4-2 独生子女家庭

Learn English for the 2008 Olympics

—— Single Child Family

Foreigner: It was in the early eighties that I first became aware of your one child family as the main policy in family planning. I was too young to know much about the subject or to be interested in it then, but I do remember people did show much concern and there was much talk about it at the time.

Chinese: I know. I remember there was a lot of condemnation 21 about the policy. It seems there are a lot of people in the west who think nothing we do can be right. They criticize us for having too large a population, and when we try to control it, they condemn 1 us for violating human rights!

Foreigner: I can see that the one child family is a necessary contingency 32 policy and it has successfully brought the growth rate under control. But you must admit that there were a lot of highhanded3 measures at first, including forced abortions4.

Chinese: There is always a question of trial and error in carrying out a new policy. We were too highhanded and rigid 5 at first. Now we are much more flexible and people are no longer so resistant 6 and are getting much more cooperative too.

Foreigner: So you think that this policy is a success and you expect no more trouble in carrying it out?

Chinese: As you said yourself, this is a contingency policy that has to be carried out in order to bring population growth under control, and so far everything is going smoothly 7. But it is also true that the single child family has created a lot of unforeseen social problems. To find solutions will be a great challenge.

Foreigner: I've often heard the single child being referred to as the little emperor. Does that mean it tends to get spoilt5? Is that going to be a social problem that you predict?

Chinese: Yes, being spoilt is certainly a problem. Imagine a child enjoying the center of attention not only of its parents, but also of its maternal 86 as well as its paternal 97 grandparents. Naturally most of them will grow up to be selfish and self-centered. And what's worse, they are so used to having everything done for them that many grow up to be very incompetent 10 though they are usually very intelligent.

Foreigner: I believe that has something to do with your education system too. Chinese students are usually intelligent and well behaved, and do well academically, but they are not encouraged to be independent and have independent thoughts and views.

Chinese: That's another question. The question is, without brothers or sisters, a single child will have greater difficulty in learning how to get on with other children at school and with other people when he or she goes into society. So it's a social question rather than an educational question.

Foreigner: Then there is the health problem. Because of overfeeding, you see so many little fatties around. To be overweight so young is surely bad for the heart.

Chinese: But the biggest problem I think is the disproportion8 of the sexes in the population. Because of the traditional emphasis on the male carrying on the family line, somehow people manage to give birth to more boys than girls.

Foreigner: You sound so pessimistic9 about your future generation. Surely things are not as bad as you describe.

Chinese: I don't mean to sound pessimistic. I'm just pointing out some of the problems we are facing. Wherever there is life, there is bound to be problems, and life is just a continuous search for solutions to problems.

注释:

1.condemnation [7kCndem5neiFEn] n. 谴责，指责

2.contingency [kEn5tindVEnsi] n. 紧急情况，不测事件

3.highhanded [haihAndid] a. 高压的，专横的

4.abortion 4 [E5bC:FEn] n. 流产，小产，堕胎

5.spoil [spCil] vt. 宠坏，溺爱

6.maternal [mE5tE:nl] a. 母系的，母亲一方的

7.paternal [pE5tE:nl] a. 父系的，父亲一方的

8.disproportion [7disprE5pC:FEn] n. 不成比例，不相称

9.pessimistic [7pesi5mistik] a. 悲观的

备战奥运—— 独生子女家庭

外国人：我是在20世纪80年代初才听说，你们的计划生育政策主要是每个家庭只许有一个孩子。当时我还小，对这还不懂也无兴趣，但我记得人们很关注这事并有不少议论。

中国人：我知道。我记得当时西方对这项政策是一片指责声。在西方好像有不少人认为不管我们做什么都是不对的。他们批评我们人口过多，但当我们试图控制人口时，他们又指责我们侵犯人权！

外：我可以理解独生子女政策是必要的应急措施，而且它有效地控制了人口的增长率。但你也必须承认，开始时你们采取了很多高压措施，包括强制堕胎。

中：实施一项新政策时难免会有一些偏差。开始我们是有些僵硬苛严，但现在就灵活多了，人们也不那么抵触，并越来越合作。

外：那么你认为此项政策是成功的，在实施中不再会有问题？

中：正如你所说，这是为了控制人口增长所采取的必要的应急政策，到目前为止一切还算顺利。但独生子女家庭也带来了一些原先没有料到的社会问题，这也是事实。解决这些问题将要费一番努力。

外：我经常听见人们称独生子女为小皇帝。那是不是他们往往被惯坏了？这是不是你所预料的社会问题？

中：是的，被惯坏确实是个问题。你想想，一个孩子不但父母围着他转，爷爷奶奶、姥爷姥姥也围着他转。难怪他们之中有不少人长大成为自私、以自我为中心的人。更糟糕的是，他们已习惯事事有人侍候，结果长大后变成了无能之辈，虽然人往往很聪明。

外：我想这也和你们的教育制度有关。中国的学生很聪明，很守规矩，功课好，但独力性和独力思考能力得不到发挥。

中：是有那个问题。独生子女的问题是，因为没有兄弟姐妹，学会和同学相处就比较困难，将来步入社会与人相处也会有困难。因此这不是一个教育问题，而是一个社会问题。

外：还有健康问题。由于营养过剩，许多独生子女都成了肥胖儿。这么小就超重对他们的心脏肯定不利。

中：但我认为最大的问题是男女比例失调。我们中国人传统上一向把生儿子传宗接代看得很重。不知怎么的，生男的确实比生女的多。

外：你听起来好像对下一代很悲观。我想情况肯定没有你说的那么严重。

中：我并不那么悲观。我只是提出我们所面临的一些问题。有生命就有问题。生活就是不停地寻求问题的答案。