A study by researchers at the University of Warwick and Cardiff University has found that money only makes people happier if it improves their social rank. Simply being highly paid wasn’t enough – to be happy, people must perceive themselves as being more highly paid than their friends and work colleagues.

The researchers said their findings could explain why the economic success over the last 40 years has not increased overall levels of happiness.

    The leading psychologist of the study, Dr Chris Boyce, said, “Earning I million pounds a year appears to be not enough to make you happy if you know your friends all earn 2 million pounds a year.”

The study found that the ranked position of an individual’s income best predicted general life satisfaction, while the actual amount of income and the average income of others appear to have no significant effect. The standard of living has gone up for each individual over the past 4 years but it has gone up for everyone. Our cars are faster now but our neighbors have faster cars too, so they haven’t got that advantage over people close to you.

The researcher added that pursuit of wealth alone was a vicious circle （恶性循环） because people had to continually work hard to keep up with the Joneses.

“So a person does not just have to increase his rank. He has to work hard just to keep up with rather than passing his friends, neighbors and colleagues,” said Dr Boyce.

The study found that relentless pursuit （不懈的追求） of economic growth would produce a wealthier society but not a happier one. Making everybody in society richer will not necessarily increase overall happiness because it is only having a higher income than other people that matters, and there was a danger that people will focus on the pursuit of money at the expense of building strong relationships with family and friends.

1．What’s the main idea of the passage?

       A．Happiness is linked to other’s wealth

       B．Money can certainly buy happiness.

       C．More money means more happiness.

       D．Better living standard means more happiness.

2．We can conclude from the passage that          .

       A．the more income you get, the happier you are

       B．the wealthier you are, the lower your ranked position is

       C．the more successful economy is, the higher happiness levels are

       D．the higher your social rank is, the happier you will feel

3．The underlined phrase “keep up with the Joneses” most probably means         .

       A．to keep up with your friends’ and neighbors’ paces of life

       B．to remain in contact with your friends and neighbors

       C．to compete with the people around you in terms of wealth

       D．to build strong relationships with family and friends

4．According to the passage, a wealthier society doesn’t necessarily means a happier one because

             .

       A．every social member wants to get wealth from others

       B．every social member wants to have the average income of others

       C．the seeking of higher income is likely to do harm to people’s health

       D．the seeking of wealth may sacrifice the relationships with family and friends