‘energized and excited’. So,
perhaps it pays in more ways than one to follow the great
Friday, 15 May 2015
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
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