THOMAS MALTHUS AND POPULATION CONTROL

Thomas Malthus was a nineteenth-century British scholar who did influential work in the field of demography, the mathematical study of populations. His most famous work, An Essay on the Principles of Population, has influenced countless scientists since its first publication. In this essay, Malthus argued that population growth would always exceed man’s ability to produce enough food and other goods to support the population. He believed that population would always grow to the farthest limits of subsistence, but ruinous forces such as war or famine would keep it from _______ any farther. Malthus argued that this phenomenon was responsible for the high rate of p________ during his time, since a limited food s________ had to continually provide for a growing population. If population were in line with p__________, however, then society as a whole would experience greater well-being. (=> The basis of Malthus’s theory was the idea that human populations will always grow to the farthest limits of the food supply, e_________ society.)

To this end, Malthus argued for population control as a means of r_______(바로잡는) the balance between population growth and food supply. In An Essay on the Principles of Population, he stated that natural forms of population control often worked, to a degree. Human vice, or moral weakness, whether in the form of violent crime or life-threatening habits such as alcoholism, would often beyond the point of subsistence / of keeping the population / do the unpleasant job /  from growing be enough to /. However, if this? failed, then the consequences would become far worse. Widespread famine, deadly diseases, and even plagues would then step in to d________ the population.  Q02  The conditions of overpopulation and the spread of poverty and poor living conditions would be such that these forces would occur quite naturally.  Q03  Malthus went so far as to argue that the  Black Death (= an example of how Malthus thought n_____ could control overpopulation) of the Middle Ages was a plague brought on by an unsafe surge in the European population. (=> It would eventually be kept in check by n________ forces) /(=> Malthus posited(단정하다 that nature had its own means of controlling population but that these means were always / not always effective.)

To an extent, Malthus believed that these tragedies could be avoided if humans were to(=    ) conduct their own sort of population control. He had a number of suggestions for how societies could control their populations to avoid famine or plague. One of them was the teaching of moral r_________ in regard to sexual activity. In his day, it was believed that producing many children made a nation strong, and that it should be allowed to go on unchecked. ① Malthus argued that having many children had quite the opposite effect, and ② believed that the people, especially poor people, should be conditioned to avoid most relationships that might lead to having children.

(= Breeding without l______ should be discouraged, especially among the p_____, as it will have a n________ effect.) In addition, Malthus did not rule out the possibility of controlled breeding among people. He proposed the idea that the most healthy and intelligent people be allowed to breed with few limits, while strict limits should be placed on the poor and less fit. In this way, the population could be m_______ and a stronger breed of people could be created that were less likely to drain society of its resources. (=> To ensure the well being of society, Malthus argued, it is necessary to control population growth through a_________ means, including controlled breeding.)

시제일치- 과거형으로 쓰임 (현재 받아들여지는 이론이 아니란 말.)

2. influential = important    exceed = surpass   subsistence = survival

ruinous = destructive    famine = hunger       plague = epidemic

surge = soar, spike     unchecked = unrestrained    rule out = exclude

drain = exhaust

어휘 |  demography 인구학    publication 출판, 발표    subsistence 생존    famine 기아, 굶주림    phenomenon 현상 right (정상적인 위치가 되도록) 바로 세우다    vice 악행    alcoholism 알코올 중독    consequence 결과    plague 전염병 Black Death 흑사병    restraint 제한, 제재    rule out 제외하다    breeding 출산    drain (힘·돈 등을) 고갈시키다