| 阅读理解 | |
Population growth is determined by the relationship between births and deaths.The growth rate is calculated by the birth rate minus the death rate.If the birth rate is 4%, for example, and the death rate is 3%, the population growing at rate of 1% per year. 2. _____ Historically, families had many children, but average life expectancies are low and many children died young.Improvements in nutrition and public health programs in the past 30 years have led to a drop in the mortality rate and hence to more rapid population growth. 3. ____ Public health programs and improved nutrition over the past 30 years have brought about declines in mortality rates in the developing nations.But fertility rates(出生率)have not declined as quickly, and the result has been high rates of population growth.Reduced population growth depends to some extent on decreased birth rates. 4. ____ Family planning and modern forms of birth control are important mechanisms for decreasing fertility, but by themselves such programs have had rather limited success in most countries where they have been tried.If family planning strategies are to be successful, they must make sense to the people who are supposed to benefit from them. 5. ____ To a great extent, in developing countries people want large families because they believe they need them.In some societies, children are important sources of farm labor, and they may thus make significant contributions to household income.In societies without any social security programs for the aged, children may also provide a vital source of income for their old parents. |