PAU mock exam 6

Who are Britain’s happiest people?

If you want to be happy, according to a new survey, you should be over 65, married with kids and working part-time in Northern
Ireland. But can we find somebody who fits that description? And how happy are they? As a Londoner, I am meant to be miserable.
London residents scored a lowly 7.2 out of 10 in the government’s first wellbeing survey, making the capital the unhappiest place
in the country.
Does such a person exist? Not on Twitter, predictably. I put a call-out for someone who matched the description, and despite 12
retweets and 14 sardonic replies, answer came there none. Conclusion: Twitter does not make you happy. Neither, it seems, does
a job with one of Northern Ireland’s largest firms. I called several of the region’s biggest employers, but none of them have a part-
time sexagenarian mum-of-two on their books. Either that, or they’re very unhelpful, which in any case is probably a symptom
of misery.
I have better luck in Carnlough, a little village halfway up the east coast. It’s the home of Ethel Simpson, a married mother-of-four.
She’s a retired social worker who now childminds her four-year-old grandson, and volunteers for the Women’s Institute. What makes
her so happy? ‘You need to help others,’ says Simpson. ‘That’s where you get satisfaction. If I can bring a smile to people’s faces, I feel
I’ve done something worthwhile in life.’ Simpson seems pretty chirpy – but technically she is only 64. Doubt fills my mind: could I
find someone older, and even happier?
Quite possibly, says Simpson, who refers me to her 73-year-old friend Margery Thompson. With five children, a 54-year marriage,
and part-time volunteer work for both the WI and her family farm, Thompson is the perfect fit. But is she happy? ‘I am contented,’
she explains, ‘with the life I have.’ She says a large family helps. ‘I know some single people who are very content. But having a larger
family gives you more support, and makes you more likely to see things from other people’s perspectives.’
Thompson’s outlook has a lot to do with Northern Irish history. ‘We’ve been through a lot in the last 40 years,’ she says. ‘Over that
time, we’ve had to care for each other a lot more. So many young people lost their lives – and for what? It makes me very thankful
to have the family that I have.’ And so ended my pursuit of happiness.
Adapted from Patrick Kingsley, guardian.co.uk, 29th February 2012

1 Are the following sentences true (T) or false (F)? Use the 3 Use of English
exact words from the text to justify your answers. 1 Rewrite the following sentences, keeping their original
1 According to the survey people who live in big cities tend meaning.
to be unhappier. ‘You need to help others,’ said Simpson.
Simpson said
Scientists have studied the reasons for happiness for decades.
2 Ethel thinks helping others makes you feel happier. The reasons for happiness
My neighbour is always complaining. He lives on the second
floor.
3 According to Margery, recent history has made people My neighbour,
more aware of what they have. 2 Complete the following sentences in your own words.
If we lived in the country

No matter how much we try

2 Answer the following questions in your own words, relating
to the ideas from the passage.
Although I try not to complain
1 What is the journalist looking for and how does he do it?

4 Find words or phrases in the text which mean …

2 What characteristics do Margery and Ethel have 1 unhappy (paragraph 1)
in common?
2 characteristic (paragraph 2)
3 look after children (paragraph 3)

4 search (paragraph 5)

5 Write a composition of 120−150 words on the following:

What is more important to be happy: health, love or money?
Discuss.

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