Since 2000, the number of children who die before they are five has fallen by almost half, to 5.6 million. Life expectancy has reached 71, a gain of five years. More children than ever are vaccinated. Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS are in retreat (撤退). Yet the gap between this progress and the still greater potential that medicine offers has perhaps never been wider. At least half, the world is without access to what the World Health Organization regards to be essential. Safe, basic surgery is out of reach for 5 billion people. Those who can get to see a doctor often pay a very high price. However, the goal of universal basic health care is sensible affordable and practical, even in poor countries. Without it, the potential of modern medicine will not be realized. Universal basic health care is sensible in the way that universal basic education is sensible -because it yields benefits to society as well as to individuals. In some regions the very idea leads to a dangerous elevation (升高) of the blood pressure. There is no hiding that public health-insurance schemes require the rich to subsidise the poor, the young to subsidise the old and the healthy to subsidise the sick. And universal schemes must have a way of forcing people to pay, through taxes or by commanding that they buy insurance. But good health is something everyone can reasonably be assumed to want in order to realize their full individual potential. Universal care is a way of providing it that is pro-growth. The costs of inaccessible and expensive treatment are enormous. The sick struggle to get an education or to be productive at work. Land cannot be developed if it is full of disease carrying parasites. According to several studies, confidence about health makes people more likely to set up their own businesses. Universal basic health care is also affordable. A country need not wait to be rich before it can have comprehensive treatment. Health care is a labour-intensive industry, and community health workers, paid relatively little compared with doctors and nurses, can make a big difference in poor countries. There is also already a lot of spending on health in poor countries, but it is often inefficient. In India and Nigeria, for example, more than 60% of health spending is through out-of pocket (垫付的) payments. More services could be provided if that money were pooled. And universal health care is practical. It is a way to prevent free-riders from passing on the costs of not being covered to others, for example by making emergency rooms crowded. It does not have to mean big government. Private insurers and providers can still play an important role. Indeed such an approach is just what the low-cost revolution needs. Take, for instance, the design of health-insurance schemes. Many countries start by making a small group of people qualified for a large number of benefits, in the expectation that other groups will be added later. This is not only unfair and inefficient, but also results in creating voters opposed to extending insurance to others. The better option is to cover as many people as possible, even if the services available are lacking. Small amounts of spending can go a long way. Research led by Dean Jamison, a health economist, has identified over 200 effective interventions, including immunisations and neglected procedures such as basic surgery. In total, these would cost poor countries about an extra ＄1 per week per person and cut the number of premature deaths there by more than a quarter. Around half that funding would go to primary health centers, not city hospitals, which today receive more than their fair share of the money. Indeed, so long as half the world goes without essential treatment, the fruits of centuries of medical science will be wasted. Universal basic health care can help realize its promise.1. People expected the progress in health care would _______.A: benefit the rich and the young moreB: improve community health workers' working conditionsC: lead to the accessibility of basic health careD: make governments invest more in health care2. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 implies that _______.A: it is more important to develop organic farmingB: it is better to develop the potential of individualsC: keeping fit is of great importance for peopleD: technology can compensate for the disadvantages of land3. The examples of India and Nigeria tell us that in such countries _______.A: improving the efficiency of spending on health care is urgentB: getting basic health care is convenientC: the majority of doctors and nurses are paid littleD: people are dissatisfied with governments' investment in health care4. What can we learn from Paragraph 4?A: Rich countries can make universal basic health care more accessible.B: Health-insurance projects should cover as many people as possible.C: More private companies should participate in the practice of medical care.D: Governments should give more free-riders basic health care.5. What does the research led by Dean Jamison suggest?A: Hospitals in poor countries should be reformed.B: Advances in medical science depend on rich countries.C: The governments of poor countries should be given more help.D: The low spending on primary health centers is significant.

    By many measures the world has never been in better health. Since 2000, the number of children who die before they are five has fallen by almost half, to 5.6 million. Life expectancy has reached 71, a gain of five years. More children than ever are vaccinated. Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS are in retreat (撤退). Yet the gap between this progress and the still greater potential that medicine offers has perhaps never been wider. At least half, the world is without access to what the World Health Organization regards to be essential. Safe, basic surgery is out of reach for 5 billion people. Those who can get to see a doctor often pay a very high price. However, the goal of universal basic health care is sensible affordable and practical, even in poor countries. Without it, the potential of modern medicine will not be realized.

    Universal basic health care is sensible in the way that universal basic education is sensible -because it yields benefits to society as well as to individuals. In some regions the very idea leads to a dangerous elevation (升高) of the blood pressure. There is no hiding that public health-insurance schemes require the rich to subsidise the poor, the young to subsidise the old and the healthy to subsidise the sick. And universal schemes must have a way of forcing people to pay, through taxes or by commanding that they buy insurance. But good health is something everyone can reasonably be assumed to want in order to realize their full individual potential. Universal care is a way of providing it that is pro-growth. The costs of inaccessible and expensive treatment are enormous. The sick struggle to get an education or to be productive at work. Land cannot be developed if it is full of disease carrying parasites. According to several studies, confidence about health makes people more likely to set up their own businesses.

    Universal basic health care is also affordable. A country need not wait to be rich before it can have comprehensive treatment. Health care is a labour-intensive industry, and community health workers, paid relatively little compared with doctors and nurses, can make a big difference in poor countries. There is also already a lot of spending on health in poor countries, but it is often inefficient. In India and Nigeria, for example, more than 60% of health spending is through out-of pocket (垫付的) payments. More services could be provided if that money were pooled.

    And universal health care is practical. It is a way to prevent free-riders from passing on the costs of not being covered to others, for example by making emergency rooms crowded. It does not have to mean big government. Private insurers and providers can still play an important role. Indeed such an approach is just what the low-cost revolution needs. Take, for instance, the design of health-insurance schemes. Many countries start by making a small group of people qualified for a large number of benefits, in the expectation that other groups will be added later. This is not only unfair and inefficient, but also results in creating voters opposed to extending insurance to others. The better option is to cover as many people as possible, even if the services available are lacking.

    Small amounts of spending can go a long way. Research led by Dean Jamison, a health economist, has identified over 200 effective interventions, including immunisations and neglected procedures such as basic surgery. In total, these would cost poor countries about an extra ＄1 per week per person and cut the number of premature deaths there by more than a quarter. Around half that funding would go to primary health centers, not city hospitals, which today receive more than their fair share of the money. Indeed, so long as half the world goes without essential treatment, the fruits of centuries of medical science will be wasted. Universal basic health care can help realize its promise.

1. People expected the progress in health care would _______.

A: benefit the rich and the young more

B: improve community health workers' working conditions

C: lead to the accessibility of basic health care

D: make governments invest more in health care

2. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 implies that _______.

A: it is more important to develop organic farming

B: it is better to develop the potential of individuals

C: keeping fit is of great importance for people

D: technology can compensate for the disadvantages of land

3. The examples of India and Nigeria tell us that in such countries _______.

A: improving the efficiency of spending on health care is urgent

B: getting basic health care is convenient

C: the majority of doctors and nurses are paid little

D: people are dissatisfied with governments' investment in health care

4. What can we learn from Paragraph 4?

A: Rich countries can make universal basic health care more accessible.

B: Health-insurance projects should cover as many people as possible.

C: More private companies should participate in the practice of medical care.

D: Governments should give more free-riders basic health care.

5. What does the research led by Dean Jamison suggest?

A: Hospitals in poor countries should be reformed.

B: Advances in medical science depend on rich countries.

C: The governments of poor countries should be given more help.

D: The low spending on primary health centers is significant.