2016年6月英語四級閱讀練習(xí)：population

The future population will be older than today, and this in turn will change the patterns of social demands. However, Mexico will still be far from the "aging societies" that will most likely prevail (占優(yōu)勢 ) in the industrialized countries. In less than 25 years, the country will have to add almost as much infrastructure as it has already built up to now, simply to maintain services and production at the current levels. This will be a tremendous challenge, although a similar one was faced successfully in the recent past, when available infrastructure was doubled in two decades or so. It is no wonder that much has been said about the need to reduce or preferably halt Mexico's population control which is taken for granted as both good and necessary. It has also gained supporters in the developing world, and Mexico is no exception. But the arguments about population are complicated, as the following discussion illustrates.

Even if Mexico's population reaches 125 million by the year 2010, its population density is still smaller than the 1985 population density of some 50 countries. By international standards Mexico will still not be overpopulated by the year 2010. If wealth is generated by people, the more individuals there are, the greater the wealth that potentially could be generated. Why should Mexico control its population at density levels below those of the richer countries if more population represents the possibility of generating more wealth?

On the other hand, it is often pointed out that once sustainability(支撐力) limits are near or are reached, there are decreasing productivity gains (or,perhaps more accurately, increasing productive losses) , and people become a cost rather than an asset. If we assume that there are sustainability limits and that we are close to reaching these limits at a world level, then it is appropriate to check population growth.