The “standard of living” of a country means the average person’ s② share of the goods and services which the country produces. A country’ s standard of living, therefore, depends first and foremost on its capacity to produce wealth. “Wealth” in this sense is not money, for we do not live on ② money but on things that money can buy: “goods” such as food and clothing, and “services” such as transport and entertainment. j; |) z( J& w
A country’s capacity to produce wealth depends upon many factors, most of which have an effect on one another. Wealth depends to a great extent upon a country’s natural resources, such as coal, gold, and other minerals, water supply and so on. Some regions of the world are well supplied with coal and minerals, and have a fertile soil and a favorable climate; other regions possess none of them. 9 e" g+ P8 e7 Q: z& I% c4 g 难点提示:) I& s4 I2 k$ }
①一般人,老百姓 : h$ s, c; o2 f9 J0 F ②靠……为生7 |6 M* F( G: @3 @
参考译文: 5 t8 l3 X2 M4 q+ a7 { 任何一个国家的生活水平,指的是那个国家生产的产品和提供的服务为普通老百姓分享的情况。因此,一个国家的生活水平,首先取决于它创造财富的能力。在这个意义上,财富并不是指金钱,因为我们生存靠的不是钱,而是靠钱能买到的东西:比如食物和衣服这些“产品”,交通和娱乐这些“服务”。* \9 m/ W8 D# C1 o6 }
一个国家创造财富的能力取决于很多因素,其中大部分因素相互作用。财富在很大程度上依赖于一个国家的自然资源,比如煤矿、金矿和其他矿物质、水源等等。世界上有些地区煤矿和矿物质的储量丰富,土壤肥沃,气候适宜,其他地区却一样都不具备。