The adage that "money can't buy happiness" is quite wrong, with even quite small lottery wins or inheritances able to produce lasting contentment, new research published in Britain has shown. Professors Andrew Oswald and Jonathan Gardner of Warwick University in central England tracked 9,000 families over the past decade to study whether there was a link between cash windfalls and contentment. "We find a very strong link between cash falling on you and higher contentment and better mental health in the following year," said Oswald. "We have found effects from even tiny windfalls of 1,000 pounds. And the more you get, the better you feel." A windfall of a million pounds, the research showed, would be enough to transform even the most miserable personsintosa picture of joy. But Oswald stressed that the research looked at the average person, and could not account for everyone. The Sun newspaper, for example, carried a story about a tramp who won nearly two million pounds on Britain's National Lottery two years ago but ended up drinking himself to death.

　　在英国发表的一项新研究表明：“金钱买不来快乐”这句格言实在是大错特错，因为哪怕是非常小额的彩票奖金或是遗产也能带给人持久的满足感。英格兰中部沃威克大学的教授安德鲁·奥斯瓦德和乔纳森·加德纳在过去10年中追踪了9千个家庭，研究意外之财和满足感之间是否存在着联系。“我们发现意外的财产收入与之后一年内较高的满足感以及更好的精神状况有十分密切的联系，”奥斯瓦德说。“即使是1,000英镑的小小横财也有效果。意外收入越多，感觉也越好。”研究显示100万英镑的横财足以使最痛苦的人转忧为喜。不过奥斯瓦德强调研究只是针对普通大众，不见得适用于所有人。《太阳报》上就有这样的例子：一个流浪汉在两年前的英国国家抽彩活动中赢得了将近200万英镑，最后却以狂饮至死收场。

　　Remarks：幸福之路也许的确可由钞票铺就，因为“不以物喜”的人实在已经不多了。