VOA慢速英语2015 伊朗试图阻止出生率的不断下降

AS IT IS 2015-03-18 Iran Tries to Stop Declining Birth Rate 伊朗试图阻止出生率的不断下降

The human rights group Amnesty International says proposed new laws in Iran would severely¹ limit women’s freedom. It says the country’s leaders want to limit a woman’s ability to get medicine to stop a pregnancy². It says the leaders also want to make getting a job harder for young, childless women.

Iran is taking these actions to try to keep the country’s birth rate from dropping further. Iran’s leaders believe the country’s declining population is a major threat to its future.

The rights group says the leaders’ actions show that the government wants young Iranian women to become, in its words, “baby-making machines.” Raha Bahreini is the group’s expert on Iran.

"The Iranian authorities are trying to, first of all, ban voluntary female sterilization³, which is, interestingly, the second-most common method of birth control in Iran after pills. They are also restricting access to information about sexual reproductive health and, specifically, methods of contraception.”

Ms. Bahreini says the proposed laws could threaten the lives of some Iranian women.

“They will have no option but to continue with their unwanted pregnancies⁴ when it’s not their choice to do (so), or terminate their pregnancies through illegal and unsafe abortions⁶.”

Shereen Hussein is a demographic researcher at King’s College in London. Demographers⁸ study populations, including births, aging and migration⁹. Ms. Hussein says Iran’s birthrate has dropped because of poor economic conditions during the war with Iraq in the 1980s and because of government policies that urged people to have fewer children.

“So really the fertility decline hasn’t started until the late 1980s in Iran. But then it declined very sharply.”

Today, Iran’s birth rate is around 1.8. That number is below what demographers call the “replacement¹⁰ level.”

Ms. Hussein says because of the declining birthrate, the number of people in the country is lower than it once was. She blames the situation on the falling number of marriages and the increasing number of divorces.

“It’s not only contraceptive(s) and family planning, it’s also the dynamics¹¹ of marriage, the divorce rate, the re-marriage, the age of marriage. And that, combined with economic hardship, made it very difficult for many people to start families and have children.”

Amnesty International says Iran also wants to limit divorces and strengthen already-existing discrimination against women in employment. It says men -- and women who already have children -- would be given priority for jobs. Researcher Raha Bahreini says that policy would make it difficult for young women without children to get a job.

“And that means women will be further excluded from the labor¹² market in Iran. Also, it tries to make divorce more difficult to obtain. Women already face a lot of obstacles in getting divorced and they do not have an equal divorce right to men.”

Demographer⁷ Shereen Hussein says she understands why Iran’s leaders want to stop the population from declining. But she says the policies they are supporting would cause economic pain in the short term because larger families need more health care and schools.

“Having, you know, more children could be a solution in the long term. But that is again attached to a higher economic value -- especially in the, in the short term, when you have increased demand for health services and education services.”

Ms. Hussein says another problem for Iran and neighboring countries is their population is growing older. As the number of older people increases, governments are pressured to spend more money to provide more services.

Words in This Story

authorities – n. people who have power to make decisions and enforce rules and laws

sterilize¹³ – v. to make someone unable to produce children

access – n. permission or the right to enter, get near or make use of something or to have contact with someone

reproductive – adj. relating to or involved in the production of babies, young animals or new plants

contraception – n. things that are done to prevent a woman from becoming pregnant

option – n. something that can be chosen; a choice or possibility

terminate – v. to cause to end

abortion⁵ – n. a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy

fertility – n. the state or condition of being fertile; the ability to produce young

replacement level – n. the minimum number of children who must be born in order for a population to replace itself

dynamic – n. the way that two or more people behave with each other because of a particular situation

priority – n. the condition of being more important than something or someone else and therefore coming or being dealt with first

exclude – v. to prevent someone from doing something or being a part of a group

obstacle – n. something that makes it difficult to do something

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

3 sterilization   

n.杀菌，绝育；灭菌

参考例句：

• Sterilization by filtration is subject to one major theoretical limitation. 过滤灭菌具有一个理论上的局限性。 来自辞典例句
• Sterilization is a treatment that frees the treated object of all living organisms. 灭菌处理是从处理对象排除一切生活的生物。 来自辞典例句

4 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

5 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

6 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

7 demographer   

n.人口统计学家

参考例句：

• Professor Antonio Golini is a demographer at the University of Rome. 罗马大学安东尼奥教授是位人口统计学家。 来自互联网
• Demographer William Frey says immigrants with young families will help keep the United States competitive. 人口统计学家佛瑞表示这些年轻的家庭会帮助美国保持竞争力。 来自互联网

8 demographers   

n.人口统计学( demography的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Demographers, however, point out that the'single" trend will have a profound effect on American institutions. 不过，人口学家们指出，“单身”趋势将对美国的公共机构产生深远的影响。 来自时文部分
• Selectivity of human migration long been the focus of demographers and economists. 人口迁移的选择性一直以来都是人口学家和经济学家关注的焦点。 来自互联网

9 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

11 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 sterilize   

vt.使不结果实；使绝育；使无效；杀菌，消毒

参考例句：

• Antiseptic is used to sterilize the skin before giving an injection.杀菌剂被用于在注射前给皮肤消毒。
• He pricks the blister on his heel with a sterilize needle.他用一根消过毒的针扎破他脚后跟上的水泡。