申論題

二、文意選填：20 % (每題 1 分，請以代號作答，每一選項限用一次。勿拘泥大小寫。) [A]   It may not be surprising that there’s a lingering preference for baby boys over baby girls worldwide. What’s alarming, though, is that this inclination is growing globally and more strongly than ever. Historically, when nature is allowed to determine sex all on its own, about 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. But the balance of nature has shifted in Asia, thanks to wider 1 of affordable ultrasound equipment, which detects gender as early as 15 weeks, and widespread abortion. In China, after 30-plus years of the country’s One Child Policy, the ratio of boys to girls is a highly unnatural 120:100. In India, 109 boys are born for every 100 girls. Demographers calculate that roughly 160 million Asian females have gone what they 2 categorize as “missing.” There’s growing evidence that this pattern of sex selection is being followed in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and similar trends seem likely in Africa and the Middle East.    However, this is definitely not some sort of second- and third-world 3 , for boys are still No. 1 in the United States, too. A 2011 Gallup poll revealed that if American men between the ages of 18 and 49 could have only one child, 54 percent would want a boy; “no preference,” at 26 percent, beat out girls, who rated a(n) 4 19 percent. These figures have remained essentially unchanged for 70 years—the stats were the same in 1941. While it may be culturally taboo in the U.S. to openly reject or abort a child based on gender, fears of second-class status and doubts of a daughter’s potential value are remarkably 5 .    Of course, the issue of sex imbalance has to do with cultural preferences. In India and China, for example, the preference for sons is seen as 6 and economically sound, a choice often exercised by educated, upwardly mobile parents. In China, the aging population has resulted in the so-called 4-2-1 problem: four grandparents, two parents, and just one child. According to the old customs, that one child, the economic 7 , had better be a boy. The situation in India is similar. As one newspaper ad for sonograms put it: “Spend 500 rupees now or 500,000 rupees later” — on a dowry.   But are boys really superior to girls? In fact, there are compelling cases for girls as the equal—and in some cases, 8 —gender for roles in leadership, innovation and economic growth. The evidence is mounting that baby girls are a strong investment. After all, a country that gives girls equal opportunity would have twice as much talent and brainpower to 9 . In view of this, it allows no delay for governments to help rectify this problem. Perhaps with substantial incentives as well as conscious efforts, we may re-shape social attitudes in time and thus 10 the sex imbalance

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