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QUESTION-TYPE BASED TESTS
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TEST 6 - Wealth in A Cold Climate
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs,
A-G.
Choose the most suitable heading for paragraphs A-G from the list of
headings below.
List of Headings
i
The positive correlation between climate and wealth
ii
Other factors besides climate that influence wealth
iii
Inspiration from reading a book
iv
Other researchers’ results do not rule out exceptional cases
v
Different attributes between Eurasia and Africa
vi
Low temperature benefits people and crops
vii
The importance of institution in traditional views
viii
The
spread of crops in Europe, Asia and other places
ix
The best way to use aid
x
Confusions and exceptions
Latitude is crucial to a nation's economic strength.
A.
Dr William Masters was reading a book about mosquitoes when inspiration struck. "There was this
anecdote about the great yellow fever epidemic that hit Philadelphia in 1793,” Masters recalls. “This
epidemic decimated the city until the first frost came." The inclement weather froze out the insects, allowing
Philadelphia to recover.
B.
If weather could be the key to a city’s fortunes, Masters thought, then why not to
the historical fortunes of
nations? And could frost lie at the heart of one of the most enduring economic mysteries of all—why are
almost all the wealthy, industrialised nations to be found at latitudes above 40 degrees? After two years of
research, he thinks that he has found a piece of the puzzle. Masters, an agricultural economist from Purdue
University in Indiana, and Margaret McMillan at Tufts University, Boston, show that annual frosts are
among the factors that distinguish rich nations from poor ones. Their study is published this month in the
Journal of Economic Growth. The pair speculate that cold snaps have two main benefits - they freeze pests
that would otherwise destroy crops, and also freeze organisms,
such as mosquitoes, that carry disease. The
result is agricultural abundance and a big workforce.
C.
The academics took two sets of information. The first was average income for countries, the second
climate data from the University of East Anglia. They found a curious tally between the sets. Countries
having five or more frosty days a month are uniformly rich, those with fewer than five are impoverished.
The authors speculate that the five-day figure is important; it could be the minimum time needed to kill pests
in the soil. Masters says: "For example, Finland is a small country that is growing quickly, but Bolivia is a
small country that isn’t growing at all. Perhaps climate has something to do with that.” In fact,
limited frosts
bring huge benefits to farmers. The chills kill insects or render them inactive; cold weather slows the break-
up of plant and animal material in the soil, allowing it to become richer; and frosts ensure a build-up of
moisture in the ground for spring, reducing dependence on seasonal rains. There are exceptions to the “cold
equals rich” argument. There are well-heeled tropical places such as Hong Kong and Singapore, a result of
their superior trading positions.
Like-wise, not all European countries are moneyed in the former communist
colonies, economic potential was crushed by politics.
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