3. What does the author suggest we do to help our friends?
A. Be thankful for them.
B. Keep them company.
C. Be quick to respond.
D. Offer practical advice.
4. Which of the following is the most suitable title for the text?
A. How to Win Over People and Make Friends
B. The Benefit of Friendships in Battling Depression
C. The Great Power of Simply Being Present for a Friend
D. Why Friends Can Carry You Through Your Darkest Times
B
Altruists (利他主义者) in the workplace are more likely to help fellow workers, more satisfied with their job and less likely to leave their job, new research by UW-Madison's La Follette School of Public Affairs shows. And these workplace altruists enjoy a pretty important benefit themselves—they are happier than other workers.
"More and more research shows the power of altruism," says La Follette professor Donald Moynihan, "but many people hold the view that we behave altruistically because of hidden self-interest, such as the desire to improve how others see us."
"Our findings make a simple but important point about altruism: helping others makes us happier. Altruism is not a form of self-sacrifice (自我牺牲) for self-interest, but functions for many as part of a healthy psychological reward (心理奖励) system," Moynihan explains.
Previous research suggests that volunteering makes people happier, but this new study offers new findings—showing altruism in the work environment also increases happiness.
Funded by the UW-Madison Center for Demography of Health and Aging, the study tested the relationship between altruism in the workplace and happiness in two ways. First, using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study of more than 10,000 Wisconsin high school graduates in 1957, the authors found that individuals in their mid-30s who rated helping others in their work as important said they were happier with their life when surveyed again almost 30 years later. Then the authors tested the same model using the General Social Survey and found similar connections among the desire to help others and happiness.
"The new research adds to the growing study on happiness. In line with earlier research, public service workers reported a higher desire to help others, but the effect of altruism on happiness was the same for both public and private workers," Moynihan notes.
5. What can we learn about altruists according to the new research?
A. They are likely to stay longer in the company.
B. They have more chances to be promoted.
C. They care more about others than themselves.
D. They tend to make other workers happier.
6. Many people mistake altruism as ______.
A. something leading to job satisfaction
B. something driven by individual benefits
C. something connected with self-reflection
D. something centering around others' happiness
7. How was the research carried out?
A. By doing two follow-up surveys.
B. By studying previous experiments.
C. By having interviews with workers.
D. By revising previous research results.
8. What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. Altruists undoubtedly feel happy in helping others.
B. Public workers are as happy as private workers.
C. There's growing concern on the effect of altruism.
D. The new research has gained a different result.