BNE: Australians are the happiest people in the world according to a survey undertaken by market researchers GfK NOP. The marketers conducted door-to-door surveys and interviews with 30,000 people in 30 countries. They asked respondents how satisfied they were with their overall quality of life. Forty-six percent of Australians proclaimed to be “very happy” and expressed optimism about their future. Following them in the “very happy” stakes was the USA (40 percent), Egypt (36 percent), India (34 percent) and the UK and Canada (32 percent). Hungary got the wooden spoon, finishing bottom of the happiness chart. Thirty-five percent of its citizens said they were either “disappointed” or “very unhappy”, followed by Russians at 30 percent.

The research demonstrated that money and age were key determinants in how happy people are. Although the study could not prove money could buy happiness, it did reveal a link between a lack of money and unhappiness. Less happy populations were found among lower income groups or the unemployed. The study suggested the older we become, the less happy we are. Globally, teenagers are the happiest people. The age group with the lowest levels of happiness was 50-59 – only 16 percent of those in their fifties said they were very happy. The things that make us happy include good health, financial security and a happy marriage. Material comforts such as cars, clothes and gadgets ranked comparatively low.

WARM-UPS

1. HAPPY ME: Are you happy today? Have you been happy recently? Walk around the classroom and talk with other students about how happy they are. When you have finished, sit with your partner(s) and talk about who was happy and who was not so happy.

2. HAPPINESS: What makes you happy? What affects your quality of life most? Look at the items below and rank them in order of what makes you most happy.

___  Hiking ___  Good health ___  Money ___  Owning your own home ___  Sunshine

___  Things (cars, clothes, gadgets, etc.) ___  A stable marriage / relationship ___  Children ___  Watching television ___  Exercise

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Australians / happy people / market research / quality of life / optimism / disappointment / money / teenagers / financial security / happy marriages / cars

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. HAPPY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “happy”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. HAPPY PEOPLE: In pairs / groups, talk about the happiest and most miserable people you know from the following:

baby       child       teenager        adult        student      co-worker        old person

6. HAPPY OPINIONS: How far do you agree with these opinions on happiness? Talk about them with your partner(s).

1. Money makes you happy.
2. The older you become, the happier you are.
3. You can take lessons on how to be happy.
4. Men are happier than women.
5. Married people are happier than single people.
6. People in warmer climates are happier than people in colder climates.
7. It’s hard to be happy in today’s world.
8. Every country should have a Minister of Happiness.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A new study says Australians are the world’s happiest people.	T / F
b.	Interviewers conducted 30,000 telephone interviews.	T / F
c.	Egyptians and Indians were among the top five happiest populations.	T / F
d.	Hungary got the wooden spoon.	T / F
e.	The survey showed that money can buy happiness.	T / F
f.	Unemployed people were shown to be surprisingly happy.	T / F
g.	The survey found that the older we become, the happier we are.	T / F
h.</