Research shows that Britons are the happiest people in Europe.
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Here’s a reason to rejoice despite the nation's woes: Britons are the happiest people in Europe. Research shows that we smile more than our continental cousins, with only the Spanish, known for their sunny outlook, and the Italians, with their love of life, coming close. The French and Germans, some might say perhaps not surprisingly, fare poorlyin the smile stakes. Bottom of the pile are the Poles, who it seems are twice as reluctant to crack a smile as Britons. Piotr Szarota, a psychologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences, analysed 2,000 photos accompanying internet messages sent by men and women from nine European countries. He found the residents of Eastern bloc nations to smile less often than those in the West, with the Poles the grimmest of the lot. However, differences in quality of life cannot fully explain the results, with France and Germany both sitting towards the bottom of the league table. With fewer than half the French and Germans pictured smiling, they were more morose than the Slovenians and the Czechs. This may be because, like the Poles, the French and Germans place a premium on sincerity, preferring to show their true feelings, rather than mask them with a smile. In contrast, Dr Szarota said that Britons, who topped the table with more than 70 percent of those pictured smiling, may be too polite to show how they really feel. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
盡管英國(guó)目前困難重重,但有件事可以讓大家高興一下:英國(guó)是歐洲最快樂(lè)的國(guó)度。 調(diào)查顯示,與歐洲其他國(guó)家人相比,英國(guó)人更愛笑,以樂(lè)觀開朗而著稱的西班牙人和熱愛生活的意大利人位居其后。 而法國(guó)人和德國(guó)人都不愛笑——有些人可能并不會(huì)對(duì)此感到驚奇。 波蘭人最不愛笑,他們展顏微笑的幾率只有英國(guó)人的一半。 波蘭科學(xué)院的心理學(xué)家皮歐特?薩羅塔對(duì)歐洲九個(gè)國(guó)家的男性和女性在發(fā)送網(wǎng)絡(luò)訊息時(shí)附帶發(fā)送的2000張照片進(jìn)行了分析。 他發(fā)現(xiàn),東歐人不如西歐人愛笑,其中波蘭人最不愛笑。 不過(guò),生活質(zhì)量的差異不能完全解釋這一結(jié)果,因?yàn)榉▏?guó)人和德國(guó)人的排名也比較靠后。 在法國(guó)人和德國(guó)人發(fā)送的照片中,只有不到一半是面帶笑容的,比斯洛文尼亞人和捷克人還要嚴(yán)肅。 這也許是因?yàn)榉▏?guó)人和德國(guó)人與波蘭人一樣,都比較真誠(chéng),更愿意表現(xiàn)出自己的真實(shí)情感,而不是為了笑而笑。 相比之下,英國(guó)人可能是太禮貌而不愿表現(xiàn)出自己的真實(shí)情感。在他們發(fā)送的照片中,有70%面帶笑容,位居各國(guó)之首。 相關(guān)閱讀 面對(duì)面交流的快樂(lè)遠(yuǎn)勝過(guò)網(wǎng)聊 全球幸福指數(shù)大調(diào)查 富國(guó)反而不快樂(lè) 歐洲幸福指數(shù)調(diào)查:冰島人最快樂(lè) (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯蔡姍姍) |
Vocabulary: in the ... stakes: used to say how much of a particular quality a person has, as if they were in a competition in which some people are more successful than others (評(píng)論一個(gè)人的某種品質(zhì)高或低)要是比……的話,論…… crack a smile: 展顏微笑 league table: a list that shows how successful an organization such as a sports team or a business is when it is compared to other similar organizations(排名表) |