英语听力—环球英语 1192 Measuring a Happy Planet

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　　Welcome to Spotlight 1. I’m Joshua Leo.
 
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　　And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.
 
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　　“You could not imagine how terrible life was many years ago. I could not enjoy a single peaceful night, or even a meal, without running to a safe place. Now we have nice food to eat, good clothes to wear. And we do not have to see our family members or friends killed. What else could we ask for?”
 
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　　Nguyen Thi Vinh is eighty years old. She lives in Vietnam. She survived conflict and many difficult years in her country. But today, she feels that her life is very good. She is happy!
 
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　　In 2012, her country, Vietnam, was ranked second in the Happy Planet 2 Index 3. This report tries to judge the success of many countries around the world. Today’s Spotlight is on the Happy Planet Index. Which country do you think is the happiest?
 
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　　The Happy Planet Index combines a country’s environmental actions with the well-being 4 of its citizens. It is the first index to measure environmental care and the level of peoples’ happiness together. The Happy Planet Index is created by the New Economics 5 Foundation 6. This British group wants to encourage sustainable development. These financial policies encourage good economic development - development that protects the environment and helps people.
 
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　　The Index combines three separate things. First, the NEF looks at how satisfied a country’s people are. Second, it looks at the average life expectancy 7 of a country - how many years, on average, people live. And finally, the NEF looks at how many natural resources a country uses and how much waste it produces.
 
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　　For the year 2012, Costa Rica was ranked first on the list. People in Costa Rica have good life expectancy. They report satisfaction with their lives. And the country has a good environmental record.
 
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　　Surprisingly, rich countries are not the highest on the list. These countries often do not have a good environmental record. They use too many of the earth’s resources. Very poor countries are often the lowest. People in these countries do not have long lives. And they usually do not report as much happiness.
 
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　　The NEF gives each country a number between zero and one hundred. One hundred represents the greatest level of happiness and success. And zero represents the level of least happiness. The closer to one hundred a country is, the better it is doing.
 
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　　The NEF believes that a country’s goal should be around 89. That would mean that citizens would be living past the age of 80. Citizens would be healthy and not living in poverty. And finally, citizens and governments would not be using many natural resources like trees, oil, and coal.
 
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　　The index is easier to understand when you compare two similar countries. Germany and the United States are wealthy nations. According to the NEF, people’s sense of life satisfaction is almost exactly the same for Germany and the US. And the average age at death is nearly the same too. But, Germany uses about half the resources that the US uses. So, Germany is higher on the Happy Planet Index. The NEF believes that Germany is the more successful country.
 
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　　Another example would be to compare two very different countries. The UK uses many of the earth’s resources. Vietnam uses much fewer resources than the UK. But people in the UK are not happier than people in Vietnam. Vietnam is the second nation on the Happy Planet Index. The UK is number 41. According to the Happy Planet Index, Vietnam is more successful than the UK.
 
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　　The NEF developed the Happy Planet Index to replace other ways to measure the success of countries. In particular, it could replace Gross 8 Domestic 9 Product, or GDP. GDP measures a country’s economic activity. Often, governments see an increase in G D P as a sign of success. However, many experts agree that GDP is too limited. It ONLY measures economic activity - it does not measure sustainable, healthy development, or the happiness and success of its citizens. Nic Marks is the creator of the Happy Planet Index. On the NEF website, he explained the difference between the two measurements 11.
 
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　　“Measurements of economic activity simply do not tell us enough. They do not tell us about societies’ goals of creating good lives for their citizens. The index measures what really matters. That is, long and happy lives now, and the hope for good lives in the future. For too many years, we have depended on incomplete 12 measures of progress. These measures concentrated only on economic activity, like gross domestic product. Rich and poor nations face different problems, but their final goal is the same.”
 
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　　However, many people also criticize 13 the Happy Planet Index. They say that it does not accurately 14 show the success of a country. It uses information from many different sources, including the United Nations, and an environmental organization, the WWF. Some people say that this information may not be correct.
 
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　　The biggest argument is over the measurement 10 of well being, or happiness. This measurement comes from global survey research. The researchers asked people to describe their life satisfaction using numbers from one to ten. Someone who was satisfied and happy with their life might say that their life satisfaction was seven. Someone who was unhappy might say two. However, the researchers did not also include other information to test the conditions of people’s lives. Many things can affect happiness, and people can still be happy living in difficult conditions. The Happy Planet Index does not measure poverty, human rights, or security 15.
 
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　　The Happy Planet Index may not be the best way to measure the success of a country. But the NEF is using it to show that economic success is not the only thing that matters. Happiness matters too!
 
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　　There are more than 150 countries in the index. Would you like to see where your country is on the Happy Planet Index? Visit our website for a link to the list: www.radioenglish.net.
 
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　　The writers of this program were Rebekah Schipper and Christy VanArragon. The producer was Rena Dam. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called, ‘Measuring a Happy Planet’.
 
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　　You can leave your comments on our website. Or you can email us at radio@radioenglish.net. You can also find us on Facebook - just search for spotlightradio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.