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  3. If life expectancy were a marathon, you could say that the United States is fading from the pack. Although everyone is living lo

If life expectancy were a marathon, you could say that the United States is fading from the pack. Although everyone is living lo

admin2010-05-25  60
问题    If life expectancy were a marathon, you could say that the United States is fading from the pack. Although everyone is living longer, the inhabitants of other industrialized nations have made more dramatic strides in life expectancy than Americans have. Australian men gained an extra six years between 1980 and 2001; Japanese women, 6.1% years. The result: Americans, once on a par with countries such as Italy and New Zealand—in the middle of the pack—now rank below Spain and Greece, near the end.
   On the face of it, this should not be happening.
     Healthier nations are usually wealthier nations. The United States is the third richest of the 30 developed nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), after Luxembourg and Norway. But it now ranks 22nd in life expectancy—down from 12th for women and 18th for men in 1980.
     Could the problem be inadequate healthcare spending?
     No. The US spends ＄1 of every ＄7 of its gross domestic product on healthcare—far more than any other OECD nation, which typically devotes less than ＄1 in $10 of GDP to the sector. Per person, that works out to an extra ＄1,800 compared with the Swiss or ＄2,300 compared with the Canadians, even though both those groups live longer than Americans.
     So what’s at work?
     One factor could be diet, according to a new study on longevity by Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, and two students, Robert Hatch and James Lee①. Americans have been getting fatter, and physicians maintain that putting on weight often shrinks a person’s life span.
     On the positive side, US alcohol and tobacco consumption is more moderate than th’e OECD average.
     Another factor holding back longevity: poverty. The quarter to a third of Americans with low incomes often have less money than the same low-income groups in several other rich countries, points out Mr. Burt-less.
     A third factor—inequality—worsens the problem. The most prosperous 10 percent of Americans receive 17 times as much income as those in the bottom 10 percent. In countries with high life expectancies among those at 65—such as Japan, Sweden, and Norway—the top 10 percent makes only five times as much income as those in the bottom, Professor Munnell says.
     The US also struggles with inequality in healthcare. While most rich nations have universal coverage, 45 million in the US did not have health insurance last year, according to census statistics—a rise of 5.2 million since the year of 2000②. Millions more have insurance only part of the year.
     Many of those without health insurance tend to postpone medical care for chronic problems, thoush they may go to hospital emergency facilities in a crisis.
     Thus, a better predicator of life expectancy than GDP may be the average GDP for the bottom 40 percent of the population, notes the Boston College study. Here the US falls in the middle of the pack of rich countries, rather than at the top.
Which of the following is NOT the reason for the US less progress in longevity than other countries?
选项 A、The Americans are getting fatter than they used to be.
B、Some of the poor cannot afford their medicine cost.
C、The Americans drink more alcohol than people do in other countries.
D、Of the inequality existing in the United States.
答案C
解析 细节推断题。第七段说美国的饮食是一个因素，最后一句话“Americans have been getting fatter， and physicians maintain that obesity often shrinks a person’s life span”研究表明美国人正变得越采越胖，而医生说这会降低人的预期寿命，所以排除A。选项B可以根据倒数第五段第一句话排除：另一个因素是贫穷。选项D可以根据文章倒数第三、第四段的第一句话予以排除，“第三个因素是不平等现象使问题进一步恶化”，“医疗卫生保健也在为不平等、不均衡现象挣扎”；选项C与文章事实相反，第八段说美国人抽烟和饮酒方面低于其他经合组织国家的平均水平，所以为正确答案。
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