關於幸福感的作文題解析

大家都知道，托福寫作考試中獨立作文題目有許多都是非常抽象的話題，如：幸福感(happiness)，成功(success)，金錢(money)，社會地位(social status)，公共認同(public recognition)，樂觀精神(optimism)，計劃和整理(plan and organize)，創新(creativity)，充滿野心的夢想和實際的目標(ambitious dreams and realistic goals)，美麗的事物(beautiful things)等等。很多考生遇到此類話題就沒有了頭緒，因為對他們來說這些東西非常抽象，看不見，摸不著，只是一個概念，因此文章就不知道如何下手，也不知道如何確立觀點，並且很想知道考官是不是有偏向性的觀點。下面給大家分析一下對於抽象類話題如何有效的去破解。

關於幸福感(happiness)的話題

1) Do you agree or disagree with the followingstatement? People who do not have to work because they have enough money arebarely happy.(抽象類，快樂與錢) 2007.11.3

因為有很多錢所以不用工作的人們，很少有開心的。

2) Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People are happier when they finisha challenging or difficult job than when they complete an easy task.(抽象類，快樂與工作) 2008.1.18

人們完成了一項更加困難的工作比完成一項簡單的任務更加開心。

3) Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? To remain happy and optimistic whenyou fail is more important than achieving success.

(抽象類，成功的因素) 2009.3.21

當你失敗時候保持開心和樂觀比獲得成功更加重要。

4) Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People would be happier with fewerpossessions.(抽象類，快樂的因素) 2009.12.19

人們擁有越少越開心。

5) Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? In order to makeourselves happy, weshould learn how to make others happy first.(抽象類，快樂的因素) 2010.3.27

為了讓我們自己開心，得先學會讓別人開心。

6) Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The world ischanging quickly. People are less happy than before.(抽象類，快樂的因素) 2011.1.29

世界變化很快，人們沒有以前開心了。

這6道題目前兩道題目的開心是比較具體的，至少是放在某種情境下的開心，而後幾題的開心就更加抽象了，所以要破題，我們首先得搞清楚什麼叫做幸福感，老外是如何定義幸福感的(從維基百科上看看大神們是如何定義開心的)。

Psychologist Martin Seligman asserts that happiness is not solely derivedfrom external, momentary pleasures, and providesthe acronym PERMA to summarize Positive Psychology's correlational findings:humans seem happiest when they have

1. Pleasure (tasty food, warm baths, etc.)

People with enough money to make ends meet are happier than people who arepoor, but beyond that more money doesn』t make much difference.,

2. Engagement (or flow, the absorption of an enjoyed yet challenging activity),

3. Relationships (social ties have turned out to be extremely reliable indicator ofhappiness),

4. Meaning (a perceived quest or belonging to something bigger), and

5. Accomplishments (having realized tangible goals).

6. Giving (A Harvard Business School study found that "spending money on othersactually makes us happier than spending it on ourselves".

綜上所述，我們會發現幸福感不僅僅來源於外在的快感，如好吃的食物，溫暖的淋浴，更多的來源於具有挑戰性的活動，社交生活或者人際關係，有意義的生活，以及獲得成功之後的成就感，從這幾點看我們很快會判斷出剛才幾個題目老外的傾向性，如第一題，第二題。第五題：因為有很多錢所以不用工作的人們，很少有開心的，或是人們完成了一項更加困難的工作比完成一項簡單的任務更加開心。的確是這樣，因為幸福感除了衣食住行的質量可能和金錢有關，其他關係都不大，也就是有了很多錢，人們也不一定開心，而相反，做一件具有挑戰性的工作卻能帶來幸福感，並且在工作的過程中形成相對穩定的人際關係，以及在工作中獲得的成就感和社會歸屬感與幸福關係更加密切，並且是直接導致一個人開不開心的因素，所以這幾道題目都偏向於同意會好寫很多，並且更加符合常理。

而對於第三道題目，當你失敗的時候保持樂觀和開心更重要，這個老外又是如何解釋的呢?先來看看這一段：

Failure is the big 「F」 word that everyone fears. It doesn』t have to be ascary concept, though. Ultimately, it depends on your attitude to failure. Ifyou see failure as not being perfect, you』re going to be permanently miserable.A more realistic idea of failure is not giving up. If you haven』t given up, youhaven』t failed. See failure as a learning curve, a trial and error process. Seefailure as your friend – it』s no big deal unless you allow it to be.

如果因為失敗了你就失望沮喪失落，那麼你就會放棄，而放棄了那麼你就離成功越來越遠了，而一個人人生中是不可能一直成功的，總有失敗的時候，所以態度更加重要，失敗了之後的不放棄，樂觀和保持心情愉悅這才是比獲得成功更重要的品質。

而對於第四個題目和第六題，同學們就更加難判斷了，因為一般的常識好像是我們現在擁有的越多，會越開心，比如說房子，車子，女朋友，多多益善，但是為什麼老外會出這樣的題目呢?

我們來看兩段背景段落：

According to a survey by the Simplicity Institute, an organization thatsurveyed 2,500 people across various countries who self-identified themselvesas living with fewer possessions, 87 percent of respondents indicated they werehappier now than when they owned more possessions.

This may sound contrary to everything we』ve been told growing up. But when we begin to consider the benefits of living with less(less debt, less stress, less cleaning), it begins to make sense why thesestatistics would hold true. Happiness is not found in owning as manypossessions as possible; it』s found living life consistent with your greatestpassions.

原來他們認為的是擁有的越多遇到的困難和壓力越大(現在的問題越來越多)，所以會有這樣的想法，但是又考慮到幸福感的來源是更多挑戰的工作，這個題目兩面都成立，就看大家如何去辯論了。

記住關於幸福感的一些辭彙：Gratitude, Serenity, Joy, Interest, Hope, Pride, Amusement,Inspiration, Awe, Love。

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