Section B
Directions:In this section,youare going to read a passage with ten statments attached to it.each statementcontains information given in one of the paragraphs.identify the paragraph fromweich the information is derived.you may choose a parpgraph more than once.eachparagraph is marked with a letter.answer the questions by marking thecorresponding letter on answer sheet 2.
lessons from a Feminist Paradise
[A]On the surface,Sweden appearsto be a feminist paradise.Look at any global survey of gender equality andSweden will be near the top.Family-friendly policies are its norm-with 16months of paid parental leave,special protections for part-time workers,and state-subsidizedpreschools where,according to a government website,"gender-awarenesseducation is increasingly common."due to an unfficial quota system,womenhold 45 percent of positions in the swedish parliament.they have enjoyed theprotection of government agencies with titles like the Ministry of Integrationand Gender Equality and the Secretariat of Gender Research.So why are Americanwomen so far ahead of their Swedish counterparts in breaking through the glassceiling?
[B]in a 2012 report,the World EconomicForum found that when it comes to closing the gender gap in"econmicparticipation and opportunity,"the United States is ahead of not onlySweden but also Finland,Denmark,the Netherlands,Iceland,Germany,and the UnitedKingdom.Sweden's rank in the report can largely be explained by its politicalquota system.Though the United States has fewer women in the workorce(68percent compared to Sweden's 77 percent).American women who choose to beemployed are far more likely to work full-time and to hold high-level jobs asmanangers or professionals.They also own more businesses,lauch more start-ups(新创办的企业),and more often work in traditionally malefields.As for breaking through the glass ceiling in business,American women arewell in the lead.
[C]what explains the Americanadvantage?How can it be that societies like Sweden,where gender equality isvigorously pusued and engorced,have fewer femalemanagers,executives,professionals,and business owners than eh laissez-faire(自由放任的)united states?A new study by clrnelleconomists Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn gives an explanation.
[D]Generous parental leavepolicies and readily available part-time options have unintendedconsequences:instead of strengthening women's attachment to the workplace,theyappear to weaken it.In addition to a 16-month leave,a swedish parent has theright to work six hours a day (for a reduced salary)until his or her child iseight years old.Mothers are far more likely than fathers to take advantage ofthis law,But extended leaves and part-time employment are known to be harmfulto careers—for both genders. And with women a second factor comes intoplay:most seem to enjoy the flexible-time arrangement(once known as the “mommytrack”)and never find their way back tofull-time or high-level employment.In sum:generous family-friendly policies dokeep more women in the labor market,but they also tend to diminisb theircareers.
[E] According to Blau andKahn,Swedish-style paternal(父亲的)leavepolicies and flexibletime arrangements pose a second threat to woman’s progress:they make employers cautious about hiring woman forfull-time positions at all.Offering ajob to a man is the safer bet.He is farless likely to take a year of parental leave and then return on a reduced workschedule for the next eight years.
[F]I became aware of the triale ofcareer-focused European woman a few years ago when I met a post-doctoralstudent from Germany who was then a visiting fellow at Johns Hopkins. She wasastonished by the professional possibilities afforded to young American woman.Her best hope in Germany was agovermment job—prospects for woman in the private sector were dim.”In Germany “ she told me,”we have all the benefits,”but employers don’t’ wan to hire us.”
[G] Swedish economists MagnusHenrekson and Mikael Stenkula addressed the following question in their 2009study:why are there so few female top executives in the European egalitarian(平等主义的)welfare states?Their answer:”Broad-based welfare-state policies hinder women’s representation in elitecompetitive positions.”
[H] It is tempting to declare theSwedish policies regressive(退步的)and hail theAmerican system as superior.But that would be shortsighted.The Swedes cancertainly take a lesson from the United States and look for ways to clear apath for their ambitious female careerists. But most woman are not committsdcareerists.When the Pew Research Center recently asked American parents toidentify their”ideal”life arrangement,47 percent of mothers said they would prefer towork park-time and 20percent said they would prefer not to work at all.Fathersanswered differrntly:75 percent preferred full-time work.Some version of theSwedish system might work well for a majority of American parents,but theUnited States is unlikely to fully embrace the Swedish model. Still,we canlearn from their experience.
[I] Despite its failure to shatter the glass ceiling,Sweden has one ofthe most powerful and innovative economies in the world.In its2011-2012survey,the World Economic Forum ranked Sweden as the “rockstar of the recovery”in the Washington Post,also leads the world in life satisfactionand happiness. It is a society well worth studying,and its efforts to conquerthe gender gap impart a vital lesson—though not the lesson the Swedeshad in mind。
[J] Sweden has gone farther thanany other nation on earth to integrate the sexes and to offer women the sameopportunities and freedoms as men.For decades,these descendants of the Vikingshave been trying to show the world that the right mix of enlinghtenedpolicy.consciousness raising, and non-sexist child rearingwould close thegender divide once and for all.Yet the divide persists.
[K] A 2012 press release fromStatistics Sweden bears the title “Gender Equality in SwedenTreading(踩)Water” and notes:
1、The total income from employment for all ages is lower for womenthan for men.
2、One in three employed women and one in ten employed men work part-time.
3、Women's working time is influenced by the number and age oftheirchildren, but men′s working time is not affected bythese factors.
4、Of all employees，only 13 percent of thewomen and 12 percent of the men have occupations with an even distribution ofthe sexes.
[L] Confronted with such facts,some Swedish activists and legislators are demanding more ex-treme andfar-reaching measures, such as replacing male and female pronouns with aneutral alternative and monitoring children more closely to correct them whenthey gravitahta(被吸引) toward genderedplay. When it came to light last year that mothers, far more than fathers,chose to stay home from work to care for their sick kids. Ulf Kristersson.minister of social security, quickly commissioned a study to determine thecauscs of and possiiblce cures for this disturbing stale of affairs.
[M]Swcdish family policies, byaccommodating women's preferences efleetively, are reduting the number of womenin elite competitive positions. The Swedes will find this paradoxical and tryto find solutions. Let us hope these do not include banning gender pronouns,policing children′s play, implementing more gender quotas, or treating women′s special attachment to home and family as a social injustice.Most mothers do not aspire to (向往) elite,competitive full-time positions: the Swedish policies have given them thefreedom and opportunity to live the lives they prefer. Americans should lookpast the gender rhetoric and consider what these Scandina-vians have achieved.On their way to creating a feminist paradise, the Swedes have uninten-tionallycreated a haven (避风港) for normal mortals.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
46.Sweden has done more than othernations to close the gender gap. but it conimucs 10 exist.
47.Sweden is one of the mostcompetitive economics life satisfaction.
48. More American women hold elitejob positions in business than Swedish women.
49. Swedish family-friendlypolicies tend to exert a negative influence on women′s careers.
50.The quota system in Swedenensures women′s better representation ingovernment.
51.Though the Swedish modelappears workable for most American parents, it may not be accepted by them inits entirety.
52.Swedish women are allowed thefreedom and opportunity to choose their own way of life.
53.Swedish employers are hesitantabout hiring women for full-time positions because of the family-friendly policies.
54.Gender-awareness education isbecoming more and more popular in state-subsidized preschools in Sweden.
55.Some lawmakers in Swedenpropose that genderless pronouns be used in the Swedish language.