A Country’s Standard of Living The “standard of living” of any country means the average person’s share of the goods and services the country produces. A country’s standard of living, ____1____, depends first and _____2____ on its capacity to produce wealth. “Wealth” in this sense is not money, for we do not live on money ______3_____ on things that money can buy: “goods” such as food and clothing, and “services” such as transport and “entertainment”1.
A country’s capacity to produce wealth depends upon many factors, most of ____4___ have an effect on one another. Wealth depends _____5_____ a great extent upon a country’s natural resources. Some regions of the world are well supplied with coal and minerals, and have fertile soil and a favorable climate; other regions possess none of them.
Next to natural resources ____6____ the ability to turn them to use. China is perhaps as well-off ____7_____ the USA in natural resources, but suffered for many years from civil and external was, and _____8_____ this and other reasons was _____9____ to develop her resources. Sound and stable political conditions, and ____10____ from foreign invasions, enable a country to develop its natural resources peacefully and steadily, and to produce more wealth than another country equally well favoured by nature but less well ordered2.
A country’s standard of living does not only depend upon the wealth that is produced and consumed ______11_____ its own borders, but also upon what is directly produced through international trade. _____12______, Britain’s wealth in foodstuffs and other agricultural products would be much less if she had to depend only on ____13____ grown at home. Trade makes it possible for her surplus manufactured goods to be traded abroad for the agricultural products that would _____14_____ be lacking. A country’s wealth is, therefore, much influenced by its manufacturing capacity, _____15____ that other countries can be found ready to accept its manufactures.
1. A. however B. furthermore C. similarly D. therefore
2. A. primary B. all C. foremost D. mainly
3. A. or B. but C. nor D. besides
4. A. these B. that C. what D. which
5. A. at B. to C. by D. with
6. A. came B. coming C. comes D. come
7. A. to B. like C. by D. as
8. A. because B. for C. of D. by
9. A. uneasy B. incapable C. impossible D. unable
10. A. prevention B. freedom C. liberation D. liberty
11. A. at B. by C. within D. on
12. A. In short B. For example C. As a result D. On the other hand
13. A. which B. what C. that D. those
14. A. otherwise B. certainly C. however D. therefore
15. A. depended B. supposed C. based D. provided