次の英文を読み、(31)~(35)に当てはまるもっとも適切なものを、(a)~(f)よりそれぞれ1つ選びなさい。ただし、同じ選択肢は2回使わないこと。また、選択肢には1つ余分なものが含まれている。
Japan may have a relatively high standard of living and the longest life expectancy in the world, but it does not have the happiest people. ( 31 ). The results showed just how little economic levels connect with life satisfaction.
( 32 ). Panama ranked No. 1 followed by, in order, Paraguay, El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica. In Asia, only Thailand and the Philippines, with economic levels significantly lower than Japan’s, broke into the top 10.
The worldwide poll found that happiness was only indirectly connected to material-centered lifestyles. Canada has the highest college graduation levels, Qatar the highest income, Germany and France relatively high income and long vacation time, but none of these countries were found in high ranks. ( 33 ). Guatemala’s civil war and gang violence did not keep it from reaching seventh place.
( 34 ). However, it remains one of the most meaningful and deeply felt life experiences and has become an important new way of finding one’s satisfaction in life. Happiness has come to be established as a new measurement with important implications for individuals and policymakers alike. Japan’s leaders should take note that the past emphasis on economic growth and material gains is out of date. New measures of happiness, such as Bhutan’s well-known Gross National Happiness concept, are growing in importance and need to be included into government initiatives.
Like Singapore, last on the Gallup Poll, Japan’s relatively high economic level has been achieved through high pressure, tight schedules and a work-life balance tipped very far toward work. What most Latin American interviewees cited as the source of their daily happiness ― taking pleasure in friends, family, nature and religion ― have been neglected in many economically developed countries. ( 35 ).
(a) In contrast, Italy and Greece, with their debt-ridden economies, were in the top 20
(b) As the government ponders Japan’s future, it should be clear that higher income, without other types of nonmaterial gains, means very little
(c) Latin American countries with relatively low levels of economic development dominated the top 10 happiest countries
(d) According to a recent Gallup Poll of 148 countries, Japan ranks somewhere in the middle of world happiness levels
(e) Rich people may try in vain to buy happiness with money, and poor people may try desperately to be rich to do just the same
(f) Happiness may appear to be a subjective, intangible quality that is hard to define and harder to measure
次の文は前文の続きであるが、その内容に照らして(36)~(40)の後に続くもっとも適切な語句をそれぞれ(a)~(d)から1つ選びなさい。
In another study by Nobel Prize-winning economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, Americans felt happier with greater income only up to about $75,000 annually. After that, more money had little connection to happiness. Other studies found that rates of happiness in America did not rise at all over the last half-century despite huge economic and technological growth. In Japan, as in America, it is relative status, not just income that determines much of the feeling of satisfaction in life. Japanese feel unhappy even with the relative gains they have achieved in the past several decades partially because wealth has become so unevenly distributed. In addition, social factors such as insecurity, isolation and distrust of institutions contribute to lower levels of happiness.
The government should include issues of well-being into all planning and policies. National happiness can and should be used as a measure of a successful government. The government so far helped to build a powerful consumer society, but that too failed to achieve life satisfaction for most Japanese. Decisions about economic policy and social change should incorporate the findings of the aforementioned studies and focus on nonmaterial improvements to Japanese life. Instead of continuing to focus on numerical economic growth by exploiting ever more resources, both human and natural, other issues should be given greater consideration. Top of the list to improve Japan’s level of happiness is higher rates of employment and better quality of work. The focus, though, should be on quality of work, rather than just income.
Likewise, finding ways to improve physical and mental health should be given as high a priority as finding economic stimuli. The government can also focus on the enrichment of community, family life, education and leisure pursuits. Those issues should no longer be considered exclusively as individual choices or consumer options, but an essential and basic part of what government supports for its citizens. Pumping money into the economy might make economic numbers look good. However, without greater consideration of noneconomic factors, Japan will never achieve the levels of happiness and life satisfaction it deserves.
(Adapted from “Happiest people in the world.” The Japan Times, January 6, 2013. <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/01/06/editorials/happiest-people-in-the-world/#.UWfX8oKvRFZ>)
(36) The author of this article states that
(a) Americans’ sense of happiness continues to rise as their income level increases.
(b) income is not connected to one’s level of satisfaction in life in the U.S.
(c) technological advances have raised people’s feelings of life satisfaction in the U.S.
(d) Americans do not necessarily find their life more satisfactory with greater income.
(37) It is suggested in the article that
(a) people do not tend to weigh their levels of satisfaction in life simply by absolute gains in income.
(b) uneven distribution of wealth has resulted in the increase of unhappy people all over the world.
(c) isolated individuals often find greater freedom in life, thus feeling more content with their life.
(d) the government should make sure it imposes heavier taxes on wealthy people in the country.
(38) By “well-being,” the author of this article means
(a) a crime-free society where people can live safely.
(b) people’s feelings of satisfaction in their lives.
(c) the financially prosperous situation to be in.
(d) a state in which people exercise their creativity.
(39) The factor not included in this article for why people feel unsatisfied with their lives is
(a) the insufficient amount of employment available in the country.
(b) the asymmetrical allocation of money among people.
(c) their lack of confidence in organizations in their society.
(d) their fear towards natural disasters they may encounter in life.
(40) The author implies that the levels of happiness that Japan deserves should
(a) not be so high considering the current economic situation in the country.
(b) not be higher in light of the decreasing population in the country.
(c) be higher than they are currently shown in the poll.
(d) be equivalent to the level of sophistication in its culture.