Unit 30
The optimal salary to
make you happy
新知思想/自我提升
New Knowledge/Self-Development
BRAIN STORM
Share your ideas with your teacher and try to make sentences.
What is the optimal salary that will make you happy?
VOCABULARY
Repeat these sentences after your teacher.
1. optimal (adj.) 最佳的、最理想的
What is the optimal salary for you?
您的最佳工資是多少？
2. in general (phr.) 總體而言
In general, 2,000$ a month is a lot.
一般來說，每月2,000美元是很多錢。
3. overwhelmed (adj.) 難以承受、被淹沒
Are you sure that you will not be overwhelmed?
您確定您不會被淹沒嗎？
4. take the sting out of (phr.) 更容易承受
If I have enough money, it will take the sting out of hardships.
如果我有足夠的錢，它將擺脫困境。
5. adversities (n.) 困境
A good friend will not desert one in time of adversity.
好朋友不會在人遭到厄運時棄之不顧。
6. temperament (n.) 性情、性格
The Director’s temperament is bad today.
導演的性格今天很差。
7. circumstances (n.) 境況、處境
If circumstances are different, will you do it?
如果情況不同，您會這樣做嗎？
Dialogue
Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.
The more money you make, the happier you will be? Not necessarily.
A recent study from Princeton University found that the optimal number is $75,000 a year.
Two types of happiness:
The researchers used two main categories of happiness for their study:
Type 1: Your changeable, day-to-day mood
Type 2: A deeper sense of satisfaction about how your life is going in general
Why is $75,000 the magic number?
Researchers found that while lower income did not cause sadness itself, it certainly made people feel more overwhelmed by the problems they already had.
錢賺得越多，就越幸福嗎？不一定。
普林斯頓大學最近一項研究發現，最理想的薪資是每年7萬5千美元。
兩種幸福的定義：
研究者在研究中使用了兩種不同類型的幸福：
第一種：每天都在改變的心情
第二種：對於人生更深層次的滿足感
那為什麼7萬5千美元是魔力數?
研究者發現，儘管較低的工資本身並不會引起悲傷，但它會讓生活中已有的問題顯得更難承受。
Having money helped to take the sting out of adversities.
At $75,000 though, that effect disappears.
For people who earn that much or more, individual temperament and life circumstances have much more sway over their level of happiness.
It seems that at $75,000, most people feel they have enough disposable income to not worry about daily expenses and even do a few things that make them feel good.
It also makes them feel that their life is working out on the whole.
However, the $75,000 benchmark doesn’t make people feel any more jovial in the morning. In other words, it has no impact on their day-to-day happiness.
Keeping up with the Jones’
而有錢則能幫助人們更從容面對困境。
然而在7萬5千美元水平，這種效應就消失了。
薪資超過這個水平之後，個人性格和生活環境對幸福的影響更大。
似乎在7萬5千這個水平，大部分人感覺他們可支配收入足夠擔負生活花銷，還可以做一些讓自己開心的事情。
也讓他們感覺生活總體很順利。
但是，7萬5千美金的年薪卻不會讓他們每天早上感覺更快樂。換句話說，這對日常的快樂並沒有影響。
互相攀比
But it’s not only absolute wealth that’s linked with happiness.
Past research has also found that relative wealth or status – that is, how much more money you have than your neighbors – has a profound impact on your level of happiness as well.
但幸福也不完全取決於絕對財富。
以往研究還表明相對財富或階層，也就是你比你的朋友鄰居富有多少，也會深層次影響你的幸福水平。
Grammar
Other ways to say “in general”
Today’s lesson contains two phrases that are pretty similar in meaning: “in general” and “on the whole.” With phrases like these, there are two things going on: Although the two meanings are very connected and to some people might seem identical, there are however a few nuances to keep in mind.
The first meaning is that you are giving a summary of a situation, activity or idea without referring to any particular details about it. The expressions that best fall into this category are:
•In general
•On the whole
•On average
•All in all
•All things considered
•Overall
The second meaning is more like “mainly,” “mostly,” or “chiefly.” The expressions that best fall into this category are:
•Generally
•By and large
•To a large extent
•For the most part
Remember that these are just guidelines. A lot of native speakers have never really taken the time to analyze their own speech patterns or vocabulary, so they might use all of the words we listed above totally interchangeably. Below the first three examples come from the first list, and the last three come from the second.
1.All things considered, she’s probably the most qualified candidate for the job.
2.All in all I’d say we did a pretty good job today. Congratulations everybody!
3.Overall, I’m pretty happy with the direction of the project, even if there are a few things I’d like to see changed.
4.I enjoy my job for the most part. I don’t really like the commute though.
5.The books they sell are, by and large, foreign imports.
6.The customer feedback so far has been generally positive.
7.____________________________________________________________________.
DISCUSSION
Make a conversation with your teacher.
1.If you could have 1 million dollars as a monthly salary, what will you do / buy with it?
