Question

The government in China plans to end its one-child policy and let families have two children instead.

The plan was announced on Thursday after high –level political meetings in Beijing. A Chinese Communist Party statement gave a number of reasons for the change in policy. The statement said the change is meant to balance population development, stop a falling birth rate(出生率) and strengthen the country’s labor force(勞動力).

China, with the largest population in the world, started the one –child policy in 1980. But the government allowed only a small number of couples to have two children. For example, some families in the countryside could have two children, if the first-born child is a girl.

In 2013, the Chinese government gave other couples a chance to have two children if one of them was an only child.

Jiang Quanbao, a teacher and population expert, explained how Chinese families react to the newest policy. “Too many young people in the cities are no longer interested in having a second child,” he said. “People in the countryside are more interested. But some of them are already allowed to have two children. ”

At the end of 2014, China had a population of 1.37 billion people. A total of 800 million of them have jobs. But the labor market population will drop in 35 years. That is to say, the country will be in great need of labor by the year 2050. With the two-child policy, an increase in births can solve this problem.

Boys and girls, what do you think of the two-child policy? Do you want to have a new-born brother or a sister?

1.Why does the government plan to end the one-child policy?

A. Because we need a larger population.

B. Because millions of people have jobs.

C. Because most families want to have a second child.

D. Because a falling birth rate must be stopped.

2.How do most young people in the cities react to the two-child policy?

A. They support the policy.

B. They don't think it is good.

C. They're very interested.

D. They're not interested any more.

3.When will our country be seriously short of labor if the one-child policy continues?

A. In 2015. B. In 2035. C. In 2050. D. In 2070

4.The Two-Children Policy mainly ______.

A. helps solve the problems of aging population and labor shortages.

B. doesn’t allow one couple to have two children.

C. has a bad influence on one’s mental health.

D. encourages one couple to have more than two children.

5.More couples ______ the Two-Children Policy according to the passage.

A. disagree with B. agree with

C. don’t know D. hate

Answer 1