The United States estimates that about one out of every 10 people on the planet today is at least 60 years old. By 2050, it’s projected to be one out of 5. This means that not only will there be more old people, but there will be relatively fewer young people to support them.
Professor Richard Lee of the University of California at Berkeley says this aging of the world has a great effect on economics. “Population aging increases the concentration of population in the older ages and therefore it is costly,” he said.
Aging populations consume (消耗) more and produce less. With more people living longer, it could get expensive. But Mr. Lee says with continuing increases in worker productivity and smart planning, it can be manageable.
Societies have different methods for caring for the elderly, but each carries a cost. Generally, there are three types of support. Seniors can live off the wealth they gained when they were younger. They can rely on their family to take care of them, or they can rely on the government.
In industrialized nations, governments created publicly-funded (公共资助的) support systems. These worked relatively well until recent years, when aging population growth in places like the United States and Western Europe began to gradually weaken the systems finances. These nations now face some tough choices. Mr. Lee says the elderly in some of these countries must either receive less money, retire later or increase taxes to make the system continuable.
Most developing nations haven’t built this type of government-funded support, but have instead relied on families to care for their elderly. These nations also generally have a much younger population, which means their situation is not as urgent as more developed nations. But Mr. Lee says that doesn’t mean they can ignore the issue. “Third World countries should give very careful thought to this process, to population aging and how it may affect their economies — now, before population aging even becomes an issue,” he explained.
32. “Aging” in this text means .
A. there are more young people than old people
B. an increasing number of old people are dying
C. more and more young people are growing old
D. the percentage of old people in the world is increasing
33. What is Professor Richard Lee’s attitude towards population aging?
A. Indifferent. B. Optimistic. C. Negative. D. Worried.
34. The publicly-funded support systems in industrialized nations .
A. are facing the risk of failing
B. have failed to provide support for the old
C. will be replaced by other support systems
D. have greatly affected the nations’ economies
35. We can infer from the text that developing nations .
A. should prepare for population aging
B. don’t see population aging as an issue
C. are facing urgent situations of population aging
D. have better ways to deal with population aging