family planning by eguriase s. m. okaka

Family Planning

By Eguriase S. M. Okaka Some people believe that having few children is better because the parents can easily cater for them. On the other hand, some people argue that one can have as many children as one wants so long as there are enough resources to take care of them. Write down at least three reasons for or against the idea above. Compare notes with your partner and be ready to read your points to the whole class. Let us consider the comprehension on family planning. Family Planning A country’s human population can grow beyond available resources such as food, water and shelter. This leads to problems such as overcrowding and starvation. Many countries have found it essential to regulate their national population so that they have population that they can cater for. Catering for a human population does not involve only food and shelter but many other requirements such as education, medical service, employment and transportation. A country regulates it population through family planning. Family planning means that the parents voluntarily limit their children to the number they want. An average girl is capable of becoming a mother at the age of about 15, and may continue bearing children until the age of 45, if she bears children at the rate of one in two years, and all of them remain alive, she may have a total of 15 children. If most of the women in a particular generation did this, the country’s population would explode. Today, educated parents voluntarily limit the size of their families because they know that by so doing they can better provide for the children they choose to have. Some people argue, especially on religious grounds, that family planning is wrong because it often involves the termination of the life of a baby. But, in fact, there are several family planning methods and the emphasis in family planning is on the prevention of conception, rather than the termination of life. One can therefore choose a method of birth control that agrees with one’s religious beliefs. Comprehension Questions • What are the consequences of overpopulation according to the passage? • What does a country have to do in order to cater for its population? • Why is important to regulate national population? • What is family planning? • From the explanation given in paragraph 4, how many children will a woman bear if she gives birth every year between the age of 15 and 45? • Which word in paragraph 4 means ‘to increase suddenly in an uncontrolled way? • Which other word can you use to replace birth control in the passage? Vocabulary of Marriage and Love Choose only one word each group that can suitably fill the blanks in the questions below. One has been done for you. • Down, in, out, • Hot, attraction, desire, • Flirt, filtration, freight, • Catch her eyes, catch her view, catch her eye, • Seeing, dating, checking, • Shook, baked, broke, • Feel, perceive, find, • On a meeting, with a date, on a date, • Know you better, know the best, know you well, • Dating, meeting, seeking, a. Kofi asked Janet out, but she turned him down. b. Shahid thinks Monica is attractive. He’s got the --------------- for her. c. A person who behaves as if someone is sexually attracted to him is a ----- d. You see that pretty girl over there? Ade has been trying to ------------ e. Wilson just broke up with Mary. He doesn’t plan to start ------------- again right away. f. She is the girl that ------------- Ola’s heart. g. I like Maryam as a friend. I don’t --------- her charming h. Ola asked my sister out ------------------ i. You seem really lovely and i’d like to get to ---------- j. My brother met his girlfriend on an online ------------ website. Multiple-choice questions Choose the correct option that can suitably fill in the blank places in each sentence. • A woman who doesn’t want to get pregnant should use a ------------------- a) contraception b) contraband c) contraceptive d) pregnancy belt • Everybody thought Bill loved Jane, but it was only an ------------------ a) illusion b) exaggeration c) exception d) infatuation • When they got engaged, Adam gave Maryam a beautiful ------------ ring. a) entertainment b) engagement c) endowment d) magic • If John is engaged to Rihana, then Rihana is John’s -----------------. a) Fiancée b) fiancé c) fan d) best woman • Mrs. Olisa is not a good wife. She -------------- on her husband. a) Treats b)watches c) cheats d) slaps Reminder A sentence is a group of words that makes a complete sense. A sentence may have one or more finite verbs in it. In addition, a sentence should convey a message and express an ideology that is when I can say that is a sentence can makes a complete sense. A phrase is the direct opposite of a sentence. That to say, when a sentence makes complete sense the phrase does not. So we can define a phrase as a group of words that does not make a complete sense. Exercises • Work with a partner to identify the phrases in the passage below. Mrs. Ola and her twins One early morning, Mrs. Ola, a caring mother in her thirties, called her two children. They were identical twins in their final year in junior school. She advised them to work very hard so as to get good results in their junior school certificate examination. The twins in their teens, handsome and tall for their age, were very hard working but sometimes they spent a lot of time playing, especially when she was not in the house. She promised to buy them a computer game if they excelled in all their subjects in the examination. By Eguriase S. M. Okaka