新托福阅读材料：What makes us truly happy?

快乐的真谛

In recent years, researchers have attempted to use a variety of statistics and surveys to answer a question that's occupied countless generations of philosophers: What makes us truly happy?

近年来，研究人员试图利用各种统计和调查方法去回答一个困扰了无数代哲人的问题：是什么令我们真正感到快乐?

While some evidence suggests that happiness may be linked, in part, to relative wealth--how we're doing compared to those around us--overall the old adage that money doesn't buy happiness seems to hold true.

虽然一些证据表明，快乐也许在某种程度上与相应的财富有关，我们的所作所为与我们周边的事物相比较——总体来说，那句古老的格言“金钱买不来快乐”似乎是正确的。

"We are materially so much better off than we were 50 years ago, but we're not one iota happier," says Chris Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan.

“我们在物质上比50年前要好上许多倍，但是我们丝毫没有感到更快乐，”密歇根大学的心理学教授克里斯·彼得斯这样评价。

That's no surprise to happiness expert David Myers, who sees happiness as more closely correlated with people rather than things. "We humans have a deep need to belong to connect with others in close, supportive, intimate, caring relationships," he says. "People who have such close relationships are more likely to report themselves 'very happy'."

这对于快乐专家大卫 ·梅尔斯来说一点儿也不奇怪，他认为快乐与人本身紧密相连，程度远胜于和事物之间的联系。“我们人类对于归属感有深层的需要——与他人接触时保持紧密的、相互支持的、亲密无间以及相互关怀的关系，”他说，“拥有如此紧密关系的人们更有可能称他们自己是‘非常快乐的’。”

We've compiled a list of seven factors that influence rates of happiness and depression. Many of these factors vary from city to city and region to region. Here's your chance to see how your city compares.

我们汇编了7种对快乐或沮丧程度有影响的要素。许多要素因城市和地区的差异而有所不同。现在你有机会看看你所在的城市对应着多少幸福。

1.Happily Married 幸福的婚姻

Is getting married one of the keys to a happy life? A report from the Pew Research Center suggests so--43 percent of married women and men reported being "very happy", while only 24 percent of unmarried men and women said the same.

结婚是快乐生活的关键之一吗?佩尤研究中心的一份报告暗示了此点——43%的已婚人士表示他们“非常幸福”，而在未婚人士中这一比率仅为24%。

Interestingly enough, the happy halo that shines over married couples isn't the result of having kids--those with children were just as likely to be happy as those without.

十分有趣的是，萦绕在已婚夫妇身上的幸福光环并非是拥有孩子带来的结果——有孩子的夫妇可能与没有孩子的夫妇一样幸福。

Rather, there seems to be something about marriage itself that boosts both men's and women's feelings of well-being in life.

更确切地说，似乎是婚姻本身刺激了男性和女性生活幸福安康的感觉。