阅读理解。
Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than
people in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the
United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work
less. In other words they have decided to"spend" a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over
the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in
the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America,
which increase the rewards to work. Another may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours does of course increase the GDP. So the United States has produced more per worker than,
say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and
older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher
than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other
values like family life, which often get lost in its interest. It is too early to explain the different trends (趋势)
in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness
has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in
the work-life balance?
1. From the text we know that author ____.
A. says nothing certain about which pattern is better
B. prefers shorter working hours to longer ones
C. believes that longer working hours is better
D. thinks neither of the patterns is good
2. In the last paragraph, the underlined word "which" refers to ____.
A. family life
B. situations
C. other values
D. trends
3. What message can we get from the text?
A. People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.
B. Americans are happier than Europeans.
C. The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America.
D. Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.
4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Staying at Home
B. Work and Happiness
C. Work and GDP
D. Americans and Europeans
