People are envious of Zhang Wei and his high salary. But the young engineer doesn't feel happy at all. “A heavy workload, fierce competition and rising living expenses keep me working 1 __ the clock ,”said the 35-year-old. “I wish I could go back to my university days, even though I had far less 2 ___ then.”
Zhang is not the only one who doesn't feel as 3 ___ as before. “It is a time when money can't buy happiness,” said Andrew Oswald, a British economist studying happiness. His research shows that 4 ___ society has become more prosperous and technically advanced in Western countries, life 5 ___ has not improved over the last 30 years.
Oswald's theory 6 ___ true in China too. 7 ___ one of the world's most robust (有活力的) economies, China 8 ___ 8-10 per cent annual GDP growth. But according to a March survey by China Youth Daily and Sina.com, around 85 per cent of Chinese people feel heavier living burdens than 10 years ago 9 ____ the fact that nearly 80 per cent say their incomes have increased.
“Traditional measurements of progress, which heavily 10 ___ the economic over the social, are becoming outmoded (过时的),” said Oswald. He explained that in the 1940s, when people were struggling to 11 ___ themselves, growth was needed to 12 ___ the basics.
