今天的句子：
Coronavirus or not, we remain locked into a routine life that measures progress by growing GDP rather than by wellbeing and environmental sustainability. This is an economic pattern that has served most of us – particularly the most affluent – pretty well for decades. But the richer we’ve got, the more the benefits have tailed off. There have been a number of studies showing that, beyond a certain point, more wealth does not necessarily equal more happiness – true at a societal level as well as an individual one.
思考题：
The author believes that GDP__.
A. merely served the interests of the rich
B. should be complemented by other factors
C. is not a very common economic pattern
D. decreases as the society grows ever richer
词汇突破：
Coronavirus 新冠病毒
wellbeing 幸福
environmental sustainability 环境的可持续发展
tail off 减少
句子解析：
第一句：
Coronavirus or not, we remain locked into a treadmill （that measures progress by growing GDP rather than by wellbeing and environmental sustainability.）
参考译文：不论有没有新冠肺炎，我们都仍被困在通过国民生产总值增长而非福祉和环境可持续性来衡量进步的死循环中。
开头是个省略：
Whether there is coronavirus or not,
第二句：
This is an economic paradigm that has served most of us – particularly the most affluent – pretty well for decades.
参考译文：这是一种几十年来服务了我们大多数人（尤其是最富裕的那撮人）的经济范式。
第三句：
But the richer we’ve got, the more the benefits have tailed off.
参考译文：但是，我们越富裕，收益就越会慢慢减少。
第四句：
There have been a number of studies showing that, beyond a certain point, more wealth does not necessarily equal more happiness – true at a societal level as well as an individual one.
参考译文：有许多研究表明，过了某一个点之后，更多的财富并不一定等于更多的幸福——在个人层面和社会层面都是如此。
思考题解析：
A. merely served the interests of the rich
（只是为富人的利益服务）
A选项错误。merely= only,不是只为富人服务的。
B. should be complemented by other factors
（应辅以其他因素）
正话反说，既然只有GDP不够，那就该辅以其他的因素。
B选项正确。
C. is not a very common economic pattern
（不是一个非常流行的经济范式）
这就是一个很常见的范式。
C选项错误。
D. decreases as the society grows ever richer
（随着社会变得越来越富裕而逐渐减少）
是幸福感越来越少了，而不是GDP所以排除！
D选项错误。
文章来源背景和来源：
We’ve got to start thinking beyond our own lifespans if we’re going to avoid extinction
如果想避免灭绝，我们就别把思维局限在自己的有生之年
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/16/weve-got-to-start-thinking-beyond-our-own-lifespans-if-were-going-to-avoid-extinction
背景：如果你在试管里装满食物，再把细菌放进去，菌群会呈指数级生长，直到耗尽资源，自已把自己杀死。这用来类比人类的气候危机再合适不过。几十年前，人类的困境就已经显而易见，但到现在我们都没有真正地离开那条不可避免的灭绝之路。我们曾经认为，一场大危机会带来强烈冲击，最终令我们下定决心更改航线。然而，我们现在正经历数十年来最大的全球灾难，但却感觉不会有太多根本性改变。到处兜售古谚——“永远不要浪费一次好危机”——很容易，但一旦涉及到“人类未来”这种存在问题，危机也被证明没什么用处。如果人类相避免灭绝，就必须眼光长远，别只看到有生之年和眼前的财富，还需要关注环境和社会福祉。
