Gender selection-the choosing of a baby’s gender prior to birth-occurs in many parts of the world. In China and India, for example, (1) _______, and male babies are often preferred over females for cultural reasons. In Western countries as well, there are many reasons why a family might want to choose a baby’s sex. Often, parents wish to have a mix of both boys and girls in the family. (2) ________: many diseases affect children of only one sex, and a family that is susceptible to these diseases may wish to choose a baby’s gender to avoid having an affected child.
This demand for gender choice by parents (3) ________. Conventional wisdom states that the father’s sperm is the main determinant of a child’s gender, but recent research has begun to reveal a number of other possible determining factors.
Elissa Cameron’s research, conducted in 2007 at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, (4) _______. In one experiment, she changed the blood sugar level of female mice prior to conception by putting a chemical in the animals’ water. Mice that received the additive saw their blood sugar levels from 6.47 to 5.24 millimoles/liter. A separate control group of mice received pure water, without the additive. After a few days, the two groups of mice were allowed to mate. In the control group, 41% of the mice were born female, as compared to 47% in the group that received the additive-a disparity that Dr Cameron ascribed to the differences in the mothers’ blood sugar levels.
Interestingly, (5) _______. It has long been believed that mothers should eat more red meat and salty foods-which raise blood sugar for a long period-if they want to have a boy; they are advised to eat chocolates and sweets-which raise blood sugar levels for a short time-if they want a girl.

France, where once every famous actor was seen smoking, (1) _______.
Bright colours and brand names on cigarette packets will be replaced by health warnings in large letters and by big photographs of the diseased organs of smokers. Car drivers and passengers will be banned from smoking with children under 12 in the car. Although this will not take effect until 2016, a TV and radio campaign started today, (2) _______.
The Health Minister, Marisol Touraine, said: "We can no longer accept the fact that the number of deaths caused by tobacco in France is the equivalent of an airliner crashing each day with 200 people on board." Ms Touraine's long-term objective is to abolish smoking over 40 years (3) _______. Her medium-term objective is to reduce the French smoking rate-one in three adults to the present British rate of one in five adults, by 2024.
Until the late 1960s, almost two-thirds of French men smoked-but far fewer women. From 1976, a series of increasingly tough measures has been introduced, culminating in a ban on smoking in all public enclosed spaces, including bars and restaurants, from 2006. (4) _______. The smoking rate is gender equal now, just under 30%.
However, French teenagers are now smoking as much as their parents. Officially, the smoking rate among 17-year-olds is 30 percent. Tobacconists have successfully lobbied for a slowing of price increases, (5) _______.

In the UK, there are three types of employment status: employees, workers and independent contractors, (1) ______. However, employees enjoy much broader rights, such as being able to sue for unfair dismissal, while independent contractors do not have any of these rights. Three years ago, Uber drivers were officially established as workers instead of self-employed, therefore gaining access to these rights.
Joining the Uber movement, more than 12 500 drivers are bringing the action against Bolt, an Estonia-based ride-hailing app (2) ______. They claim that they should be given the same rights and protections as typical workers (3) ______. In response to the situation, Bolt announced as of August 1st that its drivers would receive holiday pay and a guarantee of the “national living wage”.
Still, in a recent survey, six in 10 drivers identified the ability to choose their own hours as the most important aspect of their work. (4) ______. They further assert with confidence that its business model “enables drivers to be their own boss, and the majority of private-hire drivers consistently state that they wish to remain self-employed independent contractors, as they value the flexibility, personal control over pricing, and earning potential offered by this model”. Hopes of a plan to bring in a single status for all employees, which would give gig economy workers the same rights as employed staff, (5) ______.