If a nation is essentially disunited, it is left to the government to hold it together.

essentially ^{adv. 1. used for emphasizing what is the most important aspect of sth. or fact about sth. 本质上，根本上本质上/根本上}

• There are three essentially different ways of tackling the problem.
• The two proposals are essentially the same, despite the different wording.^{尽管措辞不同，但这两个提案本质上是相同的。}
• His argument was essentially correct, though he missed some details.^{他的论点本质上是正确的，尽管他遗漏了一些细节。}

essentially ^{adv. 2. used for saying that sth. is mostly true, but not completely true 大体上，基本}

• The list is essentially complete.
• His analysis of urban use of agricultural land has been proved essentially correct.

leave ^{v. to let someone else decide sth. or be responsible for sth. 让某人决定或负责某事}

• You can leave the cooking to me.
• I’ll leave it to you to buy the tickets.
• The final decision was left to the manager to make.^{最终决定留给经理来做。}
• Since the committee couldn't agree, the task was left to the chairman to complete.^{由于委员会无法达成一致，这项任务就交由主席来完成了。}

hold sth. together  ^{cause sth. to remain together, unite sth. 使…团结一致}

• The country needs a leader who will hold the nation together.
• In those days the Church held the community together.
• Despite immense pressure, the family managed to hold together.^{尽管面临巨大的压力，这个家庭还是设法维持了团结。}
• The ancient empire struggled to hold together under the stress of invasion.^{这个古老的帝国在入侵的压力下努力维系。}

This increases the expense of government, and reduces correspondingly the amount of economic resources that could be used for developing the country.

 amount of ^{大量的...(可与可数名词搭配;钱相关或者为整体的)}

Number is regularly used with count nouns <a large number of mistakes> while amount is mainly used with mass nouns <annual amount of rainfall>. The use of amount with count nouns has been frequently criticized; it usually occurs when the number of things is thought of as a mass or collection <glad to furnish any amount of black pebbles> or when money is involved <a substantial amount of loans>.

• I work an incredible amount of hours. ^{我工作的时间极长。}
• I try to offend the least amount of people possible. ^{我尽可能少得罪人。}
• I need the maximum amount of information you can give me. ^{我需要你所能给我的最大的信息量。}

use sth. for (doing) sth. ^{使用某物来做某事（强调功能/用途）}

• They were using animals for scientific experiments.
• The software is used for tracking administrative costs across different departments. ^{该软件用于跟踪不同部门的行政成本。}

And it should not be forgotten how small those resources are in a poor and backward country.

backward ^{adj. developing slowly and less successfully than most others落后的}

• Teachers are providing extra support for the backward child to help them catch up with their peers. ^{老师们正在为那个落后的孩子提供额外支持，以帮助其赶上同龄人。}
• It will take decades to bring this backward country into the modern age.

Where the cost of government is high, resources for development are correspondingly low.

where ^{conj.在...的地方(引导地点状语从句)}

• Where the path divides, keep right. ^{来到岔路口就靠右行。}
• Where this road leads from here. ^{这条路从这里将要延伸到何处。}
• The government is at a stage where it is willing to talk to almost anyone. ^{政府已经到了几乎愿意与任何人对话的地步。}

cost of government is high ^{政府开支高}

• The opposition argues that the cost of government is too high and calls for budget cuts.^{反对党认为政府开支过高，呼吁削减预算。}
• Reducing waste is one way to ensure the cost of government is high is managed.^{减少浪费是确保政府高开支得到控制的一种方式。}

resources for development ^{用于发展的资源}

• The UN pledged more resources for development in Africa.^{联合国承诺向非洲提供更多的发展资源。}
• A stable economy provides the necessary resources for development.^{稳定的经济提供了必要的发展资源。}