China's population is shrinking and ageing, a process that will continue ( 1. ) in 2025. The total ( 2. ) rate, or the average births per woman, has fallen to 1.1, far ( 3. ) the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. After a possible small post-pandemic ( 4. ) of births in 2014, the ( 5. ) year of the dragon, the birth rate is expected to ( 6. ) its decline. Meanwhile the number of people over 60 is expected to grow from 300m in 2023 to more than 400m by 2035 -- that is, from one-fifth to nearly one-third of the population. This bodes ( 7. ) for China's economy, with fewer young people working to support more old folks. But state planners think they have found a silver ( 8 ) : the "silver economy".
(From The Economist November 23rd-29th 2024)
For your convenience, I copied the paragraph one more time with the answers in bold. Thanks for your participation!
China's population is shrinking and ageing, a process that will continue apace (1) in 2025. The total fertility (2) rate, or the average births per woman, has fallen to 1.1, far below (3) the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. After a possible small post-pandemic uptick (4) of births in 2014, the auspicious (5) year of the dragon, the birth rate is expected to resume (6 ) its decline. Meanwhile the number of people over 60 is expected to grow from 300m in 2023 to more than 400m by 2035 -- that is, from one-fifth to nearly one-third of the population. This bodes ill (7) for China's economy, with fewer young people working to support more old folks. But state planners think they have found a silver lining (8 ): the "silver economy".
