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  3. If life expectancy were a marathon, the United States is fading from the pack. Although everyone is living longer, the inhabitan

If life expectancy were a marathon, the United States is fading from the pack. Although everyone is living longer, the inhabitan

admin2010-08-21  46
问题     If life expectancy were a marathon, 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, which consequently leads to the result that Americans, who are once on par with 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 shouldn’t be happening.
    Healthier nations are usually wealthier nations. The United States ranks only after Luxembourg and Norway of the 30 richest nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), but it now ranks 22nd in life expectancy.
    The problem could be anything but inadequate healthcare spending. The US spends $1 of every $7 of its gross domestic product on healthcare, more than any other OECD nation that 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. Physicians maintain that overweight, which has become a major problem for the Americans, often shrinks a person’s life span. On the positive side, US alcohol and tobacco consumption is more moderate than the OECD average. Another factor holding back longevity (长寿) falls into 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. A third factor comes from inequality, which exacerbates (恶化) 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.
    The US also struggles with inequality in healthcare. While most rich nations have universal coverage, 45 million in the US didn’t have health insurance last year, according to census statistics — a rise of 5.2 million since 2000. Millions more have insurance only part of the year. Many of those without health insurance tend to postpone medical care for chronic problems, though in emergencies they may seek for hospital facilities.
    Thus, a better predicator of life expectancy than GDP may be the average GDP for the bottom 40 percent of the population. Here the US falls in the middle of the pack of rich countries, rather than at the top.
In what situation, American life expectancy probably ranks in line with New Zealand?
选项
答案Using average GDP for the bottom 40 percent of the population.
解析 本题问“在什么情况下美国人均寿命会赶上新西兰人”。文中相关部分在最后一段。文中提到：“Thus, a better predicator of life expectancy than GDP may be the average GDP fort he bottom 40 percent of the population. Here the US falls in the middle of the pack of rich countries, rather than at the top”(因此，预测人均寿命用40%最贫穷人口的平均国内生产总值比用整个国内生产总值为依据更合理。而以此来衡量的话，美国就会排在富国队伍的中间，而不是最前面。)。因此，本题答案为：Using average GDP for the bottom 40 percent of the population。
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