{"id":31905,"date":"2026-02-13T09:24:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?p=31905"},"modified":"2026-02-13T09:24:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:24:34","slug":"how-is-denmark-so-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-is-denmark-so-rich\/","title":{"rendered":"How is Denmark So Rich?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A country that is small, cold, not oil-rich, with very high taxes, no industrial base, and where citizens work the least number of hours could not possibly be rich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, but Denmark really is.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite its sky-high taxes, it didn\u2019t stunt the economy\u2019s growth. The country boasts a well-educated and healthy citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch the video explaining how Denmark is so rich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Denmark Should Not be Rich\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jgCMmIZBaxU?wmode=transparent&amp;rel=0&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Vocabulary Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What is \u201c<strong><em>the crack in the foundation<\/em><\/strong>\u201d? \u201c<em>But before we crown Denmark the \u201cperfect economy, it\u2019s worth noting <\/em><strong><em>the cracks in the foundation<\/em><\/strong><em>.\u201d<\/em> Use the idiom in a sentence. Give a synonym.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does \u201c<strong>fluke<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0mean? \u201c<em>How is Denmark pulling this off? Is it a <\/em><strong><em>fluke<\/em><\/strong><em> or is there a formula behind its success?<\/em>\u201d Use the word in a sentence and give a synonym.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does \u201c<strong>to punch above one\u2019s weight<\/strong>\u201d mean? \u201c<em>Despite its small size, Denmark <\/em><strong><em>punches way above its weight<\/em><\/strong><em>. It is home to Novo Nordisk, Europe\u2019s most valuable company, Maersk, one of the biggest shipping giants in the world, and Vestas, a global leader in wind energy.<\/em>\u201d Use the idiom in a sentence and give a synonym.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Discussion Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How is Denmark continuously getting richer and richer?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What are some of the \u201ccracks in the Danish economy\u2019s foundation\u201d?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is your opinion? \u201cIs this equitable dreamland really sustainable in the long run?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>After the WWII, Denmark had to make a major choice: stay a low-productivity agrarian economy or modernize and integrate into the rapidly developing global trade. It chose the latter. Share your insights on this.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Share your thoughts on the Nordic model: combining capitalism and strong welfare state.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What do you think about Denmark\u2019s principle that universal healthcare is a prudent economic strategy?\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What are your thoughts on investing in better cycling infrastructure?\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate&nbsp; A country that is small, cold, not oil-rich, with very high taxes, no industrial base, and where citizens work the least number of hours could not possibly be rich. Oh, but Denmark really is.&nbsp; Despite its sky-high taxes, it didn\u2019t stunt the economy\u2019s growth. The country boasts a well-educated and healthy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[291,125,292,290,14],"class_list":["post-31905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homework","tag-b2-upper-intermediate","tag-economy","tag-first-certificate-fce","tag-listening","tag-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v16.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How is Denmark So Rich? | phone english blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-is-denmark-so-rich\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How is Denmark So Rich? | phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate&nbsp; A country that is small, cold, not oil-rich, with very high taxes, no industrial base, and where citizens work the least number of hours could not possibly be rich. Oh, but Denmark really is.&nbsp; Despite its sky-high taxes, it didn\u2019t stunt the economy\u2019s growth. 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