Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and daughters rush to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers, But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year.
Mothers have long known that their home workload was just as heavy as paid work. Now, the new study has shown that if they were paid for their parental labours, they would earn as much as＄172,000 a year.
The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are working, to determine the figure. This would make their yearly income ￡30,000 more than the Prime Minister earns.
By analysing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week,40 of which would usually be paid at a standard rate and 79 hours as overtime. After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18,it found that ,on most days, mums started their routine work at 7am and finished at around 11pm.
To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labour, it suggested some of the roles that mums could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer. Being a part-time lawyer, at ￡48.98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum jobs”,with psychologist（心理学家）a close second.
It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 percent making emotional（情感的） demand as the hardest thing about motherhood.
Over a third of mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends.
The study shows mothers matter all year long and not just on Mother’s Day. The emotional ,physical and mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness. Investing（投入）in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent.
How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister?
| A．￡30,000. | B．￡142,000. |
| C．￡172,000. | D．￡202,000. |
The biggest challenge for most mothers is from .
| A．emotional demand | B．low pay for work |
| C．heavy workload | D．lack of training |
What is stressed in the last paragraph?
| A．Mothers’ importance shows in family all year long. |
| B．The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worthwhile. |
| C．Mothers’ devotion to children can hardly be calculated. |
| D．Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return. |
What can we conclude from the study?
| A．Mothers’ working hours should be largely reduced. |
| B．Mothers should balance their time for work and rest. |
| C．Mothers’ labour is of a higher value than it is realised. |
| D．Mothers should be freed from housework for social life. |
This summer, Monika Lutz’s life took an unusual turn. Instead of heading off to college, the high school graduate packed her bags for a Bengali jungle. Lutz, like a growing number of other young Americans, is taking a year off. Gap(间隔) years are quite common in Britain and Australia, but they are just beginning to catch on in the U.S. Lutz, who grew up in Boulder, Colo., has put together a 14-month schedule that includes helping deliver solar power to some communities in India and interning (实习) for a fashion designer in Shanghai---experiences that are worlds away from the lecture halls and university dormitories that await other students. “I could not be happier,” she says.
Why are students attracted to the gap-year concept? According to new survey data from Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson, education-policy experts and co-authors of The Gap-Year Advantage, the most common reason for this is to avoid burnout. “I felt like I was focused on college as a means to an end,” says Kelsi Morgan, an incoming Middlebury College freshman who spent last year interning for a judge in Tulsa, Okla., and teaching English at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. The hope is that after a year out of the classroom, students will enter college more energized, focused and mature. That can be an advantage for colleges too. Robert Clagett, dean of admissions at Middlebury, did some research a few years ago and found that a single gap semester was the strongest predictor of academic success at his school.
Most experts recommend securing a spot in college before taking a gap year and warn against using the time off to lengthen your resume. “Most admissions folks can see right through that,” says Jim Jump, the academic dean of St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Va. But for students like Lutz, who, after getting rejected from five Ivies, decided to take time off, a gap year can help focus interests. Lutz now plans to apply mostly to non-Ivies that have strong marketing programs. “This experience has really opened my eyes to the opportunities the world has to offer,” she says.
But at least one education expert doesn’t want schools spreading the gap-year message. In a study that followed 11,000 members of the high school class of 1992 for eight years after graduation, Stefanie DeLuca, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, found that, all things being equal, those who delayed college by a year were 64% less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than those who didn’t. DeLuca did not say whether these students voluntarily started college late, but at the very least, her work indicates that taking a gap year doesn’t guarantee success. “I’m not going to say that time off does not have benefits,” says DeLuca. “But I think we should not be so enthusiastic.”
The students take gap years mainly because ______.
| A．they want to be more unusual |
| B．they want to refresh themselves |
| C．some experts advise them to do so |
| D．their parents think it good for them |
According to Lutz, the gap year has made her more ______.
| A．energetic | B．relaxed |
| C．practical | D．enthusiastic |
Stefanie DeLuca probably agrees that ______.
| A．students should think twice before taking gap years |
| B．taking gap years enables students to achieve success |
| C．schools should encourage their students to take gap years |
| D．taking gap years increases students’ chances of getting a good job |
What’s the author’s attitude towards gap years?
| A．Sceptical. | B．Positive. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Objective. |
A bargain is something offered at a low and advantageous price. A more recent definition is: a bargain is a dirty trick to force money out of the pockets of silly and innocent people.
The cost of producing a new - for example - toothpaste would make 80p the proper price for it, so we will market it at £1.20. It is not a bad toothpaste, and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with; but the attraction of novelty soon fades, so sales will fall. When that happens we will reduce the price to £1.15. And we will turn it into a bargain by printing 5p OFF all over it.
Sometimes it is not 5p OFF but 1p OFF. What breathtaking rudeness to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or whatever! Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult(侮辱), but he doesn’t. A bargain must not be missed. People say one has to have washing powder (or whatever) and one might as well buy it a penny cheaper.
The real danger starts when unnecessary things become ‘bargains’. Many people just cannot resist bargains. Provided they think they are getting a bargain they will buy clothes they will never wear or furniture they have no space for. Once I heard of a man who bought an electric saw as a bargain and cut off two of his fingers the next day. But he had no regrets: the saw had been truly cheap.
Quite a few people actually believe that they make money on such bargains. A lady once told me: “I’ve had a lucky day today. I bought a dress for £120, reduced from £400; and I bought a beautiful Persian carpet for £600, reduced from £900.” It will never occur to her that she has actually wasted £720. She feels as though she had made £580. She also feels, I am sure, that if she had more time for shopping, she could make a living out of it.
Some people buy in large quantities because it is cheaper. Once a couple bought enough sugar for their lifetime and the lifetime of their children and grandchildren. They thought it a bargain not to be missed. When the sugar arrived they didn’t know where to store it – until they realized that their toilet was a very spacious one. So that was where they piled up their sugar. Not only did their guests feel rather strange whenever they were offered sugar to put into their coffee, but the toilet became extremely sticky.
To offer bargains is a commercial trick to make the poor poorer. When greedy fools fall for this trick, it serves them right.
Which word best describes the language style of the passage?
| A．Polite. | B．Foolish. |
| C．Humorous. | D．Serious. |
What does the underlined word “novelty” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．Good quality. | B．Low price. |
| C．Newness. | D．Curiosity. |
How does the author feel about 1p OFF a product?
| A．It’s a gift for poor people. |
| B．It’s an offense to shoppers. |
| C．It’s a bargain worth trying. |
| D．It’s a real reduction in price. |
Which statement will the author probably agree with?
| A．Bargains are things people don’t really need. |
| B．Bargains are often real cheap products. |
| C．Bargains help people make a living. |
| D．Bargains play tricks on people. |
Hunger is the greatest motive for the inexperienced cook. But many people are now worried that we are producing a generation without the slightest idea of how to cook—a generation that is frightened to cook. I have just received a handout from Focus on Food, which is running a competition to get children back into the kitchen. Has television cooking become a replacement for the real thing? Is this an age where famous professional cooks have turned cooking into a sort of show, with dishes far too difficult for the beginner to copy?
I decided to ask my oldest daughter, Miranda, for her opinion. Are children learning enough about the importance of good cooking? Do they know cooking is a basic life skill? Sociology and other “new” subjects are all very well, but without the ability to cook, or to understand the pleasure and principles of good food and its relationship to good health, are we really preparing them for adult life?
Miranda started her cooking at the age of nine, when she decided to enter the Sainsbury’s Future Cook competition. She was motivated by a different kind of greed: the first prize—a trip to Disney World.
The problem, from the parental point of view, was that if she made it through to the regional(区域性的) finals, she would have to cook her meal in front of the judges. Some 30,000 children entered and she made it through as the youngest regional finalist. Now she had to learn to cook. Her hands were not even big enough to hold the knife and slice the onions. Six Saturdays running we ate the same lunch—Mozzarella meatballs in fresh tomato juice and blueberry.
First, she cooked by my side, then alone with timings and instructions. Finally, she went alone against the clock. The kitchen looked like a battlefield, but she had gained victory. The tiny be-capped figure then stood in an unknown Bristol hotel, looking like a professional who had been at the stove for years. She didn’t win, but she came home with £50 and the most valuable part of them all: confidence.
The competition run by Focus on Food is intended for _________.
| A．children | B．parents |
| C．teachers | D．chefs |
Why does the writer think cooking is so important?
| A．It is an easy way to keep healthy. |
| B．It helps develop relationships. |
| C．It is a necessary skill for life. |
| D．It can save a lot of money. |
The writer’s family had the same lunch on six Saturdays because __________.
| A．the family stuck to healthy food |
| B．Miranda had to practise cooking |
| C．the dish was the family’s only food |
| D．the dish was Miranda’s favorite meal |
What did Miranda gain from the competition?
| A．A trip to Disney World. |
| B．Support from friends. |
| C．A medal for the winner. |
| D．Belief in herself. |
Your car is a necessary part of your life. You use it every day. Of course, you want to hold on to it so you make sure it has the latest alarm and immobilizer(汽车防盗器). But despite all these, cars like yours are still stolen every day. In fact, in this country, one car is stolen almost every minute! And if your car is stolen, you only have a 50:50 chance of seeing it again.
Each year, car crime costs nearly £3 billion. Of course, if you’re insured, you won’t lose out, or will you? Firstly, you will have to pay extra insurance later on, and then you may not be offered the full amount by the agent. You will probably have to hire a car and you will also lose the value of the contents and accessories(配件) in the car.
Now comes the solution. An RAC Trackstar system, hidden in one of 47 possible secret locations(位置) in your car, is the key of our system. If your car is stolen, radio signals are sent at twenty-second intervals from the car to the RAC Trackstar National Control Center via a satellite network. Then a computer gives the vehicle’s exact location, speed and direction.
The RAC Trackstar National Control Center, which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, will immediately inform the police in the area where the car is located. Because the police receive information every twenty seconds, they will always know the vehicle’s location. Once the thief has been arrested, your car will be returned to you.
RAC Trackstar is unique in being able to provide the National Control Center with details of the exact location of your car, its speed and direction. And speed is the key to successful recovery of a stolen vehicle. RAC Trackstar Control will immediately tell the police if you report your car stolen and under the 24-hour Guardian Option. It will also tell you if your car has been stolen. RAC Trackstar’s constant updates mean the police are kept informed of the car’s location. All these greatly improve your chances of seeing your car again.
If your car is stolen, you will have to _____.
| A．hire a new car |
| B．pay more insurance |
| C．buy a RAC Trackstar system |
| D．inform the National Control Center |
The Trackstar system can tell the police _____.
| A．where the car is |
| B．how the car is stolen |
| C．who the thief is |
| D．what brand the car is |
The underlined word “It” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
| A．the local police station |
| B．the Guardian Option |
| C．the insurance company |
| D．the RAC Trackstar Control |
According to the passage, people with RAC Trackstar ______.
| A．are more likely to get the stolen cars back |
| B．have less chance of being in an accident |
| C．seldom get their vehicles damaged |
| D．automatically find directions |
Do you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since researches have shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”. While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.
There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial(空间的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries—why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses(胎儿) are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier (障碍物) before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research. www..com
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?
| A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s |
| B．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter. |
| C．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain. |
| D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter. |
What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?
| A．Women prefer doing many things at a time. |
| B．Men do better dealing with one job at a time. |
| C．Women do not need to tell directions. |
| D．Men have weaker spatial abilities. |
Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?
| A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls. |
| B．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills. |
| C．Women may have stronger feelings than men. |
| D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills. |
What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?
| A．Defensive. | B．Persuasive. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Objective. |
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