| {{B}}
A Country's Standard of Living{{/B}} 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,{{U}} (51) {{/U}}, depends on its capacity to produce wealth. "Wealth"{{U}} (52) {{/U}}this sense is not money, for we do not live on money{{U}} (53) {{/U}}on things that money can buy: "goods" such as food and clothing, and "services" such as transport and entertainment. A country's capacity to produce wealth depends upon many factors, most of{{U}} (54) {{/U}}have an effect on one another. Wealth depends{{U}} (55) {{/U}}a great extent upon a country's natural resources. Some regions of the world are well supplied with coal and minerals, and have fertile (肥沃的) soil and a favorable climate; other regions possess none of them. Next to natural resources{{U}} (56) {{/U}}the ability to turn them to use. China is perhaps as well-off{{U}} (57) {{/U}}the USA in natural resources, but suffered for many years from civil and external wars, and.{{U}} (58) {{/U}}this and other reasons was{{U}} (59) {{/U}}to develop her resources. Sound and stable political conditions, and{{U}} (60) {{/U}}from foreign invasions, enable a country to develop its natural resources peacefully and steadily, and to produce more wealth than another country equally well favoured by nature but less well ordered. A country's standard of living does not only depend upon the wealth that is produced and consumed. {{U}}(61) {{/U}}its own borders, but also upon what is directly produced through international trade.{{U}} (62) {{/U}}, Britain's wealth in foodstuffs and other agricultural products would be much less if she had to depend only on{{U}} (63) {{/U}}grown at home. Trade makes it possible for her surplus (过剩的) manufactured goods to be traded abroad for the agricultural products that would.{{U}} (64) {{/U}}be lacking. A country's wealth is, therefore, much{{U}} (65) {{/U}}by its manufacturing capacity, provided (如果) that other countries can be found ready to accept its manufactures. |