一、听力练习
1.
A. The impact of climate change on global wealth.
B. The differences in education systems between countries.
C. The formation of institutions and their effects on prosperity.
D. The role of technology in economic development.
2.
A. Increasing access to education worldwide.
B. Reducing the vast differences in income between countries.
C. Addressing climate change globally.
D. Improving healthcare systems.
3.
A. A comparison of economic growth rates.
B. The city of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora.
C. The wealth distribution in Europe.
D. The impact of globalization on local economies.
二、听力文本
The Nobel Committee has brought attention to worldwide inequalities by awarding its economic prize to three Americans: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. The Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the three won the 2024 Nobel Economics Prize “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.” Committee chair Jakob Svensson said, “Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time's greatest challenges.” He added that their research has provided “a much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed.” The wealthiest 20 percent of the world's countries are now around 30 times richer than the poorest 20 percent, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted. The difference continues although poor countries have become relatively richer. In 2021, the World Inequality Report said that the poorest half of the world's population owned just two percent of wealth while the richest 10 percent controlled 76 percent of wealth. Acemoglu and Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Robinson conducts his research at the University of Chicago. Their findings are included in the 2012 book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty written by Acemoglu and Robinson. In their work, the winners studied the city of Nogales, which sits on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Despite sharing the same geography, climate, many of the same ancestors and a common culture, life is different on either side of the border. In Nogales, Arizona, to the north, people are relatively wealthy and live long lives; most children complete high school. To the south, in Mexico's Nogales, Sonora, people are much poorer, and the city suffers from organized crime and corruption. The difference, the economists said, is a U.S. system that protects property rights and gives citizens a say in their government.
Question 1: What is the primary focus of the 2024 Nobel Economics Prize awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson?
Question 2: According to the Nobel committee, what is one of the greatest challenges of our time?
Question 3: What example did the economists use to illustrate the differences in prosperity between countries?
三、重点词汇
1. corruption: illegal, bad, or dishonest behaviour, especially by people in positions of power （尤指当权者的）贪污，腐败，堕落
四、背景知识
北京时间10月14日下午5点45分，2024年诺贝尔经济学奖揭晓，奖项花落三位美国教授——美国麻省理工学院教授Daron Acemoglu（达龙·阿杰姆奥卢）、Simon Johnson（西蒙·约翰逊）和美国芝加哥大学教授James A.Robinson（詹姆斯·鲁滨逊），他们因“研究制度如何形成并影响繁荣”理论共同获奖，该理论解释了为什么有些国家富裕，而有些国家贫穷。 2024年，诺贝尔经济学奖全额奖金为1100万瑞典克朗，约合人民币748.4万元。 诺贝尔经济学奖全称为“瑞典中央银行纪念阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔的经济学奖”， 自1969年首次颁奖以来，诺贝尔经济学奖共颁发56次，共授予96位经济学家，其中有26次为1位获奖者、20次为2位获奖者、10次为3位获奖者。（背景知识来自于https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1813596901806347798&wfr=spider&for=pc）
五、参考答案
Question 1: C
Question 2: B
Question 3: B
六、网络翻译
诺贝尔委员会通过将经济奖授予三位美国人：达龙·阿西莫格鲁、西蒙·约翰逊和詹姆斯·A·罗宾逊，引起了对全球不平等现象的关注。瑞典皇家科学院的诺贝尔委员会表示，这三人因“研究制度如何形成及其对繁荣的影响”而获得2024年诺贝尔经济学奖。委员会主席雅各布·斯文森表示：“缩小国家间巨大的收入差距是我们时代最大的挑战之一。”他补充说，他们的研究提供了“更深刻的理解，揭示了国家成功或失败的根本原因。”瑞典皇家科学院指出，世界上最富有的20%国家的财富约是最贫穷的20%国家的30倍。尽管贫穷国家相对变得更富裕，这一差距依然存在。2021年《世界不平等报告》指出，全球最贫穷的一半人口仅拥有2%的财富，而最富有的10%控制着76%的财富。阿西莫格鲁和约翰逊在麻省理工学院工作，而罗宾逊则在芝加哥大学进行研究。他们的研究成果被收录在阿西莫格鲁和罗宾逊2012年出版的书籍《国家为何失败：权力、繁荣与贫困的起源》中。在他们的研究中，获奖者考察了位于美墨边界两侧的诺加莱斯市。尽管共享相同的地理、气候、许多共同的祖先和文化，边界两侧的生活却截然不同。在北边的亚利桑那州诺加莱斯，人们相对富裕，寿命较长；大多数孩子完成高中教育。而在南边的墨西哥诺加莱斯，人们则相对贫穷，城市面临有组织犯罪和腐败问题。经济学家表示，这种差异源于美国的制度，保护财产权并赋予公民对政府的发言权。
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