酷兔英语

World Population Day

July 11, 2004

2004 marks the 10th anniversary of the groundbreaking International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994.

Ten years ago, on the eve of World Population Day, a new campaign was launched to raise awareness of how international family planning helps save women and children's lives, safeguard the environment, and slow population growth. 179 governments committed to it when they signed the Program of Action of ICPD, which prescribes the steps that will not only save millions of women's lives but empower(授权, 使能够)societies to achieve a better future.



Today, there are more than 6 billion people on the planet, with half of the world's population under the age of 25-at or just reaching their childbearing(分娩)years.



Nearly 600,000 women still die each year from pregnancy-related causes. And an estimated 90 percent of infants whose mothers die at childbirth will not survive to their first birthday.



Wild species are becoming extinct 50 to 100 times faster than they naturally would, because of the impact of rapid population growth and increased population density in many countries.



Though population growth is slowing worldwide, more than 90 percent of current growth occurs in the developing world where needs are great and resources are scarce. And these nations have a huge unmet need for family planning services-over 150 million married women of reproductive age in the developing world indicate that they would prefer to postpone childbearing but are not using any method of contraception.



"Girl born today in the developing world faces better prospects than a girl who was born 10 years ago. School enrolment rates are increasing, mortality is declining and life expectancy(平均寿命) is rising, more and more women and couples are able to choose the number and spacing of their children and many countries are taking additional steps to confront HIV/AIDS. But progress is uneven, and in some cases slipping backwards. We need the strength and determination of a marathon(马拉松赛跑)runner to meet our goals during the next decade."
关键字:英语国际新闻
生词表:
  • anniversary [,æni´və:səri] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.周年纪念(日) 四级词汇
  • extinct [ik´stiŋkt] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.熄灭的;灭绝的 四级词汇
  • impact [´impækt] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.影响,作用;冲击 六级词汇
  • density [´densiti] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.浓(稠)密;密度 六级词汇
  • mortality [mɔ:´tæliti] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.致命性;死亡率 四级词汇
  • taking [´teikiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.迷人的 n.捕获物 六级词汇
  • uneven [ʌn´i:vən] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.崎岖的;不匀的 四级词汇
  • backwards [´bækwədz] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.向后 a.向后的 六级词汇