豆知识 2011-01-02&01-08 四分钟了解200个国家过去2

 So, herewe go. First, an axis¹ for health: life expectancy², from 25 years to 75 years.And down here, an axis for wealth: income per person, four hundred, fourthousand, and forty thousand dollars. So down here is poor and sick, and uphere is rich and healthy.

 

Now, I’mgoing to show you the world 200 years ago, in 1810. Here come all the countries,Europe brown, Asia red, Mideast green, Africa South of Sahara blue, and theAmericas yellow. And the size of country bubble shows the size of population. Andin 1810, it was pretty crowded down there, wasn’t it? All countries were sickand poor, life expectancy was below forty in all countries, and only UK and theNetherlands were slightly better off,but not much.

 

And now,I start the world. The industrial revolution makes countries in Europe andelsewhere move away from the rest, but the colonized³ countries in Asia andAfrica, they are stuck down there. And eventually, the Western countries gethealthier and healthier.

 

And now,we slow down to show the impact of the First World War, and the Spanish fluepidemic. What a catastrophe⁴!

 

And nowI speed up through the 1920s and the 1930s. And in spite⁵ of the GreatDepression, western countries forge⁶ ontowards greater wealth and health, Japan and some others try to follow, butmost countries stay down here.

 

Now,after the tragedies of the Second World War, we stop a bit to look at the worldin 1948. 1948 was a great year: the war was over, Sweden topped the medal tableat the Winter Olympics and I was born. But the difference (口误) between the countries over theworld was wider than ever. United State was in the front, Japan was catchingup, Brazil was way behind, Iran was getting a little richer from oil, but stillhad short lives. And the Asian giants: China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh andIndonesia, they were still poor and sick down here, but look what is about tohappen!

1 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

2 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

3 colonized   

开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The area was colonized by the Vikings. 这一地区曾沦为维京人的殖民地。
• The British and French colonized the Americas. 英国人和法国人共同在美洲建立殖民地。

4 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。

6 forge   

v.使形成，与...建立密切联系，伪造，假冒

参考例句：

• Everything new comes from the forge of hard and bitter struggle.一切新东西都是从艰苦斗争中锻炼出来的。
• Difficulties help to forge people into able folk.困难有助于把人们锻炼成能干的人。