首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Are Bad Economic Times Good for Health? [A] Most people are worried about the health of the economy. But does the economy also a
Are Bad Economic Times Good for Health? [A] Most people are worried about the health of the economy. But does the economy also a
admin
2017-01-16
88
问题
Are Bad Economic Times Good for Health?
[A] Most people are worried about the health of the economy. But does the economy also affect your health? It does, but not always in ways you might expect. The data on how an economic downturn influences an individual’s health are surprisingly mixed. It’s clear that long-term economic gains lead to improvements in a population’s overall health, in developing and industrialized societies alike.
[B] But whether the current economic downturn will take a toll on your own health depends, in part, on your health habits when times are good. And economic studies suggest that people tend not to take care of themselves in boom times—drinking too much (especially before driving), dining on fat-filled restaurant meals and skipping exercise and doctors’ appointments because of work-related time commitments.
[C] "The value of time is higher during good economic times," said Grant Miller, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford. "So people work more and do less of the things that are good for them, like cooking at home and exercising: and people experience more stress due to the severity of hard work during booms."
[D] Similar patterns have been seen in some developing nations. Dr. Miller, who is studying the effects of fluctuating coffee prices on health in Colombia, says that even though falling prices are bad for the economy, they appear to improve health and decrease death rates. When prices are low, laborers have more time to care for their children. "When coffee prices suddenly rise, people work harder on their coffee plots and spend less time doing things around the home, including things that are good for their children," he said. "Because the things that matter most for infant and child health in rural Colombia aren’t expensive, but require a substantial amount of time—such as breast-feeding, bringing clean water from far away, taking your child to a distant health clinic for free vaccinations (接种疫苗) —infant and child death rates rise."
[E] In this country, a similar effect appeared in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, according to a 2007 paper by Dr. Miller and colleagues in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The data seem to contradict research in the 1970s suggesting that in hard times there are more deaths from heart disease, cirrhosis (肝硬化), suicide and murder, as well as more admissions to mental hospitals. But those findings have not been repeated, and several economists have pointed out flaws in the research.
[F] In May 2000, the Quarterly Journal of Economics published a surprising paper called "Are Recessions Good for Your Health?" by Christopher J. Ruhm, professor of economics at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, based on an analysis measuring death rates and health behavior against economic shifts and jobless rates from 1972 to 1991. Dr. Ruhm found that death rates declined sharply in the 1974 and 1982 recessions, and increased in the economic recovery of the 1980s. An increase of one percentage point in state unemployment rates correlated with a 0.5 percentage point decline in the death rate—or about 5 fewer deaths per 100,000 people. Over all, the death rate fell by more than 8 percent in the 20-year period of mostly economic decline, led by drops in heart disease and car crashes.
[G] The economic downturn did appear to take a toll on factors having less to do with prevention and more to do with mental well-being and access to health care. For instance, cancer deaths rose 23 percent, and deaths from flu and pneumonia increased slightly. Suicides rose 2 percent, homicides 12 percent.
[H] The issue that may matter most in an economic crisis is not related to jobs or income, but whether the slump widens the gap between rich and poor, and whether there is an adequate health safety net available to those who have lost their jobs and insurance. During a decade of economic recession in Japan that began in the 1990s, people who were unemployed were twice as likely to be in poor health as those with secure jobs. During Peru’s severe economic crisis in the 1980s, infant deaths jumped 2.5 percentage points—about 17,000 more children who died as public health spending and social programs collapsed.
[I] In August, researchers from the Free University of Amsterdam looked at health studies of twins in Denmark. They found that individuals bom in a recession were at higher risk for heart problems later in life and lived, on average, 15 months less than those born under better conditions. Gerard J. van den Berg, an economics professor who was a co-author of the study, said babies in poor households suffered the most in a recession, because their families lacked access to good health care. Poor economic conditions can also cause stress that may interfere with parent bonding and childhood development, he said. He noted that other studies had found that recessions can benefit babies by giving their parents more time at home.
[J] "This scenario (情况) may be relevant for well-to-do families where one of the parents loses a job and the other still brings in enough money," he said. "But in a crisis where the family may have to face huge housing-cost losses and the household income is insufficient for adequate nutrition and health care, the disadvantageous effects of being born in a recession seem much more relevant."
