2006年VOA标准英语-Russia Faces Population Crisis

By Anya Ardayeva
Moscow
08 March 2006
 
watch Russian Population report

The Russian government is looking for ways to stop a severe population decline in the country, which has reportedly reached record levels. The demographic crisis, which began in 1993, has only deepened despite Russia's booming economy and high revenues from the sale of oil. Last year alone, the Russian population shrank by more than half a million people. As VOA's Jim Bertel reports, the Russian government is hoping to reverse the trend.

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The Russian population is declining at a rate that troubles the government  
  

If the Russian population continues to decline at its current rate, in just 25 years the world's largest country will be inhabited by fewer people than currently live in Japan. Experts warn that the number of Russians -- currently 142 million -- could shrink by 20 million by the year 2030.

Russian men are especially at risk as their average life expectancy¹ is now just 58 --16 years less than their counterparts in Western Europe, and a full 14 years less than Russian women. Bad lifestyle habits, like excessive smoking and drinking, coupled with accidents and suicides are the main killers².

 
Mikhail Zurabov
  
Russia's Minister of Health and Social Development, Mikhail Zurabov, said Russians traditionally don't take care of their health and that creates a major problem for health officials. "Unfortunately, a healthy lifestyle is not the norm here. Alcoholism, smoking and many other things create a lot of serious problems. So in an effort to resolve this, we set ourselves what looked like a very simple task.  We wanted to make sure that the citizens of the Russian Federation³ visit their doctors once every two years.  But we can't even make people do simple things like that."

And although a record number of people in Russia were reportedly married last year, many are in no rush to start families, mostly for financial reasons.

  
  
And even those who do so take a serious risk. According to recent figures, seven in every 10 Russian newborns suffer from health disorders⁴ and every 12th baby is born underweight.

If this demographic trend continues, experts say the Russian economy is set to lose $400 billion U.S. in the next two decades and the number of economically active Russians will shrink by 3.6 million people in the next five years.

 
Zhanna Zaenchkovskaya
  
Zhanna Zaenchkovskaya, who heads the Center for Migration⁵ Studies in Moscow, says the consequences of the demographic crisis could be devastating⁶ for the Russian economy. “From the middle of this year a natural decrease in the Russian workforce⁷ will begin.  And in Russia now, even before this natural decrease, we had a deficit⁸ of around one million job vacancies⁹.  This will grow like a snowball.  Immigration will be the only solution in such a situation."

In an effort to attract more migrants, Russian President Vladimir Putin formed a special commission to encourage citizens of the former Soviet¹⁰ Union living in neighboring countries to move to Russia. It is expected to submit a formal plan to the Kremlin by June the first.

But even if the state program is successful, critics believe there are only five million Russians outside the country potentially willing to move back. This, they say, might solve the problem for the next six to seven years, but will not provide a long-term solution to Russia's population crisis. 

1 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

2 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

7 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

8 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

9 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。