The British aren’t having as many children as they used to. One reason is that people are having children much older than before, meaning they have fewer years in which they can have them. After years at university, they need a few years of work experience before they can get the job they want. They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK.
The above explains why young British people now don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average. It is not until they are 30 that they can afford their own home. Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home. It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child.
So a British person manages to get a job, get a home and get married. Why isn’t he or she then having at least two children on average? The main reason is that it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK. Why is it expensive? Well, these days, both parents need to work just to pay for their home and living expenses. Because both parents are at work, that means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day. Paying for this childcare is nearly always expensive.
The recent financial crisis is making things even harder for families, since unemployment is rising and even fewer people can afford to have children. With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high?
So what is Britain doing to try and save the British family? The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children. For example, there have been increases in money families can claim from the state each month. Also, there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care.
The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills. If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have more time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare. On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week, which is the most in Europe. The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage companies to improve their employees’ work-life balance. Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family. Otherwise, the British will always be too tired, and won’t have enough time and money, to have children.
【小题1】Young British people live in their parents’ home until around 30 because         .

介词填空

1.When you get something wrong，it can shake your belief ________yourself.

2.The aim ________education should be to teach students how to think rather than what to think.

3.She had her hair cut ________a really nice style on her first day of work.

4.I  can’t focus my  attention ________my homework with so much noise going on downstairs.

5.________the other hand,  technological advances have created many problems that threaten our human existence.

【小题1】Having struggled for years, he r________  himself of his whole debt.  
【小题2】This room is e_________  with air conditioner.
【小题3】I’m sorry I don’t know you. Maybe you are _________ (confuse) me with someone else.
【小题4】We must learn to be ____________(consider) and care more about others. 
【小题5】Although he speaks English fluently, he is not of British or America _______ (nation). 
【小题6】The postman rang the bell because he had a package to _________ (投递).
【小题7】Professor, would you like to make a  _________(评论) on this plan?  
【小题8】What Madam Curie did ________(激励) many women to struggle for their scientific dreams at that time.
【小题9】The export trade of farm produce in China is continuously ___________ (扩大)。
【小题10】I find _______  _________  _______ he is able to work so hard with so little sleep. （我觉得很奇怪）
【小题11】Only when you spare no effort ________  ________  ________ great progress in your study. （你才能在学习上取得大的进步）
【小题12】He _________  _________ overcome all difficulties at last. (成功地)
【小题13】He is not the person I _________  ________  just now.  （我刚才提到的那个人）
【小题14】It is _________  ________  take such an entertaining journey.  （是值得的）
【小题15】This computer game is __________  _________ students in Art Department. （专门给艺术系的学生使用的）
【小题16】The micro blog, as well as other networking services, _______  _______ a more and more important role in daily communication. （正起着越来越重要的作用）

【小题1】If you want to join the club, you need to fill in the a______________ forms.
【小题2】With so many problems a_______ unexpectedly, the manager was at a loss about what to do next.
【小题3】A red light is a s___________ of danger.
【小题4】I picked up a few good b______________ in the second-handed market.
【小题5】If you do wrong, you d_____________ punishment.
【小题6】Don’t look down upon the person who have a __________(身体的) disability.
【小题7】We use flowers and balloons to __________（装饰）our classroom on New Year’s Day.
【小题8】I got a very friendly ______（接待） in the meeting room when I arrived at their school.
【小题9】My heart __________（下沉）when I knew that I failed in the job interview.
【小题10】To write a good essay you must first organize your ideas _____________（有条理地）.