外研社高中英语必修三第二单元课文
外研社高中英语必修三第二模块课文（注： 外研版没有单元之说。
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Module 2 Reading
The HumanDevelopment Report
In the year 2000, 147 world leaders agreed to work together to reduce poverty by 2015 or earlier. From this agreement came the HumanDevelopment Report.
One of the most important sections of this report is The Human Development Index. This examines the achievements of 175 countries. The index measures a country's achievements in three ways: life expectancy (how long people usually live), education and ine. The index has some surprises. Norway is at the top of the list, while the US is at number 7. The other topfive countries are: Iceland (2), Sweden (3), Australia (4), the Netherlands(5). The UK is in the thirteenth position, while China is in the middle of the list. The bottomten countries are all African countries, with Sierra Leone (in West Africa) atthe bottom of the list.
The report describes eight development goals. The most important goals are to:
· reduce poverty and hunger;
· make sure thatall children have education up to theage of 11;
· fight AIDS and other diseases;
· improve the environment of poor people, e.g. make sure they have safe drinking water;
· encourage developed countries to givemore help to other countries.
The 2003 Human Development Report gives examples of successful development. For example, in nine years (1953–1962), China increased life expectancy by 13 years. In the last ten years in China, 150 million people moved out of poverty. However, the challenges are still great. Every day799 million people in developing countries are hungry. Over half of these are in South Asia or Africa. Although more than 80% of children in developing countries go to primary school, about 115 million children are not being educated. More than 1 billion people in developing countries do not drink safe water. However, in other regions of the world, e.g. Eastern Europe, water is now mostly safe to drink.
The report shows that we are making some progress but that we need to make greater efforts. Although developed countries give some financial help, they need to give much more. Interestingly, the countries that give the most money are the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. These are among the five richest countries in the world, so it is right that they should do so.
