1. Britons still happy despite financial woes, survey finds
Level 3 Advanced
1 Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.
precarious worthwhile anxious mean looming
respondent recession placard seeps outweighs
1. A ____________________ situation is one that is likely to change or become dangerous without warning.
2. If one thing ____________________ something else, it is more important, useful or valuable than the
other thing.
3. A ____________________ is a period when trade and industry are not successful and there is a lot of
unemployment.
4. A ____________________ problem is one that is likely to happen soon.
5. If something is ____________________, it is worth the time, money or effort that you spend on it.
6. If a bad feeling or idea ____________________ somewhere, you start to feel it or believe it.
7. A ____________________ is someone who answers questions on a questionnaire or for an opinion poll.
8. A ____________________ value or score is an average one.
9. If you feel ____________________, you feel worried because you think something bad might happen.
10. A ____________________ is a large notice carried in order to protest against or support something.
2 What do you think?
The text is about a happiness survey in the UK. Which of these statements do you think are true (T) and
which are false (F)? Check your answers in the text.
1. Most Britons are unhappy.
2. People are less satisfied with their work situation than their financial situation.
3. People are most satisfied with their personal relationships and mental well-being.
4. In answer to the question ‘Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?’ more than half the people in the
survey answered five out of ten, where ten was ‘completely anxious’.
5. Several political leaders have become interested in the science of well-being.
6. British people associate happiness with being calm, relaxed and peaceful.
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2. Britons still happy despite financial woes, survey finds
Level 3 Advanced
Britons still happy despite financial taxpayers’ cash. “That can be on supporting childcare,
woes, survey finds parenting or help for mental health”.
Randeep Ramesh 6 Layard argued against expending too much political
1 December, 2011 energy on reducing inequalities. “Although I believe
that one pound to a poor person means more than to
1 Most Britons report being satisfied with life, with a rich person and more equal societies are happier,
concerns over work and precarious finances I don’t think redistribution of income is by any means
outweighed by happiness gained from children, the thing that will produce a happier populace.”
relationships and where people live, according to a
survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 7 The science of well-being has become fashionable,
Released days after economists forecast that with the Himalayan Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan
the recession would be deep, long and leave the cited by Cameron as pioneering the idea of “gross
public in 2015 worse off than they were in 2002, the national happiness” and France’s President Sarkozy
government survey paints a picture of the country asking the Nobel laureates Joe Stiglitz and Amartya
largely untouched in an emotional sense by the Sen how to measure it. In fact, happiness has a long
looming crisis. academic heritage – beginning in Western thought
with the Greek philosopher Aristotle. “Aristotle …
2 The survey of 4,200 adults, conducted between April said there was more to life than how we feel, than
and August 2011, is part of Prime Minister David just pleasure and pain. It was about how we develop
Cameron’s £2 million drive to get a better measure our potential and work with our communities,”
of how the country is doing rather than just focusing Felicia Huppert at Cambridge University’s centre of
on GDP. The ONS’s work showed that on average well-being said, pointing out the ONS question was
people rated their life satisfaction at 7.4 out of ten. asking about the “things in life that were worthwhile”.
When asked whether things they did in life were
worthwhile, people on average gave a score of 7.6. 8 Huppert said that “probably the most important
work recently was that of Jonathan Haidt (Professor
3 However, there were signs of stress seeping of Psychology at the University of Virginia) who
through British society. Satisfaction with looked at a moral theory and talked about the
respondents’ financial situation had the lowest mean importance of relationships.” Haidt identified five
score of 6.2 out of ten, followed by work situation, values in societies – care, fairness, loyalty, respect
with 6.7 out of ten. When asked specifically about and purity – and suggested US liberals priveleged
satisfaction with the balance between time spent on the first two over the last three. Huppert, Professor
paid work and on other aspects of life, low scores of Psychology, said: “A lot of young people think
were also given, with an average of 6.4 out of ten. that wealth and celebrity will make you happy. In
4 People were most satisfied with their personal fact, the data shows it is about relationships and
relationships and mental well-being, which had the engagement and feeling that you contribute.”
highest mean scores – both scored at 8.3 out of ten. 9 Paul Allen of the ONS said another big factor
Also of concern to policymakers will be the answer in happiness was health. “We see that people
given to the question “Overall, how anxious did you responded that when their health was bad they
feel yesterday?” More than a quarter rated this five out would report anxiety. What we are trying to build up
of ten, where ten was feeling “completely anxious”. is a picture of how people rate happiness.”
