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1、THEMAKINGOFANATION-Post-WarProsperityBringsBabies,SuburbanLivingSTEVEEMBER:WelcometoTHEMAKINGOFANATION–AmericanhistoryinVOASpecialEnglish.I’mSteveEmber.(MUSIC)WorldWarTwofinallyendedinAugustofnineteenforty-five.LifeintheUnitedStatesbegantoreturntonormal.Soldiers
2、begantocomehomeandfindjobs.Factoriesstoppedproducingwarmaterialsandbegantoproducegoodsforpeacetime.Atthesametime,otherchangesbegantotakeplaceinsociety.ManyAmericanswerenolongersatisfiedwiththeiroldwaysoflife.Theywantedsomethingnewandbetter.Andmanywerenowearninge
3、noughmoneytofindthatbetterlife.MillionsofAmericansmovedoutofcitiesandsmalltowns.Theyboughtnewlybuilthomesinsuburbancommunitiesoutsidebusycities.Today,welookatthegrowthofsuburbsandotherchangesintheAmericanpopulationintheyearsafterWorldWarTwo.(SOUND)WIFE:“Andwe’ll
4、havethelivingroomrightinhere,andthekitchenrightheresowecanseethechildrenplayingintheyard.”HUSBAND:“Yeah,thechildren…Children?Say,howmanyareyouplanningon?Notmorethansix,Ihope.MaybeIbetteraddafewmoreroomsbackhere.”(MUSIC)Amarriedcoupleinamarketingfilmforthehomebui
5、ldingindustry.TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears.Thefirstcensustookplaceinseventeenninety.Atthattime,thecountryhadaboutfourmillionpeople.Onehundredyearslater,ineighteenninety,thepopulationwassixty-threemillion.Bynineteenfifty,thereweremorethanonehun
6、dredfiftymillionpeoplelivingintheUnitedStates.IntheearlyyearsofAmerica,theaveragemotherhadeighttotenchildren.Livingconditionswerehard.Manychildrendiedatanearlyage.Familiesneededalotofhelponthefarm.Soitwasgoodtohavemanychildren.Butovertheyearsbirthratesfell.Famil
7、iesbegantohavefewerandfewerchildren.Bynineteenhundred,theaveragewomanhadonlythreeorfourchildren.Innineteenthirty-six,duringtheGreatDepression,theaverageAmericanmothergavebirthtoonlytwochildren.ThingschangedafterWorldWarTwo.(SOUND)Suddenly,itseemedlikeeveryfamily
8、startedhavingbabies.Parentswerehopefulaboutthefuture.(MUSIC)Therewerelotsofjobs.Peoplefelttheneedforafamilyandsecurityafterthelong,difficultyearsofthewar.Fromnineteen
