Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found on Thursday.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others—even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual (yearly) income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, girls for others and donations to charity.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000. “Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
  They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor alterations (changes) in spending allocations (shares)—as little as $5—may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,”Dunn said.
60. What is the general idea of the passage?
A. The more you earn, the greater happiness you will get.
B. Spending more money on yourself will make you happier.
C. Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else.
D. You can spend only 5$ a day to get happiness.
61. The underlined word “boost” in the first paragraph probably means_______.
A. help to find     B. help to bring    C. help to increase     D. help to get
62. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Those who spend more money on others can get much more bonus.
B. People usually think spending money on themselves will make them happier.
C. Very small changes in spending your money may be enough to gain happiness.
D. Researchers think that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn.
63. It can be inferred from the 6th paragraph that ______.
A. the volunteers not given 5$ or 20$ spent their own money on themselves.
B. those who spent the money on someone or something else felt happier about it.
C. the volunteers were given 5$ or 20$ as a reward for the experiment.
D. half of the volunteers could spend the money as they liked.

Most children now chat daily either online or through their mobile phones. They are connecting to a huge number of other children all over the world. Some are shy “in real life” but are confident to communicate with others online; others find support from people of their own age on relationship issues, or problems at home.
Sometimes the online world, just like the real world, can introduce problems, such as arguments. Going online is great fun, but there are also a few people who use the Internet for offensive (冒犯性的) or illegal aims. Children must be made aware of both the good things and the dangers.
To keep children safe your management must cover the family computer. Just as you decide which TV pro-grams are suitable, you need to do the same for the websites and chat rooms your children visit. Remind your children that online friends are still strangers. Re-minding them of the risks will keep them alert (警惕).
Computer studies are part of schoolwork now, so it’s likely that your children may know more than you do. We get left behind when it comes to the latest gad-gets and the interactive areas of websites, like chat rooms and message boards, which are especially strange. The language of chat is strange to many parents, too. Chatters love to use abbreviations (缩写) such as: atb — all the best, bbfn —bye bye for now, cul8er — see you later, gr8 — great, Idk — I don’t know, imbl — it must be love, kit — keep in touch, paw — parents are watching, lol — laugh out loud, xlnt — excellent!
【小题1】The passage is meant for ______.

A.childrenB.parentsC.teachersD.net bar owners
【小题2】Which of the following will the author probably agree with?
A.The Internet is no good for children.
B.The chat language is strange to adults.
C.Children shouldn’t chat so much online.
D.The Internet is a good place for children.
【小题3】In order to keep children safe online, you’d better ______.
A.choose suitable websites and chat rooms for them
B.teach them to use correct net words
C.surf the Internet together with them
D.forbid them to use the Internet

Most children now chat daily either online or through their mobile phones. They are connecting to a huge number of other children all over the world. Some are shy “in real life” but are confident to communicate with others online; others find support from people of their own age on relationship issues, or problems at home.

Sometimes the online world, just like the real world, can introduce problems, such as bullying or arguments. Going online is great fun, but there are also a few people who use the Internet for offensive (冒犯性的) or illegal aims. Children must be made aware of both the good things and the dangers.

To keep children safe your management must cover the family computer. Just as you decide which TV pro-grams are suitable, you need to do the same for the websites and chat rooms your children visit. Remind your children that online friends are still strangers. Re-minding them of the risks will keep them alert (警惕).

Computer studies are part of schoolwork now, so it’s likely that your children may know more than you do. We get left behind when it comes to the latest gad-gets and the interactive areas of websites, like chat rooms and message boards, which are especially strange. The language of chat is strange to many parents, too. Chatters love to use abbreviations (缩写) such as: atb — all the best, bbfn — bye bye for now, cul8er — see you later, gr8 — great, Idk — I don’t know, imbl — it must be love, kit — keep in touch, paw — parents are watching, lol — laugh out loud, xlnt — excellent!

It seems like another language, and it is!

1.The passage is meant for ______.

A.parents                               B.children.

C.teachers                              D.net bar owners

2.The purpose of writing this passage is to advise ______.

A.people not to use the net language in real life

B.children not to meet online friends freely

C.teachers to have students study on computers

D.parents to protect their children from online dangers

3.In order to keep children safe online, you’d better ______.

A.forbid them to use the Internet

B.teach them to use correct net words

C.surf the Internet together with them

D.choose suitable websites and chat rooms for them

4.If you stand beside him when your son is chatting about something secret online, he may use ______.

A.bbfn             B.paw              C.lol               D.cul8er

 

Researchers at the University of Bedforshire have developed a new technique for powering electronic device(装置). The system, developed by Professor Ben Allen at the Centre for Wireless Research, uses radio(无线电) waves as power.

Believed to be a world first, the team claims it could eventually eliminate (or get rid of )the need for conventional batteries. The university has now filed a patent application to secure the only rights to the technique.

Professor Allen and his team have created a system to use medium wave frequencies to replace batteries in small everyday devices like clocks and remote controls.

The new technique uses the “waste” energy of radio waves and has been developed as part of the university’s research into “power harvesting”. Professor Allen said that as radio waves have energy―like light waves, sound waves or wind waves―then, in theory, these waves could be used to create power.

“The emerging(新兴的)area of power harvesting technology promises to reduce our reliance on conventional batteries,” he said. “It’s really exciting way of taking power from sources other than what we would normally think of.”

The team is now waiting for the results of the patent application to secure recognition of the technique. Professor Allen said that the team’s achievements had all been done in their “spare time”. “Our next stage is to try and raise some real funds so that we can take this work forward and make a working prototype(模型)and maybe partner up with the right people and take this to a full product in due course,” he said.

“Power harvesting has a really important part in our future, because, just in this country, we dispose of somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes of batteries in landfill(垃圾填理)sites every single year-that is toxic chemicals going into the ground.”

He added that development of the product could also be “commercially beneficial”. “The market for this is several billion pounds. We’ve seen market predictions for 2020 which have these kinds of figures, so there’s a lot of commercial potential in this area,” he said.

Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Bedfordshire, Professor Carsten Maple, said, “This type of work is a reflection of the university’s growing reputation and experience in conducting innovative(创新的)research.”

1.From the text we know the new technique for powering electronic devices_____.

A.can be applied to all electronic devices.

B.uses radio waves to create power.

C.has replaced conventional batteries.

D.produces many toxic chemicals.

2.According to Professor Allen, power harvesting technology______.

A.makes every use of radio waves.

B.takes power from usual sources.

C.reduces our dependency on conventional batteries.

D.aims at huge commercial benefits.

3.What can we learn about Professor Allen and his team from the text?

A.They have made use of radio waves in their daily life.

B.They have raised a big fund to support their research.

C.They have gained a patent for their new technology.

D.They mainly did their research in their spare time.

4.What is Professor Carsten Maple’s attitude toward the new technique?

A.Critical.

B.Favorable.

C.Conservative.

D.Negative.

5.What is the text mainly about?

A.A new technique to create power.

B.A crisis concerning conventional batteries.

C.Some special sources of power.

D.The development of power harvesting.

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网