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
2018-09-15
20
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."
Partly due to the rising price of prepared foods in the US, more than half of people now prefer to cook at home.
选项
答案
K
解析
根据关键词prepared food及cook at home可定位到K段。该段谈经济波动对健康的影响。其中第2句通过市场调查报告指出,与六个月前相比,53%的消费者表示在家做饭的次数增加了。53%即过半数与题目的more than half相符,题目中的prefer to cook at home则与原文的cooking more对应。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/k347777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
ArebooksandtheInternetabouttomerge?A)Thedifferencebetweene-booksandtheInternetisminimal,andweshouldbegladt
A、Sheclosedherfreeblogservicelastweek.B、Shewasupsetwhenherfavoritesitewasclosed.C、Herwebsiteisstillstronga
A、Mostpeopleareofsimilarintelligenceregardlessofbackground.B、Peopleofthesamebloodtypehavesimilarintelligence.C
A、Tofollowtheanti-smokingtrendinKuwaitandHawaii.B、TomakeTasmaniaAustralia’shealthiestcityby2025.C、Toeaseexist
A、Toknowtheirbusinesspartnerbetter.B、Toenjoythedishesonly.C、Tohavearelaxation.D、Toescapefromthecompany.A选项以T
A、Schoolviolencehasnothingtodowiththeeducationalsystem.B、Schoolsshouldstoptryingtoraisescores.C、Schoolsshould
A、Diet.B、Sleep.C、Space.D、Stress.C听到“最近研究表明:鼠类行为受空间影响颇大”,可判断C(空间)正确。
Schoolsoutsidecities[A]Withitssandybeaches,charmingruinsandoccasionallybluewaters,theIsleofWightisaperfects
TheEndofAIDS?[A]OnJune5th1981America’sCentresforDiseaseControlandPreventionreportedtheoutbreakofanunusualf
A、Theyaremuchcheaperthanhumans.B、Theynevercomplainaboutthedifficulties.C、Theycanhandlealltheproblemsofthejob
随机试题
大定风珠组成中“三甲”是指
建设项目文档资料的特征包括( )。
设备监理目标的( )首先表明按照承包合同、国家的技术规范和质量标准、劳动生产定额及经济参数制定的目标值是可行的、合理的;其次,给定的目标值在现有的生产条件和市场条件下,承包商运用现代生产技术、科学管理方法和严格的检验手段是可以完成的;最后,给定的目标值在
下列工程项目策划内容中,属于工程项目实施策划的有()。
以下民用建筑中无需设置排烟设施的是()。
自然人甲拟设立个人独资企业。下列表述中,符合个人独资企业法律制度规定的有()。
以下关于以任务或过程为取向的研讨的说法,错误的是()。
人生不可能是尽善尽美的,我们也很难找到一朵花是完美无缺的。虽然人体总的来说是左右对称的,可是这种对称远远不是完全的。每个人左右手的粗细不一样,一只眼睛比另一只眼睛更大或更圆。两个耳垂的形状也不同。最明显的,就是每个人只有一个心脏,通常都在靠左的位置。
WhenPaulGorski,thefounderofanorganizationcalledEdChange,visitscollegesanduniversitiestoadvisethemoncampusdive
Inacountrythatdefinesitselfbyideals,notbysharedblood,whoshouldbeallowedtocome,workandlivehere?Inthewake
最新回复
(
0
)