unit three

Unit Three

Text

The No-child Family: Going against 100,000 Years of

Biology

Rita Kramer

1. Cathy and Wayne N. are in their late 20’s, have been married five years, and are childless. The last time a member of Cathy’s family asked, “When are you going to start a family?” Her answer was “We’re a family.”

2. Cathy and Wayne belong to a growing number of young married couples who are deciding not to have children. A recent survey showed that in the last five years the percentage of wives aged 25 to 29 who did not want children had almost doubled and among those 18 to 24 it had almost tripled. What lies behind this decision which seems to fly in the face of biology and society?

3. Perhaps the most publicly outspoken childless couple are Ellen Peck, author of The Baby Trap, and her husband, William, an advertising executive who is president of the National Organization for Non-Parents. The Pecks insist neither they nor the organization is against parenthood, just against the social pressures that push people into parenthood whether it is what they really want and need or not.

4. “It’s a life-style choice,” Ellen says. “ We chose freedom and spontaneity,

privacy and leisure. It’s also a question of where you want to give your efforts —within your own family or in the larger community . This generation faces serious questions about the continuity of life on earth as well as its quality. Our grandchildren may have to buy tickets to see the last redwoods or line up to get their oxygen ration. There are men who complain about being caught in a traffic jam for hours on their way home to their five kids but can’t make the association between the children and the traffic jam. In a world seriously threatened by the consequences of overpopulation we’re concerned with making life without children acceptable and respectable. Too many children are born as a result of cultural coercion. And the results show up in the statistics on divorce and child-abuse.”

5. Her husband adds, “Every friend, relative and business associate is pressuring you to have kids ‘and find out what you’re missing.’ Too many people discover too late that what they were missing was something they were totally unsuited for.”

6. And Ellen again: “From the first doll to soap operas to cocktail parties, the pressure is always there to be parents. But let’s take a look at the rate of parental failure. Perhaps parenthood should be regarded as a specialized occupation like being a doctor. Some people are good at it and they should have children; others aren’t, and they should feel they have other alternatives.”

7. Professional observers agree that many people have children for the wrong reason, sometimes for no reason at all. Men often drift into fatherhood without ever making a deliberate choice. For many women pregnancy can be a way to escape from unresolved conflicts, to achieve instant identity or strengthen a poor self-image,

to gratify a need for the attention and affection they feel they never had as children.

8. I talked with a number of specialists in the field of human behavior why many young married couples decide not to have children. Their reactions varied widely. A family therapist described the decision not to have children as “a basic instinctual response to the world situation today,” implying that something like the herd instinct in animals was operating as a response to the dangers of over-population, crowding, pollution and nuclear war, causing women to feel a reluctance to reproduce and leading them to seek new ways of realizing themselves outside of family life.

9. More than one psychiatrist suggested that those who want to remain childless are narcissistic—making a virtue out of necessity by rationalizing their inner conflicts about giving care vs. being taken care of. “These are people who can’t tolerate the idea of caring for children, who have no margin of love to spare them,” said one, adding, “You’re going against something with 100,000 years of biology behind it.” A colleague of his chimed in, “ Well, we all rationalize our deficits, and these people probably shouldn’t have children whatever their real motives are, for the same reason there ought to be liberal abortion laws. There should only be enthusiastic parents in this world.”

10. Psychologist Donald M. Kaplan believes that while some people have always opted not to have children, the increased frequency we are seeing is in those children of the nineteen-forties and fifties who were raised by parents whose character style had shifted from what sociologist David Riesman called “inner-directed” to “other-directed,” and that these other-directed parents had two relevant effects on

their children. One was to give them a greater feeling of “ narcissistic entitlement ”—what one expects from life . The other was the loss of a sense of certainty. They are more open to self-doubt, he says, more preoccupied with their bodies, their life-styles, less able to maintain stable attachments to others. The decision to have a baby, he thinks, is the kind of decision such people might be most likely to postpone. It can’t be modified, can’t be undone.

11. “Many of these young adults are ambivalent about relinquishing the role of the one who is cared for and taking on that of the one who does the caring,” says Dr. Kaplan.

