Brazil has become one of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth — but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.
Brazil’s population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.
Martine puts it down to among other things, soap operas and installment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil’s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.
“Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction (生育), they describe middle and upper class values: not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working,” says Martine. “They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package.”
Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers (消费者). “This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction,” says Martine.
小题1:What is the passage mainly about? (within 8 words)
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小题2:What’s Brazil’s population growth rate between 1981 and 1990? (within 4 words)
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小题3:What are the two main factors in helping Brazil lower its birthrate? (within 6 words)
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小题4:How long does the most popular television network in Brazil show soap operas every week? (within 2 words)
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小题5:What changes have soap operas brought to Brazilians? (within 8 words)
There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible for their own education. Some students do badly in traditional classrooms. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules.
But many students will not do well in an open classroom. For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not make good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem of getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is that some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their school.
You now know what open education is. Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory. In actual fact, it may not work very well in a real class or school. The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have some rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Many students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.
Title: Open Education
Definition
Open education is a way of teaching which allows students to learn what they are 小题1:     in without many rules.
Advantages
· Open education enables students to realize they are learning for
小题2:     , not for others.
· In open classrooms, many students don’t need to be小题3:      of grades or rules.
· Some students find小题4:     happiness in open classrooms compared with traditional classrooms.
Disadvantages
· Many students cannot prove themselves as 小题5:      in open classrooms as in traditional classrooms.
· There are so many choices for students to 小题6:     that they can’t use open education properly.
· Some teachers are not in 小题7:     of such way of teaching.
The writer’s
小题8: __________
on open education
· Open education is just theoretical, but in a小题9:      class or school it is not so good.
·小题10:      of the students want some structure in their classes.

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