LL PIN 6.2 GERMANY: WHAT FUTURE FOR THE FAMILY?

(Version 1)
Fill in the gaps with ONE word only.
New figures showed yesterday that Germany has the highest percentage of childless women
in the world. 30% of German women have not had children, and (1) _____________ figure
rises to 40% among female graduates. Germanys Family Minister, Ursula von der Leyen,
said (2) _____________ if the birth rate does not go up, Germany will die.
Germanys birth rate is one of (3) _____________ lowest rates in Europe, with an average of
1.37 children per woman, compared with 1.75 in Sweden and 1.74 in the UK. German
mothers are (4) _____________ the oldest, with an average of thirty when they have their
first child and most parents choose to have only one child.
According to Professor Norbert Schneider of Mainz University, the reasons for Germanys
low birth rate include poor childcare, a school day that ends at 1 p.m., (5) _____________
old-fashioned attitudes among employers. In addition, many German women are in their mid-
thirties (6) _____________ they finish university and get a good job. Ms von der Leyen, a
mother of seven, says that another difficulty (7) _____________ that some women cannot
find a suitable man. Uncertain men (who are unsure about becoming fathers) are also
responsible for the low birth rate, she claims.
The minister has developed a plan (8) _____________ encourage people to have more
children. First of all, if parents need private childcare, they will get help from the government,
by paying less tax. (9) _____________, families will get up to 1,800 euros a month from the
government if men stay at home for two months after the birth of a new child. But some men,
even in the ministers own political party, are unhappy with this last idea. Professor Schneider
says that in Germany it is acceptable for women to take time off to have children. However,
(10) _____________ a man takes time off work to look after a new child, his career will be
over. The typical family picture is very much alive in Germany, he said. Women look after
the children while men go out (11) _____________ work.
USEFUL LANGUAGE
To have a percentage of sth. : Germany has the highest percentage of childless women in
the world.
An average of sth. : Germanys birth rate is one of the lowest in Europe, with an average
of 1.37 children per woman.
To rise to % : 30% of German women have not had children, and this figure rises to
40% among female graduates.
To be (un)sure about sth. : Uncertain men (who are unsure about becoming fathers) are
also responsible for the low birth rate.
To take time off (work) : If a man takes time off work to look after a new child, his career
will be over.


ANSWER KEY:
1. this/the
2. that
3. the
4. also
5. and
6. when
7. is
8. to
9. Secondly
10. if
11. to















LL PIN 6.2 GERMANY: WHAT FUTURE FOR THE FAMILY? (Version 2)
New figures showed yesterday that Germany has the highest percentage of childless women
in the world. 30% of German women have not had children, and this figure rises (1)
_____________ 40% among female graduates. Germanys Family Minister, Ursula von der
Leyen, said that (2) _____________ the birth rate does not go up, Germany will die.
Germanys birth rate is one of the lowest rates in Europe, with an average (3) _____________
1.37 children per woman, compared with 1.75 in Sweden and 1.74 in the UK. German
mothers are also the oldest, with an average of thirty when they have (4) _____________ first
child and most parents choose to have only one child.
According to Professor Norbert Schneider of Mainz University, the reasons (5)
_____________ Germanys low birth rate include poor childcare, a school day that ends at 1
p.m., and old-fashioned attitudes among employers. (6) _____________ addition, many
German women are in their mid-thirties when they finish university and get a good job. Ms
von der Leyen, a mother of seven, says that another difficulty is that some women cannot find
a suitable (7) _____________. Uncertain men (who are unsure (8) _____________
becoming fathers) are also responsible for the low birth rate, she claims.
The minister has developed a plan to encourage people to have more children. First of (9)
_____________, if parents need private childcare, they will get help from the government, by
paying less tax. Secondly, families will get up to 1,800 euros a month from the government
(10) _____________ men stay at home for two months after the birth of a new child. But
some men, even the ministers own political party, are unhappy with this last idea. Professor
Schneider says that in Germany it is acceptable for women to take time (11)
_____________to have children. However, if a man takes time off work to look after a new
child, his career will be over. The typical family picture is very much alive in Germany, he
said. Women look after the children while men go out to work.
USEFUL LANGUAGE
Compared with sth: Germanys birth rate is one of the lowest in Europe, with an average of
1.37 children per woman, compared with 1.75 in Sweden.
To choose + to do (infinitive): Most parents choose to have only one child.
To be responsible for sth. : Uncertain men (who are unsure about becoming fathers) are
also responsible for the low birth rate.
It is acceptable (for sb.) to do (infinitive): It is acceptable for women to take time off to
have children.
According to sth./sb. : According to Professor Norbert Schneider of Mainz University, +
sentence (S V O)

