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 aff
Are Bad Economic Times Good for Health? A)Most people are worried about the health of the economy. But does the economy also aff
admin
2016-04-26
40
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 born 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."
Gerard J. van den Berg noted that recessions can benefit babies born in well-to-do families.
选项
答案
I
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/wye7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
TheBritishgovernmentrecentlyannouncedaproposaltointroducehealthcareaccessfeesformigrantsandlong-termvisitorsth
A、Findalargerroom.B、Selltheoldtable.C、Buytwoarmchairs.D、Rearrangesomefurniture.D女士说,他们这个房间需要多一张扶手椅,但问题在于放哪儿。男士提议,把
A、Theyaremuchcheaperthanhumans.B、Theynevercomplainaboutthedifficulties.C、Theycanhandlealltheproblemsofthejob
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledEducationFeverbasedonthestatisticsprovidedinth
Manypeoplebelievetheglarefromsnowcausessnowblindness.Yet,withdarkglassesornot,theyfindthemselvessufferingfro
Differentthingsusuallystandfordifferentfeelings.Red,forexample,isthecoloroffire,heat,bloodandlife.Peoplesay
A、Workinghardmayprepareyourselfopportunity.B、Successalwaysdependsonopportunity.C、Opportunitycanreplacehardworkin
A、Therearemanydifficultiesintheexamination.B、Theexaminationisuselessfortheemployees.C、Theexaminationistotellp
Businessesarestructuredindifferentwaystomeetdifferentneeds.The【B1】______formofbusinessiscalledanindividualorso
A、Ithasnodifferencefromothercells.B、Itcanonlybecomeacertaintypeofcell.C、Itcan’tbecomeakidneycell.D、Itmain
随机试题
我国民族自治地方的自治机关是指自治地方的________和人民政府。
诗集《飞鸟集》的作者是印度的_________。
什么是简单之债?什么是选择之债?二者分类的标准和意义是什么?
A.大量中性粒细胞渗出B.多量淋巴细胞和浆细胞浸润C.巨噬细胞及其衍生的细胞形成结节D.大量纤维素渗出形成膜样物E.大量嗜酸性细胞聚集属于慢性炎病理变化的是
在( )组织结构中,项目管理班子的成员接受项目经理和职能部门经理的双重领导。
在如图所示电路中,Rt为半导体热敏电阻,闭合开关,灯泡L1、L2、L3的亮度相同,当Rt处的温度升高时,Rt的阻值减小,则小灯泡的亮度变化情况是()。
劲爆蹦迪音乐
坚持党要管党、从严治党,以严明党的政治纪律为重点加强纪律建设,以保持党同人民群众的血肉联系为重点加强作风建设,以完善惩治和预防腐败体系为重点加强反腐倡廉建设,确保党始终成为坚强领导核心,始终保持先进性和纯洁性。从严治党的根本之道是
良好的生态环境是人和社会持续发展的根基,节约资源和保护环境是我国的基本国策。为此需要()
材料13月25日,习近平总书记主持召开中央政治局常委会会议。会议认为,经过全国上下和广大人民群众艰苦努力,疫情防控取得阶段性重要成效,经济社会秩序加快恢复,成绩来之不易。当前,国内外疫情防控和经济形势正在发生新的重大变化,境外疫情呈加速扩散蔓延态势,世界
最新回复
(
0
)