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
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
admin
2010-05-25
44
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.
According to the author, people in which country are expected to live longer?
选项
A、The United States.
B、Spain.
C、Greece.
D、New Zealand.
答案
D
解析
事实细节题。根据文章第一段最后一句话“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”美国人的预期寿命曾经在众多发达工业国家中位居中游,与意大利和新西兰处于同一个档次,而如今排名已经跌落到几近末位,排在西班牙和希腊后面。可以看出,西班牙和希腊也排在靠后的位置,但是比美国靠前一点,而新西兰在中游。所以在四个选项中新西兰人的寿命可能会更长,选项D为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/n42K777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Inalmostallcasesthesoftpartsoffossilsaregoneforeverbuttheywerefittedaroundorwithinthehardparts.Manyofth
Whenyouseethegoldenarches,isyourfirstthoughtfreshfruit?McDonald’sisbettingthatformanycustomers,itwillbe."O
Thosepeoplewhoare______aremostwelcometothepoliticians.
______hasrecentlybeendonetoprovidemoreflatsforthepeople,thehousingprobleminthiscityisstillveryserious.
Nexttimeyougazeoutside【C1】______acoldwinterdayandthinkhowdeadeverythingappears,takeacloserlook.Naturema
Nexttimeyougazeoutside【C1】______acoldwinterdayandthinkhowdeadeverythingappears,takeacloserlook.Naturema
Thatistherobber______arrestarewardwasoffered:
Coal,though______thaneitheroilorgas,isstillafiniteresource.
Thomasaskedthathe______allowedtotakethecoursethissemester.
Whenwasthepaintbrushfirstutilized?
随机试题
WHO龋病流行程度评价的标准是
某市人民政府依金某申请,作出行政复议决定,撤销市房管局对金某房屋的错误登记,并责令市房管局在一定期限内重新登记。市房管局拒不执行该行政复议决定,金某有权采取下列哪一种措施?
(2013年)下列试验方法中,不能发现并消除系统误差的操作是()。
下列句子中,语意不明确的是()。
物理学习中的审题技能的掌握可能会促进化学等其他学科的审题技能的应用,这在心理学中称_____。
程老师在海报设计课上,以一幅学生作品为例进行展示,让学生进行讨论,总结其优点和不足。程老师以局部为例给学生进行了示范,并鼓励学生大胆尝试,设计出自己心目中的海报。其中没有涉及的教学方法是()。
上海“钓鱼执法”。司机断指鸣冤事件引起社会广泛关注。回答下面小题。该事件引起了上海市政府高度重视,责令相关部门彻查,并将调查结果及时公之于众。政府部门从该事件中得到的警示是()。①政府必须增强依法行政、文明执法意识②政府应增强
要求当鼠标在图片框Picturel中移动时,立即在图片中显示鼠标的位置坐标。下面能正确实现上述功能的事件过程是()。
Lifeasawomaninthecolonial(殖民的)Americaseemsquitedifferentfromitistoday.Womenwereconsideredinferiortomen,afac
Thecomposition(write)______withgreatcarebyMaryyesterday.
最新回复
(
0
)