单选题
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, therefore
(51) first on its capacity to produce wealth. "Wealth" in this
(52) is not money, for we do not live on money but on things that money can buy: "goods" such as food and clothing, and "services" such as transport and entertainment.
A country's capacity to
(53) wealth depends upon many factors, most of
(54) have an effect on one another. Wealth depends
(55) 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
(56) none of them. Next to natural resources comes the ability to
(57) them to use. China is perhaps as rich as the USA in natural resources, but suffered for many years
(58) civil and external wars and for this and other
(59) was unable to develop her resources. Sound and stable political conditions, and
(60) from foreign invasions, enable a country to develop its natural resources peacefully and steadily, and to produce more
(61) than another country equally well favored by nature but less well ordered.
A country's standard of living does not only depend upon the wealth that is produced and
(62) within its own borders, but also upon what is directly produced through international trade, for example, Britain's wealth in foodstuffs and other agricultural
(63) would be much less if she had to depend only on those grown at home. Trade makes it possible for her surplus (过剩的) manufactured goods to be traded abroad for the agricultural products
(64) would otherwise be lacking. A country's wealth is, therefore, much influenced by its manufacturing capacity
(65) that other countries can be found ready to accept its manufactures.