Passage 1
By 1991 the level of foreign indebtedness has drastically altered the role that many developing countries play in the world trading system. Imports had been severely cut back and there was evidence of a scramble to export additional products, such as timber(木材), at heavy cost to the environment. Debt had emerged as the biggest single obstacle to development, with about 50 developing countries carrying a severe debt burden, over half of them in Africa.
At the end of 1990, developing countries owed $1,280 billion to Western countries, international aid agencies, the IMF, and banks. Their yearly earnings from international trade were under $1,000 billion; the overall debt of developing countries was therefore more than the value of their exports. To service that debt—to pay interest and repay part of the capital—cost developing countries $143. 5 billion in 1990. They received $85 billion in aid and investment from abroad, thus paying richer countries nearly $60 billion more than they receiveD. New aids and investment was wiped out by past debt. In 1991, according to OCED figures, the severely indebted low-income countries paid a higher proportion of their export revenue on debt service than at any time during the 1980s—31. 3% of such revenues, compared with 23. 8% in the 1980s.
45.Heavy debt burden has greatly blocked economy growth of the developing countries.
A、True
B、False
【正确答案】：A
【名师解析】:根据文章内容，1991年发展中国家的外债水平显著改变了它们在世界贸易体系中的角色。由于外债负担沉重，这些国家不得不削减进口，并努力增加出口，如木材，但这对环境造成了巨大代价。外债已成为发展的最大障碍，约有50个发展中国家承受着严重的债务负担，其中一半以上在非洲。1990年底，发展中国家欠西方国家、国际援助机构、国际货币基金组织和银行1280亿美元。它们的国际贸易年收入不足1000亿美元，因此发展中国家的总债务超过了它们的出口价值。1990年，发展中国家支付债务利息和部分本金的总成本为1435亿美元，而从国外获得的援助和投资仅为85亿美元，因此他们向富裕国家支付的金额比收到的多近60亿美元。1991年，根据OCED的数据，严重债务负担的低收入国家支付的出口收入比例比1980年代任何时候都高，为31.3%，而1980年代为23.8%。
从这些信息中可以看出，沉重的债务负担确实严重阻碍了发展中国家的经济增长，因为它们需要支付巨额的债务服务费用，这限制了它们可用于投资和发展的资金。因此，题目选项A "Heavy debt burden has greatly blocked economy growth of the developing countries" 是正确的。
