单选题
With 950 million people, India ranks second to China among the most populous countries. But since China【C1】______ a family planning program in 1971, India has been【C2】______ the gap. Indians have reduced their birth rate but not nearly as much as the Chinese have. If current growth rates continue, India's population will【C3】______ China's around the year 2028 at about 1. 7 billion. Should that happen, it won' t be the【C4】______ of the enlightened women of Kerala, a state in southern India.【C5】______ India as a whole adds almost 20 million people a year, Kerala's population is virtually stable. The reason is no mystery: nearly two-thirds of Kerala women practice birth control, compared with about 40% in the entire nation. The difference【C6】______ the emphasis put on health programs, including birth control, by the state authorities, which in 1957 became India' s first elected Communist government. And an educational tradition and matrilineal(母系的) customs in parts of Kerala help girls and boys get equally good schooling. While one in three Indian women is【C7】______ , 90% of those in Kerala can read and write. Higher literacy rates【C8】______ Family planning. " Unlike our Parents, we know that we can do more for our children if we have fewer of them," says Laila Cherian, 33, who lives in the Village of Kudamaloor. She has limited herself to three children—one below the national【C9】______ of four. That kind of restraint will keep Kerala from putting added【C10】______ on world food supplies.