All areas of the world face a nurses shortage. But the shortage is most severe in developing countries. Many of their nurses move to the more developed nations for better pay, better working conditions and better chances for career development. For example, nearly 2,000 nurses left the Caribbean between 2002 and 2006.
The Caribbean nations currently have about 1 nurse for every 1,000 people. The ratio(比例) of nurses to population is about 10 times higher in the United States and countries in the European Union(EU). Now, more than 21,000 nurses who trained in the Caribbean are working in the United States, Canada and Britain.
Gaetan Lafortune is an official of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(O.E.C.D) in Paris. He says the nurses shortage also affects industrialized countries. He says, “There is concern in most O.E.C.D.countries that the number of nurses is too small to meet the demand. And what is more worrying is that their concern is sort of growing.” Mr Lafortune says a large number of nurses are expected to retire within the next 10 years. At the same time, the health care needs of aging populations are expected to grow, intensifying the shortage of nurses.
Gaetan Lafortune said, “In the U.S., for instance, some researchers have found that there may be a shortage of close to a million nurses by 2020.” The United States is 1 of the 21 countries in the O.C.E.D. Gaetan Lafortune says in the recent years many of the countries increased their efforts to hire foreign nurses. As a result of that, O.E.C.D. countries were mainly exporting their shortage problem to countries that may have an even greater need for these nurses.
What will be the main causes of the global nurses shortage in the next 10 years?
a. The demand for nurses will decrease.                    
b. Many nurses will be too old to work.
c. Many rich countries will hire more foreign nurses. 
d. Nurses are often looked down upon.
e. Aging populations will increase rapidly

A．a and b

B．b and c

C．b and e

D．c and d

The underlined word “intensify” in para. 3 means “________”.

A．strengthen

B．neglect

C．reduce

D．cause

We know from this text that America and the EU countries ______.

A．refuse to offer equal pay to foreign nurses

B．have at least one nurse out of 100 people

C．don’t like to train nurses of their own countries

D．have more serious nursing problems than the Caribbean nations

What does the text mainly tell us?

A．Nursing is no longer a worthwhile profession in most countries.

B．The different attitudes towards nursing in different countries.

C．Nurses shortage will result in serious consequences.

D．The health care industry needs more nurses.

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