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Economically speaking, are we better off than we were ten years ago? Twenty years ago?
In their thirst for evidence on this issue, commentators seized on the recent report by the Census Bureau, which found that average household income rose by 5.2% in 2015. Unfortunately, that conclusion puts too much weight on a useful, but flawed and incomplete, statistic. Among the more significant problems with the Census's measure are that: 1) it excludes taxes, transfers, and compensation like employer-provided health insurance; and 2) it is based on surveys rather than data. Even if precisely measured, income data exclude important determinants of economic well-being, such as the hours of work needed to earn that income.
While thinking about the question, we came across a recently published article by Charles Jones and Peter Klenow, which proposes an interesting new measure of economic welfare. While by no means perfect, it is considerably more comprehensive than average income, taking into account not only growth in consumption per person but also changes in working time, life expectancy, and inequality. Moreover, it can be used to assess economic performance both across countries and over time.
The Jones-Klenow method can be illustrated by a cross-country example. Suppose we want to compare the economic welfare of citizens of the U.S. and France in 2005.
In 2005, as the authors observe: real consumption per person in France was only 60% as high as the U.S., making it appear that Americans were economically much better off than the French on average. However, that comparison omits other relevant factors: leisure time, life expectancy, and economic inequality. The French take longer vacations and retire earlier, so typically work fewer hours; they enjoy a higher life expectancy, presumably reflecting advantages with respect to health care, diet, lifestyle, and the like; and income and consumption are somewhat more equally distributed there than in the U.S. Because of these differences, comparing France's consumption with the U.S.'s overstates the gap in economic welfare.
Similar calculations can be used to compare the U.S. and other countries. For example, this calculation puts economic welfare in the United Kingdom at 97% of U.S. levels, but estimates Mexican well-being at 22%.
The Jones-Klenow measure can also assess an economy's performance over time. According to this measure, as of the early-to-mid-2000s, the U.S. had the highest economic welfare of any large country. Since 2007, economic welfare in the U.S. has continued to improve. However, the pace of improvement has slowed markedly.
Methodologically, the lesson from the Jones-Klenow research is that economic welfare is multi-dimensional. Their approach is flexible enough that in principle other important quality-of-life changes could be incorporated-for example, decreases in total emissions of pollutants and declines in crime rates.
1
What does the author think of the 2015 report by the Census Bureau?
A.
It is based on questionable statistics.
B.
It reflects the economic changes.
C.
It evidences the improved-welfare.
D.
It provides much food for thought.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
由题干中的2015 report by the Census Bureau定位到第二段第一句。推理判断题。本题考查作者对美国人口普查局在2015年发表的报告的看法。定位句介绍了美国人口普查局报告的内容，下一句接着用转折词Unfortunately引出作者的看法，即“这一结论过分强调的统计数据虽然有用，但存在错误且并不完整。”A项中的based on和questionable statistics分别对应原文中的puts too much weight on和flawed and incomplete, statistic，故为答案。
2
What does the author say about the Jones-Klenow method?
A.
It is widely used to compare the economic growth across countries.
B.
It revolutionizes the way of measuring ordinary people's livelihood.
C.
It focuses on people's consumption rather than their average income.
D.
It is a more comprehensive measure of people's economic well-being.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
由题干中的Jones-Klenow method和题文同序原则定位到第三段。细节辨认题。本题考查作者对琼斯和克列诺的方法的看法，应该注意情感态度类形容词的使用。由第三段第二句可知，虽然琼斯和克列诺的方法并不完美，但它比只考虑平均收入的方法要全面很多。因此，D“它是衡量人民经济幸福感的比较全面的方法”为答案。
3
What do Jones and Klenow think of the comparison between France and the U. S. in terms of real consumption per person?
A.
It reflected the existing big gap between the two economies.
B.
It neglected many important indicators of people's welfare.
C.
It covered up the differences between individual citizens.
D.
It failed to count in their difference in natural resources.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
由题干中的comparison between France and the U.S.定位到第五段前两句。推理判断题。定位句捉到，只比较两国人均消费水平这种对比方法“忽略了其他相关因素：休闲时间、预期寿命和经济不平等”。所以，B“它忽略了民众福利的很多重要因素”为答案。
4
What is an advantage of the Jones-Klenow method?
A.
It can accurately pinpoint a country's current economic problems.
B.
It can help to raise people's awareness of their economic well-being.
C.
It can diagnose the causes of a country's slowing pace of economic improvement.
D.
It can compare a country's economic conditions between different periods of time.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
由题干中的Jones-Klenow method和题文同序原则定位到倒数第二段第一句。推理判断题。本题考查琼斯和克列诺的方法有什么优点。由定位句可知，他们的方法还能用来评估一个国家不同时期的经济表现。所以，D“它可以比较一个国家不同时期的经济状况”为答案。
5
What can we infer from the passage about American people's economic well-being?
A.
It is much better than that of their European counterparts.
B.
It has been on the decline ever since the turn of the century.
C.
It has not improved as much as reported by the Census Bureau.
D.
