【B1】______ [br] 【B7】______ [originaltext] The "standard of living" of any co

The "standard of living" of any country means the average person’s (26) share of the goods and services which the country produces. A country’s standard of living, therefore, depends first and (27) foremost on its capacity to produce wealth. "Wealth" in this (28) sense is not money, for we do not live on money but on (29) things that money can buy: "goods" such as food and (30) clothing, and "services" such as transport and (31) entertainment.
     A country’s capacity to produce wealth depends upon many (32) factors, most of which have an (33) effect on one another. Wealth depends to a great extent upon a country’s natural resources, such as coal, gold and other materials, water supply and so on. (34) Next to natural resources comes the ability to turn them to use.
     Sound and stable political conditions, and freedom from foreign invasion, enable a country to develop its natural resources peacefully and steadily, and (35) to produce more wealth than any other country equally well served by nature but less well ordered. Another important factor is the technical efficiency of a country’s people. Wealth also produces wealth. As a country becomes wealthier, its people have a large margin for saving, and can (36) put their savings into factories and machines which will help workers to turn out more goods in their working day.