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, of whom four or five lived tiU 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 custom, opportunity and 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 old and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty.Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances and convenience foods.

　　This important change in woman 's life-pattern has only recendy begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position.Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full time job.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 tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born.Very many more afterwards retum 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, aid 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.

　　第21题 According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to_____ .

　　A.stay at home after leaving school B.marry men younger than themselves

　　C.start work until retirement at 60 D.marry while still at school

　　答案: C

　　第22题 We are told that in an average family about 1900_____ .

　　A.many children died before they were five years old

　　B.seven or eight children lived to be more than five years old

　　C.the youngest child would be fifteen years old

　　D.four or five children died when they were five years old

　　答案: D

　　第23题 Many g!rls, the passage claims, are now likely to_____ .

　　A.give up their jobs for good after they are married

　　B.leave school as soon as they can

　　C.marry so that they can get a job

　　D.continue working until they are going to have a baby

　　答案: D

　　第24题 One reason why the woman of today takes a job is that she_____ .

　　A.is younger when her children are old enough to look after themselves

　　B.does not like children herself

　　C.need not worry about food for her children

　　D.can retire from family responsibilities

　　答案: A

　　第25题 Nowadays, a husband tends to_____ .

　　A.play a greater part in looking after the children

　　B.help his wife by doing most of the housework

　　C.feel dissatisfied with role in the family

　　D.take a part.time job so that he can help in the home

　　答案: A

　　Last December 's earthquakes in the Iranian city of Bam took a huge death toll—roughly 40, 000 people——largely because of the collapse of thousands of mud—brick buildings.If a group of researchers in India are successful, the next earthquake might not be as destructive.British and Indian engineers are developing earthquake—proof housing using a cheap, universal material: bamboo.

　　Thev designed a model house built around waterproof bamboo-sheet roofing and bamboo-reinforced concrete walls.To test the structure, the engineers, sponsored by the U.K.Depart-ment of qnternational Development, took it to the Earthquake Engineering and Vibration Re-search Centre in Bangalore, which has a state.of-the-art earthquake simulator(模拟装置). The researchers shook the house with five successive 30-second pulses, being equal to 7.8 on the Richter(里氏)scale.The simulation was more than 10 times as violent as the Bam earth-quake.yet the house emerged undamaged."We didn 't even crack the paint, ”says engineer Paul Follett.of Britain’s Timber Research and Development Association.

　　By some estimates, more than a binion people already live in bamboo structures.The innovation lies in developing ways to exploit bamboo 'S spring.Easily pre-built, fire resistant, and far lighter than steel, bamboo.based structures could be assembled in three weeks and last 50 vears.At five dollars a square foot, they would last roughly half as much as brick-and-block constructions.Follett says the project will follow an"open source”model: "Whatever is developed is freely available for the common good.”

　　第26题 Thousands of people died in the Bam earthquake mainly because_____ .

　　A.the earthquake occurred in the cold December

　　B.many mud.brick houses collapsed

　　C.the earthquake reached 7.8 0n the Richter scale

　　D.bamboo houses hadn 't been built yet

　　答案: B

　　第27题 The phrase"a universal material”(Line 5, Paragraph l)refers to a material that can be found_____ .

　　A.everywhere in Indial B.in the universe

　　C.in a university D.in a unique place

　　答案: A

　　第28题 What was the result of the test?

　　A.The shake lasted 1 50 seconds.

　　B.The simulation was over 10 times as violent.

　　C.The paint was cracked.

　　D.The model remained undamaged.

　　答案: D

　　第29题 The researchers have been working hard to

　　A.reduce the damage by earthquakes

　　B.explore the functions of bamboo

　　C.build bamboo houses for a billion people

　　D.design bamboo house models

　　答案: D

　　第30题 Which of the following are the advantages of bamboos in building houses?

　　Ⅰ、Cheap to get. Ⅱ Light to carry. Ⅲ Easy to build.

　　A.Ⅰand Ⅱ B.Ⅱand Ⅲ C.Ⅰ, Ⅱand Ⅲ D.Ⅰand Ⅲ

　　答案: D