TheySayIreland'stheBestIrelandisthebestp_考试试题_职称英语

They Say Ireland's the Best

Ireland is the best place in the world lo livefor 2005．according to a life quality ranking thatappeared in Britain.s Economist magazine last week．

The ambitious attempt to compare happinesslevels around the World is based ol3 the principle that wealth is not the onlymeasure of human satisfaction and well-being．

The index of 111 countries uses data on incomes．health．unemployment．climate,political stability, job security, gender equality as well as what the magazinecalls "freedom，family and community life"．

Despite the bad weather, troubled healthservice.traffic congestion（拥挤）, gender inequality, andthe high cost of living.Ireland scored an impressive 8.33 points out of l0．

That put it well ahead of second-place Switzerland,which managed 8.07. Zimbabwe. troubled by political insecurity and hunger, israted the gloomiest（最差的）, picking up only 3.89 points．

"Although rising incomes and increasedindividual choices are highly valued," the report said. "some of thefactors associated with modernization such as the breakdown（崩溃）in traditional institutions and family values in part take away froma positive impact."

"Ireland wins because it successfullycombines the most desirable elements of the new with the preservation ofcertain warm elements of the old, such as stable family and communitylife."

The magazine admitted measuring quality of lifeis not a straightforward thing to do, and that its findings would have theircritics.

N0.2 on the list is Switzerland．The other nations in the top 10 are Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden,Australia, Iceland, Italy, Denmark and Spain.

The UK is portioned at N0.29, a much lowerposition chiefly because of the social and family breakdown recorded inofficial statistics. The US, which has the second highest per capita GDP（人均国内生产总值）after Luxembourg, took the 13th place in the survey．China was in the lower haft of the league at 60th．

16 For 2,005 years，Irelandhas been the best place for humans to live in.