Section C In this section, there is one passage
followed by five incomplete sentences. Read the passage carefully, and then
complete each sentence in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to write the answers
on the answer sheet.
Madrid, Spain—The laughter of children still spills over the
walls of St. John the Baptist School. But it’s quite as loud
these days. There are fewer children at the Madrid School—just like at other
schools all across Spain. Births in Spain have gone from
boom—when couples commonly had a half-dozen children and dictator Francisco
Franco rewarded the largest families—to bust. Spanish women are
having fewer babies than women of any other country in the world—an average of
1.24 per woman, according to a 1996 report by the Council of Europe. Spanish
demographers say the rate has since fallen to 1.21. Indeed,
many European countries have low birth rates, giving the Continent an overall
average of 1.5 births per woman. Italy is not far behind Spain, with a rate of
1.26. Germany and Greece follow at 1.35 and Austria and Russia at 1.4. The birth
rate is 2.1 in US. Experts say an economic crunch, the increase
of women getting jobs, and society’s distancing from the Roman Catholic Church
and its ban on contraception are behind Spain having the world’s lowest birth
rate. For four-year-old Daniel Benito, an energetic boy with
dark, sparkling eyes, it means he eats breakfast and lunch at St. John the
Baptist because both his parents go to work early. And he has no brothers or
sisters to play with at home. On the plus side, as an only
child, Daniel gets lots of toys and new clothes. In fact as Spain’s birth rate
slides to new lows, sales of toys, children’s clothes and baby food are
increasing. "There are fewer kids, but now they are richer
kids," said sociologist Alfredo Campo. "Before, mothers used to make food for
their babies. Now, nobody makes their own baby food ; they all buy ready-to-eat
baby food. And mothers don’t have the time to be knitting baby booties."
Parents note that when they grew up in large families, they
often wore hand-me-down clothes, received gifts only once or twice a year and
used their imagination to make up games. The new generation may
be getting somewhat spoiled. "The children come to school with
their toys from home. If their toy breaks, they really don’t mind." Said
Sagrario Pinto, director of St. John the Baptist’s preschool and kindergarten.
"Their attitude is, ’Oh well, mommy will buy me a new one.’ They don’t value
what they have. " With more women joining the work force, it
appears the days of Spanish couples having large families is a thing of the
past. After working long hours, journalist Sylvia Carrasco
rushes home weeknights from work to spend precious moments with her only child,
five-year-old Manuel, before his bedtime. Like many women,
Carasco was torn between having more children and her career. After much
thought, she and her husband decided they did not have enough time to devote to
a second child. "As it is, we barely have the time to play with
Manuel," she said, "I cannot stay home full time. I like to work outside the
home—I’d never give it up." One woman who climbed the career
ladder in government complains that fathers with working wives don’t do enough
to help care for the children. "In a chauvinistic society, when
a woman joins the work force it means double the amount of work for that woman,"
said Amalia Gomez, secretary-general of the social affairs Ministry and a
mother of two. "If women can go to work and count on the man to shoulder some of
the responsibility of the home, they’ll have more children."
They said global population would more likely grow from the current 5.8
billion to 10 billion in 2050—still a big increase. And so far,
the drop in school enrolment has meant improved student-teacher ratios. But with
Spain loosening laws that made it difficult and costly to fire employees,
the decrease in students may soon translate into teacher layoffs. The
government is already allocating more money to social security because of Spain’
s aging population. But the government no longer encourages women to have more
babies, as Franco did during his 1939-1975 rule. Some observers
predict a swing back to couples having more babies, although not as many as
before. "I believe in cycles," Gomez said. "Eventually it
always comes around. " QUESTIONS: Births in Spain have ______ and Spanish women have ______ in the world.