About 50 years ago, the famous British band The Beatles sang that “money can’t buy me love”. Today, British economists are saying that it perhaps can’t buy you happiness cither. This is showed by the Happy Planet Index (HPI 快乐指数) published recently by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in London.
The index is about how well countries are using their resources. It shows how well they provide people with better health and longer and happier lives, and at what cost to their environment.
It would seem to be common sense that people in richer countries live happier lives, while those in developing countries are having a harder time. But the results are surprising, even shocking. The numbers show that some of the so-called developed countries are performing very badly. The United States, for example, ranks number 150th. On the other hand, some little-known developing countries are doing a much better job. A tiny island in the Pacific, Vanuatu, comes in first. There are 178 countries and areas in the index. China ranks number 31.
Countries are graded on the basis of information supplied in response to the following questions. How do people feel about their lives? How long does an average person live? How greatly does a country need to use its natural resources to maintain its living standards? This is what the index calls the “ecological footprint”.
The NEF found that the people of island nations enjoy the highest HPI rankings. Their populations live happier and longer lives, and use fewer resources.
The results also seem to show that it is possible to live longer, happier lives with a much smaller environment impact. The index points out that people in the US and Germany enjoy similar lives.
“However, Germany’s ecological footprint is only about half that of the US. This means that Germany is around twice as efficient as the US at producing happy lives,” says Nic Marks, head of NEF’s Center for well-being.
So the Happy Planet Index (HPI) tells us a brand-new concept of understanding “being happy”. HPI figures out different countries or individuals’ HPI through their “Ecological Footprint” and “Life Satisfaction Level” or “Life Expectancy”. Clearly, people’s HPI is related to their consumption of the resources on the earth.
You can find out your own HPI by visiting http: //www, happyplanetindex.org.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about __________.| A．in which country people feel the happiest |
| B．why money can’t buy you happiness |
| C．what index can influence people’s happiness |
| D．what Happy Planet Index is |
| A．the richness of natural resources |
| B．the efficiency of energy consumption |
| C．the development of economy |
| D．the life expectancy of the people |
| A．The happiest countries listed in the index are quite different from those expected. |
| B．Developing countries are having & hard time reaching the top of the index. |
| C．Countries that have high HPI rankings have a greater impact on the environment. |
| D．The less happy countries depend on the developed countries’ resources. |
| A．some developed countries are performing badly ecologically |
| B．it is possible to live a happy life with fewer resources |
| C．not all the people in developed countries enjoy happy lives |
| D．history and culture play an important role in people’s lives |
