The eradication of poverty is a shared responsibility for the international community—indeed，a moral imperative.This task has become no less urgent in the last decade，in spite of rapid economic growth in many parts of the world.While the percentage of the world‘s population living on less than $1 per day has fallen from 28.3%to 24.0%between 1987 and 1998，population growth(815 million) has kept the absolute number of poor steady at some 1.2 billion.If we take a higher cutoff point of $2 per day，the poor have increased by 250 million over the same time period，encompassing 2.8 billion people，or almost half of the world’s population.Nor do World Bank projections lend undivided hope for the future.Under the“business as usual”scenario，the number of poor on the $1 per day scale will not change during the projection period up to 2008.However，should policy measures be taken to boost economic growth and make the growth process more inclusive to the poor，the World Bank reckons that 500 million people could be brought out of extreme poverty by 2008.Even under this more optimistic scenario，Latin America and the Caribbean，and especially Sub-Saharan Africa would see little，if any，progress.The same pattern emerges under the higher cutoff point of $2 per day.

　　In the light of these dire statistics and projections，it is easy to appreciate the growing public concern that not enough is being done to address poverty and poverty-related social illnesses，such as poor work conditions，a lack of respect for human rights，and natural resource degradation.Indeed，such concerns have been vented with increasing frustration，including at the Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Seattle last year，and more recently at the joint spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank.

　　One problem facing governments in poverty-stricken countries，civil society，and international organizations is that poverty is a multidimensional problem with no simple solution—not least because of its sheer scale.The causes and expressions of poverty are not the same everywhere，although some common terms can often be found，including a lack of access to education，basic health care，and unequal distribution of productive assets(1and，livestock，credits，etc.)。 Moreover，rural communities，which are often the hardest hit by poverty，face their own development problems related to poor infrastructure (roads，electricity，telecommunication，etc.)，which make it more costly to participate in the national and global economy.Another factor that perpetuates poverty is that the poor often lack political leverage to influence the policies and priorities of governments.

　　1.By saying that the eradication of poverty is a“moral imperative”，the author means____.

　　[A] it is a moral responsibility to do away with poverty

　　[B] it is closely related to the formulation of moral standard

　　[C] raising moral standard is the only solution to poverty

　　[D] it is morally impossible to find a solution to poverty

　　2.Between 1987 and 1998，the number of people living on two dollars a day____.

　　[A] actually increased

　　[B] fell slightly

　　[C] was cut down greatly

　　[D] kept rising steadily

　　3.What might happen in the year 2008 if proper policies for economic growth were made?

　　[A] 500 million more people would join the extremely poor.

　　[B] No drastic change would happen to the life of the poor in the present poor regions.

　　[C] The number of the poor on the $1 per day scale would be greatly cut.

　　[D] The number of the poor living on $2 dollars per day would be drastically decreased.

　　4.Why is it not easy to solve the poverty problem?

　　[A] Because the international community hasn‘t made enough effort at it.

　　[B] Because the governments in poor countries do not give enough attention to it.

　　[C] Because solving the problem is beyond the means of the poor countries.

　　[D] Because it is a problem that involves multiple factors.

　　5.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an obstacle to the solution of poverty?

　　[A] The enormous size of the poor population.

　　[B] Slower economic development in extremely poor regions.

　　[C] The government policy in poverty-stricken countries.

　　[D] The classification of the poor population.

　　參考答案：

　　1.[A] 意為：消除貧困是一種道義。imperative這里是一個名詞，意為“必須履行的責任”。

　　2.[A]根據第一段，在世界范圍內，每天靠1美元過活的人在1987年～1998年間從28.3%降到24%，但是從人口增長的角度來看(這10年人口增長了8.15億)，貧困人口的絕對數量還保持在12億人。另外，如果我們以日平均2美元作為貧困線標準的話，那么，在同一段時間內貧困者的數量就增加了2.5億人，涉及28億人，幾乎是世界總人口的一半。

　　3.[C]第一段提到，如果現在的經濟形勢“保持不變”，到2008年，靠日平均1美元生活的貧困人口的狀況不會得到改觀。但是，如果制定政策促進經濟的發展，使經濟的增長更多地涵蓋到貧困人口，世界銀行預測，到2008年，5億人口可能脫離貧困。

　　4.[D] 意為：因為這是一個涉及很多因素的問題。最后一段提到，貧困國家的政府、文明社會(指相對發達的社會)和國際組織面臨的一個問題是：貧困是一個多方面的問題，沒有簡單的解決方案——由于涉及面廣更是如此。造成貧困的原因和貧困的形式各地不盡相同，雖然我們可能從中找出一些基本特征，如教育落后、基本醫療條件缺乏、生產資料分配不均等。

　　[C]意為：貧窮國家無力解決這個問題。

　　5.[D] 有關[A]參閱第2、3題題解。有關[B]、[C]參閱最后一段。

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