[K] In the USA, there are already signs of the economy’s effect on health. In May, the market research firm Information Resources reported that 53 percent of consumers said they were cooking more than they did just six months before—in part, no doubt, because of the rising cost of prepared foods. At the same time, health insurance costs are rising. With premiums and co-payments, the average employee with insurance pays nearly one-third of medical costs—about twice as much as four years ago, according to Paul H. Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.
[L] In the United States, which unlike other industrialized nations lacks a national health plan, the looming recession may take a greater toll. About 46 million Americans lack health insurance, Dr. Keckley says, and even among the 179 million who have it, an estimated 1 in 7 would be bankrupted by a single health crisis. The economic downturn "is not good news for the health care industry," he said. "There may be something positive, but I think this needs pondering."
During the economic downturns in 1974 and 1982, death rate decreased dramatically in the US.
选项
答案
F
解析
根据时间状语1974和1982可以直接定位到F段第2句。该句表示在1974年和1982年两次的经济衰退期中,美国的死亡率都急剧下降,题目的economic downturn对应原文的recessions,而decreased dramatically则对应原文的declined sharply,本题意思与原文一致。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/92i7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
Cigarettesmokingkills.Thatweknow.So,manufacturersmade【B1】______cigarettesasasafersmokingchoice—saferthantobacco.
A、Estherdoesn’tliketheprivateschool.B、Estherlikestalkingwithpeoplealot.C、Estherismuchbetterthanexpected.D、Est
Timeisrunningoutforgovernmentstooverhaulregulationofglobalbanksthathavebecomebiggerandmorepowerfulsincethes
ExerciseIsAllYouGetattheGymA)Whenyougotothegym,doyouwashyourhandsbeforeandafterusingtheequipment?Bring
Oneinthreeemployeeswithacommute(路程)longerthan90minutessaytheyhavehadrecurringneckorbackpaininthepast12mon
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledLimitingtheUseofDisposablePlasticBags.Youshoul
We’renowwitnessingtheemergenceofanadvancedeconomybasedoninformationandknowledge.Physicallabor,rawmaterials,ami
TheWorldHealthOrganizationsayspeopleneedmoreinformationabouthowto【B1】______usetraditionalmedicines.TheW.H.O.now
TheWorldHealthOrganizationsayspeopleneedmoreinformationabouthowto【B1】______usetraditionalmedicines.TheW.H.O.now
一家技术研究机构指出,全球范围个人电脑销量持续下降,而平板电脑正在取代个人电脑成为许多人的主要电脑装置。2013年第二季度的全球个人电脑出货量与去年同比下降11%。全球消费者正转而购买价格较为便宜的平板电脑。在新兴市场,价格便宜的平板电脑已经成为许多人的首
随机试题
反复胸骨后烧灼样疼痛伴反酸,考虑诊断为反流性食管炎,下列哪项临床表现最支持这个诊断
临床初步诊断为若辅助检查穿刺抽出血性液体,结合临床诊断,治疗应采用
初孕妇初感胎动时间一般在( )
关于人民防空工程中,消防疏散照明的叙述正确的有()。
“备案号”栏应填写()。“合同协议号”栏应填写()。
以下属于信用类衍生产品的有()。Ⅰ.信用联结票据Ⅱ.信用债Ⅲ.信用违约互换Ⅳ.信用风险缓释凭证
党和国家2020年的奋斗目标是()。
人生就是这样坎坎坷坷,曲曲折折,有直,就会有曲,谁的人生,都不会一帆风顺。痛苦是常有的,遗憾是常见的。有的人,于平凡中含着伤痛;有的人,于痛苦中带着微笑;不同的人,有着不同的情形。生命总是眷恋着坚定,厌倦着沉沦。告诉自己,_________________
学术期刊《索特》杂志和《欧格》杂志都有一个检查委员会负责防止错误的引语出现在其发表的文章中。然而,《索特》杂志发表的文章中10%的引语有误,而《欧格》杂志中却没有引语错误。因此,《欧格》杂志的检查委员会在发现错误引语上比《索特》杂志的检查委员会更有效。上面
kisstherod
最新回复
(
0
)