Online Class Notes (Nick) [W]

Do a speaking related to the question of declining fertility in China. Has the two-child policy increased the birthrate? Has it been enough? Why or why not? What else could the government do beyond providing daycare and free schooling?

Vocabulary

Job Benefits – things you get from a job that aren’t direct payments, salary
e.g. Health insurance, family health insurance, paid vacation, a car

Talent – skill at doing something; a person who has some skill useful for a company
e.g. He has a real talent for drawing.
e.g. We are looking for young talent for our corporate development program.

Welfare – someone’s well-being; help from the government for very poor people
e.g. After he lost his mother, his Aunt has been looking out for his welfare.
e.g. After losing his job, he had to go on welfare for a few months.
Incentive – something that makes you want to do something
e.g. In order to get people to sign up for credit cards, the bank is giving out pens as an incentive.

(After school) daycare – a service that takes care of someone’s children while they are at work
e.g. If the government wants to incentivize a higher birth rate, then it should provide after-school daycare to working parents / working couples.

Populous – having a large population

Overtake – to reach the level of another person (or country) and then become better
e.g. In ten years China will overtake England as a producer of iron!

Somehow – when something has happened, but you aren’t sure how
Somewhat – a small amount, we aren’t sure how much
e.g. Somehow he got up in the tree, and now he doesn’t know how to get down.
e.g. I slept well last night, but I am still somewhat sleepy. I don’t know why.

Grammar

Let’s review the word – words / vocabulary

Benefit vs. benefits – usually “benefit” describes what is good for someone in general, and benefits describes specific things that are good for someone (or something)
e.g. It is not to the company’s benefit to pay for childcare.
e.g. However, they offer benefits like childcare in order to attract good talent to the company.

Busy in work – busy at work

The number one country in the world in terms of population numbers – the most populous

This position will be exceed by India – China’s population will be exceeded / India will overtake China

Help the couple to have more willingness – to make the couple more willing

I read the article and had a reconsideration about the topic. I changed my mind. It’s unfair for a company to bear fertility cost for its employees which has little direct benefits for its business. Companies usually don’t have willingness to do so. This can be an additional welfare to attract talents, but cannot be a mandatory requirement.

However, the increasing fertility rate do stimulate civil consumption and as a result promote economic development. Hence, in my opinion, fertility cost should be covered by government to reduce the couple’s financial burden. Who benefits, who contributes.

I reread the article and had a reconsidered ation about the topic. I changed my mind. It’s unfair for a company to bear the fertility costs of/for its employees because which these costs have little direct benefit for its business. This is why companies usually aren’t don’t have willingness to pay fertility costs / bear fertility costs do so. This can be an additional incentive welfare to attract talents, but cannot / should not be a mandatory requirement.

However, the increasing fertility rate does stimulate civil public consumption / demand / spending and as a result which promotes economic development. Hence, in my opinion, fertility cost should be covered by the government, not companies, to reduce the couple’s financial burden. Who benefits, who contributes / The beneficiary should contribute.

Pronunciation

Fanatic – fa – na – tik

Bomber – the second “b” is a silent b

Beget – bee – get