Question

Level 4 - Unit 1 - Part 4 Listening - The World's Population（世界人口）

Answer 1

The world's population is growing. There are now over 7 billion people in the world. During the 20th century, the population grow from 1.65 billion to 6 billion. It's now growing at a rate of around 1.1 percent per year. That means an increase of about 80 million per year. By 2024 the population is expected to be around 8 billion people.
世界人口一直在增长。现在世界上人口超过70亿，整个20世纪，人口从16.5亿增长到60亿。现在年增长率约为1.1%，也就是说每年大约增加8000万，到2024年，预计人口将达到80亿左右。

The growth rate used to be higher. In the late 1960s, the rate of growth was about 2%. Since then, the growth rate has declined. It is estimated that the growth rate will be less than 1% by 2020. By the year 2050, the growth rate should be even less.
增长率之前更高，20世纪60年代末，增长率约为2%。从那时起，增长率开始下降。据估计，到2020年，增长率将低于1%。到2050年，增长率将更低。

Even with a declining growth rate, the population will continue to grow. But it will grow at a slower rate. In the past 50 years, the world's population has more than doubled. It has doubled from around 3 billion in 1960 to more than 7 billion in 2011.
即使增长率下降，人口仍将继续增加，不过是缓慢增加。过去50年里，世界人口增加了一倍多，1960年大约30亿，2011年已超过70亿。

The rate of growth varies by country. The growth rate in India is more than twice that of China. And the growth rate in Nigeria, which is in Africa, is more than twice India's growth rate. Russia, on the other hand, has had a negative growth rate in some years. When a country has a negative growth rate, its population is decreasing.
增长率因国家而异，印度的增长率是中国的两倍多。在非洲的尼日利亚，增长率是印度的两倍多。另一方面，俄罗斯在过去一直处于负增长。当一个国家出现负增长时，人口就会减少。