【明報專訊】On October 25, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF, 慈善救助基金會) published the 2016 World Giving Index (世界慈善捐助指數). People from 140 countries were asked to take part in a survey that measured generosity. Factors taken into account in the survey include financial donations, help offered to strangers and volunteering. Myanmar (緬甸) topped the list of overall generosity for the third year in a row, while Iraq (伊拉克) ranked first for helping strangers as it did in the previous year.

In the month before the survey was carried out, 91% of its participants in Myanmar donated money to charities. Kindness of Iraqis and Libyans (利比亞人) to complete strangers stands out in the list even though they have been faced with prolonged conflicts and terrible violence. In terms of overall generosity, the US, Australia and New Zealand ranked second, third and fourth respectively.

It should be noted that only 1,000 people were surveyed in each of the 140 countries. The CAF has acknowledged that there may be margins of error.

(sources: Ming Pao, BBC, CAF)

■ Photo Story

‧A man shaved his companion when they were fleeing from war in Iraq.

‧Burmese (緬甸人) often donate to monasteries, and are ranked the most generous people in the world.

■ English highway﹕ in a row (idiom)

"In a row" means "one after the other, without anything different happening in between".

e.g. MoMo came first in the annual debate competition five times in a row.

■ Quiz

Answer the following questions.

(Answers on next text)

1. Which of the following statement is incorrect?

a. Myanmar has had the highest "overall generosity" ranking for three consecutive years.

b. 140 countries were surveyed.

c. A country's ranking depends solely on the amount of money its people have donated.

d. People in Iraq are kindest to complete strangers.

2. What does "its" in the first sentence of paragraph two refer to?

__________________________________________

3. Is the following sentence true or false?

Although people in Iraq and Libya have been faced with war for some years, they are kind enough to offer help to strangers.  (True / False)

4. Because only a small number of people were surveyed, the CAF has acknowledged that there may be ____________________

■ Glossary

generosity (n) 慷慨

prolonged (adj) 長期的

acknowledge (v) 承認

margin of error (n phr) 誤差範圍