新西兰英语 407 Census

　　This week you will receive your census¹ papers². You fill in these forms on March 8th. There is an individual form and a household form. One person in your house fills in the household form. The information is about the kind of house you live in, the number of rooms and whether you own it or rent it. The individual form asks for personal details like name, age, whether you are married, who are the people you live with (for example your son or grandmother), the languages you speak, your ethnicity, your qualifications³ and job, how many hours you work, your income and how you travel to work.
Some people worry about giving personal information but this is kept secret. Only the Statistics⁴ NZ staff read this and they have to sign to keep all information secret. When all the information from the forms has been entered in computers, the forms are locked away for 100 years. It takes 200 people five months to enter all the information.
After that, staff at Statistics NZ analyse⁵ the information. We can go to their website and find out information like the average age of New Zealanders, the number of children under the age of 5, the number of people over the age of 80 and so on. This is useful information for government offices like the Ministry⁶ of Education or the Ministry of Health. Information about female⁷ jobs is interesting. How many women earn high salaries? It is also useful to compare information from the previous census and to compare with other countries.
We have a census every five years. It is always the second Tuesday in March. Tuesday is a very ordinary day during the week. March is a time of year when most people are not on holiday.
This is the census website: http://www.census.govt.nz/
Questions
What kind of information do you like to compare between countries?
Why is the Ministry of Health interested in the number of people over 80?
What other government offices are interested in census information?

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 papers   

n.文件，纸币，论文

参考例句：

• I want to check with my secretary before I sign the papers.在签署这些文件前，我要与我的秘书商议。
• The lawyer read all the papers relating to the case.律师阅读了与该案有关的全部文件。

3 qualifications   

n.资格，条件；合格证书( qualification的名词复数 )；资格；条件；限制

参考例句：

• She was chosen for the job on the basis of her qualifications. 她因资历适合而获选担任这项工作。
• A lack of qualifications can be a major obstacle to finding a job. 学历不足可能成为谋职的主要障碍。

4 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。

5 analyse   

vt.分析，检讨，细察

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to analyse the cause of our failure.教师设法仔细分析我们失败的原因。
• Analyse the situation before you act.行动前分析一下形势。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。