1 . One third of adults over 65 in America have never used the Internet, and half don’t even have Internet access at home. In San Francisco, “the center of tech”, 40% of older adults do not have basic digital literacy skills.
This situation is becoming appalling as over 10,000 Americans turn 65 every single day. By 2050,22% of Americans will be 65 or older. Meanwhile, technology is developing very fast. This means that a large number of people will be unable to proficiently use emergent technology.
Many people believe that seniors aren’t required to participate in our tech future because they’ll be retired and relaxed soon. But this is the farthest thing from the truth. Baby boomers are currently experiencing a different boom: With more people getting older than ever before, their life expediencies are also increasing dramatically. With medical advancements, the number of American people projected to live into their 90’s has doubled since 1965.
However, they don’t have strong financial or educational support. This is not a problem; it’s a crisis. More than half of employees over 50 have been laid off in what’s being called ”forced retirement“. And few organizations are actively helping older employees make the transition from full-time jobs to part-time ones. For those fortunate enough to be employed, 3 out of 5 older workers experience prejudice.
The easiest solution is to teach digital literacy. If baby boomers want to survive the forthcoming retirement crisis, they should get enough digital knowledge and skills to operate today’s tools and tomorrow’s platforms. With every crisis comes an opportunity. Tutoring, customer service, editing, research, book-keeping, and other virtual assistance-based work open the doors. But again, digital knowledge is first required to live in our high-tech society and gig economy. So try to get more online and navigate the growing number of sites and apps.
1. What does the underlined word “appalling” probably mean in paragraph2?A.Confusing. | B.Terrible. | C.Controllable. | D.Inspiring. |
A.A crisis after retirement. | B.Being knocked out in the future. |
C.Failing to receive good healthcare. | D.Tending to double their life expediencies. |
A.The features of high-tech jobs. | B.The way out for baby boomers. |
C.Potential industries in the future. | D.The importance of developing technology. |
A.Have a good sense of crisis. | B.Avoid retiring at an early age. |
C.Look for many part-time jobs. | D.Improve digital literacy actively. |
2 . Population:Is 8 billion people too many?
The world’s population has reached 8 billion people.
For now, we can both acknowledge the downsides of the 8 billionth human and believe this is an occasion worth celebrating.
A.We’ve reached this milestone |
B.Actually, some population alarmism is appropriate |
C.The end of population expansion is now foreseeable |
D.The truth is that the population in developed nations has remained stable |
E.With any luck, the massive challenge of global aging will spur innovation |
F.The increasing global population will put more pressure on resources and produce far more emissions |
G.In contrast, various experts have been put forward “nightmare consequences” about overpopulation since 1960s |
3 . Towns across Italy have been racing to launch clever plans aimed at attracting new residents to revive (复兴)their fortunes in recent years. From abandoned homes selling for little more than a euro, to ready- to-occupy houses at knockdown prices, there has been a rush of competition.
The picturesque town of Presicce in the sunny region of Puglia is the latest to enter the game with a very tempting offer. Officials say they will pay people up to 30,000 euros to buy an empty house and take up residency. Even better, the houses up fbr sale as part of the deal are priced from around 25,000 euros.
Authorities in Presicce hope the cash motivation will breathe new life into their depopulating town, where newborns are fewer each year.
Presicce dates back to the middle Ages, flourishing during the Renaissance as a prosperous place known for its fine wine, cheeses and cattle trade. It gains a reputation as Puglia’s “town of green gold” for green olive trees and olive oil. Its location is incredible, surrounded by the nature of the Salento area and close to beautiful beaches and clear waters of Santa Maria di Leuca.
“There are many empty homes in the historical center built before 1991 which we would like to see alive again with new residents,” says local councilor Alfredo Palese. It is a pity witnessing how our old districts full of history, wonderful architecture and art are slowly emptying. The details of the deal are currently being finalized, Palese adds, and authorities are ready to launch applications in upcoming weeks when information will be available on the town hall website.
According to Palese, a 2019 merger (合并)with the nearby town Acquarica to create the larger town Presicce-Acquarica has provided them with extra money to ensure the project can continue for years to come. “After the merger, as per Italian law, our wider territory will be blessed with more public funds, roughly 1,000,000 euros per year for several years forward, which we intend to invest to revitalize (振兴) the old district, ” says Palese.
Together, Presicce and Acquarica now have some 9,000 inhabitants, but only half of the population live in the older part of the community.
The town hall has already launched other plans to attract more residents, including tax benefits to set up new business activities and baby bonuses for families with kids.
1. What problem do many Italian towns face according to the text?A.Population decline. | B.Financial crisis. | C.Falling tourism. | D.High living cost. |
A.Risky. | B.Informal. | C.Attractive. | D.Conditional. |
A.To show Presicce’s past glory. |
B.To recommend a travel destination. |
C.To point out the economy of Presicce. |
D.To stress the importance of reviving Presicce. |
A.An Italian town’s welfare system. |
B.An Italian town’s recovery strategy. |
C.An Italian town’s long-term plan. |
D.An Italian town’s current situation. |
A. double B. intense C. pressures D. stock E. agriculture F. trapped G. withdrawal H. availability I. drive J. expanding K. rising |
Throughout history, people have fought bitter wars over political ideology, national sovereignty and religious expression. How much more
Less than three percent of the planet’s
Global
5 . Are you the only child in your family? If so, do you enjoy it or do you want more siblings(兄弟姐妹)?
