CCTV9英语新闻：中国劳动年龄人口连续三年减少

 The National Bureau of Statistics has announced the latest figures of the country's total population and on China's labor¹ force.

 

China now has about 1.37 billion people, more than any other country in the world. And the number of working age people - between 16 to 60 - has fallen for three years in a row. By the end of 2014, the total number was 916 million, down by 3.71 million from the previous year. The working population now accounts for 67 percent of the total population, that's 0.6 of a percentage point lower. And the number of people over 65 now accounts for ten percent of the population.

 

Experts say if we won't see a spike² in the fertility rate within the next 2 years, then the government should allow more couples to have a second child.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。