Прочитай текст и выполни задания 12–18. В каждом задании запиши в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному варианту ответа.

The psychology of happiness — does money make people happy?

So, what makes us happy? Many people think that they will be happier if they just had more money. But what are the facts here?

Research shows that it's certainly difficult to be truly happy if you live in poverty. If you're always hungry, cold, living in unsafe surroundings or owe somebody money, happiness can be elusive. So, below a certain income level, poor people are in fact less happy and less satisfied with their lives than most of us. But above the poverty level, things get complicated.

Researchers at Princeton University analysed data from a sample of over 450,000 adults in the United States. These respondents reported their annual income and rated how much they experienced positive emotions on the previous day. Emotional quality was assessed through questions regarding how much happiness and enjoyment they experienced, and how much they smiled and laughed the day before.

The results showed that up until an income of somewhere between \(60,000 and \)75,000 — in 2010 dollars — more money was associated with feeling a little bit happier. The difference isn't large, but it is statistically significant.

The reason why money increases happiness up to a point seems to be that having a certain amount helps to fix certain problems in life that make people stressed out and unhappy. If my car breaks down and I don't have enough money to fix it, that's stressful. If I have a health problem and not enough money, I have two sets of worries — my health and my money. So, it's not so much that money makes people happy as that money can help solve problems that would otherwise lower our happiness. Having a certain amount of money helps take the sting out of our problems.

But, here's the interesting thing: after people start earning somewhere between \(60,000 and \)75,000 a year, there's no correlation between income and happiness. Moreover, the average millionaire is no happier than someone who makes $75,000 a year.

Many people have trouble reconciling this finding with the fact that they know that they feel happy when they get a raise at work, even if it's a small one. They may even feel happy when they find a quarter on the sidewalk, but it is a very fleeting feeling. The day you get your raise, and maybe even the day after that, you probably are happier. But how long does that glow of happiness last? Many people think that money will make them happy for a long time, but it actually brings them only a little bit of happiness for a short time.

You can see that this is true if you think about your own earning history. People generally make more money as they get older. So, many of those who work, make more money today than they did 10 years ago. If more money makes people happy, then as a society, we ought to be much happier today than people were, 50 or 60 years ago. In 1940, a third of all houses still didn't have running water and indoor toilets! But national polls show that people actually rated themselves happier in the 1940s than they do today.

I know that it seems like it, but having more money, a big screen TVs and expensive cars don't make people happier. Of course, this is something philosophers have observed for hundreds of years. But now science is showing just how right they were.

12. Poor people are less happy because…

1)   they always owe money to someone.

2)   they don't know what happiness is.

3)   they can't meet their basic needs.

4)   the level of happiness is higher for them.

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13. To indicate the level of happiness, people were asked...

1)   how many good feelings they had experienced during the last day.

2)   how many positive moments they had experienced during a year.

3)   what emotions they had experienced during the last day.

4)   how often they laughed and smiled.

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14. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

1)   People who earn \(50,000 tend to be less happy than people who earn \)40,000.

2)   There is no connection between wealth and happiness.

3)   The higher the annual income, the less happy people are.

4)   People who earn $60,000 tend to be happier than people whose income is lower.

Ответ:

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15. According to the research, people who have an annual income between \(60,000 and \)75,000 a year…

1)   are happier than millionaires.

2)   are just as happy as millionaires.

3)   are less happy than millionaires.

4)   aren't happy at all.

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16. What does the word “it” in the 7th paragraph refer to?

1)   Time.

2)   A raise at work.

3)   A happy moment.

4)   Money.

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17. In the 8th paragraph, the author proves that…

1)   people who are older are happier.

2)   people in 1940 were less happy.

3)   people who are focused on pursuing money are happier.

4)   happiness based on money is short-term.

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18. In the last paragraph, the author concludes that…

1)   wealth is the ability to experience life fully.

2)   expensive things don't bring happiness.

3)   the less people earn, the happier they are.

4)   people in the past knew better what happiness was.

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