A Country's Standard of LivingThe " standard of living" of any country means the average p

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, ______(51) , depends on its capacity to produce wealth. "Wealth"______(52) this sense is not money, for we do riot live on money ______(53) 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______(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 (肥沃的) soil and a favorable climate; other regions possess none of them.

Next to natural resources______(56) the ability to turn them to use. China is perhaps as well-off_____(57) the USA in natural resources, but suffered for many years from civil and external wars, and______(58) this and other reasons was______(59) 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 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_____(61) its own borders, but also upon what is directly produced through international trade. ______(62) , Britain's wealth in foodstuffs and other agricultural products would be much less if she had to depend only on______(63) 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______(64 ) be lacking. A country's wealth is, therefore, much______(65) by its manufacturing capacity provided (如果) that other countries can be found ready to accept its manufactures.

A．however

B．furthermore

C．similarly

D．therefore