世界各国幸福指数大排名

 　　1. 丹麦(Denmark) - 4.24

　　2. 波多黎各(Puerto Rico) - 4.21

　　3. 哥伦比亚(Colombia) - 4.18

　　4. 冰岛(Iceland) - 4.15

　　5. 北爱尔兰(N Ireland) - 4.13

　　6. 爱尔兰(Ireland)- 4.12

　　7. 瑞士(Switzerland)- 3.96

　　8. 荷兰(Netherlands)- 3.77

　　9. 加拿大(Canada) - 3.76

　　10. 奥地利(Austria) - 3.68

　　……

　　16. 美国(U.S.A) - 3.55

　　……

　　43. 日本(Japan) - 2.24

　　……

　　48. 台湾(Taiwan) - 1.83

　　49. 德国(Germany)- 1.78

　　……

　　54. 中国(China) - 1.64

　　……

　　63. 香港(Hongkong) - 1.16

　　……

　　97. 津巴布韦(Zimbabwe) - 1.92

　　People in most countries around the world are happier these days, according to newly released data from the World Values Survey based at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.

　　密歇根大学社会研究所世界价值观调查项目的最新数据表明，世界上大多数国家的人近来都感觉比从前更幸福。

　　Data from representative national surveys conducted from 1981 to 2007 show the happiness index rose in an overwhelming majority of nations studied.

　　自1981年至2007年，在国家范围内进行的各种有代表性的相关调查也显示出绝大多数目标调查国的国民幸福指数都有所提高。

　　"It's a surprising finding," said U-M political scientist Ronald Inglehart, who directs the World Values Surveys and is the lead author of an article on the topic to be published in the July 2008 issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. "It's widely believed that it's almost impossible to raise an entire country's happiness level."

　　“这是个令人惊讶的发现，人们普遍认为要提高一个国家的国民幸福水平几乎是不可能的。”世界价值观调查项目的主持者、密歇根大学政治学家罗纳德·英格哈特说——他还是在《心理学探新》杂志上的一篇相关文章的第一作者。

　　The 2007 wave of the surveys also provides a ranking of 97 nations containing 90 percent of the world's population. The results indicate that Denmark is the happpiest nation in the world.

　　2007年的社会调查浪潮还提供了一份包含97个国家的国民幸福水平排名，这些国家的人口占世界人口的90%。排名结果显示，丹麦是世界上最幸福的国家。

　　During the past 26 years, the World Values Surveys have asked more than 350,000 people how happy they are, using the same two questions.

　　在过去的26年里，世界价值观调查项目用下面这两个问题来调查人们的幸福程度（他们一共询问过35万多人）：

　　"Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"

　　“总体来说，你认为你的生活很幸福、幸福、不怎么幸福，还是一点儿也不幸福？”以及“总体来说，你对你近期的生活是否满意？”

　　Combining responses to these two questions, Inglehart and colleagues constructed an index of subjective¹ well-being² that reflects both happiness and general life satisfaction.

　　英格哈特和他的同事们将人们对这两个问题的回答综合起来，建立起一套能够反映幸福程度和对整体生活满意度的主观幸福指数。

　　In the 52 countries for which a substantial time series is available (covering 17 years on average), this index rose in 40 countries and fell in only 12. The average percentage of people who said they were "very happy" increased by almost seven points.

　　在52个国家进行的持续性调查（平均为17年）中，这个指数在40个国家中有所增长，只在12个国家中显示出下降。认为自己“很幸福”的人平均增加了近7个百分点。

　　"Most earlier research has suggested that happiness levels are stable," Inglehart said. "Important events like winning the lottery³ or learning you have cancer can lead to short-term changes, but in the long run most previous research suggests that people and nations are stuck on a 'hedonic treadmill⁴.' The belief has been that no matter what happens or what we do, basic happiness levels are stable and don't really change."

　　“以前的大多数调查都表明人们的幸福水平是比较稳定的，”英格哈特说，“中彩票或是得知自己身患癌症这样的重大事件可能会给人的幸福感带来短时间的改变，但之前的大多数相关调查都表明，从长远来看，无论个人还是民族都会陷在“快乐水车”的现象中。人们一直认为，无论我们遇到什么事情，基本的幸福水平是相当稳定的，并不会发生真正的改变。”

　　The new findings from the World Values Surveys not only show that during the past 25 years, happiness has in fact risen substantially in most countries. Fully⁵ as important as the fact that happiness rose is the reason why. In recent decades, some countries with a large population, such as India and China, have experienced unprecedented⁶ rates of economic growth, and there has been a sharp rise of gender⁷ equality and social harmony.

　　世界价值观调查项目的新发现不仅表明在过去的25年中，大多数国家的人实际上都比从前幸福了许多；与幸福水平提高这一现象同样重要的是：为什么会这样？在近几十年中，一些像印度和中国这样人口众多的国家经历了前所未有的快速经济增长，同样两性平等问题也有较大改观，社会呈现和谐的局面。

　　Economic growth and rising social harmony have all contributed to rising happiness, with the later having even more impact than economic growth. All of these changes have contributed to providing people with a wider range of choice in how to live their lives--which is a key factor in happiness.

　　经济增长及社会和谐度提高都会提高国民幸福水平，而后者的影响更甚于前者。所有这些变化都为人们提供了更为广泛的选择，让他们能够过上自己想要的生活——这对幸福至关重要。

　　"The results clearly show that the happiest societies are those that allow people the freedom to choose how to live their lives," Inglehart said.

　　“调查结果明确显示，人们在那些能够自由选择生活方式的社会中感到最愉悦。”英格哈特说。

　　As an example, Inglehart points to the tolerant social norms systems in Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada all of which rank among the 10 happiest countries in the world.

　　英格哈特列举了丹麦、冰岛、瑞士、荷兰和加拿大等国宽容的社会规范作为例子，这些国家都位列最幸福国家的前十名。

　　"The events of the past 25 years have brought a growing sense of freedom that seems to be even more important than economic development in contributing to rising happiness," Inglehart said. "Moreover, the most effective way to maximize happiness seems to change with rising levels of economic development. In subsistence-level societies, happiness is closely linked with in-group solidarity⁸ and national pride. At higher levels of economic security, free choice has the largest impact on happiness."

　　“过去25年中发生的一切让人们对自由愈发重视，在幸福水平的提高过程中，自由似乎发挥了比经济增长更重要的作用。”英格哈特说，“此外，最大程度地提高国民幸福水平的最有效途径似乎也在随着经济的发展而改变。在仅能维持生存基准的社会中，幸福水平与群体团结和国家荣誉紧密相关。在经济安全程度较高的社会中，自由选择的权利对人们快乐与否影响最大。”

　　Comparing World Values Survey data from 1981 to 2007 with earlier data from 1946 from the World Database of Happiness, Inglehart and colleagues found that 19 of 24 countries show rising happiness and several counties--India, Ireland, Mexico, Pueto Rico and South Korea--show steeply rising trends.

　　英格哈特和他的同事们将1981年至2007年世界价值观调查项目取得的数据与世界幸福水平数据库中1946年以来的调查数据进行了比较，发现被比较的24个国家中有19个显示出幸福水平提高，有几个国家——印度、爱尔兰、墨西哥、波多黎各和韩国——呈现出幸福水平显著提高的趋势。

1 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

2 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

3 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

4 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

8 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。