美英报刊选读课后练习

VI.
1. The three big milestones for America’s population are the following: 1915 when America’s population grew to 100 million, 1967 when America’s population increased to 200 million and 2006 when America’s population reached 300 million.
2. America’s recent population growth has been extraordinary. Since 2000 alone, America has added 20 million people. In sharp contrast with America’s population increase, Europe’s birth rates have been plunging and Japan’s population has been shrinking.
3. There are the following three trends: migration to the west and the south, sharp increase of immigrants and fast increase of the over-65 population.
4. The fast growth of the South and the West has been buoyed by immigration, lower costs, and recreational opportunities.
5. The major factor in the population growth is immigration. Since 2000 alone, there has been a 16 percent rise in the number of immigrants living in American households.
6. The most striking difference is the change of the main source. Before 1967, the main source of immigrants was Western Europe. However, after President Johnson signed the Immigration and Naturalization Act in 1965 to stop racial and ethnic quotas for new immigrants, and once the Mexican economy tanked in the 1970s, immigrants from Mexico sharply increased. In Fort Wayne, nearly 80 percent of Hispanics are Mexican. An estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants now live in America.
7. According to the article, the influx of new immigrants has caused the problem of racial tensions.
8. Back in 1990, the median age in America was 22.9 years. But with people having fewer babies, that number started to climb. Lower fertility rates mean older populations. The baby boom caused a brief pause in this movement during the 1950s and 1960s, but the aging trend has since resumed. The median age is up to 36.5 and is expected to rise to 39 by 2030 before leveling off.
9. People like Mayor Bill Saffo consider the senior citizens as a real asset because they are active in the community, and they work part-time and create businesses.
10. Its main attractions are its great beaches, low cost of living and abundant golf courses.
11. The enlarged senior population will overburden Social Security and Medicare, the two largest entitlement programs.