5 Lord Layard, the LSE Economics Professor, said it was 10 One of the most revealing aspects of the
likely that life satisfaction would fall as the recession emerging science around happiness is about
hit. “We know from other European countries that this language. Britons associated happiness with
is sensitive to business cycles and in recessions life being “calm, relaxed and peaceful” rather than
satisfaction drops.” Layard, who founded the Action “energized and excited”. Allen said this could be
for Happiness movement to promote well-being, said seen in the placards held up by strikers on recent
policymakers could use the data to ameliorate the demonstrations. “They held up signs saying: ‘We
pain of recession. But they would first need to identify are not happy about this.’ It was very British.”
how to measure happiness, then work out what
makes people “miserable or happy” and lastly quantify © Guardian News & Media 2011
how much happiness one can create by spending First published in The Guardian, 01/12/11
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NEWS LESSONS / Britons still happy despite financial woes, survey finds / Advanced
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3. Britons still happy despite financial woes, survey finds
Level 3 Advanced
3 Comprehension check
Choose the best answer according to the text.
1. Why does the author say there are ‘signs of stress seeping through British society’?
a. because the mean scores for satisfaction with finances, work and life–work balance were comparatively low
b. because economists have forecast that the recession will be deep and long
c. because people have been touched in an emotional sense by the looming crisis
2. What is likely to happen as the effects of the recession hit?
a. Policymakers will use the data to lessen the pain of recession.
b. Life satisfaction levels will fall.
c. People will be happy in spite of the difficult economic situation.
3. Why was Bhutan mentioned in connection with happiness?
a. because the people there are Buddhists and Buddhists are always happy
b. because Bhutan pioneered the idea of ‘gross national happiness’
c. because David Cameron admires Bhutan
4. According to the article, which of these statements is true?
a. Wealth and celebrity make you happy.
b. Redistribution of income will produce a happier population.
c. Happiness is about relationships, engagement and feeling that you contribute.
4 Find the word
Find the following words and expressions in the text.
1. a two-word adjective meaning having less money than you had before (para 1)
2. a noun meaning a big effort to achieve something, especially by a company or government (para 2)
3. an abbreviation meaning the total value of the goods and services that a country produces in a year, not
including income received from money invested in other countries (para 2)
4. a verb meaning to improve something or make it less severe (para 5)
5. a three-word noun phrase meaning changing the way money is shared between people (para 6)
6. a verb meaning to mention something as an example (para 7)
7. a noun meaning the feeling of being involved in a particular activity (para 8)
8. an adjective meaning providing new, surprising or important information (para 10)
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4. Britons still happy despite financial woes, survey finds
Level 3 Advanced
5 Verb + noun collocations
Match the verbs in the left-hand column with the nouns or noun phrases in the right-hand column. Check
your answers in the text.
1. conduct a. energy
2. pioneer b. a picture
3. develop c. a survey
4. promote d. your potential
5. expend e. well-being
6. build up f. an idea
6 Word-building
Complete the sentences by using the correct form of the word in brackets at the end of each sentence.
1. People report ___________________ when their health is bad. [ANXIOUS]
2. Lord Layard is against wasting political energy on reducing ___________________. [EQUAL]
3. ___________________ is one of the five values in society identified by Professor Jonathan Haidt. [LOYAL]
4. Another of the five values is ___________________. [PURE]
5. The survey seems to show that the UK is largely ___________________ in an emotional sense by the
financial crisis. [TOUCH]
6. The science of well-being has become ___________________. [FASHION]
7 Discussion
Which two of these factors are most important to you: money, work, relationships, engagement, health?
Explain why.
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NEWS LESSONS / Britons still happy despite financial woes, survey finds / Advanced
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5. Britons still happy despite financial woes, survey finds
Level 3 Advanced
KEY
1 Key words 4 Find the word
1. precarious 1. worse off
2. outweighs 2. drive
3. recession 3. GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
4. looming 4. ameliorate
5. worthwhile 5. redistribution of income
6. seeps 6. cite
7. respondent 7. engagement
8. mean 8. revealing
9. anxious
10. placard
5 Verb + noun collocations
2 What do you think? 1. c
2. f
1. F 3. d
2. F 4. e
3. T 5. a
4. F 6. b
5. T
6. T
6 Word-building
3 Comprehension check 1. anxiety
2. inequalities
1. a 3. loyalty
2. b 4. purity
3. b 5. untouched
4. c 6. fashionable
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NEWS LESSONS / Britons still happy despite financial woes, survey finds / Advanced
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