听播客学英语 279 今天的英国

 　　This podcast is about listening to numbers. I have left the numbers out of the written text, so you will have to listen carefully to understand. Send me an e-mail if need help.

　　What is Britain really like? How do British people really live – when we are not growing giant pumpkins¹ or walking naked from Lands End to John O’Groats.

　　This is of course a difficult and complicated question. We can find some answers in a book published by the government last week. It is called Social Trends, and it contains statistics² on many different aspects of life in Britain.

　　It shows, for example, that the population of Britain is growing. There are now nearly ***people in the United Kingdom. But, compared with ***years ago, there are now ***million fewer people under the age of ***, and ***more people over the age of ***. Nearly ***% of people in Britain are now aged³ over ***. So we are living longer than we used to, but have fewer children.

　　About ***of the population of Britain is from an ethnic⁴ minority. The largest ethnic minority group is Indian, followed by Pakistanis, Black Caribbean, Black Africans, Bangladeshis and Chinese. In addition, about ***% of the population are white people of Irish descent⁵.

　　Many people from ethnic minorities live in London, which is now one of the most ethnically⁶ diverse cities in the world. In one major city, Leicester in the English Midlands, the majority of people are from ethnic minorities.

　　Over the last *** years the number of households in Britain has grown by over ***%. And ***% of households are now single people. Many of these are older people whose partner has died. But over ***% of men (and a smaller number of women) aged between ***and *** live alone. Altogether, about *** people in Britain live alone.

　　At one time it was socially unacceptable for a unmarried people to have babies. But today ***% of births are outside marriage. *** years ago the figure was only *** %.

　　You can find a lot more information on the Social Trends website. There is a link from the podcast website.

1 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

2 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。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 descent   

n.下降，下倾，斜坡，坡道，血统，世系

参考例句：

• We watched anxiously during her descent from the tree.我们焦急地看着她从树上爬下来。
• Many Americans are of English descent.许多美国人的祖籍是英国。

6 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句