The standard of living of any country means the average person's share of the goods and services which the country produces. A country's standard of living, therefore, depends on its 【C1】______ to produce wealth. Wealth, in this sense, is not money, 【C2】______ we do 【C3】______ live on money but on things that money can buy: 'goods' such as food and clothing, and 'services' such as transport and 【C4】______ . A country' s capacity to 【C5】______ wealth is influenced by many factors, 【C6】______ have an effect on one another. Wealth is dependent 【C7】______ a great extent 【C8】______ a country's natural resources. Some regions are 【C9】______ in coal and minerals, and have a fertile soil and a (n) 【C10】______ climate other regions possess perhaps only one of these things, and some regions have 【C11】______ of them. The U. S. A. is one of the wealthiest regions of the world 【C12】______ she has vast natural resources within her borders. The Sahara Desert on the other hand, is one of the 【C13】______ wealthy. 【C14】______ to natural resources comes the ability to turn them to use. China is perhaps as 【C15】______ off as the U. S. A. in natural resources, but suffered from civil and 【C16】______ wars, and for this and other reasons was unable to 【C17】______ her resources. Another important factor is the technical efficiency of a country's people. Old countries that have numerous skilled craftsmen are better 【C18】______ to produce wealth than countries whose workers are largely unskilled. Furthermore, wealth also produces wealth. As a country becomes wealthier its people can put their savings into factories and machines, 【C19】______ which more goods will help workers to 【C20】______ more goods. 【C1】