12. Dr. E. James Anthony is professor of child psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and co-author of “Parenthood, Its Psychology and Psychopathology.” In a recent conversation Dr. Anthony said, “Many people I’ve talked to are very concerned about their own future and the future of children in this rather troubled world. In the past there was always a feeling implicit in the culture that parenthood was something very significant, attractive, enriching, and creative. Now it seems to be going by the board. There seem to be so many other opportunities for women to express themselves creatively and family life requires them to give up so many things that the emphasis on family life as a good and creative thing, a way to contribute to the future of the world, doesn’t really ring a bell with many young people.

13. “I think that part of what’s happening is that the ambivalence of parents today is being passed on unconsciously to their children. Children are a great deal of trouble,

and perhaps more so today than ever before. They can be a pain in the neck. Their precocious development, adolescent acting-out, drug taking, all looms as problems. The young people feel, ‘If they don’t really want us, why should we want to have children?’ Then they rationalize this feeling in terms of the external questions like what the world has to offer. They ask questions like. ‘Why add to the population explosion? Why create people who will have to face all the problems that are approaching in the next century?’

14. “Despite their stated motives for not having children, the question arises whether young people really in fact lead richer lives today. I find that many college students today feel strangely empty. They live in a world full of stimuli of all sorts but lack a sense of inner satisfaction that may relate to these basic biologic things.”

15. Whatever else they disagree on, the experts all seem to be saying that it’s not whether you have children or don’t that really matters, what matters is that you are comfortable about what you do. If you don’t have children and you have much inner conflict about it, you’ll be miserable in your childlessness; if you have children and regret it, you’ll be miserable and your children will be miserable too. The point seems to be to know yourself, to accept your deeper feelings and not make such an important life decision because it’s the thing to do or to satisfy unrealistic fantasies, or to give your parents what they want or to escape from other responsibilities.

16. Some people are afraid to admit their own feelings of the kind many of the childless couples interviewed could accept about themselves —what they called being “selfish. ” They are ashamed to admit they would rather travel than bring up

children. But what if that is what would make them happiest? Deeply held feelings are not easily changed and if you do not recognize what yours really are, you will not make the choices that are right for you.

17. For many, if not most people, the joys of parenthood as well as its problems are what life is all about. To see one’s children grow and develop into individuals, and to see oneself continue on in them, can be the richest experience between one’s own birth and death. But there are also people for whom living a full life and realizing themselves take other routes. And we live in a time in which attitudes seem to be freeing up in a way which enables increasing numbers of men and women to question the way “everybody”lives if that is not the way that is right for them. The more people continue to ask themselves such questions as whether or not they really want to raise a family before they begin to do so, the fewer unhappy parents and troubled children there will be.

Notes on the Text

Going Against 100,000 Years of Biology (title): opposing 100,000 years of biological reproduction

soap operas (para. 6): popular radio or TV drama serials dealing with domestic problems

Men often drift into fatherhood (para. 7): More often than not, men become fathers without planning for it.

the herd instinct (para. 8): the inborn tendency to associate with others and follow the group’s behavior群居本能

David Riesman (para. 10): 戴维·黎斯曼（1909- ）, 美国社会科学家

Exercises

I. Comprehension

Answer the following questions or fill in the blanks according to the article.

1. Read the first two paragraphs. What part do they play in the whole essay?

2. Apart from paragraphs 1 and 2, the rest can be divided into three parts, each

with a sub-heading. Identify the paragraphs for each part:

Part I: ideas of a childless couple (Para. to Para. )

Part II: opinions of experts on human behavior (Para. to P ara. )

Part Ⅲ: Rita Kramer’s viewpoint (Para. to P ara. )

3. The outspoken couple William Peck and Ellen Peck bring forward their reasons

for deciding to remain childless. The reasons are:

a. __________________________________________________________.

b. __________________________________________________________.

c. __________________________________________________________.

d. __________________________________________________________.

e. __________________________________________________________.

4. Professional observers use facts to back up their argument. What is the

argument? What are the facts? (Para. 7)

Argument: ________________.

Facts:

a. ____________________________________________________.

b. ___________________________________________________.