It has not been accurately assessed and reported since mid-2000s.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
C
系统解析：
由题干中的American和四个选项的内容定位到原文倒数第二段最后两句。推理判断题。定位句指出，自2007年以来，美国的经济福利持续改善。不过，改善的速度明显放缓。C“它不像人口普查局报告的那么好”符合此意，故为答案。
If you've ever started a sentence with, "If I were you...." or found yourself scratching your head at a colleague's agony over a decision when the answer is crystal-clear, there's a scientific reason behind it. Our own decision-making abilities can become depleted over the course of the day causing indecision or poor choices, but choosing on behalf of someone else is an enjoyable task that doesn't suffer the same pitfalls.
The problem is "decision fatigue," a psychological phenomenon that takes a toll on the quality of your choices after a long day of decision making, says Evan Polman, a leading psychologist.
Physicians who have been on the job for several hours, for example, are more likely to prescribe antibiotics to patients when it's unwise to do so. "Presumably it's because it's simple and easy to write a prescription and consider a patient case closed rather than investigate further," Polman says.
But decision fatigue goes away when you are making the decision for someone else. When people imagine themselves as advisers and imagine their own choices as belonging to someone else, they feel less tired and rely less on decision shortcuts to make those choices. "By taking upon the role of adviser rather than decision maker, one does not suffer the consequences of decision fatigue," he says. "It's as if there's something fun and liberating about making someone else's choice."
Getting input from others not only offers a fresh perspective and thought process; it often also includes riskier choices. While this sounds undesirable, it can be quite good, says Polman. "When people experience decision fatigue-when they are tired of making choices-they have a tendency to choose to go with the status quo （现状）," he says. "But the status quo can be problematic, since a change in the course of action can sometimes be important and lead to a positive outcome."
In order to achieve a successful outcome or reward, some level of risk is almost always essential. "People who are susceptible to decision fatigue will likely choose to do nothing over something," he says, "That's not to say that risk is always good, but it is related to taking action9whereas decision fatigue assuredly leads to inaction and the possible chagrin （懊恼） of a decision maker who might otherwise prefera new course but is unfortunately hindered."
Just because you can make good choices for others doesn't mean you'll do the same for yourself, Polman cautions. "Research has found that women negotiate higher salaries for others than they do for themselves," he says, adding that people slip in and out of decision roles.
6
What does the author say about people making decisions?
A.
They may become exhausted by making too many decisions for themselves.
B.
They are more cautious in making decisions for others than for themselves.
C.
They tend to make decisions the way they think advantageous to them.
D.
They show considerable differences in their decision-making abilities.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
由题干中的making decisions定位到第一段第二句。观点态度题。由定位句可知，人们为自己做决定的能力可能会随着一天中时间的流逝而下降。紧接着第二段解释说这是“决策疲劳”，是在经历了长时间的决策后出现的一种心理现象。由此可知，人们为自己做太多决定后可能会变得疲惫不堪，故答案为A。
7
What does the example about the physicians illustrate?
A.
Patients seldom receive due care towards the end of the day.
B.
Prescription of antibiotics can be harmful to patients' health.
C.
Decision fatigue may prevent people making wise decisions.
D.
Medical doctors are especially susceptible to decision fatigue.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
C
系统解析：
由题干中的physicians定位到第三段第一句。推理判断题。由定位句可知，已经工作了数小时的医生更有可能给病人开抗生素，虽然这样做是不明智的。举例子一般都是为了支撑观点，医生的例子用于支撑第二段中伯尔曼关于“决策疲劳”的观点，即决策疲劳这种心理现象会影响人的决策质量。由此可知，决策疲劳可能会阻碍人们做出明智的选择，故答案为C。
8
When do people feel less decision fatigue?
A.
When they take decision shortcuts.
B.
When they help others to make decisions.
C.
When they have major decisions to make.
D.
When they have advisers to turn to.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
由题干中的When和feel less decision fatigue定位到第四段前两句。细节辨认题。由定位句可知，当你替别人做决定时，决策疲劳就会消失无踪，当人们将自己想象成建议者并将他们自己面临的选择想象成别人的抉择时，他们的疲劳程度会减轻。由此可知，当人们帮助他人做决定时，决策疲劳会减轻，故答案为B。
9
What are people likely to do when decision fatigue sets in?
A.
They turn to physicians for advice.
B.
They tend to make risky decisions.
C.
They adopt a totally new perspective.
D.
They refrain from trying anything new.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
由题干中的likely to和decision fatigue sets in定位到倒数第三段第三句和倒数第二段第二句。推理判断题。本题考查当人们遭遇决策疲劳时可能会有什么举动，题干中的likely to对应定位句中的have a tendency to和likely choose to。由定位句可知，人们在经历决策疲劳时，倾向于选择维持现状。易受决策疲劳影响的人可能会选择不作为而非有所作为。D“他们避免尝试任何新事物”符合原文意思，故为答案。
10
What does the passage say about taking some risk in decision making?
A.
It is vital for one to reach the goal desired.
B.
It is likely to entail serious consequences.
C.
It will enable people to be more creative.
D.
It will more often than not end in regret.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
由题干中的taking some risk和四个选项的内容定位到原文倒数第二段第一句。观点态度题。定位句指出，为了获得如愿以偿的结果或奖励，某种程度的冒险几乎总是必不可少的。由此可知，一个人要想达成渴望的目标，冒险一些是必不可少的，故答案为A。
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