1 . Oil and gas have made Qatar (卡塔尔) the richest country in the world-rich enough to be ready to spend $200 billion for the 2022 World Cup. But has limitless wealth brought the country happiness?
“We have become urban,” says Dr Kaltham Al Ghanim a professor at Qatar University. “Our social and economic life has changed-families have become separated; consumption culture has taken over.”
From desperate poverty less than a century ago, this, after all, has become the richest nation in the world. What’s less well understood is the influence of such rapid change on Qatari society itself. You can feel the pressure in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The city is a building site, with whole districts either under construction or being destroyed for redevelopment. The local media report that 40% of Qatari marriages now end in divorce. More than two-thirds of Qataris, adults and children, are overweight.
Qataris benefit from free education, free healthcare, job guarantees, even free water and electricity, but abundance has created its own problems.“It’s confusing for graduates to be faced with 20 job offers,” one academic at an American university campus in Qatar says.“People feel huge pressure to make the right decision.”
In a society where Qataris are outnumbered roughly seven-to-one by foreigners, long-term residents (居民) speak of a growing frustration among graduates that the most satisfying jobs go to foreigners.
The sense is deepening that, in the rush for development, something important has been lost. Qatari family life is atomising. With children almost universally being raised by nannies (保姆) from the Philippines, Nepal or Indonesia, differences in culture and opinions are widening between the generations.
The 2022 football World Cup was held in Qatar. Mariam Dahrouj, a journalism graduate, speaks of a sense of threat. “People in Qatar are afraid,” she says. “Suddenly all the world wants to see us. We are a closed community, and they want to come and bring their differences. How can we express our values?”
1. What can we learn about Qatar?| A．Its capital is neat and modern. | B．It’s experiencing great changes. |
| C．Most Qataris are rich and healthy. | D．Great wealth brings Qataris great happiness. |
| A．They have to work with foreigners. |
| B．They can hardly find an interesting job. |
| C．They have difficulty in making a choice. |
| D．They have become lazy because of abundance. |
| A．losing meaning | B．gaining support |
| C．being improved | D．becoming divided |
| A．feel frightened | B．express no interest |
| C．ignore the differences | D．want to adjust their values |
