第四部分:阅读理解 0 T, N, n" ~6 ?4 X
第一篇 * ]! Q' \$ O, N# i r! Q7 E
Youth Emancipation in Spain 9 S% Q5 u/ p" w
The Spanish Government is so worried about the number of young adults still living with their parents that it has decided to help them leave the nest.2 u0 m. S# a m
Around 55 per cent of people aged 18-34 in Spain still sleep in their parents' homes, says the latest report from the country's state-run Institute of Youth. h1 q8 v# C2 w3 a% h
To coax(劝诱)young people from their homes, the institute started a "Youth Emancipation(解放) programme this month. The programme offers guidance in finding rooms and jobs.
2 G" j" C; F# f5 g) g! A3 `( u& xEconomists blame young people's family dependence on the precarious(不稳定的) labour market and increasing housing prices. Housing prices have risen 17 per cent a year since 2000.
4 J& t; g4 C5 I: h; d8 Q8 BCultural reasons also contribute to the problem, say sociologists. Family ties in south Europe - Italy, Portugal and Greece - are stronger than those in middle and north Europe, said Spanish sociologist Almudena Moreno Minguez in her report "The Late Emancipation of Spanish Youth: Keys for Understanding".6 o" h V- U5 F+ `1 `5 M9 Z/ ~
"In general, young people in Spain firmly believe in the family as the main body around which their private life is organized," said Minguez.
9 d; N2 q6 @4 k& [$ a" IIn Spain - especially in the countryside, it is not uncommon to find entire groups of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews(外甥/侄子) all living on the same street. They regularly get together for Sunday dinner.
( o7 i! u! i- k" W- F, `% ?3 `, q" WParents' tolerance(宽容) is another factor. Spanish parents accept late-night partying and are wary of setting bedtime rules.0 H+ w/ Q+ i3 c# I: y6 m
"A child can arrive home at whatever time he wants. If parents complain he'll put up a big fight and call the father a Fascist," said Jose Antonio Gomez Yanez, a sociologist at Carlos III University in Madrid.
! G1 y4 [- S' j: y6 }Mothers' willingness to do children's household chores worsens the problem. Dioni-sio Masso, a 60-year-old in Madrid, has three children in their 20s. The eldest, 28, has a girlfriend and a job. But life with mum is good." `. L* U6 [/ T
"His mum does the wash and cooks for him; in the end, he lives well," Masso said. |