新世纪大学英语系列教材（第二版）
Unit 5
Part I
Exercises
I. Reading for information 。

A. Reading to find main ideas
1.B
2. D
B. Reading to find major details
3.C
4. A
C. Reading to find relevant facts
5. A
6.C
II. Translation
Translate the following sentences into Chinese.
1 Their favorite topic of conversation is, of course, relationships: men’s reluctance to commit, women’s independence, and when to have children —or, increasingly, whether to have them at all. 当然，他们最热衷的谈资是人际关系：男人不愿意承诺、女人的独立、什么时候生孩子，或者是越来越多地讨论究竟要不要孩子。

2 Greece was known as one of Europe’s most traditional societies, where the Orthodox Church’s strict commandment to marry and multiply held sway.
希腊曾被认为是欧洲最为传统的国家之一，正教会要求人们结婚生子的严格戒律占主导地位。

3 In Britain, there’s a growing market for books such as Child-Free and Loving It, which journalist Nicki Defago says she wrote “to let women deciding against children know that their feelings are perfectly normal.”
在英国，像《无子无女享人生》这样的书市场越来越大。

身为记者的尼克·德华格说，她写这本书的目的就是“让决定不生小孩的女人知道她们的感情生活绝对正常”。

4 In fact, demographers say it was the family-happy 1950s and 1960s that defied the historical norm. 事实上，人口学家说，是家庭生活幸福的20世纪50年代和60年代改变了历史准则。

5 And while child-free households have long been common in the big cities ofAmerica and Western Europe, they’re fast gaining acceptability in more-traditional rural societies as well.
在美国和西欧的大城市，成家不要孩子长期以来都很常见，这种家庭模式在更为传统
的农村地区也正快速地得到人们的认可。

III. Summary
Complete the following statements with words and expressions from the box. Use their proper forms.
1 Just a few decades ago, childlessness might have been considered odd in Greece, where the Orthodox Church’s strict commandment to marry and multiply held sway . Powerful social and religious taboos labelled childless women as barren spinsters, and cast suspicion on the sexual preferences of single, middle-aged men.
2 Today, to young Greeks, babies are great — if the timing is right. But they’re certainly not essential. As a matter of fact, having kids is no longer a given among a growing swath of the population.
3 In a rapid shift occurring in countries as disparate as Switzerland and Singapore, Canada and South Korea, young people are extending their child-free adulthood by postponing children until they are well into their 30s, or even 40s and beyond.
4 The trend has spawned a new culture of childlessness. Some businesses even capitalize on the trend by turning out goods or providing services that cater to the childless.
5 In the past, childlessness was usually the product of poverty or upheaval, of missing men in times of war; infertility strikes 3 percent of couples at most. Today the decision to have — or not have — a child is the result of a complex combination of factors , including relationships, career opportunities, lifestyle and economics.
6 While child-free households have long been common in the big cities of America and Western Europe, they’re fast gaining acceptability in more-traditional rural societies as well.
Part II Reading for Pleasure
Exercise
Answer the following questions.
1 Why does the author say that in some cases childlessness among Japanesewomen can be seen as a quiet form of protest?
Because support for working mothers is almost non-existent (though recently that’s begun to change). Child care is expensive, men don’t help out, and som e companies strongly discourage mothers from returning to work.
2 Who are more against childlessness, men or women?
From the sentence “At the same time, around the world it’s mostly men who are at the head of a growing backlash against the childless”, w e can say that men are more against childlessness.
3 What have economists and politicians demanded in response to the increasing childlessness in Germany?
In Germany, economists and politicians have demanded that public pensions for the childless be slashed by up to 50 percent.
4 What measures have been taken in France to encourage childbearing?
France recently raised child subsidies to increase sharply with children numbers three and four.
5 Why does the author say that growing up in smaller families affects childbearing plans?
Because polls among young adults today show a continued decline in their ideal family size.。