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Iceland's secret joy
双击或划选，即可查看单词的详细解释，并收录生词进生词本
ICELAND has the highest birth rate in Europe, the highest divorce rate, and the highest percentage of women working outside the home. Such statistics are often evidence of a miserable, chaotic society, with loads of children, broken homes and absent mothers. But Iceland is the exception – its citizens are apparently the happiest in the world.
New rankings from the United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index rate Iceland as the best country in the world in which to live.
Perhaps the country's geographic location contributes to Icelanders' happiness. Lodged in the middle of the North Atlantic, with Greenland as its nearest neighbor, Iceland is free from the taboos that generate so much distress elsewhere. For instance, people who divorce are not looked down upon by society.
"It is not something to be proud of," said Oddny Sturludottir, a 31-year-old Icelandic pianist. "But the fact is that Icelanders don't stay in lousy relationships. They just leave."
Going into the world
Icelanders are offspring of the Vikings, a seafaring people who looted European coasts from the 8th through the 10th century. This tradition of getting out into the world lives on in modern-day Iceland. Practically all Icelanders have studied or worked abroad, and most speak English.
Perhaps as a result, Iceland's economic policies blend the best of those from Europe and the US to create a Nordic welfare system with an American entrepreneurial spirit.
"Many of us have lived in the US, [and] studied there," said the Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde. "We have both taken from them and found that naturally we share the can-do attitude – that if you work hard, anything can be done."
Indeed, the country is rich in writers, painters, film makers and accomplished musicians. There's Sigur Ros, a post-rock band famous for its ethereal sound, and also a national symphony orchestra that plays to the highest standards all over the world. Half the population appears to have written a book.
"We do it so as to keep the beast at bay," said Haraldur Jonsson, a painter, sculptor and video and performance artist. "The beast is Iceland, with its harsh nature, its bitter ever-changing weather. We cannot escape it. So we find ways to live with it, to tame it. We have to have a rich internal life to fill the empty spaces."
His words echo what John Carlin wrote in The Observer: "Icelanders know how to identify the best and incorporate it into their society."
Want proof that Icelanders are really happy?
Iceland has the sixth highest GDP per capita in the world.
Icelanders buy more books on average than people from any other country.
The life expectancy for men in Iceland is the highest in the world – 80.55 years.
Iceland has no armed forces. They were banned 700 years ago.
Iceland has the highest ratio of cellphones to population.
Iceland has a population of 316,000, 100 of which are professional artists.
Temperatures in Reykjavík average between 13C in summer and minus 3C in winter.
Iceland has crystal-pure air, and hot water delivered to all households straight from the Earth's volcanic bowels.
生词：
bowel 内部
chaotic 混乱无序的
cynical 愤世嫉俗的
entrepreneurial 企业家的
ethereal 虚无缥缈的，灵气的
fetal 胎儿
incorporate 融合，结合
life expectancy 平均寿命
loot 掠夺
lousy 非常痛苦的，不愉快的
Nordic 北欧人的
offspring 后代
per capita 人均
ranking 等级评定
seafaring 过海上生活的
sculptor 雕刻家
symphony 交响乐
taboo 禁忌，避讳
Viking 北欧海盗
yearner 思念者
Bonus
Vocabulary
Expressions that describe a happy person:
light up with pleasure 喜笑颜开
His face lit up with pleasure when news came that his essay had won first prize.
听说他的文章获得了一等奖，他喜笑颜开。
go wild with joy 欣喜若狂
Upon receiving the university's acceptance letter, he went wild with joy.
收到学校的入学通知书，他欣喜若狂。
wear a happy expression 面带喜色
She wore a happy expression even though she was having a stressful day.
虽然忙碌了一整天，她仍然满脸喜悦之情。
