考研英语作文:What You Dtdn t Know about Money and Happiness(金钱与快乐新论)
What You Dtdn t Know about Money and Happiness
A six-figure income affords a family many pleasures-- a more luxurious home, perhaps a trip to Disneyland or a fancier car. But do such things make you happier?
Would you quit your job if you didn' t need the money?Many Americans said quitting work was an important reason to be rich. Yet researchers find that work is one of life's chief satisfactions for people.
If jobs are so important, wouldn't salary size be a gauge of job satisfaction? Americans think so. A survey found that almost 70 percent of the respondents said they would be happier if their families had twice as much household income. Yet studies show that job satisfaction comes less from how much people earn than from the challenge of their jobs and the control they are able to exert. Work that doesn't engage a person will never seem rewarding, no matter how lucrative it becomes.
In times of crisis--a debilitating illness or loss of one's home--money can come in pretty handy. But for all its benefits, it cannot fortify you against the inevitable pain and sadness that follow the crisis. For that, researchers say, you need close friendships. "Human beings are hard-wired to be social animals". "They're not built to handle things alone."
It's possible to have both--or neither. But most believe that those who have happiness, in the long run, have more.Even author Oscar Wilde agreed: "Ordinary riches can be stolen from a man. Real riches cannot. In the treasury house of your soul, there are infinitely precious things that may not |