2014考研英语二答案解析及阅读文章来源（文都版）

2014考研英语（二）真题点评及来源·阅读题

2014考研英语（二）真题阅读Text3来源于2013年6月的外刊，原文标题为Money and happiness。这篇文章谈到了两个学者Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton在他们的新书Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending里建议中了$590m的84岁老太太Gloria MacKenzie该如何花这笔钱。与2012年相比，2013考研阅读文章同样注重时效性，所以2015考研的同学们一定要多多关注社会热点话题，汲取丰富的文化背景知识，如此能取得事半功倍的效果！

从难度上来看，这篇文章比较简单，保持了英语二的一贯难度水平，所以考生只要静下心来很容易就能掌握住文章的主要内容和观点。需要提醒大家的是，对于相对简单的文章，出题人必然会在一些关键的词句上作出考察，而这些地方也是一些考生会存在理解障碍的地方。例如，Text3文章的最后一句话But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent.  Come away 是“离开”的意思；money well spent 意思是“值得花的钱”，所以这句话的意思是“大多数人会远离这本书，相信花这个钱还是值得的”。不出所料的话，这句话肯定是一个重要的观点态度句，亲爱的考生们，你理解对了吗？

2014考研英语（二）真题阅读Text3原文链接：

Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending.

WHAT would you do with $590m? This is now a question for Gloria MacKenzie, an 84-year-old widow who recently emerged from her small, tin-roofed house in Florida to collect the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. The blogosphere is full of advice for this lucky Powerball pensioner. But if she hopes her new-found lucre will yield lasting feelings of fulfilment, she could do worse than read “Happy Money” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton.

These two academics—she teaches psychology at the University of British Columbia; he lectures on marketing at Harvard Business School—use an array of behavioural research to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can be counterintuitive. Fantasies of great wealth often involve visions of fancy cars and palatial homes on remote bluffs. Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly. What was once exciting and new becomes old-hat; remorse creeps in. It is far better to spend money on experiences, say Ms Dunn and Mr Norton, like interesting trips, unique meals or even going to the cinema. These purchases often become more valuable with time—as stories or memories—particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others.

This slim volume is packed with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most “happiness bang for your buck”. It seems most people would be better off if they could shorten their commutes to work, spend more time with friends and family and less of it watching television (something the average American spends a whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it). Buying gifts or giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things for oneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. This is apparently the reason McDonald’s restricts the availability of its popular McRib—a marketing gimmick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession.

Readers of “Happy Money” are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfilment, not hunger. Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries are generally happier than those in poor ones. Yet the link between feeling good and spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around the world, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. Not everyone will agree with the authors’ policy ideas, which range from mandating more holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent.