Sex prejudices are based on and justified by the ideology (意识形态) that biology is destiny. According to this ideology, basic biological and psychological differences exist between the sexes. These differences require each sex to play a separate role in social life. Women are the weaker sex both physically and emotionally. Thus, they are naturally suited, much more so than men, to the performance of domestic (家庭的) duties. A woman’s place, under normal circumstances, is within the protective environment of the home. Nature has determined that women play caretaker roles, such as wife and mother and homemaker. On the other hand, men are best suited to go out into the competitive world of work and politics, where serious responsibilities must be taken on. Men are to be the providers; women and children are “dependents”.
The ideology also holds that women who wish to work outside the household should naturally fill these jobs that are in line with the special capabilities of their sex. It is appropriate for women, not men, to be employed as nurses, social workers, elementary school teachers, house-hold helpers, clerks and secretaries. These positions are simply an extension of women’s domestic role. Informal distinctions between “women’s work” and “men’s work” in the labor force, according to the ideology, are simply a functional reflection of the basic differences between the sexes.
Finally, the ideology suggests that nature has worked her will in another significant way. For the human species to survive over time, its members must regularly reproduce. Thus, women must, whether at home or in the labor force, make the most of their physical appearances.
So goes the ideology. It is, of course, not true that basic biological and psychological differences between the sexes require each to play sex-defined roles in social life. There is enough evidence that sex roles vary from society to society, and those role differences that do exist are largely learned.
But to the degree people actually believe that biology is destiny and that nature intended for men and women to make different contributions to society, sex-defined roles will be seen as totally acceptable.
1.According to the biology-is-destiny ideology, women_______.
A.cannot compete with men in any field.
B.are suited more to domestic jobs than men.
C.are sensitive enough to be a good caretaker.
D.are too weak to do any agricultural work at all.
2.Those who have prejudices against women think that_______.
A.women shouldn’t go out for work.
B.women should earn money to add the family income.
C.women going out for work should only do “women’s work”.
D.women should take jobs to drill the special capabilities of the sex.
3.The author thinks that the positions women hold outside_______.
A.are determined by what they are better suited to.
B.grow out of their household responsibilities.
C.represent their breakthrough of sex discrimination.
D.are physically and emotionally suitable to them.
4.What does the underlined sentence imply?
A.Sex roles are socially determined.
B.Sex roles are emotionally and physically determined.
C.Sex roles are biologically and psychologically determined .
D.Sex roles are determined by education people take.
The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of the proportion of a woman' s life spent in caring for the children. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, four or five of whom lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman' s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five years and can be expected to live another thirty-five years and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has to take care of children, her work is lightened by modern living conditions.
This important change in women' s life-patterns has only recently begun to have its full effect on women' s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls took a full-time job after they left school. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school- leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women usually marry older, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Many more afterwards return to full-or-part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.
1.At what age did most women marry around the 1890 according to the passage?
A.At about twenty-five
B.In their earl fifties
C.At the age of fifteen
D.At any age from fifteen to forty-five
2.What happened to an ordinary family in about 1900?
A.The youngest child could live to fifteen.
B.Four of five children died after they were five.
C.Seven or eight children lived to be more than five.
D.Some children died when they were very young.
3.When she was over fifty, a late nineteenth-century mother ______.
A.was usually expected to die fairly soon
B.would expect to work until she died
C.would be healthy enough to take up paid jobs
D.was less like to find a job even if she wanted to
4.What do we know from the passage?
A.Husbands and wives share equal responsibilities at home.
B.More and more women are looked down upon by husbands.
C.Today women prefer to get married rather than get jobs.
The adder is the only poisonous snake native to Britain. Adders have the most highly developed poison injecting mechanism of all snakes, but they are not aggressive animals. Adders will only use their poison as a last means of defence, usually if caught or trodden on. No one has died from adder bites in Britain for over 20 years. By far the most common snake in Britain is the adder. In Scotland, in fact, there are no other snakes at all. The adder is also the only British snake with a poisonous bite. It can be found almost anywhere, but prefers sunny hillsides and rough open country, including high ground. In Ireland there are no snakes at all.
Most people regard snake bites as a fatal misfortune, but not all bites are serious, and very few are fatal. Sometimes attempts at emergency treatment turn out to be more dangerous than the bite itself, with amateurs heroically, but mistakenly, trying do-it-yourself surgery and other unnecessary measures.
All snakes have small teeth, so it follows that all snakes can bite, but only the bite of the adder presents any danger. British snakes are shy animals and are far more frightened of you than you could possibly be of them. The adder will attack only if it feels threatened, as can happen if you take it by surprise and step on it accidentally, or if you try to catch it or pick it up, which it dislikes intensely. If it hears you coming, it will normally get out of the way as quickly as it can, but adders cannot move very rapidly and may attack before moving if you are very close.
The effect of a bite varies considerably. It depends upon several things, one of which is the body-weight of the person bitten. The bigger the person, the less harmful the bite is likely to be, which is why children suffer far more seriously from snake bites in Britain , and thought these bites can make some people very ill, there are probably just as many cases of bites having little or no effect, as there are of serious illness.
1.What does the underlined phrase “trodden on” probably mean?
A.Found out
B.Heard from
C.Stepped on.
D.Robbed of.
2.Where are adders to be found?
A.In fertile fields in Scotland.
B.On wild land throughout Britain.
C.In many parts of Britain and Ireland.
D.Everywhere in Britain except Scotland
3.What should you do if you are with someone who is bitten by an adder?
A.Catch the biting adder at once.
B.Don’t worry about the bitten person.
C.Don’t try to treat the bite by yourself.
D.Operate on the person as soon as possible.
4.What’s the best title of the passage?
A.Poisonous Snakes
B.Adders in Britain
C.Take Care of Sake Bites
D.Protect Endangered Adders
In the United States alone,over 100 million cell-phones are thrown away each year.Cell-phones are part of a growing mountain of electronic waste like computers and personal digital assistants.The electronic waste stream is increasing three times taster than traditional garbage as a whole.
Electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold and silver.A Swiss study reported that while the weight of electronic goods represented by precious metals was relatively small in comparison to total waste,the concentration（含量）of gold and other precious metals was higher in So-called e-waste than in naturally occurring minerals.
Electronic wastes also contain many poisonous metals.Even when the machines are recycled and the harmful metals removed,the recycling process often is carried out in poor countries,in practically uncontrolled ways which allow many poisonous substances to escape into the environment.
Creating products out of raw materials creates much more waste material,up to 100 times more,than the material contained in the finished products.Consider again the cell-phone,and imagine the mines that produced those metals,the factories needed to make the box and packaging（包装）it came in.Many wastes produced in the producing process are harmful as well.
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency notes that most waste is dangerous in that"the production, distribution,and use of products-as well as management of the resulting waste-all result in greenhouse gas release." Individuals can reduce their contribution by creating less waste at the start-for instance,buying reusable products and recycling.
In many countries the concept of extended producer responsibility is being considered or has been put in place as an incentive（动机）for reducing waste.If producers are required to take back packaging they use to sell their products,would they reduce the packaging in the first place?
Governments' incentive to require producers to take responsibility for the packaging they produce is usually based on money.Why,they ask,should cities or towns be responsible for paying to deal with the bubble wrap（气泡垫）that encased your television?
From the governments' point of view,a primary goal of laws requiring extended producer responsibility is to transfer both the costs and the physical responsibility of waste management from the government and tax-payers back to the producers.
1.By mentioning the Swiss study,the author intends to tell us that .
A.the weight of e-goods is rather small
B.natural minerals contain more precious metals
C.E-waste deserves to be made good use of
D.the percentage of precious metals is heavy in e-waste
2.The responsibility of e-waste treatment should be extended .
A.from producers to governments
B.from governments to producers
C.from individuals to distributors
D.from distributors to governments
3.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.The increase in e-waste. B.The creation of e-waste.
C.The seriousness of e-waste. D.The management of e-waste.
Even though Danish students have equal access to education, their choice of studies is still influenced by social class. Young people from working class backgrounds are ______by studies with a clear job profile and high income, ______prestige and studies with a strong identity interest young people of parents with university degrees when choosing which studies to ______. This is what researchers from the University of Copenhagen ______in a new study. Students who have chosen to study medicine, architecture, economy and sociology often come from homes where the parents have ________higher education, whereas business studies and pharmacy often ______young people with a working class background. This is ______by a research team from the University of Copenhagen and Aalborg University in a new study.
“There is a ______between the studies chosen by young Danes and their ______background. Even for the young people who have very good grades in their A-level exams, and who could successfully ______admission to a large variety of studies, the parents’ ______of education and social class play an important role in their choice,” says Education Sociologist Jens Peter Thomsen, who is one of the researchers behind the study.
The study “The Educational Strategies of Danish University Students from Professional and Working-Class Backgrounds” is ______60 interviews with Danish students from six different university level study programmes: Medicine, architecture, sociology, economy, pharmacy and business studies.
The young people bring with them the ______they get from their families. If you grow up in a home with parents who are doctors or architects with a strong professional ______, it is an obvious choice to follow the ______path as your parents when you grow up.
“For young people whose parents are university educated, ______such as fame and mastery of expert knowledge are important. They are ______by an educational culture in which you are a diligent student, and where leisure activities are ______to the identity that lies within your studies. These young people have also grown up with ______discussions around the dinner table which also prepare them for their lives as students,” says Jens Peter Thomsen.
He also added, “Young people who come from a working class background, and have good grades have to ______the full range of opportunities they have. But the effort to reach this goal must start early”.
1.A.monitored B.motivated C.motioned D.multiplied
2.A.while B.although C.when D.if
3.A.pursue B.engage C.involve D.conduct
4.A.calculate B.suspect C.conclude D.achieve
5.A.required B.confirmed C.refused D.completed
6.A.subscribes to B.caters to C.sticks to D.appeals to
7.A.inquired B.proved C.extended D.acquired
8.A.connection B.comparison C.difference D.contradiction
9.A.educational B.political C.social D.professional
10.A.balance B.develop C.identify D.seek
11.A.situation B.judgment C.level D.preference
12.A.connected with B.based on C.committed to D.combined with
13.A.resources B.experiences C.finance D.memory
14.A.degree B.identity C.success D.responsibility
15.A.perfect B.usual C.common D.same
16.A.changes B.problems C.factors D.characters
17.A.disturbed B.moved C.puzzled D.attracted
18.A.tied B.accustomed C.transferred D.copied
19.A.practical B.topical C.physical D.medical
20.A.take charge of B.take control of C.take advantage of D.take care of
The stone under her feet rolled, and as she was into the river, she called out for help.
A.being jumped B.jumped C.pulling D.being pulled