On May 31, a key meeting of the Communist Party of China unveiled a policy that would allow all couples to have up to three children.
The move is expected to maximize the population's role in driving economic and social growth, since this is a critical time for China to transform the world's most populous country into a powerhouse(强国)with a quality workforce, according to the National Health Commission.
The three-child policy is also expected to prevent the decline in the nation's birthrate and address the challenge of a rapidly aging population, China Daily reported.
China's annual number of newborns has fallen for four years in a row. The country's total birthrate—the average number of children born to each woman—stood at 1.3 in 2020. The number is below the rate of 2.1 that would maintain a stable population, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The declining birthrate has also brought a sharp increase in the proportion of the population aged 60 or above, rising from 10.3 percent to 18.7 percent in the past decade. An increasingly elderly population will increase the cost of labor and the pressure on the social security net. It also means there will be a lack of young labor force. Therefore, it's not good for economic growth, according to Chen Youhua, a professor at Nanjing University.
In fact, the new birth policy is a step to further relax the family planning policy. The one-child policy was introduced in the 1970s and aimed to control the fast-growing population. Then in 2013, China allowed couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child, and in 2016, all couples were allowed to have two children.
However, not all people have shown their support for this latest policy. Many couples complained about the rising costs of raising a child. A netizen named Qinfeng commented, "High cost of education and both the physical and mental exhaustion stopped me from having more than one child." Also, many women are reluctant(不情愿的)to give birth because that could mean sacrificing their career prospects, according to Mu Guangzong, a professor at Peking University.
In that case, Mu noted that it is better to implement supporting measures with the three-child policy, such as more preferential(优惠的)policies for couples that would ease their parental burden.
1. What might NOT be the main cause for the new policy?A.To increase the population's role. |
B.To stop the declining birthrate. |
C.To improve the child- care service system. |
D.To address the challenge of the aging population. |
A.China's annual number of newborns has fallen for decades. |
B.The government will protect the legal rights of women in employment. |
C.Measures will be taken to improve the high-quality education. |
D.The new policy allows couples to have up to three children. |
A.To carry out. | B.To get along with. |
C.To make use of. | D.To have a command of. |
A.To show his love of children healthcare. |
B.To introduce the new family size policy. |
C.To share his concerns about birthrate. |
D.To emphasize the physical and mental exhaustion. |
6 . Many adults in South Korea have chosen either not to have children or not to marry. A South Korean government agency announced in September that the total fertility rate reached 0. 81 last year. The total fertility rate is the average number of babies born to each woman in their reproductive years. South Korea5s fertility rate has been the world’s lowest for three years now.
The population decreased for the first time in 2021. It raised concerns for severe damage to the economy. Some observers expect labor shortages and high spending on retirement payments as the number of older people increases while the number of taxpayers decreases. President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered policymakers to find better ways to deal with the problem. The fertility rate, he said, is still decreasing although South Korea spent $ 210 billion over the past 16 years to increase it.
Many young South Koreans say that they don’t want to have a family. Reasons some say for not having children include: a difficult job market, costly housing, inequality between the sexes, and social inequality. The high cost of raising children in a competitive society is also a reason. Some women say men expect them to do much of the childcare while they face discrimination at work.
Lee So-Young is a population policy expert at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. She said, “People think our country isn’t an easy place to live.” And she added, “They believe their children can’t have better lives than them.” Choi Yoon Kyung is an expert at the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. She said many people who fail to enter good schools and get good jobs feel they have become “dropouts” who “cannot be happy”.
South Korea has been offering different incentives (刺激) and support programs for those who give birth to many children. But Choi said the fertility rate has been falling too fast to see any real effects.
1. Why does the author mention the number in paragraph 1?A.To present a fact. | B.To explain a rule. |
C.To clarify a concept. | D.To make a comparison. |
A.More citizens fail to be happy. |
B.Retirement payment falls down. |
C.People have to pay higher taxes. |
D.Less people are available for work. |
A.The gender equality. |
B.The loss of government support. |
C.The ever increasing life pressure. |
D.The high expectation of children. |
A.The rising stress among young South Koreans. |
B.The government^ effort to improve fertility rate. |
C.The continuous low fertility rate in South Korea. |
D.The severe economic damage of less new-born babies. |
7 . As the global population grows and shifts towards urban living, the land available in our cities is being under increasing pressure.In order to be sustainable, cities need to find ways to minimize their urban expansion.One option is to build upwards; another is to dig down.
In Montreal, constructed underground to relieve overcrowding in the city streets is RESO —one of the largest underground complexes in the world.It is a network connecting everything from shops and banks to flats and hotels.This shows how going underground can meet human needs whilst also bringing certain environmental benefits.Underground transport can reduce traffic jam above ground, thereby improving air quality.Furthermore, thanks to their relatively constant climate throughout the year, underground spaces consume less energy for heating and cooling.
