Will The New Two-Child Policy Lift China’s Economy?

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Materials Daily News

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

policy

Noun

ˈpɑːlɪsiː

a plan of action agreed or chosen by a political party, a business, etc.

Surfing the Internet for personal use is against company policy.

Social policy is determined by the government.

We have a non-smoking policy in the office.

I disagree with our government's policy on homeless people.

Our shop's policy is "Customers always come first."

investment

Noun

ɪnˈvɛstmənt

the act of investing/putting money in something to make profit

Our shareholders generally receive high returns on their investment.

It is wise to seek advice before making an investment.

Our corporation has got high returns on most of its investments.

His investments in real estate and stocks made him a rich man.

The company hopes that its investment in employee training will increase productivity and cut costs.

Founding my company wouldn't have been possible without the investment of my best friend.

All the investments helped the charity.

demand

Noun

dɪˈmænd

the need of something, usually of goods or services which customers want to buy or use

I wasn't able to meet my boss's demands, so he fired me.

Telephone assistance is available on demand.

They discussed how the company was going to meet demand.

Inflation can be a sign of currency in high demand.

Both of your demands sound quite reasonable.

There's nothing in your demands that appears unreasonable.

There is a demand for nurses right now.

There is a great demand of user-friendly devices nowadays.

The demand for my handmade bags is huge!

maternity

Noun

məˈtɜːrnəti

relating to pregnant women or women at the time of childbirth (in this context)

Maternity clothes are expensive.

shrink

Verb

ʃrɪŋk

gradually become smaller in size or amount

These jeans shrunk the last time they were washed.

Cotton clothes can easily shrink when machine washed and dried.

workforce

Noun

ˈwərkfoʊrs

all the people in a country or an area who are available for work

How much more work can we do with our existing workforce?

Our skilled workforce is our major competitive advantage.

Quite a big percent of the workforce is unemployed at the moment.

Exercise 2

Article

AI Generated Audio––:–– / ––:––

Will The New Two-Child Policy Lift China’s Economy?

China’s decision to end its one-child policy is likely to affect the country’s economy.

Official Chinese media reported last month that all couples will be permitted to have two children.

The change in policy is expected to create new investments and increase demand for goods and services. The move comes as China’s economy is slowing.

He Weiwen is with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing. He says that more children will mean “more maternity homes, hospitals, and schools. It will certainly result in massive investment in these areas.”

The policy limiting families to one child began more than 30 years ago. When the new policy goes into effect, 91-million couples will have official permission for a second child.

The main purpose of permitting two children in each family is to deal with the aging of China’s population and shrinking workforce.

Exercise 3

Questions

When did the one-child policy in China begin?

What is likely to affect China’s economy?

What is the main reason/purpose of permitting two children in each family?

Exercise 4

Discussion

What do you think of the new two-child policy in China?

Do you have children?

How many children are there in families mostly in your country?

Parts of this lesson are based on:

An article by Voice of America.