评论
打印
Recording Two
录音二
The late Swedish academic Hans Rosling has identified a worrying trend:
已故瑞典学者汉斯·罗斯林发现了一个令人担忧的趋势：
not only do many people across advanced economies have no idea that the world is becoming a much better place, but they actually even think the opposite.
许多发达国家的民众不仅不知道世界正在变得更好，实际上他们甚至认为情况恰恰相反。
This is no wonder, when the news focuses on reporting catastrophes, terrorist attacks, wars, and famines.
这并不奇怪，因为新闻总是集中报道灾难、恐怖袭击、战争和饥荒。
Who wants to hear about the fact that every day some 200,000 people around the world are lifted above the $2-a-day poverty line?
谁会愿意听到全球每天大约有20万人摆脱了每天两美元的贫困线？
Or that more than 300,000 people get access to electricity and clean water for the first time every day?
抑或每天有超过30万人首次用上电和喝到干净的水这样的消息呢？
These stories of people in low-income countries simply don't make for exciting news coverage.
这些低收入国家民众的故事根本不适合成为令人兴奋的新闻报道。
But, as Rosling pointed out in his book Factfulness, it's important to put all the bad news in perspective.
但正如罗斯林在《事实》一书中指出的，重要的是要正确看待所有坏消息。
While it is true that globalization has put some downward pressure on middle-class wages in advanced economies in recent decades,
虽然近几十年来全球化确实给发达国家中产阶级的薪资水平带来了一些下行压力，
it has also helped lift hundreds of millions of people above the global poverty line.
但全球化也帮助数亿人摆脱了全球贫困线。
If we really care about global welfare, globalization is the only way forward to ensure that economic prosperity is shared among all countries and not only a select few advanced economies.
如果我们真的关心全球福祉，全球化是确保经济繁荣由所有国家共享而非仅由少数发达国家独享的唯一途径。
While some people glorify the past, one of the big facts of economic history is that until quite recently a significant part of the world population has lived under quite miserable conditions and this has been true throughout most of human history.
虽然有些人美化过去，但经济历史上的一个重要事实是，直到最近，世界上相当一部分人口依然生活在相当糟糕的条件下--在人类历史的大部分时期大都如此。
While there were many long-lasting ups and downs, like the Great Depression or the recent Great Recession,
虽然有许多长期的起伏，如大萧条或最近的大衰退，
the constancy of the long-run growth rate is actually quite miraculous.
但长期增长率的稳定性实际上是相当神奇的。
Low-income countries, including China and India, have been growing at a significantly faster pace in recent decades and are quickly catching up to the West.
近几十年来，包括中国和印度在内的低收入国家发展速度明显加快，正在迅速追赶西方国家。
A 10% growth rate over a prolonged period means that income levels double roughly every seven years.
长期保持10%的增长率意味着收入水平大约每七年翻一番。
It is obviously good news if prosperity is more shared across the globe.
如果繁荣在全球范围内更加广泛地共享，这显然是个好消息。
While inequality within countries has gone up as a result of globalization, global inequality has been on a steady downward trend for several decades.
虽然全球化导致许多国家内部的不平等有所加重，但全球范围内的不平等现象几十年来已经稳步下降。
This is mostly a result of the improvement of hundreds of millions of people's living standards.
这主要是由于数亿人的生活水平得到了提升。
In fact, for the first time ever since the Industrial Revolution, about half of the global population can be considered middle class.
实际上，自工业革命以来，全球大约一半的人口被定义为中产阶级，这还是头一次。
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
请根据刚刚听到的录音回答问题19至问题21。
Question 19. What is the worrying trend the late Swedish academic has identified?
问题19. 这位已故瑞典学者指出了什么令人担忧的趋势？
Question 20. What does the speaker say about globalization?
问题20. 演讲者对全球化有何看法？
Question 21. What do we learn about half of the global population?
问题21. 我们了解到关于全球一半人口的什么信息？
