Robert F. Kennedy once said that a country’s GDP measures “everything except what makes life worthwhile.” With Britain voting to leave the European Union, and GDP already predicted to slow as a result, it is now a timely moment to assess what he was referring to.
The question of GDP and its usefulness has annoyed policymakers for over half a century. Many argue that it is a mistaken concept. It measures things that do not matter and misses things that do. By most recent measures, the UK’s GDP has been the envy of the Western world, with record low unemployment and high growth figures. If everything was going so well, then why did over 17 million people vote for Brexit, despite the warnings about what it could do to their country’s economic prospects?
A recent annual study of countries and their ability to convert growth into well-being throws some light on that question. Across the 163 countries measured, the UK is one of the poorest performers in ensuring that economic growth is translated into meaningful improvements for its citizens. Rather than just focusing on GDP, over 40 different sets of criteria from health, education and civil society engagement have been measured to get a more all-round assessment of how countries are performing.
While all of these countries face their own challenges, there are a number of common themes. Yes, there has been an economic recovery since the 2008 global crash, but in key indicators in areas such as health and education, major economies have continued to decline. Yet this isn’t the case with all countries. Some relatively poor European countries have seen huge improvements across measures including civil society, income equality and environment.
This is a lesson that rich countries can learn: When GDP is no longer regarded as the only measure of a country’s success, the world looks very different.
So what Kennedy was referring to was that while GDP has been the most common method for measuring the economic activity of nations, as a measure, it is no longer enough. It does not include important factors such as environmental quality or education outcomes — all things that contribute to a person’s sense of well-being.
1.Robert F.Kennedy is cited（引用）because he _______.
A.praised the UK for its GDP. B.identified GDP with happiness.
C.misinterpreted the role of GDP. D.had a low opinion of GDP.
2.Which of the following is true about the recent annual study?
A.Its results are inspiring. B.It is sponsored by 163 countries.
C.Its criteria are questionable. D.It removes GDP as an indicator.
3.What is the author’s attitude towards GDP as the most common measure of a country’s success?
A.Favorable. B.Indifferent.
C.Critical. D.Defensive.
By the end of the year, editors of New York Times have picked the 4 best books of 2019, including fiction and non-fiction. Let’s see which one will take your fancy.
Disappearing Earth
By Julia Phillips
In the first chapter of this novel, two young girls vanish, sending shock waves through a town on the edge of the remote and mysterious Kamchatka Peninsula. What follows is a novel of overlapping short stories about the different women who have been affected by their disappearance. Each tale pushes the narrative forward another month and exposes the ways in which the women of Kamchatka have been destroyed — personally, culturally and emotionally — by the crime.
No Visible Bruises
By Rachel Louise Snyder
Snyder’s thoroughly reported book covers what the World Health Organization has called “a global health problem”. In America alone, more than half of all murdered women are killed by a current or former life partner; domestic violence cuts across lines of class, religion and race. Snyder reveals pervasive myths (restraining orders are the answer, abusers never change) and writes movingly about the lives (and deaths) of people on both sides of the equation. She doesn’t give easy answers but presents a wealth of information that is its own form of hope.
Midnight in Chernobyl
By Adam Higginbotham
Higginbotham’s superb account of the April 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is one of those rare books about science and technology that read like a tension-filled thriller. Filled with vivid detail and sharply etched personalities, this narrative of astonishing incompetence moves from mistake to mistake, miscalculation to miscalculation, as it builds to the inevitable, history-changing disaster.
Exhalation
By Ted Chiang
Many of the nine deeply beautiful stories in this collection explore the material consequences of time travel. Reading them feels like sitting at dinner with a friend who explains scientific theory to you with no airs and graces. Each thoughtful, elegantly crafted story poses a philosophical question; Chiang arranges all nine into a conversation that comes full circle, after having travelled through remarkable areas.
1.Which of the following tells about the violence from a husband to a wife in a family?
A.Disappearing Earth B.No Visible Bruises
C.Midnight in Chernobyl D.Exhalation
2.How may readers feel when reading the book Midnight in Chernobyl?
A.Delighted. B.Awkward.
C.Tense. D.Calm.
3.What kind of book is Exhalation?
A.A folk tale. B.A biography.
C.A love story. D.A sci-fi story.
假定你是李华，你所在的中学正面向学生征集意见，询问学生是否赞成开设iPad课堂(iPad classrooms). 请给校长写一封建议信，表达你赞同开设iPad课堂的观点。要点 如下：
1. 网上教学资源丰富；
2. 提高课堂效率；
3. iPad课堂利于环保；
4. 其他理由。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头、结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Headmaster,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(˄)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Everyone has an ideal. Some want to become soldiers to protect their motherland; other want to be teachers, scientists, or doctors to rescue the sick and the wounding. But I want to be shoe designer. I will invent a specially kind of shoes. They are very strong, because people can wear them to protect their feet wherever they go. They keep cold away, so people can keep them warm even in snowy weather. In either side of each shoe, there is a solar-powered lamp, which give off light. Therefore, when people walk in darkness, they will no longer fear being trapped by something or stepped on something that may hurt them. To realize my ideal, I will study much more harder than ever.
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
A group of students 1.(range)from 9 to 13 are benefiting from a schedule which is run by the Confucius institute(孔子学院) at Newcastle University, which aims to build 2.(close) academic, cultural and social ties between China and the North East of England.
Staff at the institute work patiently with schools and the other day the pupils took part in weekly after-school sessions with the teacher Qiang Xingdi who gave them an 3.(introduce) to the Chinese language and culture.
Already the pupils, making progress in learning Chinese now,4.(award) certificates of achievement from the institute. Adam said, “I have always had an interest in Chinese culture and this course has been5. great way to teach me all about it.”
Confucius Institutes are worldwide non-profit public institutions6.(design)by the Chinese government to promote7.language and culture8. teaching plans and cultural exchanges.
The Confucius Institute at this university was set up in 2013, and it is the first in the North East.
Student Voice said last week, “Many thanks to the Confucius Institute at this university for 9.they have arranged for the students and Qiang Xingdi for her weekly enthusiasm,10.has without doubt made a significant impression on them.”
The person you referred to ____ fighting within school campus.
A.involved in B.involved with C.involving D.got involved in
