豆知识 2011-01-02&01-08 四分钟了解200个国家过去2

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Now, I’mgoing to show you the world 200 years ago, in 1810. Here come all the countries,Europe brown, Asia red, Mideast green, Africa South of Sahara blue, and theAmericas yellow. And the size of country bubble shows the size of population. Andin 1810, it was pretty crowded down there, wasn’t it? All countries were sickand poor, life expectancy was below forty in all countries, and only UK and theNetherlands were slightly better off,but not much.

 

And now,I start the world. The industrial revolution makes countries in Europe andelsewhere move away from the rest, but the colonized³ countries in Asia andAfrica, they are stuck down there. And eventually, the Western countries gethealthier and healthier.

 

And now,we slow down to show the impact of the First World War, and the Spanish fluepidemic. What a catastrophe⁴!

 

And nowI speed up through the 1920s and the 1930s. And in spite⁵ of the GreatDepression, western countries forge⁶ ontowards greater wealth and health, Japan and some others try to follow, butmost countries stay down here.

 

Now,after the tragedies of the Second World War, we stop a bit to look at the worldin 1948. 1948 was a great year: the war was over, Sweden topped the medal tableat the Winter Olympics and I was born. But the difference (口误) between the countries over theworld was wider than ever. United State was in the front, Japan was catchingup, Brazil was way behind, Iran was getting a little richer from oil, but stillhad short lives. And the Asian giants: China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh andIndonesia, they were still poor and sick down here, but look what is about tohappen!

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