When planning underground construction projects, developers must consider existing structures on or near the site, such as the remains of historic buildings.Designers must also ensure any underground space intended for human use has good air quality.One example is the forthcoming LDN Hotel,an underground hotel beneath the streets of London.Designers are using a wide range of plans to help keep the air inside clean,together with a state-of-the-art ventilation system (通风系统).
Light is another key consideration.In New York, plans for the world's first underground park Demonstrate novel ways of bringing natural rays beneath the surface.By employing solar technology light is to be reflected down through a series of pipes into the terminal below.This light would be sufficient for photosynthesis (光合作用) to occur and the park's plants to grow naturally.
Today's architects are developing innovative ways to make underground spaces functional and comfortable.The question remains whether they can provide sustainable and realistic options for the future.Besides practical considerations, there exists the challenge of building a positive perception of “going underground".Yet, the obvious challenges of constructing habitable underground spaces must be weighed against the urgent issue of housing the world's ballooning population.One day, it will feel as natural to live and work underground as it does to do so over 100 storeys high.
1. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 2?A.To advertise the underground complexes. |
B.To give suggestions on relieving crowdedness. |
C.To explain how the underground network works. |
D.To introduce the benefits of building underground. |
A.By giving examples. |
B.By listing study findings. |
C.By making comparisons. |
D.By quoting others' words. |
A.Going underground can solve the problem of global warming. |
B.Good air quality is superior to other factors. |
C.Natural light is not necessary for underground plants. |
D.The future of going underground calls for people's positive attitude. |
A.Ways to house the world population. |
B.Concerns for the urban expansion. |
C.Why and how to build underground. |
D.The promising future of our cities. |
A. absence | B. double | C. extended | D. functions | E. fund | F. outpaced |
G. prospects | H. record | I. shifted | J. steady | K. upward |
Japan births fall to record low as population crisis deepens
Japan saw 799,728 births in 2022, the lowest number on record. That number has nearly halved in the past 40 years; by contrast, Japan recorded more than 1.5 million births in 1982. Japan also reported a (n)
Japan’ population has been in
The country also has one of the highest life expectancies in the world ; in 2020, nearly one in 1,500 people in Japan were aged 100 or older. These concerning trends resulted in a warning from Prime minister that Japan is “on the edge of not being able to maintain social
But money alone might not be able to solve the complex problem, with various social factors contributing to the low birth rate. Japan’s high cost of living, limited space and lack of child care support in cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having kids. Urban couples are also often far from
The average real annual household income declined from $50,600 in 1995 to $43, 300 in 2020. Attitude toward marriage and starting families have also
9 . On November 15, the count of humans on this planet reached 8 billion. Population growth has been steady over the past few decades. But that pattern is gradually changing, as is shown in the following chart.
Credit: Katie Peek; Source: World Population Prospects 2022,United Nations Population Division
That slowdown is partly the result of a shift toward fewer offspring. High-income nations currently have the lowest birth rates, and the opposite is true: nations with the highest birth rates tend to have the lowest incomes. The gap has continued to widen between wealthy nations and poorer ones. But longer term, it is moving toward convergence(趋同).
Many factors contribute to the changes of the world’s population, such as migration, death rate, longevity and others. Focusing on fertility(生育率), however, helpfully clarifies why the total number of humans on Earth seems set to fall. Fertility refers to the average total number of live births per female individual in a region or country. The U.S.’s current fertility rate, for example, is about 1.7; China’s is 1.2. A fertility of 2.1 is considered the replacement rate—that is, the required number of offspring, on average, for a population to hold steady. Today birth rates in the wealthiest countries have dropped below the replacement rate, the rest likely following suit over the coming decades.
Humanity’s future clearly depends on many things besides fertility. For example, people in wealthier nations may produce fewer children, but those offspring tend to consume more resources—so rich countries can still have outsize planetary impacts despite their decreasing populations. Organizations such as the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs are working toward policy-based solutions for how all of us can have healthy, satisfying and sustainable lives on Earth. A clear-eyed understanding of population changes is critical for reaching that bright future.
1. Which time period may witness the slowest global population growth?A.1960~1974. | B.2037~2058. | C.1987~1998. | D.2022~2037. |
A.The definition of fertility rate. | B.The cause of the low fertility rate. |
C.The fertility rates in different countries. | D.The impact of fertility on world population. |
A.The richer the nations are, the higher the fertility will be. |
B.The smaller the population is, the more resources are used. |
C.Achieving human’s sustainable future is a challenging task. |
D.Understanding population shifts can tackle the fertility issue. |
A.A blog entry. | B.A book review. | C.A theme speech. | D.A research report. |
How do you count 1.3 billion people in the middle of a pandemic? China, as the world's most populous country, will launch its seventh
According to state-run news agency Xinhua, the huge undertaking will see around 7 million census
As well as traditional methods, citizens will also
China conducts its census every 10 years. The last survey
This year's census may even show a decrease in