The Student Union

August 8, 2022

4 . Last year, I was speaking at a gathering of wealthy male investors. The organizers posted the ____of a survey showing that only a small percentage of wealthy men believed their wives spent too much.

“What?” ____one participant, “Those guys have to be lying.”

There is no reliable ____of who spends more among the rich: men or women. Both will say the other is the ____spender.

A recent survey by Wilmington Trust, Campden Research and Relative Solutions proves the ____. The companies polled 40 women (I know, that is more like a show of hands than “survey”), each with a net worth of $25 million or more.

About half the respondents（受调查者） inherited（继承） their ___, a quarter ___ it from their husbands and the other quarter earned it __. That is roughly in line with other surveys of __ women and the source of their money. One interesting note: among the self-made women, 90% got their money from owning a business, rather than ____ a salary.

As for ____, almost all the women (90%) described their spending habits as “below their means.” The report on the survey said that is possibly ____ they do not view their extreme wealth as defining their success.

“Women tend not to spend as much as ____and splash（泼洒得使到处是） their names all over the place,” said one woman in the survey, describing her spending as conservative and her lifestyle as “below the radar.”

Many women also worried about wealth having ____ effects on their children and didn’t want to spend lavishly（挥霍） to ____ a bad example.

At the same time, 70% of the women said they “buy nice things when ____.” And 93.5% of the women said they were responsible for making ____ on major purchases, which ____ that they do a lot of the big spending.

Of course, for truly major purchases a house in Aspen, Colo., a Gulfstream, a Feadship the couple probably makes the decision _____.

But what about other ____ ? Do you think men or women do most of the high-end spending?

5 . Last week the British university system offered a record number of places. That sounds like good news—but do we really need more people to go to university? For that matter, does the world need more universities?

The answer feels like it should be yes.

Education is good, is it not? But everything has a cost.

Education takes time. We could insist that everyone study full-time until the age of 45 but that would surely be too much. And perhaps half the population studying until they’re 21 is also too much. As for universities, they consume financial and intellectual resources—perhaps those resources might be better spent elsewhere.

My own personal opinion is strongly in favor both of going to university, and of simply having universities around.

The main skill I learnt at university was to write about economics, and I use that skill every day of my professional life, even an abstract education seems practical to me. And I now live in Oxford, one of the world’s most celebrated (著名的) university cities. Oxford’s experience certainly suggests that universities have much to offer.

The city’s architecture and green spaces have been shaped—greatly for the better, on balance —by the 900-year-old institution at its heart. The beauty attracts tourists and locals too.

But these are samples of one. Many people do not find themselves using the skills and knowledge they accumulated at university. And Oxford’s dreaming spires (尖顶) aren’t terribly representative of global universities as a whole.

6 . Researchers define self-control or self-discipline as“ability to control or change one’s inner responses”.    1     However,some people think that as an immediate consequence of leading lives of constant self-control,they aren’t likely to gain a lot of pleasure from life.

    2     To start,414 adults completed on online survey.In the survey,they rated the their self-control by indicating how much they agreed with 14 statements,such as“I indeed do certain things that are bad for me,if they are fun.”

In their study,205 adults were given smart phones and required to report their emotions at random moments throughout the week.     3     If so,they had to report how hard they tried to resist them,and whether they eventually ended up acting on them.

The researchers found that the more self-control people had,the more satisfied they were with their lives in the long run.     4       In fact,such people’s increased happiness to a large extent accounted for the increased life satisfaction.

These researchers also figured out that people high in self-control are simply less likely to find themselves in situations where that’s even an issue.They don’t waste time fighting inner battles over whether or not to eat a second piece of cake.    5     And that,it would seem,makes them happier……even if occasionally a little bit sad.

7 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t

even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂

In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.