ANSWER KEY:
1. to
2. if
3. of
4. the/their
5. for
6. in
7. man/partner
8. about
9. all
10. if
11. off















LL PIN 6.2 GERMANY: WHAT FUTURE FOR THE FAMILY? (Version 3)
New figures showed yesterday that Germany has the highest percentage of childless women
in the world. 30% of German women have not had children, and this figure rises to 40%
among female graduates. Germanys Family Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, said that if the
birth rate (1) _____________ go up, Germany will die.
Germanys birth rate is one of the lowest rates in Europe, with an average of 1.37 children per
woman, compared (2) _____________ 1.75 in Sweden and 1.74 in the UK. German mothers
are also the oldest, with an average of thirty when they have their first child and most
parents choose (3) _____________ have only one child.
According (4) _____________ Professor Norbert Schneider of Mainz University, the reasons
for Germanys low birth rate include poor childcare, a school day that ends at 1 p.m., and old-
fashioned attitudes among employers. In addition, many German women are (5)
_____________ their mid-thirties when they finish university and get a good job. Ms von der
Leyen, a mother of seven, says that another difficulty is (6) _____________ some women
cannot find a suitable man. Uncertain men (who are unsure about becoming fathers) are also
responsible (7) _____________ the low birth rate, she claims.
The minister has developed a plan to encourage people to have more children. First of all, if
parents need private childcare, they will get help from the government, (8) _____________
paying less tax. Secondly, families will get up to 1,800 euros a month from the government if
men stay at home for two months (9) _____________ the birth of a new child. But some men,
even in the ministers own political party, are unhappy with this last idea. Professor Schneider
says that in Germany it is acceptable for women (10) _____________ take time off to have
children. However, if a man takes time off work to look after a new child, (11)
_____________ career will be over. The typical family picture is very much alive in
Germany, he said. Women look after the children while men go out to work.
USEFUL LANGUAGE
To get a (good) job: many German women are in their mid-thirties when they finish
university and get a good job.
(To be) a mother of seven/(two, three, etc.) : Ms von der Leyen, a mother of seven, says
that another difficulty is that some women cannot find a suitable man.
To encourage sb. to do sth. : The minister has developed a plan to encourage people to
have more children.
To get help from sb. : They will get help from the government.
To be (un)happy with sth. : Some men are unhappy with this last idea.
One of + superlative + plural noun : Germanys birth rate is one of the lowest rates in
Europe.

ANSWER KEY:
1. doesnt
2. with
3. to
4. to
5. in
6. that
7. for
8. by
9. after
10. to
11. his















LL PIN 6.2 GERMANY: WHAT FUTURE FOR THE FAMILY? (Version 4)
New figures showed yesterday that Germany has the highest percentage of childless women
in the world. 30% of German women (1) _____________ had children, and this figure rises to
40% among female graduates. Germanys Family Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, said that if
the birth rate does not go up, Germany will die.
Germanys birth rate is (2) _____________ of the lowest rates in Europe, with an average of
1.37 children per woman, compared with 1.75 in Sweden and 1.74 in the UK. German
mothers are also the oldest, with an average of thirty when they have their first child and
most parents choose to have (3) _____________ one child.
According to Professor Norbert Schneider of Mainz University, the reasons for Germanys
low birth rate include poor childcare, a school day that ends at 1 p.m., and old-fashioned
attitudes among employers. In addition, many German women are in their mid-thirties when
they finish university and (4) _____________ a good job. Ms von der Leyen, a mother (5)
_____________ seven, says that another difficulty is that some women cannot find a suitable
man. Uncertain men ((6) _____________ are unsure about becoming fathers) are also
responsible for the low birth rate, she claims.
The minister has developed a plan to encourage people (7) _____________ have more
children. First of all, if parents need private childcare, they will get help (8) _____________
the government, by paying less tax. Secondly, families will get up to 1,800 euros a month
from the government if men stay at home (9) _____________ two months after the birth of a
new child. But some men, even in the ministers own political party, are unhappy (10)
_____________ this last idea. Professor Schneider says that in Germany it is acceptable for
women to take time off to have children. However, if a man takes time off work (11)
_____________ look after a new child, his career will be over. The typical family picture is
very much alive in Germany, he said. Women look after the children while men go out to
work.
ANSWER KEY:
1. havent
2. one
3. only
4. get/find/have
5. of
6. who
7. to
8. from
9. for
10. with
11. to