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
5
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] Why presumably did the official burst out laughing in Paragraph 4?
选项
A、Because she found it ironic to spend $53 each in buying some masks.
B、Because she decided to appropriate money meant for the epidemic relief.
C、Because she found her conversation with her colleague was recorded.
D、Because she held an optimistic attitude for the pandemic.
答案
B
解析
根据第四段最后一句“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.”可知,这名官员和她的女同事好像在计划着如何把用于疫情的钱放入自己的口袋。pocket money意为“把钱放入自己的口袋”,实际就是指“私吞”,也就是B选项中的appropriate(盗用,挪用,侵占)。所以选项B为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3319612.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
Directions:Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayent
Itiseasiertonegotiateinitialsalaryrequirementbecauseonceyouarein
收费车道安装手动栏杆,栏杆和车道信号灯二者的动作必须联动()。A.栏杆开启时红
我国《公路隧道施工技术规范》规定,单项交通隧道风速不宜大于();特殊情况下
儿童生病,导游人员不宜建议家长给孩子服药,更不能提供药品给儿童服用。( )
治疗慢性肝炎肝郁气滞证,应首选( )。A.茵陈蒿汤 B.逍遥散 C.一贯煎
在实践中,当因市场流动性不足或债券交易特性及交易惯例等因素影响跟踪标的指数效果时
(2016年真题)某房地产开发企业预售一套建筑面积100㎡的商品住宅,单价为1
有网民公布了一组虐猫视频截图:一女子用尖尖的高跟鞋鞋跟对一只小猫肆意践踏,手段极
下列关于个人征信异议的银行处理办法表述错误的是( )。A.经过核查,无法确认异
最新回复
(
0
)