Question 7
ComprehensionJAMB 1994 Passage II: The poor in developing countries
In many places in the world today, the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer, and the programmes of development planning and foreign aid appear to be unable to reverse this trend. Nearly all the developing countries have a modern sector, where the patterns of living and working are similar to those in developed countries. But they also have a non-modern sector, where the patterns of living and working are not only unsatisfactory, but in many cases are even getting worse.
What is the typical condition of the poor in developing countries? Their work opportunities are so limited that they cannot work their way out of their situation. They are under-employed, or totally unemployed. When they do find occasional work, their productivity is extremely low. Some of them have land, but often too little land. Many have no land, and no prospect of ever getting any. There is no hope for them in the rural areas, and so they drift into the big cities. But there is no work for them in the big cities either — and of course no housing. All the same, they flock into the cities becasue their chances of finding some work appear to be greater there than in the villages — where such chances are nil. Rural unemployment, then, produces mass migration into the cities. Rural unemployment becomes urban unemployment.
The problem can be stated quite simply: what can be done to promote economic growth in the small towns and villages which still contain about eighty to ninety per cent of the population? The primary need is work places, literally millions of work places. No one, of course, would suggest that output per worker is unimportant. But the primary aim cannot be to maximize output per worker; it must be to maximize work opportunities for the unemployed and the under-employed. The poor man's greatest need is the chance to work. Even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than no work at all. It is therefore more important that everybody should produce something, than that a few people should each produce a great deal. And in most developing countries, this can only be achieved by using an appropriate intermediate technology.
What is the typical condition of the poor in developing countries? Their work opportunities are so limited that they cannot work their way out of their situation. They are under-employed, or totally unemployed. When they do find occasional work, their productivity is extremely low. Some of them have land, but often too little land. Many have no land, and no prospect of ever getting any. There is no hope for them in the rural areas, and so they drift into the big cities. But there is no work for them in the big cities either — and of course no housing. All the same, they flock into the cities becasue their chances of finding some work appear to be greater there than in the villages — where such chances are nil. Rural unemployment, then, produces mass migration into the cities. Rural unemployment becomes urban unemployment.
The problem can be stated quite simply: what can be done to promote economic growth in the small towns and villages which still contain about eighty to ninety per cent of the population? The primary need is work places, literally millions of work places. No one, of course, would suggest that output per worker is unimportant. But the primary aim cannot be to maximize output per worker; it must be to maximize work opportunities for the unemployed and the under-employed. The poor man's greatest need is the chance to work. Even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than no work at all. It is therefore more important that everybody should produce something, than that a few people should each produce a great deal. And in most developing countries, this can only be achieved by using an appropriate intermediate technology.
Which of the following statements best explains the meaning of the phrase 'reverse this trend' as used in the text?
- A.return to the former state of affairs
- B.reappraise the programmes
- C.improve the situation
- D.make the rich become poor
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: A (return to the former state of affairs)
Explanation
To reverse a trend is to turn it back the other way, i.e. stop the poor getting poorer and go back to the former state of affairs.