5. Why, according to a family therapist, do people decide not to have children?

(Para. 8)

6. Some psychiatrists say that those who want to remain childless are narcissistic.

Why are these people called narcissistic? (Para. 9)

7. In paragraphs 10 and 11, the characteristics of the young adults born in 1940s

and 1950s are mentioned. These include:

a. __________________________________________________________.

b. __________________________________________________________.

c. __________________________________________________________.

d. __________________________________________________________.

8. According to a professor of child psychiatry, there are three reasons why

many young people are not so interested in family life as their parents. (para. 12) Find the reasons.

a. __________________________________________________________.

b. __________________________________________________________.

c. __________________________________________________________.

9. In paragraph 13, Rita Kramer quotes what Dr. Anthony said in a recent

conversation, “Children are a great deal of trouble, and …all loom as problems.” Is this opinion held only by Dr. Anthony? How do you know?

10. Dr. Anthony said, “They live in a world of stimuli of all sorts but lack a sense of

inner satisfaction that may relate to these basic biologic things.” What does Dr.

Anthony mean by “these basic biologic things?”

11. Though the specialists Rita Kramer interviewed give different answers to the

question of why many young married couples choose to stay childless, they seem to agree upon one point. What is it?

12. Does Rita Kramer criticize in the last part of the essay the “no child” decision

that many young couples have made? If yes, what criticism is it? If no, what point has she made?

II. Vocabulary and Structure

Fill in the following sentences with the correct forms of the given words.

1. coercion

a. On a large national scale where the government becomes involved, cooperation is

seen as and destructive rather than voluntary and constructive.

b. Political opponents were put into camps during the war and

into forced labor.

2.preoccupy

a. The of millions of Americans with status is said to have intensified

social stratification in the country.

b. The president has been with the suffering of the victims since the

damaging tornado（龙卷风）.

3. reluctance

a. Most surveys find that people are to place themselves at either the

top or the bottom of the social ladder.

b. Johnson had a to agree to their conditions, but he didn’t really have

much choice.

4. adolescence

a. Tom changed from a friendly boy into a confused and moody .

b. As children enter , they begin to demand greater freedom to go

where they please, do what they please, and make decisions without parental interference.

5. imply

a. The law bans organized protests and, by , any form of opposition.

b. What the boss has just said contains approval of your work.

6. ambivalent

a. Marriage can be threatened by children who arouse between the

parents in a variety of ways.

b. There are many people, myself among the number, who have a somewhat

attitude toward producing offspring.

7. maintain

a. Both the couple should be responsible for emotional of the marriage

and for raising the children and running the household.

b. I’m inclined to share your doubt in regard to the of the relationship between Dr. Helen Kaplan and her husband.

8. private

a. Young people today are more concerned with self-fulfillment and preserving

than those were in 1950s.

b. Although party officials give the President their pubic support, many are saying

in that he may have to resign.

9. enthusiastic

a. Feelings of patriotism are expressed more clearly and freely now, but there is

little for a return to military conscription during peacetime.

b. The exhibition will be of interest to vintage car owners and other

motoring .

10. tolerate

a. Drug users develop a for some drugs, that is, they have to take

steadily increasing amounts to achieve a given level of effect.

b. What these people want is a existence —more food, better shelter

and peace.

11. statistics

a. According to the , the estimated number of people afflicted by

hunger and malnutrition is about 500 million.

b. We spend more on health care than any other nation in the world, yet

show that we are not the world’s healthiest nation.

12. rationalize

a. Language makes thought possible and enables us to reason, to draw

logical conclusions from the evidence of our senses, and to generalize from one event to another.

b. It’s unbelievable that Mary, a teenage girl, has learnt to view things with

cold .

III. Choose one appropriate phrase to complete each of the following sentences. Change the word form where necessary.

ring a bell care for be open to bring up pass on to

lie behind chime in go against in terms of line up

1. The traditional family with only the husband working can be found most often

during the earlier years of marriage when children are being born and .

2. The first thing to do in seeking a position is to determine exactly what you want

to do, not a vague objective but with a definite goal.

3. Sociologists will manage to find out what the violence that occurs

among affluent families.

