Part ADirections: Read the following three texts. Answer the questions on each text by cho

Part A

Directions: Read the following three texts. Answer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.

Whenever Catherine Brown, a 37-year-old journalist, and her friends, professionals in their 30s and early 40s, meet at a London cafe, their favorite topic of conversation is relationships-, men's reluctance to commit, women's independence, and when to have children—or, increasingly, whether to have them at all. "With the years passing my chances of having a child go down, but I won't marry anyone just to have a child," says Brown. To people like Brown, babies are great—if the timing is right. But they're certainly not essential.

In much of the world, having kids is no longer a given. "Never"before has childlessness been an understandable decision for women and men in so many societies," says Frank Hakim at the London School of Economics. Young people are extending their child-free adulthood by postponing children until they are well into their 30s, or even 40s and beyond.

A growing share are ending up with no children at all. Lifetime childlessness in western Germany has hit 30 percent among university-educated women, and is rapidly rising among lower-class men. In Britain, the number of women remaining childless has doubled in 20 years.

The latest trend of childlessness does not follow historic patterns. For centuries it was not unusual for a quarter of European women to remain childless. But in the past, childlessness was usually the product of poverty or disaster, of missing men in times of war. Today the decision to have—or not have—a child is the result of a complex combination of factors, including relationships, career opportunities, lifestyle. and economics.

In some cases childlessness among women can be seen as a quiet form. of protest. In Japan, support for working mothers hardly exists. Child care is expensive, men don't help out, and some companies strongly discourage mothers from returning to work. "In Japan, it's career or child," says writer Kaori Haishi. It's not just women who are deciding against children; according to a recent study, Japanese men are even less inclined to marry or want a child. Their motivations, though, may have more to do with economic factors.

Catherine Brown and her friends feel that having children is not_______.

A．totally wise

B．a huge problem

C．a rational choice

D．absolutely necessary