Read the passage carefully. Choose an option (A, B, C or D) that best answers each question. Basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War is the country's
Read the passage carefully. Choose an option (A, B, C or D) that best answers each question.
Basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War is the country's impressive population growth. For every three Canadians in 1945, there were over five in 1966. In September 1966 Canada's population passed the 20 million mark. Most of these surging growth came from natural increase. The depression of the 1930s and the war had held back marriages, and the catching-up process began after 1945.
After the peak year of 1957, the birth rate in Canada began to decline. It continued falling until 1966 it stood at the lowest level in 25 years. Partly this decline reflected the low level of births during the depression and the war, but it was also caused by changes in Canadian society. Young people were staying at school longer; more women were working; young married couples were buying automobiles or houses before starting families; rising living standards were cutting down the size of families.
It appeared that Canada was once more falling in step with the trend toward smaller families that had occurred all through the Western world since the time of the Industrial Revolution. Although the growth in Canada's population had slowed down by 1966 (the increase in the first half of the 1960s was only nine percent), another large population wave was coming over the horizon. It would be composed of the children of the children who were born during the period of the high birth rate prior to 1957.
What does the passage mainly discuss?