BBC地道英语：⾦钱能买来幸福吗？
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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
创造性思维
Vocabulary: money 词汇: ⾦钱
rewordWhat 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 the 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 ud in the right way, money can bring us happiness. They discovered that when you u 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 ud $40 to save time rather than spend it on material goods such as a new pair of shoes. But surprisingly, the rearchers found that fewer than a third of individuals spent money to buy themlves time each month.
In our hectic lives time is one thing we em to be short of. People are reporting a 'time famine', where they get stresd over the daily demands on their time. Psychologists say stress over lack of time caus 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 hou or outsourcing your ironing to someone el – 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 el to do that for you?' If so, then science says that's a pretty good u 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 houwork!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 us the phra "a pretty good u of money". What does 'pretty good mean'?
5. True or fal: If life is short and time is swift, we should earn as much money as we can.
沈葆桢
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弘扬雷锋精神
2. Police forces in England and Wales could save ?1bn a year by ______ backroom rvices to private companies.
hiring effectively outsourcing splashing out
为什么图片3. Getting the leaking roof fixed is a ______ . If we don't get it done, we won't be able to live in the hou.
priority prioriti priory priorid
4. Our city council is very ______ as they've introduced electric cars on the streets.
outsourcing swanky forward-thinking tedious
生日快乐成语
5. Being by the aside does ______ – with the marked increa in hou prices reflecting the demand for rooms with a a view.
come on a price come up with a price come with a price come at aprice
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?
尖椒土豆丝的做法Ironing, cleaning the hou.
4. In the article, Professor Dunn us the phra "a pretty good u of money". What does 'pretty good mean'?
'Pretty good' means 'fairly'.
5. True or fal: If life is short and time is swift, we should earn as much money as we can.
Fal. The phra '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。
卡通蘑菇图片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 rvices to private companies.
3. Getting the leaking roof fixed is a priority otherwi we won't be able to live in the hou.
4. Our city council is very forward-thinking as they've introduced electric cars on the streets.
5. Being by the aside does come at a price – with the marked increa in hou prices reflecting the demand for rooms with a a view.
