中国石化专业技术人员英语学习参考用书(试用版).doc

第一部分 通用英语 Part One English for General Purposes UNIT 1 How to be Happy如何获得幸福 Text Read the text. Answer the given questions and translate the underlined sentences or paragraphs into Chinese. In the past two weeks we have looked at the happiness formula defined by positive psychologist Martin Seligman, where H (happiness) = S (your biological set point for feeling happy) + C (the conditions of your life) + V (the voluntary choices you make). This week we look at the conditions in life that can improve our happiness quotient. Step 1: Peace and quiet Jonathon Haidt in his excellent book, The Happiness Hypothesis, notes that research shows that we can never completely adapt to new or chronic noise pollution. Loud noises trigger one of our most primitive fear responses (the other is the fear of falling) and we can never fully relax if we are surrounded by intrusive noise. It is essential to have some peace and quiet every day. If you are unfortunate enough to live somewhere noisy, persist with complaining to your local council. Additionally, try wearing wax earplugs to have some respite. If you need your TV, radio or music up loud, wearing headphones demonstrates altruism to your neighbours, which will make you and them feel good. Step 2: Relationships This is the most important of all the external conditions that can improve your happiness quotient. Often our deepest sources of unhappiness are found in poor relationships with others. A cruelly conflictual relationship with a partner or lover leaves us feeling betrayed and abandoned. A relationship with our parents or children which is not based on compassionate, unconditional regard creates isolation and misery. When faced with such relationships, the most positive thing we can do is to either mend the relationship by confronting what is going wrong or learn to move on. Step 3: Share If you have discovered conditions or choices in life that have significantly improved your wellbeing