托福写作之关于幸福感的作文题解析

 大家都知道，托福写作考试中独立作文题目有许多都是非常抽象的话题，如：幸福感(happiness)，成功(success)，金钱(money)，社会地位(social status)，公共认同(public recognition)，乐观精神(optimism)，计划和整理(plan and organize)，创新(creativity)，充满野心的梦想和实际的目标(ambitious dreams and realistic goals)，美丽的事物(beautiful things)等等。很多考生遇到此类话题就没有了头绪，因为对他们来说这些东西非常抽象，看不见，摸不着，只是一个概念，因此文章就不知道如何下手，也不知道如何确立观点，并且很想知道考官是不是有偏向性的观点。下面给大家分析一下对于抽象类话题如何有效的去破解。

　　关于幸福感(happiness)的话题

　　1) Do you agree or disagree with the followingstatement? People who do not have to work because they have enough money arebarely happy.(抽象类，快乐与钱) 2007.11.3

　　因为有很多钱所以不用工作的人们，很少有开心的。

　　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.(抽象类，快乐与工作) 2008.1.18

　　人们完成了一项更加困难的工作比完成一项简单的任务更加开心。

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

　　(抽象类，成功的因素) 2009.3.21

　　当你失败时候保持开心和乐观比获得成功更加重要。

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

　　人们拥有越少越开心。

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

　　为了让我们自己开心，得先学会让别人开心。

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

　　世界变化很快，人们没有以前开心了。

　　这6道题目前两道题目的开心是比较具体的，至少是放在某种情境下的开心，而后几题的开心就更加抽象了，所以要破题，我们首先得搞清楚什么叫做幸福感，老外是如何定义幸福感的(从维基百科上看看大神们是如何定义开心的)。

　　Psychologist Martin Seligman asserts that happiness is not solely¹ derivedfrom external, momentary² pleasures, and providesthe acronym³ PERMA to summarize Positive Psychology's correlational⁴ 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 indicator⁵ ofhappiness),

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

　　5. Accomplishments⁶ (having realized tangible⁷ goals).

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

　　综上所述，我们会发现幸福感不仅仅来源于外在的快感，如好吃的食物，温暖的淋浴，更多的来源于具有挑战性的活动，社交生活或者人际关系，有意义的生活，以及获得成功之后的成就感，从这几点看我们很快会判断出刚才几个题目老外的倾向性，如第一题，第二题。第五题：因为有很多钱所以不用工作的人们，很少有开心的，或是人们完成了一项更加困难的工作比完成一项简单的任务更加开心。的确是这样，因为幸福感除了衣食住行的质量可能和金钱有关，其他关系都不大，也就是有了很多钱，人们也不一定开心，而相反，做一件具有挑战性的工作却能带来幸福感，并且在工作的过程中形成相对稳定的人际关系，以及在工作中获得的成就感和社会归属感与幸福关系更加密切，并且是直接导致一个人开不开心的因素，所以这几道题目都偏向于同意会好写很多，并且更加符合常理。

　　而对于第三道题目，当你失败的时候保持乐观和开心更重要，这个老外又是如何解释的呢?先来看看这一段：

　　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 permanently⁸ miserable⁹.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.

　　如果因为失败了你就失望沮丧失落，那么你就会放弃，而放弃了那么你就离成功越来越远了，而一个人人生中是不可能一直成功的，总有失败的时候，所以态度更加重要，失败了之后的不放弃，乐观和保持心情愉悦这才是比获得成功更重要的品质。

　　而对于第四个题目和第六题，同学们就更加难判断了，因为一般的常识好像是我们现在拥有的越多，会越开心，比如说房子，车子，女朋友，多多益善，但是为什么老外会出这样的题目呢?

　　我们来看两段背景段落：

　　According to a survey by the Simplicity¹⁰ 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.

　　原来他们认为的是拥有的越多遇到的困难和压力越大(现在的问题越来越多)，所以会有这样的想法，但是又考虑到幸福感的来源是更多挑战的工作，这个题目两面都成立，就看大家如何去辩论了。

　　记住关于幸福感的一些词汇：Gratitude¹¹, Serenity¹², Joy, Interest, Hope, Pride, Amusement,Inspiration, Awe¹³, Love。

1 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

2 momentary   

adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的

参考例句：

• We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
• I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。

3 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

4 correlational   

相关的

参考例句：

• Systematic research if anything tends to support such correlational data. 系统研究一下，如果有任何倾向支持这种相关性的数据。
• A descriptive correlational method of investigation was implemented. 样本是高雄地区129位产后六周的产妇接受问卷调查。

5 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

6 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

8 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

9 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

10 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

11 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

12 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

13 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。