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Money can buy happiness
A song from the famous English pop group the Beatles told us that money can't buy us love. Many people also believe that money cannot buy happiness. In fact, there is an expression that says money is the root of all evil. However, a new study from Cambridge University suggests that money can buy you happiness. Researchers conducted a study on the spending habits of customers in a bank. They compared what the bank customers bought with their personality. The research team compared the personalities of 625 people with a list of how they spent their money. The conclusion of the study was that what people buy can lead to happiness, but only if they buy the right things.
One of the researchers believes the study may change the way people think about money and happiness. He said it showed, "that spending can increase our happiness when it is spent on goods and services that fit our personalities". He said Internet companies could use information about people's happiness to recommend products and services that make people happier. Another researcher said spending money could be more important in our lives than we thought. She said: "Spending money on products that help us express who we are as individuals could turn out to be as important to our well-being as finding the right job, the right neighbourhood or even the right friends and partners."
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Chat
Talk about these words from the article.
song / money / love / happiness / researchers / spending habits / conclusion / personalities / Internet / information / products / services / important / well-being
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Discussion
a) What is the relationship between money and happiness?
b) Why did the Beatles sing, 'Can't Buy Me Love'?
c) Is money really the root of all evil?
d) How does money affect your happiness?
e) What things make you happiest?
f) How does shopping make you happy?
g) What things that you buy make you happy and unhappy?
h) Can poor people be happy?
