What would you do with $590m? This is now a question for Gloria Mackenzie, an 84-year-old widow who recently emerged from her small, tin-roofed house in Florida to collect the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. If she hopes her new-found fortune will yield lasting feelings of fulfillment, she could do worse than read Ha ppy Money by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton.

     These two academics use an array of behavioral research to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can be counterintuitive. Fantasies of great wealth often involve visions of fancy cars and extravagant homes. Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly. What was once exciting and new becomes old-hat; regret creeps in. It is far better to spend money on experiences, say Ms. Dunn and Mr. Norton, like interesting trips, unique meals or even going to the cinema. These purchases often become more valuable with time—as stories or memories—particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others.

    This slim volume is packed with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most “happiness bang for your buck”. It seems most people would be better off if they could shorten their commutes to work, spend more time with friends and family and less of it watching television (something the average American spends a whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it). Buying gifts or giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things for oneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. This is apparently the reason McDonald’s restricts the availability of its popular McRib—a marketing trick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession.

    Readers of Happy Money are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfillment, not hunger. Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries are generally happier than those in poor ones. Yet the link between feeling good and spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around the world, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. Not everyone will agree with the authors’ policy ideas, which range from mandating more holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent.

答案精析：第一段从一名彩票中奖者引出话题：如何能在花钱中获得快乐？第二段讲Happy Money这本书里的观点。第三段举例说明书中所说的获得幸福的各种途径。最后一段点明了这本书的局限性，但仍值得购买。全文都围绕消费与幸福感进行论述，因此C项可以概括全文，为正确答案。

错项排除：A项将feeling good和spending money看作两个对立的行为，而文中只是论述了两者之间的关系，因此与主旨矛盾。作者从未提及彩票中奖者如何处置奖金，因此排除B项。D项定位到第三段关于奢侈品消费的论述，符合原文态度，但以偏概全，故排除。