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POPULATION
A very important world problem, if not the most serious of all the great world
problems, which affect us at the moment, is the increasing number of people who actually
inhabit this planet. The limited amount of land and land resources will soon be unable to
support the huge population if it continues to grow at its present rate.

In an early survey conducted in 1888, a billion and a half people inhabited the earth.
Now, the population exceeds five billion and is growing fast - by the staggering figure of
90 million in 1988 alone. This means that the world must accommodate a new population
roughly equal to that of the United States and Canada every three years! Even though the
rate of growth has begun to slow down, most experts believe the population size will still
pass eight billion during the next 50 years.

So why is this huge increase in population taking place? It is really due to the spread
of the knowledge and practice of what is becoming known as "Death Control". You have
no doubt heard of the term "Birth Control" - "Death Control" is something rather different.
It recognizes the work of the doctors and scientists who now keep alive people who, not
very long ago, would have died of a variety of then incurable diseases. Through a wide
variety of technological innovations that include farming methods and sanitation, as well as
the control of these deadly diseases, we have found ways to reduce the rate at which we die
- creating a population explosion. We used to think that reaching seventy years old was a
remarkable achievement, but now eighty or even ninety is becoming recognized as the
normal life-span for humans. In a sense, this represents a tremendous achievement for our
species. Biologically this is the very definition of success and we have undoubtedly
become the dominant animal on the planet. However, this success is the very cause of the
greatest threat to mankind.

If we examine the amount of land available for this ever-increasing population, we

begin to see the problem. If everyone on the planet had an equal share of land, we would
each have about 50000 square meters. This figure seems to be quite encouraging until we
examine the type of land we would have. Not all land is useful to humans as it cannot
produce food. We can cut out about one fifth of it because it is permanently covered by
snow and ice. Then we can cut out another fifth because it is desert. Another fifth is too
mountainous or is too great a height above sea-level. A tenth doesn't have enough soil for
crops to grow - it is bare rock. Now the position begins to look rather more bleak!

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Obviously, with so little land to support us, we should be taking great care not to
reduce it further. But are we? Mankind seems to be unable to accept that we live on a finite
planet - we act as if its resources were infinite. Because of overpopulation and over-
consumption, humanity is incapable of supporting itself on its "income" - the energy arriving
continuously from the sun. Instead, we are consuming its "capital" - its nonrenewable fossil
fuels and other mineral deposits that took millions of years to form but which are now being
destroyed in decades. We are also doing the same with other vital resources not usually
thought of as being nonrenewable such as fertile soils, groundwater and the millions of other
species that share earth with us.

Man is constantly destroying the very resources, which keep him alive. He is
destroying the balance of nature, which regulates climate and the atmosphere, produces and
maintains healthy soils, provides food from the seas, etc. In short, by only considering our
needs of today, we are ensuring there will be no tomorrow.

An understanding of man's effect on the balance of nature is crucial to be able to

find the appropriate remedial action. It is a very common belief that the problems of the
population explosion are caused mainly by poor people living in poor countries who do not
know enough to limit their reproduction. This is not true. The actual number of people in
an area is not as important as the effect they have on nature. Developing countries do have
an effect on their environment, but it is the populations of richer countries that have a far
greater impact on the earth as a whole.

The birth of a baby in, for example, Hong Kong, imposes more than a hundred times
the amount of stress on the world's resources as a baby in India. Most people in India do
not grow up to own cars or air-conditioners - nor do they eat the huge amount of meat and
fish that the Hong Kong child does. Their life-styles do not require vast quantities of
minerals and energy. Also, they are aware of the requirements of the land around them and
try to put something back into nature to replace what they take out. The Hong Kong person
simply takes without any thought as to what effect he is having on nature.

For example, tropical forests are known to be essential to the balance of nature yet
we are destroying them at an incredible rate. They are being cleared not to benefit the
natives of that country, but to satisfy the needs of richer countries. Central American
forests are being destroyed for pastureland to make pet food in the United States cheaper;
in Papua New Guinea, forests are destroyed to supply cheaper cardboard packaging for
Japanese electronic products; in Burma and Thailand, forests have been destroyed to
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produce more attractive furniture in Singapore and Hong Kong. Therefore, a rich person
living thousands of miles away may cause more tropical forest destruction than a poor
person living in the forest itself.

In short then, it is everybody's duty to safeguard the future of mankind – not only
through population control, but by being more aware of the effect his actions have on
nature. Nature is both fragile and powerful. It is very easily destroyed; on the other hand, it
can so easily destroy its most aggressive enemy – man.

