题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
江西省上高二中2018-2019学年高一下学期英语期末考试试卷
The United States estimates that about one out of every 10 people on the planet today is at least 60 years old. By 2050, it's projected to be one out of 5. This means that not only will there be more old people, but there will be relatively fewer young people to support them.
Professor Richard Lee of the University of California at Berkeley says this aging of the world has a great effect on economics. "Population aging increases the concentration of population in the older ages and therefore it is expensive," he said.
Aging populations consume (消耗) more and produce less. With more people living longer, it could gel expensive. But Mr. Lee says with continuing increases in worker productivity and wise planning, it can be manageable.
Societies have different methods for caring for the elderly,but each carries a cost Generally, there are three types of support Seniors can live off the wealth they gained when they were younger. They can rely on their family to take care of them, or they can rely on the movement.
In industrialized nations, governments created publicly-funded (公共资助的) support systems. These worked relatively well until recent years, when aging population growth in places like the United States and Western Europe began to gradually weaken the systems' finances(资金). These nations now face some tough choices. Mr. Lee says the elderly in some of these countries must either receive less money, retire later or increase taxes to make the system continuable.
Most developing nations haven't built this type of government-funded support, but have instead relied on families to care for their elderly. These nations also generally have a much younger population, which means their situation is not as urgent as more developed nations. But Mr. Lee says that doesn't mean they can pay no attention to the issue. "Third World countries should give very careful thought to this process, to population aging and how it may affect their economies — now, before population aging even becomes a problem," he explained.
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