首页
登录
职称英语
This Coronavirus affects everyone, but not equally. The young often shrug of
This Coronavirus affects everyone, but not equally. The young often shrug of
游客
2023-12-30
37
管理
问题
This Coronavirus affects everyone, but not equally. The young often shrug off the virus; the old often die of it. The rich shrug off the economic shock; the poor cannot. Because of COVID-19, the number of extremely poor people (i.e., those making less than $1.90 a day) will rise by 70m-100m this year, the World Bank predicts. Using a broader measure, including those who lack basic shelter or clean water and children who go hungry, the ranks of the poor will swell by 240m^90m this year, says the UN. That could reverse almost a decade of progress (see International section). If a vaccine is found, economies will no doubt bounce back. But widespread vaccination will take years and the very poor cannot wait that long. By then, malnutrition will have affected a tragic number of children’s bodies and minds.
Safety-nets in low-income countries are
cobweb-thin
. Governments there have handed out only $4 extra per person on social programs—in total, not per day.
Donors should help. Rich countries are on course to cut direct aid by a third compared with last year. The IMF and World Bank have raised lending, but only 31% more of the bank’s money has reached poor countries, says the Center for Global Development, a think-tank, about half the increase in the global financial crisis, a much smaller shock.
Governments in some countries, meanwhile, need to spend their money wisely. Too many offer pork for old rich friends but only crumbs for the poor. Since the crisis began, one country has provided no new programs for the hard-up but has given a state oil giant tax breaks worth $2.7bn. Another country is expected soon to confirm another wasteful effort to keep its money-losing airline aloft. Even when money is earmarked for good ends, it is too often wasted or stolen. The country’s investigators are probing possible fraud in 658 contracts worth $300m for COVID-fighting kit (测试纸) Still another country’s health ministry bought some masks for $53 each. In a leaked recording, a laughter allegedly belonging to an official burst out as she and her colleagues appear to plan to pocket money meant for reducing suffering in the pandemic.
The best way to help the poor is to give them money directly. The simplicity of this policy makes it less vulnerable to corruption. With a little extra cash in their pockets, recipients can feed their children and send them back to school. They can avoid a fire-sale of assets, such as a motorbike or a cow, that will help them make a living in the future. One country that has done well getting cash into poor pockets is Brazil. Various measures of poverty there have actually fallen, largely because the government has sent $110 per month for three months to the impoverished, helping 66m people. A priority for governments should be basic health care, which the pandemic has disrupted so badly that vaccination rates for children have been set back about 20 years.
The crisis requires politicians to make hard choices quickly. Mistakes are inevitable, given how much remains unknown about the disease. But some are inexcusable. One country’s sudden lockdown threw millions of migrant workers out of their urban jobs and lodgings, forcing them to head back to their villages on foot or crowded trains, spreading the virus far and wide. Another country barred people from leaving home at night but then removed from shacks (棚屋) on public land, tens of thousands who are living in a building or on land without permission or without paying rent with no place to go. Politicians governing remotely from their comfortable home offices should think harder about how their decisions might affect those whom COVID-19 is plunging back into dire poverty. It is shameful when their responses to the pandemic add to the suffering of the least fortunate. [br] In Paragraph 1, the author intends to_________.
选项
A、demonstrate the fact that the poor people cannot wait till the vaccine against COVID-19 is found
B、show that the poor people are more vulnerable to the adverse impact of COVID-19
C、argue that the poor people are prone to malnutrition as a result of COVID-19
D、contend that reviving the world economy is possible if the impoverished are seriously taken after
答案
B
解析
根据第一段中心句“This coronavirus affects everyone,but not equally.”可知,新冠肺炎对每个人的影响是不同的。再根据第一段中间部分可知,穷人更容易受到新冠肺炎的不利影响。所以选项B为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3319608.html
相关试题推荐
Theinvitationtotheconferenceindicatedthateveryoneshouldbedressedforme
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
EveryObjectTellsaStory凡事皆有戏Everyonehasaparticularo
随机试题
Thethreeforeignerswaspushedoutofthewaybecause______.[br]InIndia,if
[originaltext]M:Hello,Nancy.Iknowyouareoneofthewomentaxidriversin
()是投资最重要的环节之一。A.估值 B.股权 C.价值 D.调查
下列是艾滋病传播途径的是A.性接触 B.同桌进餐 C.握手 D.拥抱 E
王某是司机,他投保了意外伤害保险,保险金额为8万元。在车祸火灾事故中,被烫伤程度
机器视觉,是指通过光学的装置和非接触的传感器自动地接收和处理一个真实物体的图像,
(2018年真题)商业银行的市场风险不包括()。A.违约风险 B.汇率风
归纳和解释临床资料的先决条件是()。单选A.资料的可靠性 B.使用统计方
关于全面质量管理的说法,错误的是( )。A.全面质量管理是一个在长期经营中不断
关于蒸发池的施工规定的说法错误的是()。A.气候干旱且排水困难的地段,可以
最新回复
(
0
)