AND THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH IS...
People all over the world do everything they can to be happy. But for some reason people in certain countries succeed more than others. A recent survey on happiness done by Oxford University shows that there is one country that is better at it than any other – and that country is Denmark.(lines 1–3)
Over the past 30 years, in survey after survey, this nation of five and a half million people has beaten the rest of the world in the happiness game. It's hard to understand why: the weather is bad, its neighbors, the Norwegians, are richer, and its other neighbors, the Swedes, are healthier.(lines 4–6)
Why then are the Danes so happy? That's a question that has interested Prof. Ken Christensen of Denmark University. "If you ask people anywhere which country is the happiest on earth, they will say Italy or Spain because these countries have pleasant weather and good food," Prof. Christensen explains.(lines 7–10)
So he and his team of researchers have tried to discover just why Denmark is at the top of the happiness list so often. "We tested different theories and we think we have found the key to Danish happiness. What we discovered is that Danes actually don't expect much from life," he explains. "Therefore, they are often pleasantly surprised when good things happen."(lines 11–14)
Christensen claims that Danes are happy even when things don't work out well. According to Danish newspaper reporter Sebastian Dorset, Danes are ambitious. "We want to succeed, just like any other people. We simply aren't disappointed when we fail," he explains.(lines 15–17)
Dorset also claims that Danes don't have anything to complain about: "We earn good salaries, education and health care are free and there is very little violence in our country. What more could you ask for?"(lines 18–20)