Population

1. Population

2. Being an Only Child • Are you the only child in the family? If so, how do you feel as an only child? If not, how do you feel having a sister or brother? Would you rather be the only child in a family.

3. Migration to Cities • In recent years, metropolitans like Shanghai and Beijing have attracted migrant workers from rural areas. They are seeking jobs and have a better life. While they contribute to the economic boom, they could present problems to society if not properly directed. What are the pros and cons of migration of workers from the countryside to cities?

4. Aging • With the growth of population, aging becomes a social problem. What do you think about it? Discuss the following questions. • In your opinion, at what age does old age begin? • Should the age of retirement increase with increasing life expectancy? • Should older people be allowed to drive? • When you become old, will you live on your own or with your child or in a nursery home?

5. Listening I surge: dramatic increase put one’s claim on: demand projection: prediction place strain on: impose pressure on boost: v. & n. increase labor surplus severe: serious provision: the act of providing or supplying shrinking: declining

6. Battle of the Bulge • Finish your reading within 18 minutes and then get down to comprehension questions on Page 163.

7. Words and Expressions 1. What does “bulge” mean? a wallet bulging with money; The baby boom created a bulge in school enrollment.

8. 2. projection (l.7) At the board meeting, the manager made sales projections for next year. rocky projections on the surface of a cliff a projection booth (room) project He projected the weather for the coming week. project something on a screen

9. 3. far from new (l.12): not new at all Far from helping the situation, you’ve just made it worse. I am far from satisfied with the result.

10. 4. Malthus thought famine must ensue. (l.15) ensue: vi. happen consequently What will ensue from/on these actions? Cf. ensure; pursue; sue

11. 5. This assumes no more crop-boosting innovations of the sort that have appeared so frequently in the past 60 years, including synthetic ammonia, hybrid corn and pesticide. (l.24) boost prices/ boost participation/ boost one’s spirit a considerable boost in salary

12. 6. But while that might mean high fertility was a route to poverty, it could equally well mean the converse. (l.31) the converse: the reverse; the opposite conversely: reversely converse with sb.: have a conversation with conserve; preserve; deserve; reserve converse; diverse; reverse; perverse

13. 7. Worriers about the harmful effects of high fertility have tended to switch their focus in recent years from the economy to the family, seeing a sort of trade-off between the quantity and quality of the children. (l.37)

14. 8. This will mean more official programmes, more doctors and more health clinics that can back up the provision of contraceptives with sex education, heath checks and advice on sexually transmitted diseases. (l.47) Since most of the people present agreed with her, I had to back down. You promised to help — you mustn't back out now.

15. 9. Over the long term, the single most effective and enduring way of moderating population growth, even more than by the diffusion of contraception, is by giving women more and better education. (l.77) diffusion; confusion; fusion; infusion; transfusion