Most of you would probably say that what makes you truly happy is your family and the love you share in your relationships, and I couldn’t agree more. But money comes into play in those relationships.
When I talk about money this way to a group, there is always someone who comes up to me and says, “Suze, you are so wrong. Money isn’t the key to life—this is!” At which point their wallet flies open and they show me a photo of their family.
That’s when things get interesting, because I start asking them questions: Did you take that photo with your own camera? It looks like a beautiful beach, was the photo taken on a family vacation? Do you hope to help those beautiful boys and girls go to college?
As their answers are “yes”, I ask them how they provide all of that for their family. That’s when they understand that I had it right.
I totally agree that family and friends are of great importance to our well being; without meaningful relationships, there’s no chance of ever being truly happy. That’s why, every Saturday night, I end my CNBC show with the following words:“People first. Then money. Then things.”
How we deal with the money we have also plays into our happiness. Over the past few decades (十年), the percentage of Americans who say they’re happy hasn’t changed much, while at the same time the average income has doubled. So we have more money, but we’re not much happier on average.
A paradox (悖论)? Far from it. My sense is that while we’re making more money, we arent’t making more of the money we make. We have to pay for a lot of things, and we have to worry about saving for retirement (退休) in a way that our parents and grandparents never did. And as many of you know, it’s really hard to increase your happiness when you’ve got a lot of money worries.
Do you agree, or am I way off base? I’d love to know what do you think about the money/happiness connection.
1.Why do people often show the author their family photos?
[A] They hope to show money is very important.
[B] They want to prove they can afford a holiday.
[C] They think a good family makes them truly happy.
[D] They believe a happy person considers people first.
2.Why did the authur ask the group questions in Paragraph 3 ?
[A] To persuade them to save for the future. '
[B] To ask for advice on holidays abroad.
[C] To know more about each person.
[D] To show them what he meant.
3.Which of the following arguments does the author want to make?
[A] Money is all that matters in our life.
[B] The richer we are, the happier we’ll be.
[C] Money makes a difference to the quality of our lives.
[D] True happiness is achievable from good relationships.
4.What does the underlined words “off base” in the last paragraph most probably mean?
[A] mistaken
[B] unprepared
[C] unnecessary
[D] misunderstood
答案与解析：
1. 选C。题干的意思为“为什么人们通常会把自己的全家福给作者看，”该题属于细节题。
从文章意思可以得知，这些人是想反驳作者的观点，证明家人是幸福的源泉。
2. 选D。题干的意思为“为什么作者问那些人第三段的问题?”该题属于细节题。
作者是想证明自己的观点，通过问问题明晰自己的观点。
3. 选C。题干的意思为“以下哪句话是作者想表达的观点?”该题属于推理题。
本题没有原文，但是作者的观点非常明晰，钱在个人幸福中地位非常重要，可以改善我们的生活质量。
4. 选A。题干的意思为“最后一段下划线词'off base'最可能是什么意思?”该题属于推理题。
从文章的句意理解来看，应该是错误的意思。
