2014考研英语(二)真题阅读Text3来源于2013年6月的外刊，原文标题为Moneyand happiness。 这篇文章谈到了两个学者Elizabeth Dunn and MichaelNorton在他们的新书HappyMoney: The Science of Smarter Spending里建议中了$590m的84岁老太太Gloria MacKenzie该如何花这笔钱。与2012年相比，2013考研阅读文章同样注重时效性，所以2015考研的同学们一定要多多关注社会热点话题，汲取丰富的文化背景知识，如此能取得事半功倍的效果！
从难度上来看，这篇文章比较简单，保持了英语二的一贯难度水平，所以考生只要静下心来很容易就能掌握住文章的主要内容和观点。需要提醒大家的是，对于相对简单的文章，出题人必然会在一些关键的词句上作出考察，而这些地方也是一些考生会存在理解障碍的地方。例如，Text3文章的最后一句话But most people will come awayfrom this book believing it was money well spent. Come away 是“离开”的意思；money wellspent 意思是“值得花的钱”，所以这句话的意思是“大多数人会远离这本书，相信花这个钱还是值得的”。不出所料的话，这句话肯定是一个重要的观点态度句，你理解对了吗？
2014考研英语(二)真题阅读Text3原文链接：
Happy Money: TheScience of Smarter Spending。
WHAT would you do with$590m? This is now a question for Gloria MacKenzie, an 84-year-old widow whorecently emerged from her small, tin-roofed house in Florida to collect thebiggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. The blogosphere is full of advicefor this lucky Powerball pensioner. But if she hopes her new-found lucre willyield lasting feelings of fulfilment, she could do worse than read “HappyMoney” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton。
These twoacademics—she teaches psychology at the University of British Columbia; helectures on marketing at Harvard Business School—use an array of behaviouralresearch to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can becounterintuitive. Fantasies of great wealth often involve visions of fancy carsand palatial homes on remote bluffs. Yet satisfaction with these materialpurchases wears off fairly quickly. What was once exciting and new becomesold-hat; remorse creeps in. It is far better to spend money on experiences, sayMs Dunn and Mr Norton, like 
interesting trips, unique meals or even going tothe cinema. These purchases often become more valuable with time—as stories ormemories—particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others。
This slim volume ispacked with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most“happiness bang for your buck”. It seems most people would be better off ifthey could shorten their commutes to work, spend more
time with friends andfamily and less of it watching television (something the average American spendsa whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it). Buying giftsor giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things foroneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. Thisis apparently the reason McDonald’s restricts the availability of its popularMcRib—a marketing gimmick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object ofobsession。
Readers of “HappyMoney” are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfilment, not hunger.Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries aregenerally happier than those in poor ones. Yet the link between feeling goodand spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around theworld, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. Noteveryone will agree with the authors’ policy ideas, which range from mandatingmore holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. But mostpeople will come away from this book believing it was money well spent。