點擊箭頭處「藍色字」，關注我們哦！！
Headcounts and headaches: censuses in Europe
點人頭和頭痛：歐洲人口普查
This year almost every country in Europe will conduct a census, to help governments plan for the future. Sixty years ago the population of the EU’s 27 members was 12% of the world’s total. Today it is 6% and by 2070, unless the censuses reveal surprises, it will have shrunk to 4%.
今年，歐洲幾乎每個國家都將進行人口普查，以幫助各國政府制定未來計劃。六十年前，歐盟27個成員國的人口佔世界總數的12％。今天是6％，到2070年，除非人口普查顯示出乎意料，否則它將縮小到4％。
Many European countries have next to no immigration and much emigration, and their populations have been shrinking for years. Without immigration the population of all European countries will shrink, as deaths outnumber births. Populations are ageing, too: on current projections the working-age population will shrink by 18% by 2070, while 30% of the population will be aged 65 or above, up from about 20% today.
許多歐洲國家幾乎沒有移民，也沒有很多移民，其人口多年來一直在減少。沒有死亡，所有歐洲國家的人口都會減少，因為死亡人數超過了出生人數。人口也在老齡化：根據目前的預測，到2070年，工作年齡人口將減少18％，而30％的人口將達到65歲或以上，而今天這一數字約為20％。
Some say a smaller population would be a good thing: the Earth’s resources are already stretched. But it still poses an economic problem if it is mostly made up of expensive pensioners rather than tax-paying workers.
有人說人口少是件好事：地球的資源已經捉襟見肘。但是，如果它主要由昂貴的養老金領取者而不是納稅工人組成，那麼它將仍然構成一個經濟問題。
This year almost every country in Europe will conduct a census, to help governments plan for the future. Sixty years ago the population of the EU’s 27 members was 12% of the world’s total. Today it is 6% and by 2070, unless the censuses reveal surprises, it will have shrunk to 4%.
census [ˈsensəs] n. 人口普查，人口調查；（官方的）統計，調查
shrunk [ʃrʌŋk] v. 收縮（shrink的過去分詞）
Many European countries have next to no immigration and much emigration, and their populations have been shrinking for years. Without immigration the population of all European countries will shrink, as deaths outnumber births. Populations are ageing, too: on current projections the working-age population will shrink by 18% by 2070, while 30% of the population will be aged 65 or above, up from about 20% today.
outnumber [ˌaʊtˈnʌmbər] vt. 數目超過；比…多
Some say a smaller population would be a good thing: the Earth’s resources are already stretched. But it still poses an economic problem if it is mostly made up of expensive pensioners rather than tax-paying workers.
stretch [stretʃ] v. 最大限度利用
[Without immigration] the population (of all European countries) will shrink, || as deaths outnumber births.
* as 為連詞，引導狀語從句。
Populations are ageing, too: [on current projections] the working-age population will shrink [by 18%] [by 2070], while 30% (of the population) will be aged 65 or above, up
from [about 20%] today.
* while 為連詞，引導狀語從句。
* be 為系動詞作謂語，採用一般將來時。
雅思小作文的圖表題都會涉及百分比percent (或per cent, %) ，它們作主語時的必須要留意主謂一致。
1) 百分比加不可數名詞或單數名詞時，謂語動詞一般用單數形式。
* 70 percent of the fund was supplied by the government. 70％的資金由政府提供。
2) 百分比加集體名詞，則謂語動詞可以用單複數形式均可。
* What per cent of the population read/reads books? 識字的人佔人口的百分之幾?
3) 百分比加複數名詞，則謂語動詞用複數形式。
* 65% of children play computer games. 65%的小孩子玩電腦遊戲。
註：封面及內文圖片來自網際網路