They Say Ireland'sthe Best Ireland is the best place in the worldto live for 2005 ,according to a life quality ranking(排名)that appeare in Britain'sEconomist magazine last week. The ambitious attempt to comparehappiness levels around the world is based on the principle that wealth is notthe only measure of human satisfaction ancl well-being. The index of 111 countries uses data onincomes, health, unemployment, climate, political stability,jobsecurity,gyender(性格) equality as well as what the magazine calls“,family and communitylife". Despite the bad weather, troubled health service, traffic congestion (拥挤) ,gender inequality,and the high cost ofliving,lreland scored an impressive 8.33 points out of 10. That put it well ahead of second-placeSwitzerland,which managed 8.07.Zimbabwe troubled by political insecurity andhunger,is rated the gloomiest(最差的) ,picking up only3.89 points. “ Although rising incomes and increasedindividual choices are highly valued,"the report said,"some of thefactors associated with modernization such as the breakdown in traditional institutionsand family values in part take away from a positive impact." “Ireland wins because it successfullycombines the most desirable elements of the new with the preservation ofcertain warm elements of the old,such as stable family and community life." The magazine admitted measuring qualityof life is not a straightforward thing to do,and that its findings would havetheir critics. No.2 on the list is Switzerland.Theother nations in the top 10 are Norway,Luxembourgy,Sweden , Australia ,Iceland,Italy , Denmark and Spain. The UK is positioned at No.29,a muchlower position chiefly because of the social and family breakdown recorded inofficial statistics.The US,which has the second highest per capita GDP after Luxembourg,tookthe 13th place in the survey.China was in the lower half of the league at 60th.5. Breakdown in family values does not affect the happiness level.