2024年6月英语六级听力真题 卷二 录音2

Recording Two

录音二

As the American population grows, so does the number of American moms.

随着美国人口的增长，美国妈妈的数量也在增长。

But more than a century after Mother's Day became an official holiday, even as that number increases, the share of the American population who are mothers is at the lowest point in a quarter century.

但在母亲节成为法定假日的一个多世纪后，尽管这个数字在增加，但美国女性人口的比例却处于四分之一世纪以来的最低点。

It's frequently noted that fertility rates are falling sharply in richer countries.

人们经常注意到，富裕国家的生育率正在急剧下降.

But the less observed consequence of this trend is that a decline in births can also mean a decline in motherhood in general.

但这一趋势较少被观察到的后果是，出生率的下降也可能意味着总体上孕产妇人数的下降。

According to my analysis of data from the Census Bureau, the decline of American motherhood is real, occurring very quickly, and may continue for some time yet.

根据我对人口普查局数据的分析，美国孕产妇人数的下降是真实的，而且发生得非常快，而且可能还会持续一段时间。

Not only are moms making up less of the population, but their characteristics are changing too and in a way that might be linked to their proportional decline.

不仅母亲在人口中所占的比例减少了，而且她们的特征也在发生变化，而且这种变化可能与她们所占比例的下降有关。

Moms today tend to be older than in the past. Just looking at recent years, the change in age-specific birth rates has been drastic.

现在的妈妈往往比过去年长。仅从最近几年来看，按年龄分列的出生率变化是剧烈的。

In just the past few years, the peak childbearing age range for American women has advanced from that of 25~29 to that of30~34.

在过去的几年里，美国女性的生育高峰年龄已经从25～29岁提高到30～34岁。

Meanwhile, childbearing among women under 20 has fallen by half or more, while childbearing among women35 and older is rising.

与此同时，20岁以下女性的生育率下降了一半甚至更多，而35岁及以上的女性生育率正在上升。

One positive consequence of this age shift is that a larger proportion of new mothers are economically prepared to raise children.

这一年龄变化的一个积极后果是，越来越多的新妈妈在经济上准备抚养孩子。

Less positively, however, many women find that, as they age, they can't have as many kids as they would like.

然而，不那么乐观的是，许多女性发现，随着年龄的增长，她们无法按照自己的意愿生育更多的孩子。

Plus, having children later in life can increase the risk of health complications.

另外，晚育会增加健康并发症的风险。

These finer points aside, one major consequence of the older mom's trend is that fewer years of a woman’s life are spent as a mother.

撇开这些细枝末节不谈，高龄妈妈趋势的一个主要后果是，女性一生中作为母亲度过的年数减少了。

This means that, at any given time, a larger share of women and thus of the whole population, will report not having children in government surveys.

这意味着，在任何特定时间，在政府调查中，有较大比例的妇女，从而在整个人口中，将报告没有孩子。

In other words, later motherhood means less motherhood.

换句话说，晚育意味着少育。

Even as motherhood rates decline, Mother's Day, of course, will endure.

即使母亲的生育率下降，母亲节当然会持续下去。

In fact, despite the demographic shift, retail spending on the holiday appears to be rising.

事实上，尽管人口结构发生了变化，但节日期间的零售支出似乎在上升。

It is hard to say if Mother's Day spending is rising more than one would expect, given that the American population keeps growing.

鉴于美国人口持续增长，很难说母亲节支出的增长是否超过人们的预期。

But one factor might be that the proportion of women who are the mothers of adult children is rising and those adult children may spend more generously when it comes to celebrating the moms they no longer live with.

但一个因素可能是，作为成年子女母亲的妇女比例正在上升，而这些成年子女在庆祝他们不再与他们一起生活的母亲时可能会更加慷慨。

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.

问题19到21是基于你刚才听到的录音。

Question19. What does the speaker conclude from her analysis of the Census Bureau's data?

讲话者从她对人口普查局数据的分析中得出了了什么结论?

Question20.What does the speaker say is a positive consequence of the age shift in childbearing?

讲话者说生育年龄变化的一个积极影响是什么?

Question21. What might be one explanation for the rise in retail spending on Mother's Day?

母亲节期间零售支出增加的一个可能的原因是什么?

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