Source: www.edict.com.hk/VLC

WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS:

1. bleak (adj) trống trải, hoang vắng, ảm đạm
2. dominant (adj) chiếm u thế
3. finite (adj) có hạn
4. incurable (adj) nan y, vô phơng cứu chữa
5. pastureland (n) đồng cỏ chăn thả gia súc
6. remedial (adj) khắc phục, điều chỉnh
7. safeguard (v) bảo vệ
8. sanitation (n) hệ thống vệ sinh
9. staggering (adj) gây sửng sốt, làm kinh ngạc

HOW TO ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

Stephen Womack, Mail on Sunday

Retirement should be the time when all that effort you put in during your working
life pays off and your savings and pension start delivering a well-earned income. But this
does not happen by itself. Saving in retirement can be a constant juggling act to earn the
best possible income while paying the least possible tax and safeguarding your capital.
Stephen Womack explains how to enjoy those golden years to the full – without financial
worries.

Margaret Rose has just said farewell to the world of work. She recently left her job
as a project manager for a firm of architects to join husband Harvey in retirement. Harvey,

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a former civil servant, is a local councilor and does voluntary work for Citizens Advice.
Margaret, 66, is taking a short break before planning to do some voluntary work of her
own.

Like many people facing retirement, the Roses reached their early sixties with a mix
of different assets and savings. The trick now is to manage this mix to provide a secure and
hopefully growing income in retirement.

Margaret says: 'We have been somewhat lucky, with some good returns from our
endowments and savings.'

Harvey, 68, has a pension from his civil service job while she has saved into a
Scottish Equitable pension plan. They also have shares, some Isas and building society
savings. Margaret says: 'We've started switching some of the shares and Isas from growth
assets to ones that pay an income. We're looking at the best options to capitalise on my
pension.'

The couple, from Chiswick, west London, have been planning their retirement for
the past few years with the help of Anna Sofat of independent adviser AJS Wealth
Management in Holborn, central London.

Sofat says: 'People in retirement often get bogged down in the details of the
products and investments they have and fail to look at the bigger picture. Part of what I do
is to help clients think about what lifestyle they are going to have in retirement and how
much income they will need.'

It helps to put together a rough retirement forecast, projecting income and spending
for the next ten to 20 years. This highlights any shortfalls and provides evidence for a plan
of action.

Sofat says: 'Sometimes part of my job is to help people realise that they can afford
to take an income and spend now because they may not be so mobile in the later years of
their retirement.'

Margaret says: 'We see Anna formally at least once a year. It is helpful to have
someone else take an overview and keep on top of what the different building society
accounts and bonds are paying.'

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Tom McPhail, head of pension’s research at financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown
in Bristol, says: 'Many people want more income in the earlier years of retirement when
they are most active.

'They feel they can then get by on a lower income in later years as they slow down
and travel less. But I think few of us would want to commit knowingly to a declining
income.' Ideally, detailed financial planning should be done well before retirement. But
you also need to react in retirement as circumstances change and new savings opportunities
arise.

Other issues that need consideration include whether you are prepared to eat into
capital to boost income and what hopes you have of leaving money when you die.
Margaret and Harvey have no children and Margaret says: 'We cannot take it all with us so
I wouldn't rule out drawing on some of our capital in the future.'

The curse of inflation...

Inflation is the deadly enemy of pensioners. Over 20 to 30 years of retirement, rising

prices can erode the spending power of a fixed income.

Headline inflation in March was 3.1 per cent, according to the Consumer Prices
Index. At this rate, a monthly income of Ê1,000 has the spending power of just Ê729 after
ten years and Ê533 after 20 years.

But the true CPI inflation rate in March for those aged 75 or over was 4.7 per cent,
according to Alliance Trust. This reflects the different spending patterns of pensioners,
with a higher proportion of their income going on inflationary areas such as energy and
medical costs.

Tom McPhail of adviser Hargreaves Lansdown in Bristol says: 'The biggest mistake
many savers make is not taking account of inflation.'

Fortunately, some retirement income will rise over time. The State pension is
increased each April in line with the Retail Prices Index in the preceding September. The
Government has also pledged that the State pension will be linked to average earnings,
which tend to rise quicker than prices, but no date has been given for this.

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Company pensions often link income to the RPI, but rises can be at the discretion of
the trustees. But the vast majority of those with personal pensions ignore inflation. They
simply opt for a maximum starting income, which remains level throughout retirement.

WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS:

1. at the discretion of somebody theo ý muốn của ai
2. commit (v) cam kết
3. councilor (n) hội viên hội đồng
4. curse of inflation tai hoạ lạm phát
5. deadly enemy kẻ thù không đội trời chung, kẻ tử thù
6. draw on cần đến, nhờ cậy đến
7. endowment (n) hiến tặng tài sản, quyền tài sản
8. get bogged down bị sa lầy
9. juggle (v) lừa bịp, dùng mánh khóe để lừa
10. knowingly (adj) chủ tâm, cố ý, có dụng ý
11. opt for chọn lựa
12. overview(n) cái nhìn khái quát, tổng quan
13. pay off trả lương, trả tiền
14. pension (n) trợ cấp, lương hưu
15. rule out loại trừ, bác bỏ
16. take account of something kể đến, tính đến cái gì
17. trustee (n) người được ủy thác

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