VOA标准英语2008年-New Report in India Shows Further Decline in Nu

A report by a British charity says there has been a sharp decline in the number of young girls to boys in some parts of India in the last five years. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the cultural preference for sons has led to a skewed ratio of girls to boys in India as many families abort¹ female fetuses².
　
Underprivileged girls in Bangalore, India (File)

The study in north and northwest India found that the ratio of girls under six years of age has plunged³ since 2001 when the last nationwide census⁴ was conducted.

The report "Disappearing Daughters" has been conducted by ActionAid and Canada's International Development Research Center.

It says in three of five states surveyed, the number of girls had declined to less than 800 for every 1000 boys compared to the nationwide average of 950 girls.

The report says the decline is happening in both rural and prosperous urban areas, showing that the preference for sons cut across economic and social classes.

The report's main researcher, Jyoti Sapru, says urban families (in some areas like the northern Punjab state) are increasingly opting⁵ for small families, squeezing the space for girls.

"For example in urban Punjab one finds that families articulate the size that they ideally would like as one child, and that one child really is becoming a one-son family - it is no more space given for one girl, one boy," Sapru said.

The report says many parents do whatever they can to avoid having daughters.

Some abort female fetuses after using ultrasound technology to determine the sex of the child despite a 1994 law that bans such tests.

It says survival rates for of girl babies are also hitting an all-time low due to neglect of their health.

The preference for boys over girls is rooted in a culture that looks upon girls as financial burdens because parents give a dowry when they marry.

Sapru says that preference is becoming accentuated⁶ as people begin to spend larger amounts on the education and health of their children.

"Somewhere the investment in a daughter from the point of view of health and education seems to be becoming more of a liability for families, coupled with dowry for a girl," Sapru said. "They would rather put money in their son's education and health, and his marriage and his job."

Over the past decade, India has launched several public campaigns to educate people about the rights of girls - but progress has been slow, especially in the north of the country.

The "Disappearing Daughters" report has called on the government to ensure tougher enforcement of laws to check the practice of aborting⁷ female fetuses. But it says that in the long term, cultural attitudes need to change.

The British medical journal, Lancet, has estimated that half a million female fetuses are aborted⁸ every year in India.

 

1 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

2 fetuses   

n.胎，胎儿( fetus的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• DNA was extracted from fetuses at mid-gestation, about 10 days past conception. DNA从受孕大约10天后的中期妊娠胚胎中提取。 来自互联网
• Brucellosis is a disease that causes fetuses to abort in cattle. 普鲁士菌病是一种可以导致牲畜胎儿夭折的疾病。 来自互联网

3 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

4 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

5 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

6 accentuated   

v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于

参考例句：

• The problem is accentuated by a shortage of water and electricity. 缺乏水电使问题愈加严重。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her black hair accentuated the delicateness of her skin. 她那乌黑的头发更衬托出她洁嫩的皮肤。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 aborting   

v.（使）流产( abort的现在分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败

参考例句：

• Target machine is rebooting due to a different deployment task. Aborting deployment. 由于有另一个部署任务，目标计算机正在重新启动。正在中止部署。 来自互联网
• The number of seconds elapsed before aborting a connection attempt. 在中止连接尝试之前经过的秒数。 来自互联网

8 aborted   

adj.流产的，失败的v.（使）流产( abort的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败

参考例句：

• The rocket flight had to be aborted because of difficulties with computer. 因电脑出故障，这次火箭飞行只好中辍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They aborted the space flight finally. 他们最后中止了这次宇航飞行。 来自《简明英汉词典》