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It has been said that “Happiness is like a butterfly which, when run after, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly, may dance beside you. ”
Social scientists have caught the butterfly. After40years of research, they find happiness results from three major origins: genes （基因）, events and values. Armed with this knowledge and a few simple rules, we can improve our lives and the lives of those around us. We can even construct a system that carries out our founders’ promises and gives Americans the power to seek happiness.
Scientists have studied happiness for decades. They begin simply enough — by asking people how happy they are.
The data available to social scientists is the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey, a survey of Americans conducted since 1972. The numbers on happiness from the survey are surprisingly similar. Every other year for four decades, about a third of Americans have said they’re “very happy” and about half report being “pretty happy. ” Only about 10 to 15percent typically say they’re “not too happy. ” Scientists have used advanced techniques to check these responses, and such survey results have proved accurate.
Beneath these averages are some differences. For many years, researchers found that women were happier than men, although recent studies show that the gap has narrowed or may even have changed to the opposite. Politicians might be interested to learn that traditional women feel particularly happy: about 40percent say they are very happy. That makes them slightly happier than traditional men and obviously happier than open-minded women. The unhappiest of all are open-minded men; only about a fifth consider themselves very happy.
But even the people of the same age, sex, and soon vary in their happiness. What explains this?
The first answer involves our genes. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have tracked twins who were separated as babies and raised by separate families. These researchers found that we receive a surprising part of our happiness—around48 percent from parents. （Since I discovered this, I’ve been blaming my parents for my bad moods.）
If about half of our happiness is determined by our genes, what about the other half? It’s attractive to suppose that one-time events—like getting a dream job or receive an unexpected gift—will permanently bring the happiness we seek. And studies suggest that such events do control a big part of our happiness—up to40percent.
But while one-time events do govern a fair amount of our happiness, each event’s influence proves rather short-lived. People suppose that major changes like moving to California or getting a big raise will make them permanently better off. They won’t. Huge goals may take years of hard work to meet, and the struggle itself maybe worthwhile, but the happiness they create dissipates after just a few months.
To review: About half of happiness is genetically determined. Up to an additional 40percent comes from the things that have occurred in our recent past—but that won’t last very long.
That leaves just about 12percent. That might not sound like much, but the good news is that we can bring that 12 percent under our control. It turns out that choosing to seek four basic values of faith, family, community, and work is the surest path to happiness, given that a certain percentage is genetic and not under our control in anyway. Togo after the happiness within our reach, we do best to devote ourselves to faith, family, community and meaningful work.
34. It can be inferred fromParagraph4 and Paragraph5 that .
A. most Americans feel unhappy
B. women are always happier than men
C. about 40%of American women are very happy
D. traditional men are happier than open-minded women
35. The underlined word “dissipates” （Paragraph 9） probably means .
A.Disappear
B.return
C.Occur
D.last
36. Among the origins of happiness, .
A. age and sex contribute the most
B. genes play a tiny part
C. events hardly perform a function
D.values are under control
37. The main purpose of this passage is to .
A. stress the importance of happiness
B. clarify the causes of lasting happiness
C. advocate the ways of seeking happiness
D.show the results of the study on happiness
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