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.
42.Developing countries export timber in order to pay the debt.
A、True
B、False
【正确答案】：A
【名师解析】:根据文章内容，发展中国家为了偿还债务，不得不削减进口并寻求出口更多产品，其中包括木材，尽管这会对环境造成严重损害。文章中明确提到发展中国家出口木材是为了偿还债务，因此选项A "Developing countries export timber in order to pay the debt." 是正确的。
