专四阅读真题test.pdfVIP

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TestTwo

Te*tA

Sincethemid-1970s,whenitbecameclearthatthenumberofbirthswasresolutelydeclining,

Japanesegovernmentshavemadeeffortstoencouragepeopletohavemorebabies.Butforallthat

theyhaveincreasedchildbenefitsandprovidedday-carecentresinthepast30years,thebirthratehas

remainedstubbornlylow.OnereasonisthatinJapan,unlikeintheWest,marriageisstillmoreorless

aprerequisiteforhavingchildren.Only2%ofbirthstakeplaceoutofwedlock.Andweddingscosta

lotofmoney.Themoreelaboratesortmayinvolverentingachocolate-bo*church〞andhiringor

buyingatleastthreebridaloutfits.

Havinggonetoallthattrouble,marriedcouplesdo,infact,haveanaverageofslightlymore

thantwochildren,justabovewhatisneededforbirthstoe*ceeddeaths.Thetroubleisthatfewerand

fewerpeoplegetmarried.Womenwaiteverlongerandincreasinglydonotbotheratall.Accordingto

theNIPSSR,si*outoftenwomenintheirmid-tolate20s,whichusedtobethepeakchild-bearing

age,arestillunwed.

ButthecostofweddingsmaybetheleastofthereasonswhytheJapaneseareincreasingly

puttingoffmarriageoravoidingitaltogether.Oneweightieroneisthatemploymentratesamong

womenhaveincreasedbutprivatepaniesimplicitlydiscouragemothersfromreturningtotheirold

jobs.ToshiakiTachibanaki,aneconomistwhohaswrittenoninequalityamongJapanesewomen,

findsthatabout80%offemalecivilservantsreturntotheiroldjobsafterhavingchildrenbecause

theygetreasonablematernitybenefitsandhelpwithchildcare.Butinprivatepaniestheyaretypically

lesswelllookedafter,andonlyaboutathirdgobacktowork.

Itdoesnothelpthatunem