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A Country's Standard of Living
國家的生活標準
The standard of living of any country means the average person's share of the goods and services which the country produces.
任何國家的生活標準意味著人均占有這個國家生產的商品和服務的價值。
A country's standard of living,therefore,depends first and foremost on its capacity to produce wealth.
因此一個國家的生活標準，首要依賴它創造財富的能力。
Wealth in this sense is not money,for we do not live on money but on things that money can buy:
這個意義上的財富并不是錢，因為我們生活并不是依賴錢，而是依賴于錢能買到的東西:
goods such as food and clothing,and services such as transport and entertainment.
商品，如食物和衣服，以及服務，如交通和娛樂。
A country's capacity to produce wealth depends upon many factors,most of which have an effect on one another.
一個國家創造財富的能力取決于許多因素，大多數因素互相影響。
Wealth depends to a great extent upon a country's natural resources,such as coal, gold, and other minerals,water supply and so on.
財富很大程度上依賴與國家的自然資源，如煤炭，金以及其他礦產，水資源等等。
Some regions of the world are well supplied with coal and minerals,and have a fertile soil and a favourable climate;other regions possess none of them.
世界上的一些地區蘊藏著豐富的煤炭和礦產，擁有肥沃的土地以及宜人的天氣；另一些地區則什么都沒有。
Next to natural resources comes the ability to turn them to use.
僅次于自然資源的是利用它們的能力，
Some countries are perhaps well off in natural resources,but suffered for many years from civil and external wars,and for this and other reasons have been unable to develop their resources.
一些國家富有自然資源，但是遭受連年的內戰或外部戰爭，因為這個原因或其他原因無法開發他們的資源。
Sound and stable political conditions,and freedom from foreign invasion,enable a country to develop its natural resources peacefully and steadily,and to produce more wealth than another country equally well served by nature but less well ordered.
完善和穩定的政治環境，免受外國的侵略，可以使國家和平穩定地開放好自然資源，并比擁有同樣自然環境但政治環境不那么安定的國家創造出更多的財富。
Another important factor is the technical efficiency of a country's people.
另一個重要的因素是這個國家人民的技術效率。
Industrialized countries that have trained numerous skilled workers and technicians are better placed to produce wealth than countries whose workers are largely unskilled.
已經培訓大量熟練工人和技術人員的工業化國家比擁有大量不熟練工人的國家能創造出更多的財富。
A country's standard of living does not only depend upon the wealth that is produced and consumed within its own borders,but also upon what is indirectly produced through international trade.
一個國家的生活標準并不僅僅依賴于國內生產和消費的財富，還依賴于通過國際貿易間接產生的財富，
For example, Britain's wealth in foodstuffs and other agricultural products would be much less if she had to depend only on those grown at home.
比方說，如果僅依賴國內種植，英國的視頻和其他農產品的財富就很少。
Trade makes it possible for her surplus manufactured goods to be traded abroad for the agricultural products that would otherwise be lacking.
貿易能將這個國家的剩余加工產品賣到國外而換回否則會缺少的農產品。
A country's wealth is, therefore,much influenced by its manufacturing capacity,provided that other countries can be found ready to accept its manufactures.
因此，加入其他國家樂意接受一個國家的產品，那么這個國家的財富就很受制造能力的影響。
