Happiness

Happiness
Lead-in

1 Your teacher will play a song. What is it about? Do you like the song? Why?
2 51.1 You are going to listen to a person answering questions about happiness. What do you

think the questions were? Write them below.

3 Do you agree with what the woman said in response to each question? Discuss with a partner.

Input

1 The Office for National Statistics in Britain asked people if they were happy with their lives. What
factors do you think influence people’s happiness? Discuss with a partner and make a list.
2 51.2 Listen to someone talking about the report. What factors do they mention? How does it

compare with your list?

3 Did anything in the report surprise you?

Language Focus

1 51.2 Listen to the report again and fill in the missing expressions.
In a recent report carried out by the Office for National Statistics, people in the UK were asked “How
satisfied are you with your life nowadays?” I’m glad to say that it found that
1
in the UK described themselves as ‘happy’ and 2
feel satisfied with our family
life. Indeed, it came as no surprise that 3
who were in a relationship reported
being satisfied with their lives. Amazingly enough, 4
of people in the UK said
that they were unhappy with their lives.
The findings varied slightly according to region. Somewhat unexpectedly, one of the regions
reporting the highest levels of happiness was Northern Ireland where 5

claimed they were very happy. Funnily enough, Northern Ireland is one of the regions of the UK
with the lowest average income, so the report speculated that income is not such an important
factor as you might expect, in overall feelings of satisfaction. I was sad to see that unemployment
did seem to affect happiness. 6
of unemployed people rated their life
satisfaction as average or low.
As expected, life satisfaction also seemed to vary with age, with 7
those
from 65 to 79 reporting feeling very satisfied with their lives, but only 8

of 45 to 54 years olds. Interestingly enough, women were more likely to report feeling happy with
9
women reporting they felt happy with their lives. Predictably, health was
also a factor. 10
people who rated their health as poor or very poor, described
themselves as ‘very happy’.

1 U051CEU 1911 © British Council

 Happiness

2 The expressions in 1 can be used to describe findings. Use the expressions to rephrase the
sentences below:
1 97% of people are happy with their housing.

2 In the South of England, 51% of those surveyed said they were unhappy with the weather.

3 Only 7% of women admitted to worrying about money.

4 75% of men complained about the economic situation in Britain.

5 47% of young people told us they were happy with their job.

3 Look through the text again. What phrases does the speaker use to express her attitude towards
the findings of the report? Write them below.

Task

1 You are going to do a survey to find out how happy the class is with different aspects of their
lives. Work in groups. Your teacher will give you a card with some areas to think about. Write six
to eight questions about your topic.
2 Survey as many members of the class as possible about their levels of happiness and then return
to your group to compare your answers. Prepare to present your findings to the class.
3 Present your findings to the class. Is there anything which you find surprising?

Review

2 U051CEU 1911 © British Council