Vocabulary Practice

26. Find English equivalents to the following words and word combinations in the text.

1.это было к лучшему; 2. с этим вряд ли поспоришь; 3. вызывать обиду; 4. получить сомнительное наследство; 5. золотое правило; 6. стремиться к увеличению доходов; 7. в этом нет ничего нового; 8. оторваться от черты бедности; 9. погоня за успехом, жестокая конкуренция; 10. гуманитарное образование; 11. жесткие правила; 12. получить выгоду от; 13. проводить время; 14. в поисках счастья

27. Match the phrases from the text and translate the sentences into Russian.

liberalize maintain fuel remain income embrace take it hard-wired to name it was only a matter conspicuous advertising alleviate

targeted to children an ostentatious lifestyle the idea consumption for granted discretionary spending of time before a maxim poverty into our brains a few elusive cap

Text Analysis and Development

28. What do the following phrases from the text imply? Paraphrase and explain.

1. Borrowing invites more private dangers: it supplants domestic thrift or "husbandry" - in Polonius's eyes, an important gentlemanly value.

2. Though our desire to enjoy conventional standards of life isn’t new, we can’t neglect the fact that never before has this sentiment reached the point of becoming a national battle cry.

3. As the economy slows, mortgage delinquencies and credit-card write-offs are already rising.

4. These are insights from happiness economics, perhaps the hottest field in what used to be called the dismal science.

5. The golden rule of economics has always been that well-being is a simple function of income.

6. Rather than telling people to work harder, politicians can discuss work-life balance.

7. One of the big troubles for policymakers is that there are a lot of variables in measuring happiness

8. Yet another truism of happiness is that we all wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to our past decision-making.

29. Answer the following questions to the text.

1. What bedrock truth about happy life does the older generation of the Coopers know? How does it differ from the concept of the next generations?

2. Why does lending money to friends pose threats?

3. What caused neglect of domestic thrift and borrowing epidemic in the times of Shakespeare?

4. What striking developments in consumer spending can we trace nowadays?

5. What is the golden rule of economics?

6. What does a growing body of evidence show?

7. Why does the happiness boost from extra cash lose its dramatic surge once the one rises above the poverty line?

8. What moves to make entire societies happier have been contemplated by economists and politicians?

9. What prompted the ban on advertising targeted to children in the U.K.?

10. What factors influence happiness?

11. What makes happiness difficult to measure?

12. What are hard and fast rules about well-being?