高中英语教学：18-寻求比GDP更好的经济衡量标准.docx

优点英语 PAGE PAGE 5 原文期刊：时代周刊 原文标题：Searching for a Better Wealth Measure Than GDP 文章通过说明GDP的增长并不代表人民幸福感的增加，指出GDP不是衡量经济经济表现的精确标准。本文是一篇观点论证型文章，按照“提出观点——论证观点——补充观点”的脉络展开论述，可分成三个部分。 【原文】 ⅠWe treat it with a?numerologists?zeal. When it drops, we assume that grave societal consequences will follow. Macroeconomic policy is formed in its shadow. But now the granddaddy of economic statistics — gross domestic product (GDP) — is under attack. A variety of economists, psychologists and sociologists are beginning to say that GDP is an imprecise measurement of economic performance that?distracts?policymakers from more important measures of societal?well-being.? ⅡEconomists have long noted imperfections in how GDP — the market value of all goods and services produced in an economy — is calculated. For instance, unpaid work that might benefit society, like raising children, is not included in the calculations. Societal failures, however, often are: the cost of keeping 2 million people in prison?boosts?the U.S.s GDP, as does fuel sales, despite the correlation with?traffic congestion?and pollution. Sustainability is also ignored — a heavily wooded country could see its GDP skyrocket?if it?turned over?all its land?to?loggers.? ⅢA 24-person panel, called the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, and other psychologists and sociologists have long noted that an increase in personal wealth above a certain income has only a small effect on life satisfaction. Far more important is a persons relative position in society — how big your house is compared with your neighbors, as opposed to its absolute size. According to these studies, even if everyones income rose at a uniform rate — a rising tide lifting all boats — the growth would not make anyone significantly happier, at least not in the long term, because the relative position of people would not have changed.? ⅣDoes this mean we should ignore growth altogether? The panel did not?come?up with?a si