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As a professor of business and government policy,I've long been interested inthe pursuit of happiness as a national concept.According to hundreds of reliable surveys of thousands of people across the land,happy people increase our prosperity and strengthen our communities.They make better citizens —and better citizens are vital to making our nation healthy and strong.So when Ichanced upon data a couple of years ago saying that certain Americans wereliving in a manner that facilitated happiness —while others were not —I jumped on it. I wanted to be able to articulate which personal lifestyles and publicpolicies would make us the happiest nation possible.I also wanted to know which of my own values were the most conducive to happiness.I had always thought that _marching to the beat of my own drummer_ and making up my ownvalues as I went along were the right things to do,and that tradition alvalues,to put it bluntly,were for fools. Turns out that I was in for some surprises.You might suspect that Americansare getting happier all the time.After all,many(though clearly not all)aregetting richer,and this should make them better able and equipped to follow their dreams.On the other hand,there's a lot of talk about the good olddays,when kids could play outside without any worry about being kidnapped.Andthere's a great deal of stress in this country right now,due to financial concerns,negative workplace environments,and chronic health problems,among other pressing issues.But average happiness levels in America have stayed largely constant for many years.In 1972,30 percent of the population said they were very happy with their lives, according to the National Opinion ResearchCenter's General Social Survey.In 1982,31 percent said so,and in 2006,31percent said so as well.The percentage saying they were not too happy was similarly constant,generally hovering around 31 percent. The factors that add up to a happy life for most people are not what wetypically hear about.Things like winning the lottery and earning a master's degree don't make people happy over the long haul.Rather,the key to happiness,and the difference between happy and unhappy Americans,is a life that reflects values and practices like faith,hard work,marriage, charity,and freedom.
[单选题]
A. How to promote prosperity.
B.How to improve the community.
C.What makes people good citizens.
D.What contributes to a happy nation.
[单选题]
A. holding the traditional values
B.doing things at one's own will
C.catching the rhythms of music
D.playing one's favorite instrument
[单选题]
A. people were in better physical conditions
B.everything was much better than now
C.there were more financial concerns
D.people had more dreams
[单选题]
A. fallen despite economic boom
B.remained roughly unchanged for decades
C.experienced sharp decrease over the years
D.improved constantly although not obviously
[单选题]
A. winning a lottery doesn't bring sustained happiness
B.hard work can give people a sense of achievement
C.hard work is a virtue which people are proud of
D.winning a lottery mainly depends on sheer luck
