阅读理解 Can money buy happiness? Yes, (47) the authors of a new study--but only up to a point. Psychology has shown that richer people generally rank the overall quality of their lives more (48) than poorer people do. At the same time, their actual happiness seems to be (49) less by their ability to buy more than by being able to keep up with those with comparable resources in their own age group. "Our findings point to the possibility that, rather than promoting overall happiness, continued income growth could (50) an ongoing consumption race where people have to consume more and more, just to maintain a (51) level of happiness," writes Glenn Firebaugh of Penn sylvania State University. The study was (52) at the American Sociological Association''s 100th Annual Meeting. Whether the rich are happier as a whole than their less (53) fellows is becoming an increasingly hot topic for debate. Recent years have (54) many writings on the "science of happiness." Richer people are happier because money can help purchase goods and services and it is the (55) of these materials that increases one''s enjoyment of life and one''s sense of well-being. Firebaugh and his colleagues measured the age, total family income, and general happiness of (56) aged 20 to 64, generally considered the working lifespan (工作寿命) for most Americans. Regardless of such standards as physical health, education, and marital status (婚姻状况), people''s happiness was affected by what others earned. The higher the income of others in one''s age group, the lower one''s happiness. WORD BANK A) constant I) automatic B) wealthy J) presented C) claim K) witnessed D) deny L) rejected E) motivated M) individuals F) consumption N) favorably G) consequently O) challenging H) implement