中国夫妇考虑生二胎的成本

 　　A survey by the China Youth Daily shows over 80-percent of those asked are mostly concerned about the high cost of a 2nd child.

　　"Even though we are eligible¹ to have a second baby, we can't afford it. It is too expensive to send a second child to a good primary school and buy school district housing."

　　But at the same time, half of those asked say it's important to understand their first child's thoughts on the matter.

　　"Since the first child used to be the only child in the family, we're worried they'll feel the second child will steal the limelight from them."

　　中国夫妇考虑生二胎的成本

　　While finances² still remain the top concern, anxieties the first child feels are starting to become a growing concern for parents.

　　Last month, a pregnant³ mother in Wuhan chose to have an abortion⁴, claiming her 13-year-old daughter was the one who objected, saying she threatened her with death if she had the child.

　　Mr. Zhao had to plead⁵ with his child when he and his wife were considering having another child.

　　"We did not expect our son would act like this. He asked us to write a commitment letter, saying the birth of our second baby would not affect his own life."

　　Su Jichao is a primary school teacher in Hebei's capital, Shijiazhuang.

　　She says she's seen some of her students over-react when their parents decide to have another child.

　　"These kids can become very bad. They tend to pick fights with their classmates. We think they're doing this in a way to act-out and get attention from their parents and us, their teachers."

　　The Chinese government eased its restrictions⁶ on its decades-long family planning policy a year ago, allowing couples who are the product of the one-child policy to have a 2nd child themselves.

　　However, statistics⁷ suggest only around 6-percent of those who are eligible in Beijing have chosen to do so.

　　The rate is even smaller in Shanghai.

　　For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen.

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 finances   

n.(pl.)财源，资产

参考例句：

• I need a professional to sort out my finances. 我需要专业人士为我管理财务。
• The company's finances are looking a bIt'shaky. 这个公司的财政情况看来有点不稳定。

3 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

4 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

5 plead   

vt.辩护，恳求，提出借口；vi.辩护，反对

参考例句：

• He had a good lawyer to plead his case.他请了一位出色的律师为自己的案子辩护。
• Are you ready to plead against the case offered by the defendant?你准备好反驳辩护人提出的问题了吗？

6 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

7 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。