Text B. Poverty

Unit 1 Wealth and Poverty

Pre-reading task

I. Answer the questions:

1. What do you think it moans to be wealthy?

2. Why are some people wealthier than others?

3. What does poverty mean?

4. Is there a way to define it?

5. How many people in the world do you think live in poverty?

6. Do you believe people in industrialized countries live in poverty?

II. Vocabulary practice:

1. Match the words and phrases with the definitions:

a) valuable b) invest c) pension scheme d) static e) belongings f) flow g) distribution h) interest i) savings j) inequality k) extent l) stocks and shares m) store

1. to lend money to a company or bank in order to earn more money 2. how large or important something is 3. the way in which a supply of something, like money, is shared among people 4. money put somewhere for later use, for example in the bank 5. immobile, not moving 6. unfairness 7. a way of saving money for when you get old and stop working 8. things someone owns, but usually things that can be moved 9. if you save money in a bank, you get this extra money for keeping it there 10. movement like a river 11. important or worth money 12. a collection or supply of things kept for later use 13. part of the value of a company - people buy and sell these

2. Complete each sentence with a word or phrase from the box:

Absolute associate average corruption cycle define generation natural disasters shelter trap

1. We………………high crime rates with poverty and unemployment.

2. Having a…………..a roof over your head, is a basic need of humankind.

3. How does the dictionary……………..this word?

4. Floods, droughts, hurricanes and other……………are happening more frequently.

5. Giving money secretly to judges or politicians so that they help you is an example of………….

6. Hunters will sometimes set a…………….instead of using a gun.

7. Let’s hope the next…………….finally put an end to hunger and poverty.

8. The world's water supply is a…………….which involves the sea, rainfall and rivers.

9. If somebody lives in………………poverty, that means they are completely without money to buy basic necessities.

10. The……………..salary at that company is very high.

Reading 1

Pronunciation Guide

Wealth [welθ]

Income [ɪnkʌm]

Equality [ɪˈkwɒləti]

Account [ə´kaʊnt]

Precious [´preʃəs]

Doubt [daʊt]

Measure [´meʒə(r)]

Drought [draʊt]

Flood [flʌd]

Corruption [kə´rʌpʃ(ə)n]

Cycle [cycle]

Text A. Wealth and income

What does it mean to be wealthy? The answer to this question varies from culture to culture. In the modernized, industrial world that we live in, wealth generally means all the collected store of valuable things that belong to a person (or family, company or country). Wealth can include money saved in bank accounts, or invested in pension schemes. It can include land, houses or other properly and valuable belongings such as works of art or precious jewels. Many people also own stocks and shares in companies. The various things that make up a persons wealth are often called asserts.

So wealth is a static thing. The term income, on the other hand, suggests a flow of money. Income is the amount of money that a person (or family or company) receives over a period of time. For most people, this means the salary they get for the work they do. However, there are other sources of income. One source is government benefits, such as unemployment benefit or family support. Another source is rent from property and another is interest from savings.

Huge inequalities in wealth owned by individuals exist in many countries. Take the United Kingdom for example. A fifth of all the marketable wealth is owned by just one per cent of the UK's population. That one per cent own over £355 billion of assets. In other words, half the population own nearly all the wealth and the other half own only a tiny percentage. The richest one per cent of the population own over a fifth of all the country's wealth.

Text B. Poverty

Without a doubt poverty is a huge problem in the world today. Figures suggest that three billion people or half the world’s population live ill poverty. However, although we associate poverty with developing countries, poverty of some kind also exists in industrialized nations. For example, it is now thought that quite possibly one in every ten Americans lives in poverty. However, poverty means different things to different people. How do economists define poverty?

One measure of poverty is absolute poverty.People live in absolute poverty when they live on or below the poverty line. This is a level of income that is so low that people cannot afford the basic necessities to live, such as food, clothing and shelter. According to the World Bank, these are people who are living on two dollars a day.

However, there are one billion people in the world who live on less than one dollar a day. The World Bank defines this as extreme poverty.

Few people in industrialized countries live in absolute poverty, but many live in relative poverty. This measure of poverty takes into account the differences that exist in a population between the rich and the poor. For example, some economists say that people who earn less than half the average income live in relative poverty. In Britain, this means 14 million people.

Why does poverty still exist? There is no single answer to this question. In developing countries, causes of absolute poverty include natural disasters like droughts and floods, political corruption and war. However, in many cases people and whole populations – are caught in a trap; the poverty trap.

People on a low income spend everything they have on daily necessities. They save almost nothing. In order to raise themselves out of poverty, they need education. This costs money. Even when governments provide free schooling the poor may not send their children because they need them to work. These families cannot afford the cost of sending a child to school. Without education the children cannot find better paid work. In this way, generations of the same family remain poor.

The same cycle that traps individuals can trap a whole population. Economic growth depends on investment. Investment money comes from saving. A nation that has almost no savings cannot grow economically. This keeps wages low, so again people cannot save and the cycle continues.

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