2017年12月英语四级听力VOA慢速英语原文（二十一）思维导图

SupportersofabilltoraiseCalifornia'sminimumwagecelebrateoutsidethestateSenateChamberafterthemeasurewasapprovedbytheSenate,March31,2016,inSacramento,California.(APPhoto/RichPedroncelli)

AsAmericansdiscusstheissueofincomeinequalityinanelectionyear,anewstudysaysrichpeoplewillliveupto15yearslongerthanpoorones.

Arich40-year-oldmanintheUnitedStatescanexpecttoliveuntilabout87.Apoor40-year-oldmanmightonlyliveuntil73.

ThedifferenceinlengthoflifeasitrelatestoincomeispartofanewstudypublishedintheJournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociation.

TheHealthInequalityProjectstudiedabout1.4billionincometaxrecordsfroma15-yearperiodendingin2014.Whilepeoplemighthaveguessedthatwealthallowsforalongerlife,thestudyreviewedmoredatathananysimilarstudiesinthepast.

VermontSenatorBernieSandersisrunningfortheDemocraticPartynomination.HeoftentalksofthegapbetweenrichandpoorintheUnitedStates.Richpeoplehavebetteraccesshealthcarethanpoorpeople,andthatcanincreasetheirlifespan.

Sanderslaunchedhiscampaignalmostayearago.Inhisspeech,hesaid,“theissueofwealthandincomeinequalityisthegreatmoralissueofourtime,itisthegreateconomicissueofourtimeanditisthegreatpoliticalissueofourtime.”

AngusDeatonwroteacolumnaboutthestudyonthemedicalassociation’swebsite.HesaysastudyliketheHealthInequalityProjectisimportantbecauseitwillhelppeopleunderstandwhether“taxanddistributionpoliciescouldbeeffectivetoolsofpublichealthandpotentiallyextendlifeexpectancy.”

Thestudybackeduptheassumptionthatwealthypeoplelivelongerthanpoorpeople.Butitalsorevealedsomethingnew.

Theresearcherssayitisnotonlybadtobepoor.TheysayitisworsetobepoorincertainpartsoftheUnitedStatesthanothers.

PoorpeopleindepressedcitieslikeDetroit,Michigan;Toledo,Ohio;andGary,IndianaareworseoffthanpoorpeopleinplaceslikeSanFrancisco,CaliforniaandNewYorkCity.

Recently,thegovernorofMichigandeclaredastateofemergencyinthecityofFlint.Thewatersupplyforits100,000residentsbecamecontaminatedwithlead.

Drinkingwatercontaminatedwithleadisharmfultopeople’shealth,accordingtotheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency.

TheNationalAssociationfortheAdvancementofColoredPeople(orNAACP)isanorganizationthatfightsagainstdiscrimination.Itsaysmorewouldhavebeendone“ifnearly40percentofFlintresidentswerenotlivingbelowthepovertyline.”

Theoppositeisalsotrue.Theresearcherssaypoorpeoplewholivenearrichpeoplemaybehealthierbecausetheyseebetterexamplesofhowtolive.Theyalsomaybehealthierbecausewealthierplacesusuallyhavebetterpublichealthservices.

Atthesametime,poorpeoplewillstruggleevenmoreindepressedcities.

Theauthorsofthestudysaytheyareawareofsomeoftheproblemswiththeirreport.Forexample,thestudymeasureslifeexpectancystartingatage40.Thatdoesnotfullyconsidercausesofdeaththataffectyoungerpeopleandchildren.

Theyalsosaythereisnotagoodwaytounderstandsomeofthecoincidentalbenefitsofhavingahigherincome.

DeatonwritesthewealthiestpeopleintheUnitedStatesgainanextra10-15yearstoenjoytheir“richlyfundedlives.”Andthereisnowaytoputavalueon10-15yearsofgoodliving.

WordsinThisStory

incometax–n.ataxpaidonthemoneythatapersonorbusinessearns

guess–v.toformanopinionorgiveanansweraboutsomethingwhenyoudonotknowmuchoranythingaboutit

trail–n.aroutethatsomeonefollowstogosomewhereorachievesomething

gap–n.aspacebetweentwopeopleorthings

inequality–n.anunfairsituationinwhichsomepeoplehavemorerightsorbetterchancesthanotherpeople

column–n.anopinionpiecethatoftenappearsinanewspaperormagazine

assumption–n.somethingthatisbelievedtobetrueorprobablytruebutthatisnotknowntobetrue

coincidence–n.asituationinwhicheventshappenatthesametimeinawaythatisnotplannedorexpected

fund-v.toprovidemoneyfor(something)