VOA慢速英語(yǔ):Anti-Corruption Group Says Abuse of Power Still ‘Very High’ in Many Countries

[ti:Anti-Corruption Group Says Abuse of Power Still ‘Very High’ in Many Countries] [ar:] [al:Economics Report] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.23]this is the Economics Report in Special English. [00:07.53]A group that brings attention to the issue of corruption [00:12.05]says levels of bribery, abuse of power [00:16.42]and secret dealings are still "very high" in many countries. [00:22.04]Transparency International this week [00:25.46]released its yearly Corruption Perceptions Index. [00:30.52]The Berlin-based group rates 176 countries [00:35.65]and territories with a number from zero to 100. [00:41.21]Bigger numbers are better. [00:43.62]The index measures the perceived, or apparent, [00:47.84]level of corruption in a country. [00:50.85]The group uses information from a number of economic sources. [00:56.52]They include the African Development Bank, [01:00.79]the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. [01:05.41]Corruption takes many forms. [01:08.57]Transparency International calls it [01:12.69]"the abuse of entrusted power for private gain." [01:17.61]One common form of corruption is bribery: [01:22.34]the use of money or gifts to persuade another person [01:27.06]to do something wrong or illegal. [01:30.47]Corruption is not easy to measure because it is secretive. [01:36.65]But the World Bank estimates that about $1 trillion in bribes [01:42.27]are paid every year worldwide. [01:45.73]Stealing public money is another form of corruption. [01:51.70]Huguette Labelle is chair of Transparency International. [01:56.33]She says the problem of corruption affects millions of people [02:02.04]and limits their ability to get necessary services. [02:06.75]"And in some countries it can be that 50 percent of the population [02:10.97]had to pay a bribe to gain access to essential services [02:14.79]like water, education, health, licenses." [02:20.30]A group of small, developed nations scored highest on the new list. [02:26.22]Denmark, Finland and New Zealand received a rating of 90. [02:32.74]Among large nations, the United States rated 73 while China rated 39. [02:42.48]The countries with the greatest perceived level of corruption [02:47.09]on the list are Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan with scores of 8. [02:54.77]Robin Hodess directs research at Transparency International. [03:00.34]She says the index can show people involved in policy decisions [03:05.82]how others see the issue of corruption in their countries. [03:10.80]"We need evidence about how corruption works. [03:13.36]We need to know where to target the reforms needed [03:16.73]to promote transparency, accountability and integrity." [03:20.74]The index measures perceptions held by experts, [03:24.51]businesses and organizations. [03:27.28]And their opinions are important. [03:30.78]The World Bank notes that countries showing improvements [03:35.55]in perception indexes had greater foreign investment and economic growth. [03:41.97]However, foreign aid and international trade [03:46.26]is less likely for countries perceived as highly corrupt.

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