国家地理:China's Lost Girls 被抛弃的女孩 -3

"My real biological mother left me in a basket with me and my sister saying that we were twins and she waited to make sure that we were safe and then my mom right now Betsy, she came to get me in China to adopt¹ me and she took me back to America as, as me as her daughter."

How could a mother give away her baby girl? The answer isn't so simple. We drive to the countryside where most abandoned² girls are believed to come from. The majority³ of abandoned girls in China come from the countryside and right now we are in the Guang Dong province and this is where you really see the imbalance between boys and girls. Here it's among the highest in the country.
Boys, a lot of boys! No girlfriends?
I just asked them in their school if there are more boys or girls, and they said, "of course boys". To learn more, we speak with Wu Shuichang, a village leader.
"In the countryside for work do you think families prefer boys or girls?"
"Of course, it's better to have a boy."
I ask him how many children couples are allowed to have today.
"One. Now we can have only one."
But what happens if couples have more?
"Have two or three? No. They would pay a fine. If they had more, they would pay a fine. That's the way it is. The state will only allow us to have one."
"Why do you think people prefer to have sons?"
"A boy will stay in his own place and work. A girl will marry and leave. It's like that, a boy will always stay here."

It's hard to get women to talk openly about the pressure⁴ they're under to have sons. But in another village we find Ya Qing who was fined thousands of dollars when she chose to keep her second child, a daughter.

"This is Mrs. Ya and she owns a cell⁵ phone shop in the countryside. And this is her older son in the red. And her younger daughter whom she paid for. So Mrs. Ya lives here with her husband and two kids."

"Around here is feudalistic thinking⁶. Everyone wants to have a son. If your family doesn't have a son, people will look down on you. It's like this because people want to have a son to carry on the family name."

When Ya Qing was pregnant⁷ her husband warned⁸ that he'd send her away if she didn't give him a son.

"God⁹! How did it feel when your husband told you that if you didn't have a boy, he'd send you back home?"
"I was very angry at the time. Why is a boy so important? A girl is a person..."

1 adopt   

v.采纳，采用；正式通过；领养

参考例句：

• We will adopt their suggestions.我们将采纳他们的意见。
• Many childless couples adopt children.许多无子女的夫妇收养孩子。

2 abandoned   

adj.被抛弃的，废置的

参考例句：

• The baby had been abandoned by its mother. 这个婴儿被母亲遗弃了。
• The child was found abandoned but unharmed. 该弃儿被人们发现时安然无恙。

3 majority   

n.大多数；过半数

参考例句：

• He is elected by a majority of 40 votes against 10.他以40票对10票的大多数票当选。
• He believes that his supporters are in the majority.他相信支持他的人占多数。

4 pressure   

n.压力，压迫，压强；vt.迫使，使增压，密封

参考例句：

• He changed his mind under the pressure from others.他在别人的逼迫之下改变了主意。
• This type of sheet steel could stand high pressure.这种薄钢板能抗高压。

5 cell   

n.区，细胞，血球；小室，牢房；电池，光电管；基层组织

参考例句：

• Soap destroys the cell walls of bacteria.肥皂破坏细菌的细胞壁。
• They have locked the prisoners up in their cell.他们已把犯人监禁在小牢房里。

6 thinking   

n.思考，思想；adj.思考的，有理性的；vbl.想，思考

参考例句：

• All thinking men will protest against it.凡是有思想的人都会抗议这件事。
• Thinking is mainly performed with words and other symbols.思想主要是用言语和其他符号来表达的。

7 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

8 warned   

v.警告( warn的过去式和过去分词 )；提醒；告诫；预先通知

参考例句：

• Motorists have been warned to beware of icy roads. 已经提醒开车的人当心冰封的路面。
• I've warned her countless times. 我警告过她无数次了。

9 god   

n.上帝，神；被极度崇拜的人或物

参考例句：

• God knows how the cat got up on the roof.只有天知道那只猫是怎样爬上房顶的。
• God wills that man should be happy.上帝愿人类幸福。