Reading for Success 1

UNIT 7
POVERTY
Facts about "Poverty":
- Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their
fifth birthday.

- More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day...300

million are children.

- The poorest 40 % of the world’s population accounts for 5 % of

global income.

Pre-reading Questions:

1. What does the picture say?

2. What are the causes of poverty?
3. Which one is more problematic, poverty or lack of sanitation?
Why?

49
 Unit 7: Poverty

Living on Nothing

Poverty1 is a reality of the modern world and nobody can deny2 it.
Whether you live in the wealthiest nations or the poorest, you will
see its signs.

Nowadays, more than one billion people in the world live on less than
one dollar a day. Another 2.7 billion struggle3 to survive on less than
two dollars per day.

In most nations today, inequality —the gap between the rich and the
poor— is high and often widening. While the poorest 40% of the
world’s population earns 5% of global income, the richest 20% earns
75% of world income. This gap seems more widening when we hear
that the top 1% of the world’s richest people earn as much as the
poorest 57%.

Poverty in the developing world, however, goes far beyond income

poverty. It means having to walk more than one-mile everyday simply
to collect water and firewood; it means suffering diseases that were
utterly4 removed from rich countries decades ago and it means that
more than 2.6 billion people —over 40 % of the world's population— do
not have basic sanitation and more than one billion are hungry.

It is very disappointing5 when we hear that while every day almost

16000 children die from hunger, only in the United States as much as
30 % of food, worth some $48.3 billion, is thrown away.

1
not having enough money to pay for basic needs
2
to say that something is not true
3
to experience difficulty in order to do something
4
completely or extremely
5
make you feel unhappy

50
Reading for Success 1

Reading Comprehension

A. Choose the correct answer for each question:

1. Poverty exists in………….
a. the poorest nations
b. the wealthiest countries
c. both the wealthiest and the poorest countries

2. 1% of the richest people in the world earn the income of …………….

a. 75% of the poorest ones
b. 57% of the poorest people
c. the poorest 40% of the world's population

3. According to the 4th paragraph……………

a. Poverty is limited to income poverty
b. Rich countries suffer from sanitation poverty
c. Developing countries suffer from different types of poverty

4. Of 7 billion people in the world, less than…… suffer from poverty.

a. 30%
b. 50%
c. 75%

B. Read the sentences; put T for TRUE or F for FALSE. If a sentence is false,
change it and make it true:
1. Poverty can be seen not only in developed countries but in poor nations.
2. It is possible to live well in the world on less than one dollar a day.
3. The income of 57% of the poorest equals to that of 1% of the richest.
4. In developing countries, the number of hungry people is more than those
suffering from sanitation.

51
 Unit 7: Poverty

C. Read the passage and find the following information:

Paragraph Answer
number
1. The number of people who live on less than 2
dollars
2. The reason of 16000 children's death everyday
3. The number of people who does not have basic
sanitation
4. The nation which ranks first in wasting food

D. Match two halves of each sentence:

1. Living in rich or poor countries,a. it also is seen in wealthy
societies.
2. Although more than one billion b. everyone can see the signs of
people live in absolute poverty, poverty.
3. Poverty not only seen in poor c. but they can be found in some
countries, poor countries.
4. Some diseases were removed from d. people in some rich countries
rich countries, waste a lot of food every year.

E. In each sentence, circle the best answer. The words in italics are from the
passage:
1. Today, in most parts of the world, inequality is widening. That is, the
gap between the rich and the poor is …………….
a. collecting b. earning c. increasing
2. The richest 20% earns 75% of the world income. In other words, they
……………… three-fourth of global income.
a. gain b. deny c. remove
3. Hearing the facts about poverty is disappointing, it means wee feel …….
when we are aware of these facts.
a. satisfactory b. depressed c. pleasing

52
Reading for Success 1

Vocabulary Comprehension

F. Match the words with their definitions:

( ) wealthy a. to make something wider
( ) income b. wood used as fuel for a fire
( ) firewood c. money that is earned from doing work
( ) widen d. having a particular value, especially in money
( ) suffer e. to experience physical or mental pain
( ) worth f. having a lot of money or valuable things

G. Odd Word Out: for each group, circle the word that does not belong. The
words in italics are vocabulary items from the passage:
1. a. struggle b. conflict c. fight d. hungry
2. a. grow b. increase c. widen d. remove
3. a. gain b. deny c. obtain d. earn

H. Complete the sentences with the words from Part E.

1. Economic growth creates both ………………. and poverty.
2. Most of the villagers rely on farming for ………………. .
3. Capital systems …………….the gap between the rich and the poor.
4. When famine comes, it is the children who ………………. most.
5. Helping the poor was hard work, but it was ………………. it in the end.

I. Match the word in left column with its antonym in right column.
1. poverty a. narrow
2. earn b. full
3. inequality c. remain
4. widen d. wealth
5. remove e. spend
6. hungry f. equality

53
 Unit 7: Poverty

Vocabulary Skill
The prefixes in- and im-
"in and "im" are prefixes that mean "not". They can come at the
beginning of an adjective or adverb. For example, "impossible" is
made of im + possible. Recognizing and remembering what these
prefixes mean can help you to understand more words.

J. Look at the words below. Add the prefix "im -" and "-in" to each one to make a
noun.
- perfect: …………………..
- direct: …………………..
- mobile: …………………..
- security: …………………..

K. Complete the following sentences with the above words:

1. The government is facing a financial …………… .
2. She sat ………………, wondering how to feed her kids.
3. An ……………… economic system may lead to many social problems.
4. ……………… effects of the fighting include disease and food shortage.

Language Focus
Word Order (2)

When an indirect object (I) is added to the sentence, the word order would
be SVOI or SVIO. Examples:
1. Rich countries (S) don’t give (V) enough facilities (I) to poor countries (O).
Rich countries don’t give poor countries enough facilities.
2. Poverty (S) brings (V) misfortune (I) for children (O).
Poverty brings children misfortune.

54
Reading for Success 1

L. Rearrange the words in order to make complete sentences.

1. UN / them / brought / so much / happiness.
…………………………………..
2. we / our money / prefer / to the poor / to give.
…………………………………..
3. will give /the UN / to poor areas /Aid.
…………………………………..
4. explained/ poverty / the students / the teacher / to.
…………………………………..

Cloze

M. Complete the passage by filling in the blanks with the words in the box:
safe / divorce / largely / region / affluent / homelessness

Homelessness is ………. an urban phenomenon, and it can be seen in every

………. of the world from developing countries to the most ……… countries. At
any given time today in America, there are about half a million people who
are "homeless" -they don't have a ………. place to live. Around the world
there are more than 100 million homeless people, and many of them are
women and children. ……….is one of the world's most serious problems.
While there are many reasons why people become homeless, including
mental illness, drugs, war, ………. and violence, most people are homeless
because they are poor.

Pair Work

N. According to the above passage, answer the following questions i n pairs:

1. Can we see homelessness in developed countries?
2. What are the causes of homelessness?

55
 Unit 7: Poverty

O. Pay attention to the words in the left column. First write their parts of speech,
then circle their meanings,
Word Part of speech
Meaning
(N / V / Adj / Adv)
Safe secure / dangerous
Divorce separation / marriage
Largely mainly / rarely
Region area / custom
Affluent poor / rich

Discussion

P. Discuss the following question with your classmates:

- Despite the challenges ahead, in what ways can we reduce the poverty in
our country?

56