“Hey, little boy, will you support me when I’m getting old?” Wang Wenshan, 35, asked his newborn baby as he picked him up at home.
The Chinese tradition of raising sons to support parents in their old age has been weakened by the rapidly growing economy and improving standard of living. As is the case with more and more developed countries, China faces an aging society. People are living longer and having fewer children. Therefore, many Chinese families are falling into a 4－2－1 family pattern: a couple raises one child and supports four elderly parents. But few realize that a problem is likely to happen ahead.
The aging of the population is a trend that now affects a growing number of countries. Not long ago, the Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued a white paper on measures China is taking to help its elderly population. The paper said China’s population entered the aging period at the end of the 20th century and the proportion of people aged 60 and above accounted for over 10 percent of the entire population. By the end of 2005, China had nearly 144 million people over 60, accounting for 11 percent of population, according to the white paper.
An expanding aged population inevitably means that many issues must be settled, as the problem concerns every aspect of society. It puts more pressure on each family, causing disturbing economic consequences and serious social problems. It also challenges the labor force supply and the pension system.
“I used to think that it’s not an issue for me to provide for the aged,” said Wang, whose parents and parents-in-law all enjoy pensions and medical insurance. But last year Wang’s father suffered a serious illness and afterward Wang began to feel the pressure on his shoulders.
After his father recovered, Wang opened bank accounts for each parent and deposited some money into the account every month to prepare for future uncertainties. In addition, he has to save money every month to provide for his son’s future education. “I’m now breaking my back working to support my family: saving pensions for the parents, my son’s education funds, and living costs.”
Wang also bought some commercial old-age insurance for himself. “We have to take precautions before it is too late, and many of my colleagues share the same view,” he said.
小题1: Which of the following is not caused by an aging society?
A．Social problem
B．The problem of the pension system
C．More pressure on the family
D．Unemployment小题2:From the passage, we can infer _______
A．the aging people problem is one of the concerns for the Chinese government
B．China will encourage young couples to have more than one child
C．many people have realized the problem of aging society
D．children will not support their parents in an aging society小题3:Which of the following can be used to replace the underlined word inevitably?
A．Surprisingly
B．Certainly
C．Hopefully
D．Unluckily小题4:Form the text we can see that _______
A．China is the only country to face an aging society
B．Most of the developing countries face an aging society
C．countries with a large population face an aging society
D．more and more developed countries face an aging society
