China's people are getting fewer. Last year, there were 1.409 billion people, which is 2.08 million less than before. The number of people is going down faster now because not many babies are being born. Even though the government wants more people to have babies, living in the city is expensive and young people are busy with work.
The reason there are fewer people in China is because of sickness and money problems. Not many babies have been born for a while, and the sickness made it worse. This is what happens to some countries when they don't make as many things in factories anymore. China needs to change how it takes care of old people and find new kinds of jobs, but it has time to do this.
China is also having trouble with money. Houses are too expensive, people are not buying as much, and many young people don't have jobs. The country's money grew a little bit, but not very much. There are not as many workers as before, which is not good for money, but China has plans to fix this by doing different kinds of work.
Original news source: China records population decline for second straight year (BBC)
π§ Listen:
π Vocabulary:
Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– News Summary
Instructions: Have students read the article individually or in pairs. Then, ask them to write a summary of the article in their own words, using 3-5 sentences.
– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Ask each group to discuss and share their opinions on the following questions: 1) Do you think the decrease in China's population is a problem? Why or why not? 2) What do you think China can do to encourage more people to have babies? After the discussion, each group can present their opinions to the class.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write key vocabulary words from the article on separate slips of paper and put them in a box. Divide the class into two teams. One student from each team will come to the front of the class and choose a slip of paper from the box. They must then draw the word on the board while their team tries to guess the word. The team that guesses correctly gets a point. Continue until all the words have been drawn.
– Headline Creation
Instructions: Ask students to work in pairs or small groups. Give each group a headline related to the article, such as "China's Population Decline: Causes and Solutions." Ask them to discuss and brainstorm ideas for an article based on the headline. Once they have come up with their ideas, ask each group to present their headline and a brief summary of their article to the class.
– Synonym Challenge
Instructions: Write key vocabulary words from the article on the board. Ask students to work individually or in pairs to come up with as many synonyms as they can for each word. After a few minutes, discuss the synonyms as a class and see who can come up with the most.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
There were 1.409 billion people in China last year.
There are fewer people in China now because not many babies are being born.
Two reasons why not many babies are being born in China are sickness and money problems.
When some countries don't make as many things in factories anymore, they may have fewer people and need to find new jobs.
China needs to change how it takes care of old people by finding new ways to support and provide for them.
China is having trouble with money because houses are expensive, people are not buying as much, and many young people don't have jobs.
China has plans to fix the problem of not having as many workers by creating different types of jobs and finding ways to increase employment.
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
China's people are fewer. Last year, there were 1.409 billion people, which is 2.08 million than before. The number of people is going down faster now because not many babies are being born. Even though the government wants people to have babies, living in the city is expensive and young people are with . The reason there are fewer people in China is because of sickness and money problems. Not many babies have been born for a while, and the sickness made it . This is what happens to some countries when they don't as things in factories anymore. China needs to change how it takes care of old people and new kinds of jobs, but it has time to do this. China is also having trouble with money. Houses are too expensive, people are not buying as much, and many young people don't have . The country's grew a little bit, but not very much. There are not as many workers as before, which is not for money, but China has plans to fix this by doing different kinds of work.
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is happening to the number of people in China?
2. How do you think the government feels about the decrease in the number of babies being born?
3. How would you feel if you lived in a city where it was expensive to have a baby?
4. Do you think it's important for a country to have a lot of babies being born? Why or why not?
5. What are some reasons why there are fewer babies being born in China?
6. What do you think China needs to do to take care of old people better?
7. How do you think China can find new kinds of jobs?
8. Do you think it's a problem that houses in China are too expensive? Why or why not?
9. How would you feel if you didn't have a job as a young person in China?
10. Do you think it's important for a country to have a lot of workers? Why or why not?
11. What do you think China can do to fix its money problems?
12. How do you think China can do different kinds of work to improve its economy?
Individual Activities
ππ Vocabulary Meanings:
Click a dot next to a word, then click the dot next to its meaning to draw a line connecting them.
Words
Meanings
π‘ Multiple Choice Questions:
π΅οΈ True or False Questions:
π Write a Summary:
Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.
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