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  3. Polls find that few consider income inequality a top issue. Asked by Gallup what worries them the most about the economy, people

Polls find that few consider income inequality a top issue. Asked by Gallup what worries them the most about the economy, people

admin2012-07-05  39
问题     Polls find that few consider income inequality a top issue. Asked by Gallup what worries them the most about the economy, people list jobs and the national debt far above the gap between rich and poor.
    Of course, people might be fooling themselves—a position some economists have taken. Plenty of research finds that humans view life according to where we land in the heap.
    If happiness stems, in part, from where we stand in our reference group, why not change reference groups? Choose the right reference group, and you can have any status you want—and coming out on top is easier than you might think.
    In a famous study by economists Sara Solnick and David Hemenway, people were asked whether they’d prefer to earn $ 50,000 in a situation where others were earning $ 25,000, or earn $ 100,000 when others earned $ 200,000. Half of people chose the first situation, even though $ 100,000 is—objectively—more than $ 50,000. You could do a lot of ego-comforting for that extra cash. But humans are social creatures. It is not enough to be well off. We want to be better off than other people.
    It might be human nature to compare ourselves with those who have more, and thus feel as if we’re somehow behind. But it’s just as easy to compare ourselves with those who have less. Indeed, it’s easier, because there are a lot more of them.
    There are now 7 billion people on this planet. The median net worth of the world, according to 2011 statistics from Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, was about $4,200 per adult. Tne median net worth for adults in the USA was almost $ 53,000.
    Of course, if that makes you feel rich, why just limit the reference group to people living now? The Population Reference Bureau estimates that in the 50,000-plus year course of human history, about 108 billion people have walked on this planet. During much of this time, people died of illnesses we now shrug off. If we worry about obesity (肥胖) rather than starvation, and worry about it in the comfort of our heated houses, We have it pretty good. Look at.a few people and feel poor, or look at most of humanity and feel rich. If we want to feel blessed, rather than unhappy, the right answer is pretty clear.
In the author’s opinion, the right reference group refers to the group______.
选项 A、on the same level as we are on
B、inferior to the level that we are on
C、superior to the level that we are on
D、that we are longing to integrate into
答案B
解析 推理判断题。由定位句可知，选择正确的比较对象就能使人们获得任何想要的地位。而根据下文，人们往往愿意自己过得比别人好，这样就能从中获得幸福感。由此可推断，正确的比较对象指那些和我们相比处于劣势的人，因此B)正确。A)“和我们处于相同水平的人”、C)“和我们相比处于优势的人”和D)“那些我们渴望成为的人”均与原文意思不符，故排除。
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