4. The Rev. Septimus Harding? —Yes, it . He’s a character in some

novel, I believe, but I can’t remember which one.

5. Energy shortage, soaring inflation, rampant unemployment and the threat of war

have made adult Americans nervous, and that sense of pervasive worry has been the nation’s youth.

6. The idea of trying to cheat the income tax authorities his principles;

He had a strong sense of civic responsibility.

7. Football fans began early in the morning at the box office to buy

cup-tie tickets.

8. The chairman gave me a hint that he would like me to think of some ready way

of stopping Tom from the proposal.

9. If anyone can think of a better course of action, I suggestions.

10. School children in a Western heritage do not know about Shamba

Bolongogo, who after 3 centuries is still remembered for his great reforms and inventions and for his love of peace.

IV. Translation

药物疗法：对危险区的人, 今天的标准药物疗法是相当有效的. 因为医生是从最温和的药物, 最小的剂量开始一步一步升级的, 这叫分级疗法。第一步可能是利尿剂。这种药能通过排出体内多余的水分和钠盐的办法来降低血压。对许多人来说, 这就是所需要的全部治疗。

如果第一步未能把血压降到安全水平, 医生便采取第二步。传统上, 这是一种β-阻滞剂, 它可阻断或抑制交感神经系统的刺激作用, 这种作用能加强

心脏工作。对于那些血压仍然太高的少数病人, 第三步通常是使用血管扩张剂,这种药能扩大狭窄的血管。倘若血压仍然不能控制, 还有效力更强的药物可用。

但是每一种药都可能有副作用，某些利尿剂能引起疲倦, 肌肉乏力, 腿部痉挛, 低钾或者尿酸增高。β-阻滞剂能减缓心跳和脉搏速度, 加剧气喘或导致疲倦和精神抑郁。血管扩张会加速心跳并引起头痛, 鼻堵塞和液体潴留，但是对有副作用的患者, 医生常可调整用药来缓解。

V. Writing

Dear Professor Liang:

The Conference Steering Committee is pleased to inform you that your abstract titled above has been accepted for the presentation at the 4th International Conference on Pharmacology, to be held in Miami, Florida, USA, June 11- 15, 1990.

We hope you will accept our invitation to participate. To assist with program planning, please complete and return the enclosed Confirmation and Speaker Information Form by FAX before December 12, l989 so that we may include the correct information in the program and notify alternates if necessary.

Please start writing your paper. In a separate package, you will receive the instructions on the preparation of manuscripts. You should be getting this information sometime after the first of the year. Completed manuscripts are due on March l, l990.

The final program and registration information will be sent to you in early March, l990. We look forward to working with you and to having you on the program at the Miami meeting.

If you have any questions at any time, please feel free to contact me at (305) 554-2824. Our FAX number is (305) 554-3582.

Sincerely,

Okay Ural, Ph.D., P.E.

Conference Chairman

CC: Dr. Shen

Encl.

University Park, Miami, Florida 33199

Dear Dr Wang,

Your paper with Mark Poland has been accepted for presentation at the 20th Annual

Forum of the Pharmaceutics Association of Canada and the United States (PACUS)

in July of this year. We are pleased to invite you for both this event to be held at the University of Chicago Circle and for a nine-month subsequent period as a research

scholar thereafter.

As with your previous visits, your airfare and all living expenses will be provided. We

hope you are able to accept this offer, as we are hopeful of further valuable research progress on our studies of Chinese children's development.

Yours faithfully, (Signature)

Dear Mr. Zhang,

This is to invite you to attend and present a paper at the thirteenth Issues in Pharmacognosy Symposium to be held in January l999. In further correspondence,

we will discuss details of the nature of this paper, which we hope you will agree to

give. Our purpose here in this letter is to present you with this formal invitation so

that you may begin preparation of your request for passport and later visa requirements.

Concerning the latter, we will, as matters progress, send you the completed necessary

Jl forms. This will indicate, as does this letter, that all your travel expenses from

Nanjing to Claremont, California, all your living and incidental costs, will be covered by the symposium account. You should request a visa for a one-week period. Sincerely,

(Signature)