Brazilhasbecomeoneofthedevelopingworld’sgreatsuccessesatreducingpopulationgrowthbutmorebyaccidentthandesign.WhilecountriessuchasIndiahavemadejointeffortstoreducebirthrates,Brazilhashadbetterresultwithoutreallytrying,saysGeorgeMartineatHarvard. Brazil’spopulationgrowthratehasdroppedfrom2.99%ayearbetween1951and1960to1.93%ayearbetween1981to1990,andBrazilianwomennowhaveonly2.7childrenonaverage.Martinesaysthisfiguremayhavefallenstillfurthersince1990,anachievementthatmakesittheenvyofmanyotherThirdWorldcountries. Martineputsitdownto,amongotherthings,soapoperasandinstallmentplansintroducedinthe1970s.Bothplayedanimportant,althoughindirect,roleinloweringthebirthrate.Brazilisoneoftheworld’sbiggestproducersofsoapoperas.Globo,Brazil’smostpopulartelevisionnetwork,showsthreehoursofsoapssixnightsaweek,whilethreeothersshowatleastonehouranight.Mostsoapsarebasedonwealthycharacterslivingthehighlifeinbigcities. “Althoughtheyhaveneverreallytriedtoworkinamessagetowardstheproblemsofreproduction,theydescribemiddleandupperclassvalues----notmanychildren,differentattitudestowardssex,womenworking,”saysMartine.“Theysentthisimagetoallpartsofbrazilandmadepeopleconsciousofbehaviorandothervalues,whichwereputintoaveryattractivepackage.” Meanwhile,theinstallmentplanstriedtoencouragethepoortobecomeconsumers.“Thisledtoanenormouschangeinconsumptionpatternsandconsumptionwasincompatiblewithunlimitedreproduction.”saysMartine. 小题1:Accordingtothepassage,thetwofactorsthatleadtothesuccessofpopulationcontrolinBrazilare_______________________________________. 小题2:Theunderlinedphrase“putdownto”inparagraph3hastheclosestmeaningto_________________________________. 小题3:WhatmadeBraziltheenvyofmanyotherThirdWorldcountries? _________________________________________________________________ 小题4:Whydidtheauthorsaythatsoapoperashelpedinloweringthebirthrate? _________________________________________________________________ |