书城外语英语PARTY——笑对人生
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第5章 漫谈(3)

You don,t need millions to be happy. At The Happiness Institute in Australia, a couple of hundred dollars may do the trick.

你并不需要成为百万富翁才会感到幸福快乐。在澳大利亚的 “幸福学院”,花几百美元就有可能让你找到幸福。

Since the institute opened its doors this year, men and women of all ages have been paying AUD 200 an hour (USD 140) for lessons in how to feel great.

该学院自从今年开业以来,已经有许多男女老少前来上课,每小时花费200澳元(140美元)来学习如何找到幸福的感觉。

Businesses are spending as much as AUD 6,000 on halfday happiness workshops for their staff.

一些公司为员工支付6000澳元来参加半天的“幸福研讨会”。

“You can actually increase your happiness levels. That,s what we teach,” said Timothy Sharp, founder of institute, which also offers group sessions from AUD 30 a head.

该学院的创始人蒂莫西·夏普说:“实际上你能使自己更快乐些,这就是我们所教授的。”这个学院还开设了每人收费30澳元的团体课程。

“We take people from zero and try to put a positive in their happiness bank account. You don,t have to settle just for OKness. It,s no more OK than having a zero bank balance. You can have a lot more,” Sharp said.

夏普说:“我们把人们的幸福账户设为零,并努力使它增加为正数。你不必仅仅满足于还不错,银行余额为零只能算过得去而已,你可以拥有更多。”

Experts say only about 15 percent of happiness comes from income, assets and other financial factors. As much as 90 percent comes from elements such as attitude, life control and relationships.

专家们认为,大约只有15%的幸福感来自于收入、财产和其他的经济因素,而90%则来自于态度、支配生活的能力和人际关系等。

“If you,re not a natural in any of these areas you can learn to get a lot better at them,” Sharp said.

“如果你不是以上任何方面的天才,你可以学着在这些方面做到更出色。”夏普说。

The Happiness Institute is part of what U.S. economist Paul Zane Pilzer calls the “Wellness Revolution.”

“幸福学院”的做法部分体现了美国经济学家保罗·赞恩·皮尔泽所说的“健康革命”。

In his book of the same name, Pilzer says the next trilliondollar industry after cars and information technology will be in preventative businesses that help people find peace, health and happiness.

在他的同名着作中,皮尔泽认为继汽车和信息技术产业之后,下一个价值万亿美元的行业将是帮助人们寻找和平、健康和幸福的(疾病)预防性产业。

While most of us are significantly better off financially than our parents and grandparents, happiness levels haven,t changed to reflect that.

尽管我们大多数人的经济状况比我们的父母和祖父母要好得多,但幸福程度并没有随之改变。

Studies show that once the basic needs of shelter and food are met, additional wealth adds very little to happiness.

研究表明,一旦衣食住行的基本需求得到满足,额外的财富并不能增添多少幸福。

Even investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has warned not to “equate money with happiness.”

德国德累斯顿佳信投资银行甚至提出忠告说:不要“把钱和幸福划等号”。

“A vast array of individuals seriously overrate the importance of money in making themselves, and others, happy,” said strategist James Montier in a recent memo to clients.

策略师詹姆斯·蒙蒂尔在最近给客户的一份便函中提到:“在使自己和他人快乐这方面,很多人都过高地估计了金钱的重要性。”

“Since the 1950s, people,s happiness levels have been remarkably constant despite a massive growth in incomeperhead over the same time horizon,” he said.

他说:“二十世纪五十年代以来,尽管人均收入在同期范围内有了大幅度的增长,但人们的幸福水平一直特别平稳。”

Time Is Money, Just Figure Out How Much

“时间就是金钱”,究竟价值几何?

Think twice next time someone asks you for “five minutes of your time” - it could cost you more than you think.

如果下次再有人对你说“占用你五分钟时间”的话,你千万要考虑清楚再答复,因为可能结果不是你所想象的只有五分钟这么简单呢。

A British professor has developed a mathematical formula to help people find out exactly how much an hour of their time is worth.

英国的一位大学教授计算出了一个数学公式,帮助人们计算具体每个人的一个小时价值多少。

Professor Ian Walker of Warwick University investigated the value of time after research showed that over 80 percent of respondents would buy more time if they could afford it.

英国沃里克大学的伊恩·沃克教授在研究后计算出了时间的价值。他的研究还表明如果可能的话有超过80%的人愿意购买更多的时间。

“Traditionally, wages or salaries have given an indication of how we are valued at work,” Walker, an economics professor, said in a statement.

经济学教授沃克在一份声明中指出:“以往人们都习惯用自己的收入来衡量其在工作中的价值。”

“However, by looking at salaries against taxation, the cost of living and regional variations, we can see how much an hour of our time is worth whether at work or home.”

“但是我们必须除去税务、生活开支和地区生活水平差异开支,才能看出我们每个小时的到底值多少钱。”

Daytoday the formula could help in making decisions, such as whether to cook a meal or to get a takeaway, or whether to take public transport or a taxi, he said.

这个公式可以在日常生活中帮助人们做决定,例如,是叫自己做饭还是叫外卖,是乘公共汽车还是乘出租车。

Visitors to can find out the value of an hour of their time by entering their salary, the region where they work and what kind of work they do.

人们可以访问网站计算出自己每个小时的价值,你只需要填写自己的收入、居住地区以及从事的工作,就可以了。

For example, for a professional working in London and earning 25,000 pounds (USD 36,570) a year, an hour would be worth 6.44 pounds (USD 9.42), according to the Web site.

根据这个网站的研究,一个在伦敦的职员每年的收入是25,000英镑(合36,570 美元),他每小时的收入为6.44镑(合9.42美元)。

Cooking dinner would cost 5.37 pounds - cheaper to get a takeaway, once you add the cost of the raw materials needed to make it yourself. Brushing your teeth comes at 32 pence - perhaps hard to find someone to do it for you for less.

做一顿晚饭需要5.37英镑-就算你加上原料钱,你也会发现这绝对比叫外卖便宜。刷牙需要32便士——可能不会有人愿意出再低的价来帮你刷牙。