【Old News Is New Again】 -Week 4 / Radio English Conversation-
[Ratio of unmarried people rises in Japan]
A survey in Japan shows record-high ratios of 50-year-old men and women have never been married. It says about one in four men and about one in seven women remain single.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research says that, as of October 1, 2015, 23.3 percent of the 50-year-old men and 14 percent of the 50-year-old women stayed single.
Both are the highest since the census began in 1920.
By prefecture, Okinawa had the highest ratio of unmarried men at 26.2 percent, while Nara recorded the lowest at 18.2 percent.
Tokyo had the highest proportion of unmarried women at 19.2 percent, while Fukui logged the lowest at 8.6 percent.
The institute says the number of single Japanese people will likely rise for the time being, as another survey shows more and more young people have no intention of tying the knot in the future. (2017/5/8)
【Question】
[What is the survey about?]
A: Fifty-year-old men and women who have never been married.
[What prefecture had the highest ratio of unmarried men?]
A: Okinawa.
[What prefecture had the lowest proportion of unmarried women?]
A: Fukui.
【True/False】
[The survey says about one in seven men and about one in four women remain single.]
⇒False. Each number is reverse.
[Another survey shows more and more young people have no intention of tying the knot in the future.]
⇒True.
【words and phrases】
[survey] 調査
[record-high] 過去最高の
[ratio] 割合
[by prefecture] 都道府県別では
[proportion] 割合
[log] 記録する
[for the time being] 当面
[tie the knot] 結婚する、⇒[tie-tied-tied, ties, tying] 結びつける
