Lesson 4

Answers to the Questions

V. 1. B 2. D 3. C 4. A 5. A

VI.

1．Unlike the baby boom, which was triggered by a surge in births after World War II, the current growth in the number of children is being fueled at least as much by immigration as by the offspring of baby boomers (the “baby boom echo”). A rise in fertility since the baby bust years of the 1970s is also at work, particularly among Hispanics, who now reproduce at half again the rate of the rest of the population.

2．The first members of the Millennium Generation were born in 1980.

3．No. The Census Bureau projects that children of immigrants will account for 88 percent of the increase in the under-18 population between 2000 and 2050. Without immigration, the bureau says, the population of the children in fact would decrease slightly from 2000 to 2015.

4．Yes. President Clinton was unusually attentive to the child boom. He held a White House conference on after-school safety, vowed to hold tobacco companies responsible for the number of children smoking each of their brands, and, in an Oval Office ceremony where he signed into law the“Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act, ” he extolled his own education proposals while accusing Republicans of refusing to invest in the future of children.

5．Because the mothers feel guilty. A record proportion of moth-ers are in the work force. They feel that they have not given their kids enough care.

6．No. Because there are so many cross-currents that many analysts refuse to draw conclusions.

Outline

I. The Millennium Generation (Paragraphs 1-2)

(1) Unannounced event of the first birth in the new millennium

(2) Another baby boom

II. Impacts of the Millennium Generation (Paragraphs 3-4)

(1) Impacts on public service institutions, business and politics

(2) Impacts on the society

III. Factors in the new baby boom (Paragraphs 5-6)

(1) Offspring of baby boomers; fertility rise among Hispanics

(2) Continuous increase of immigrants

IV. Problems created by the new baby boom (Paragraphs 7-9)

(1) Conflicts between tax-weary senior citizens and parents of children in crowded classrooms

(2) More social problems in the future

(3) Problems of crimes, drug use and other issues associated with teenagers

V. Favorable factors for the Millennium Generation (Paragraphs 10-11)

(1) Better child care

(2) Earlier finding of babies'health problems

VI. Changes in the population composition of America's children (Paragraphs 12-15)

(1) Shrinking of non-Hispanic white percentage and increase of Hispanic percentage

(2) Projections about Asian-American and African-American children's percentages

(3) Projection of immigrants'children

(4) Uneven growth distribution among the states

VII. Attention paid to the Millennium Generation (Paragraphs 16-21)

(1) Clinton's unusual attention

(2) Reason for Clinton's attention: appeal to the mothers

(3) Public attention to the generation

a. Libraries'efforts to better serve children

b. Explosion of marketing to children

c. Service industry's efforts

VIII. Reasons for the attention (Paragraphs 22-24)

(1) Working mothers'feeling of guilt

(2) The huge number of the group

IX. Prospects of the Millennium Generation (Paragraphs 25-28)

(1) Feeling no loyalty

(2) Influence of many cross-currents on the generation

(3) Hard to forecast about the generation