The “standard of living” of a country means the average person' s② share of the goods and services which the country produces. A country’ s standard of living， therefore， depends first and foremost on its capacity to produce wealth. “Wealth” in this sense is not money， for we do not live on ② money but on things that money can buy： “goods” such as food and clothing， and “services” such as transport and entertainment.
A country's capacity to produce wealth depends upon many factors， most of which have an effect on one another. Wealth depends to a great extent upon a country’s natural resources， such as coal， gold， and other minerals， water supply and so on. Some regions of the world are well supplied with coal and minerals， and have a fertile soil and a favorable climate; other regions possess none of them.
难点提示：
①一般人，老百姓
②靠……为生
参考译文：
任何一个国家的生活水平，指的是那个国家生产的产品和提供的服务为普通老百姓分享的情况。因此，一个国家的生活水平，首先取决于它创造财富的能力。在这个意义上，财富并不是指金钱，因为我们生存靠的不是钱，而是靠钱能买到的东西：比如食物和衣服这些“产品”，交通和娱乐这些“服务”。
一个国家创造财富的能力取决于很多因素，其中大部分因素相互作用。财富在很大程度上依赖于一个国家的自然资源，比如煤矿、金矿和其他矿物质、水源等等。世界上有些地区煤矿和矿物质的储量丰富，土壤肥沃，气候适宜，其他地区却一样都不具备。
（责任编辑:秩名）
