Happiness is contagious (有感染力的), as researchers reported on Thursday.
People with the most social connections — spouses, friends, neighbors and relatives — were also the happiest, the data showed. “Each additional happy person makes you happier,” Christakis said.
“Imagine that I am connected to you and you are connected to others and others are connected to still others. It is this fabric of humanity, like an American patch quilt.”
Each person sits on a different colored patch. “Imagine that these patches are happy and unhappy patches. Your happiness depends on what is going on in the patch around you,” Christakis said.
“It is not just happy people connecting with happy people, which they do. Above and beyond, there is this contagious process going on.”
And happiness is more contagious than unhappiness, they discovered.
“If a social contact is happy, it increases the likelihood that you are happy by 15 percent, ” Fowler said. “A friend of a friend, or the friend of a spouse or a sibling (兄弟姐妹), if they are happy, increases your chances by 10 percent,” he added.
A happy third degree friend — the friend of a friend of a friend — increases a person’s chances of being happy by 6 percent.
“But every extra unhappy friend increases the likelihood that you’ll be unhappy by 7 percent,” Fowler said.
The finding is interesting and it is useful, too, Fowler said.
“Among other benefits, happiness has been shown to have an important effect on reduced mortality (死亡率), pain reduction, and improved cardiac (心脏的) function. So better understanding of how happiness spreads can help us learn how to develop a healthier society,” he said.
The study also fits in with other data suggested in 1984 that having $ 5,000 extra increased a person’s chances of becoming happier by about 2 percent.
“A happy friend is worth about $ 20,000,” Christakis said.
小题1:It can be inferred that________.
A．happiness spreads as fast and widely as unhappiness
B．unhappiness spreads faster and more widely than happiness
C．happiness spreads faster and more widely than unhappiness
D．the spread of unhappiness has not been studied by researchers小题2:Which of the following will increase your chances of becoming happier most?
A．Being in a party with a happy atmosphere.
B．A happy experience of your brother or your parents.
C．A happy trip to a foreign country of your friends.
D．Happiness of your friend’s friend.小题3:What does Christakis mean by saying “A happy friend is worth about $ 20,000”?
A．A happy friend can help you bring in a wealth of $ 20,000.
B．A happy friend is a wealth which is worth about $ 20,000.
C．A happy friend increases your chances of being happy by 2%.
D．A happy friend increases your chances of being happy by 8 %.
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:D
题目分析：美国科学家的一项最新研究成果表明，快乐感可以互相传递。这项研究成果为我们构建更为健康、和谐的社会提供了依据和方法。
小题1:C推理判断题。根据第六段“And happiness is more contagious than unhappiness，they discovered.”一句可推知选C。
小题2:A事实细节题。根据第七、第八段讲述的别人的快乐感对你的影响几率可知，排在最前的是“If a social contact is happy”，故选A。
小题3:D 计算题。根据文章倒数第二段The study also fits in with other data suggested in 1984 that having $ 5,000 extra increased a person’s chances of becoming happier by about 2 percent.可知$ 5,000增加了2 percent；那么$ 20,000就是8 percent。故D正确。
点评：美国科学家的一项最新研究成果表明，快乐感可以互相传递。这项研究成果为我们构建更为健康、和谐的社会提供了依据和方法。要求考生读懂文章中的每个句子的意思还要推理它们之间的关系，结合自己的生活常识和经验，再通过逻辑推理和判断，理解文章的言外之意，从而揭示文章的深层涵义。任何一篇文章都有其特定的写作目的，读者应当知道如何去做或按照某种方式传递思考问题。推理判断题的答案不可能在文章中直接找到，因此推理时我们务必要忠于原文，在文章中寻找并确定可推论的依据。