The Population

Pre-listening Warm-up Questions  What’s your idea of the makeup of the U.S. population?  If you were a photographer, how would you reflect the racial diversity of the country accurately?

Pre-listening Warm-up Questions  Do you think there are more old people or young people in the population of U.S.? Why? What about the case in China?  Do you think more people live in the East or in the West of the country? Why? How about the case in China?

Pre-listening Vocabulary and Key Concepts Read through the sentences and figure out what words would fit in the blanks. Then check your answers by listening to a dictation of the full sentences.

Pre-listening Vocabulary and Key Concepts  Most countries take a census every ten years or so in order to count the people and know where they are living.  A country with a growing population is a country that is becoming more populous.  A person’s race is partly determined by skin color and type of hair as well as other physical characteristics.  The majority of the U.S. population is of European origin.

Pre-listening Vocabulary and Key Concepts  The geographical distribution of a country’s population gives information about where the people are living.  The total population of the United States is made up of many different kinds of people.  In other words, the population comprises people of different races and ages.  The average age of the U.S. population, which is a relatively large one, has been getting progressively higher recently.

Pre-listening Vocabulary and Key Concepts  Metropolitan areas are more densely populated than rural areas. That is, they have more people per square mile.  The use of antibiotics has greatly decreased the death rate through out much of the world.  A country whose birth rate is higher than its death rate will have an increasing population.  On the average, women have a higher life expectancy than men do.

Pre-listening Predictions. Using the pictures in your textbook and the vocabulary exercises as a starting point, write 3 questions that you think you can get answers in the lecture.

Pre-listening  Note-taking Preparation Number Notation  whole number (37 mill.)  percentage (28%)  fraction (3/4)  ratio (1:6)

Pre-listening  Note-taking Preparation  Rhetorical Cues  A rhetorical cue is a word or even a sentence that lets us know that some important information is coming or that a new subtopic or point is being introduced. Order the following rhetorical cues. Decide in which order you will hear them in today’s lecture.

Pre-listening Note-taking Preparation Rhetorical Cues First of all, let’s take a look … Another way of looking at the population… Today we’re going to talk about population… Before we finish today… Now, to finish up… ( )

Listening First Listening Listen for general ideas: After a brief introduction, the lecturer lists his 3 subtopics. He then goes on to discuss each one individually. As you listen, write down the 3 major subtopics. ST1: population by race and origin ST2: population by geographical distribution ST3: population in terms of age and sex

Listening  Further Listening  Write down necessary relevant details below the main subtopics to which they belong. Remember to use proper number notation to save time.

Listening  Post-listening  Listen to the lecture once more. Then you will hear 10 questions. Write short answer to these questions.  Which two countries have a larger population than the United States?  (People’s Republic of China, India)  What was the population of the United States in the latest census?  (281 mill.)  Which group is bigger, blacks or Hispanics?  (Hispanics, 12.5%)

Listening Post-listening  Which state is more populous, Florida or Texas?  (Texas)  In what two regions of the country do most Americans live?  (the South and the West)  What percentage of the population lives in rural areas?  (20%)  How many more women than men are there in the U.S. population?  (by more than 5 mill.)

Listening Post-listening  About how many years longer do women live than men in the United States?  (about 6 years)  What was the increase in the average age from 1990 to 2000?  (2.2 years)  What two factors account for the increase of the average age?  (a decreasing birth rate and an increase life expectancy)

Oral Activities  Rehearsal of the Lecture  With the help of the above questions and your notes, retell the contents of the lecture to your classmate who might miss the lecture.

Oral Activities  Group Discussion  Discuss with your classmates the following questions and decide what information to include. Write the answers in complete sentences in paragraph form in about 125 words.  What’s the purpose of census?  Why are there women than men in the United States?  Why is there a progressive higher death rate for males as they get older? (life expectancy; dangerous work; more pressure; bad habits; wars)  Is it a good thing or a bad thing for much more people living in urban areas than in rural areas?  What do you think will be the questionnaire in a community survey?

The end