VOA标准英语2009年-World Population At 7 Billion in Two Years

By Zulima Palacio
Washington
17 September 2009

 
World population is growing - highest in underdeveloped countries
A new report indicates that, in less than two years, global population will reach seven billion people, a number that imposes new challenges for food, health and education. The report also shows that the highest fertility rates are in underdeveloped countries, particularly among the poorest segments of the population.

Despite lower fertility rates in developed countries, the world's population continues to grow, mostly in the planet's poorest countries. 
In less than two years, global population will reach seven billion, according to the Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit group in Washington DC.

Carl Haub co-authored its report. He says, "At the moment, the world is adding one billion population every 12 years. And it took us until 1800 - however many millions of years that humans have been walking the earth - to reach our first billion."

In Sub-Saharan Africa, birth rates are high and mortality rates have slowed.

Campaigns against killers¹ like HIV-AIDs and Malaria² are producing results.

Africa will add one billion people in the next 40 years, according to the report.

"Women in Niger, at today's birth rate, would give birth on average to 7.4 children," Haub said.

Already, 80 percent of the world's children live in Africa and Asia.

This large non-productive segment of the population needs services, schools, health centers and eventually jobs.

"To have a large number of youth who have no education or barely literate³ is not an advantage," Haub says, "And that I think is one of the biggest challenges facing developing countries."

John F. May is a demographer⁴ at the World Bank. He says in Africa only 10 of 100 children will finish secondary school. One percent will go to college. "I think the strength of a country is not linked to the number of people," May says, "but it is linked to the number of educated people."

On the other hand, developed nations have lower birth rates. Europe and East Asia have the lowest.

Taiwan has the lowest birth rate in the world, an average of one child per woman. 

Higher education and the migration⁵ to cities are factors for lower birth rates, May says.

China and India both have over one billion people, the largest populations in the world. They will soon switch places.

"Sometime in the 2020s which is not that far off, India will become the largest country in population in the world, surpassing China," Haub adds.

Food production continues to be a challenge. However Haub says much of the hunger in the world is not because food is lacking but because people are impoverished⁶. "Half of the population of the developing world lives in what the World Bank defines as extreme poverty: less than $2 per day. And that is the group that is growing faster," Haub said.

Demographers⁷ agree that population growth, especially in Africa, will fuel migration to urban areas. As a result, cities could become even more massive, difficult to manage, with large pockets of poverty and slums.

1 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。

2 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

3 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

4 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

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 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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