Tough Times Test Quality-of-Life Quest in US
经济学人智库公布生活质量调查
Six years ago, the Economist Intelligence Unit based in London, published a survey about the quality of life in countries around the world. Sort of a life-satisfaction index, it takes into account factors such as people’s relative health, material well being, and sense of security.
经济学人智库以伦敦为基础时隔6年公布了一项有关在世界各国生活质量的调查。这是一种关于生活满意度指数,它考虑到的因素是人们的相对健康,物质所得及安全感。
Four nations that have since been rocked by economic upheavals - Ireland, which ranked first; Iceland; Italy; and Spain - finished in the top 10. Americans were surprised to find their country rated 13th in quality of life.
经受严重的经济剧变的四个国家——爱尔兰位列第一,冰岛,意大利,西班牙，这些国家排名前10位。美国人很惊讶的发现自己的国家竟然排名第13位。
Finding that hard-to-define measure of satisfaction has been a big issue in this country. We search for such things as good schools for our kids, personal space and access to nature.
发现很难定义衡量满意度一直是这个国家的主要问题。我们寻找诸如对我的孩子来说的好学校,个人空间及人与自然的接触。
We move incessantly, sometimes for reasons no more profound than to be close to a favorite trout stream or sophisticated nightlife; or to have a waterfront view, a yard big enough for the dog to run, or a welcoming church or synagogue or mosque.
我们不停追逐,有时只不过奢望一处最喜欢的鳟鱼溪流或精致的夜生活,或一处观海景点,一个足够大的可以让狗在里面奔跑的院子,或者一个受欢迎的教堂或清真寺或犹太教会堂。
Of course, quality-of-life considerations must sometimes give way to job demands or the needs of a spouse or parent or child. But whenever we can, we try to adjust our recipes for a better life, perhaps building a den for reading or moving to a leisure village with a golf course.
当然,生活质量有时必须考虑到工作需要或要配偶，父母及孩子的需求。但只要我们能够,我们甚至会调整自己的食谱以达到更好的生活,也许还为专门阅读建立一间小屋或为了享受高尔夫球去度假村。
The American West has been settled; the wild places tamed. The search for quality of life is Americans’ new, personal, ever-changing frontier.
美国西部已经稳定;野外环境已经被人熟知。寻找生活品质是美国人的新潮,个人的永恒不变主题。
And, just as in beautiful Ireland or Italy or Spain, tough times have made our search for the good life more challenging of late. It would be interesting, in fact, to see where the United States would rank if a worldwide quality-of-life survey were conducted in 2012.
同样地,就像在美丽的爱尔兰、意大利或者西班牙,艰难时期使我们去寻找美好的生活更具挑战性。这会是一件非常有趣的事情,事实上,2012年在世界范围内展开生活质量调查的话，看看美国会排名如何。
A possible indicator, though - and not a very promising one - is the Mercer Human Resources Group’s worldwide quality-of-living ranking of cities, completed last year. Only six U.S. cities made the list of the world’s 50 most agreeable places to live. And you have to go all the way to Number 29 before the first one - Honolulu - shows up.
一个可能的迹象,尽管——希望稍显渺茫——在去年美世人力资源集团完成的全球城市生活质量排名中，只有六个美国城市进入榜单成为世界上50个最想生活的城市。而你必须要完全接受直到第29名才第一次出现美国城市火奴鲁鲁的名字。 |