Question

    A story posted by The New York Post Monday tells the tale of Katrina Holte, a Hillsboro woman who quit her job to cosplay a 1950s housewife.

Let me start by expressing admiration to Holte for using her 2019 freedoms to follow her 1950s dreams. Everyone should be so lucky as to get to decide what they wear and how they spend their time. That’s the future our foremothers fought for.

But as much fun as I am sure she is having living a vintage (复古的) life, which literally includes watching shows like “I Love Lucy” and listening to vinyl recordings (刻录碟片) , I think it’s important to remember that being a 1950s housewife was actually totally awful, and something our grandmothers and mothers fought against.

For example, once I called my grandma and asked her for her recipe for Cloud Biscuits, these delicious biscuits she used to make that we would cover with butter and homemade raspberry jam on Thanksgiving.

“Why would you want that?” she said. “Go to the store. Go to the freezer section. Buy some pre-made biscuits and put them in the oven.”

She straight-up refused to give me the recipe, because it was hard and took a long time to make. In her mind, it was a waste of time.

Getting off the phone, it occurred to me that spending every day of your life serving a husband and five children wasn’t fun at all. And then there are the grandchildren who eventually come along demanding Cloud Biscuits, a whole new expanded set of people to feed.

She was basically a slave to those hungry mouths, cooking scratch meals three times a day

When she wasn’t trapped in the kitchen, she had to keep the house clean, make sure she looked good enough to be socially acceptable, and make sure her kids and husband looked good enough to be socially acceptable. And she had no days off.

I know my grandma loves her kids and her grandkids, her husband and the life she led, but man, it must have been a lot of thankless, mindless labor.

No wonder everyone went all-in on processed foods when they came around. Imagine the nice break something like a microwave dinner would give a woman working, unpaid, for her family every single day?

I also had another grandma. She was a scholar who helped found the Center for the Study of Women in Society at University of Oregon. She was a pioneering second-wave feminist who wrote books, gave lectures and traveled the world.

But, she did all of that after divorcing my grandpa, when most of her kids were out of the house. Back then, in the 1950s and the 1960s, there was no illusion about women “having it all”. How could that even possibly happen? If you were taking care of a family, waiting on your husband, you had no time to follow your dreams, unless you made that your dream

A lot of women took that approach. We call it Stockholm Syndrome now.

And of course, these women I am talking about are upper-middle-class white women. Romanticizing the 1950s is especially disgusting when you think about how women of color and poor women were treated back then, and the lack of education and choices available to them.

Because the women in this country demanded something approaching equality, Holte has the chance to live out her fantasy. Not every woman in America is so lucky.

We still don’t have pay equality and in many states, we still don’t have autonomy over our own bodies. Poor women and women of color still lack the opportunities of their wealthy and white peers.

And while it’s getting better, women are still expected to be responsible for the emotional labor of running a household and raising the children.

But at least we can get jobs. At least we don’t have to sew our own clothes, wear a full face of makeup every day and spend hours making Cloud Biscuits some ungrateful kid will wolf down, barely remembering to say thank you.

1.According to the author, what is the future our foremothers fought for?

A.Watching shows like “I Love Lucy” and listening to vinyl recordings.

B.Having the freedom to make choices in their daily life.

C.Making Cloud Biscuits for their kids and husbands.

D.Making sure their kids and husbands socially acceptable.

2.What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 13 refer to?

A.Writing books, giving lectures and traveling the world.

B.Divorcing husband when kids were out of house.

C.Taking care of a family and waiting on husband.

D.Women’s illusion about “having it all”.

3.What does the “Stockholm Syndrome” in paragraph 14 really mean in the passage?

A.Women have been used to the unfair treatment at home

B.Women nowadays like the way of life in the 1950s.

C.Victims end up sympathizing with the abusers.

D.Women have the chance to live out their dreams.

4.The author thinks of the life of a 1950s housewife as ________.

A.fantastic B.admirable

C.awful D.unforgettable

5.What can we learn from the passage?

A.It was a waste of time to give grandchildren the recipe.

B.All women are not lucky to follow their own dreams in America now.

C.Housewives received recognition for their efforts from family members.

D.The upper-middle-class white women did a better job in running the household.

6.What is the author’s main purpose in writing this passage?

A.To show great appreciation to her grandmas.

B.To call on housewives to claim the pay for the housework they undertake.

C.To draw readers’ attention to the situations women face, especially those poor and of color.

D.To arouse women’s awareness of equal pay at work.

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.C

5.B

6.C

【解析】

本文是记叙文。作者认为在日常生活中拥有选择的自由是我们的祖先为之奋斗的未来，同时想让读者注意到女性所面临的处境，尤其是那些贫穷的有色人种。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段中的Everyone should be so lucky as to get to decide what they wear and how they spend their time. That’s the future our foremothers fought for.（每个人都应该很幸运，能够决定自己穿什么，如何度过时间。这就是我们的祖先为之奋斗的未来）由此可知，作者认为在日常生活中拥有选择的自由是我们的祖先为之奋斗的未来。A选项只是Katrina Holte的个人选择，错误。CD选项是1950的女性的日常生活，也不符合题意。故选B。

2.词义猜测题。找到划线词所在句If you were taking care of a family, waiting on your husband, you had no time to follow your dreams, unless you made that your dream.（如果你要照顾一个家庭，服侍你的丈夫，你就没有时间去追求你的梦想，除非你把它当成你的梦想）可知，that指代的其实是前面的内容，也就是taking care of a family, waiting on your husband。故选C。

3.词义猜测题。根据划线词所在句及前面的A lot of women took that approach. We call it Stockholm Syndrome now.（很多女性采取了这种方式。我们现在称之为Stockholm Syndrome）可知，我们现在把1950s很多女性接受了这个方式生活下去的这个现象称作Stockholm Syndrome。根据上文可知，1950s很多女性的生活方式则是——照顾家庭、服侍丈夫、没有时间去追求自己的梦想，这对女性来讲是不公平的。因此A选项正确，be used to和take that approach形成替换。B选项错误，说的是1950s而不是现代。C选项没有具体的时代背景，错误。D选项不是1950s的现象，错误。故选A。

4.细节理解题。根据第三段中的I think it’s important to remember that being a 1950s housewife was actually totally awful, and something our grandmothers and mothers fought against.（我认为重要的是要记住，作为一个50年代的家庭主妇实际上是非常糟糕的，这是我们的祖母和母亲所反对的）可知，作者认为20世纪50年代家庭主妇的生活很糟糕。故选C。

5.推理判断题。根据倒数第四段中的Holte has the chance to live out her fantasy. Not every woman in America is so lucky.（霍尔特有机会实现她的梦想。不是每个美国女人都这么幸运）可推知，在美国，并不是所有的女性都有机会追逐自己的梦想。故选B。

6.推理判断题。作者写文章的目的必然与其主旨有关。目的在文章中最集中指出问题的一段，也就是倒数第三段We still don’t have pay equality and in many states, we still don’t have autonomy over our own bodies. Poor women and women of color still lack the opportunities of their wealthy and white peers.（我们仍然没有薪酬平等，在许多州，我们仍然没有对自己身体的自主权。贫困妇女和有色人种妇女仍然缺乏与富裕和白人妇女同等的机会）。由此可知，作者写这篇文章的主要目的是让读者注意到女性所面临的情况，尤其是那些贫穷和有色人种的情况。A选项很容易排除，B选项说呼吁家庭主妇为他们承担的家庭劳作要求报酬也与主旨无关。D选项涵盖的太小了，不仅仅是equal pay。故选C。