Although the women’s movement and political controversies about such issues and the Equal Rights Amendment and sexual harassment ( 骚扰) suggest that changing sex roles is a recent issue, this is far from the case. Broad trends can be identified over the past hundred years. Women have increased their participation in the labor force from 18% in 1900 to over 50% today, and they give birth to fewer children than women did in the past. In 1910 the birth rate was 30 per 1,000 population; by the 1900s it had declined to 16 per 1,000. These two trends – increasing participation in the labor force and decreasing family size – suggest that major long-term changes have restructured the role expectations of men and women. These changes are complex. The fact that more women are joining the labor force as full-time workers does not mean that a single sex role pattern is emerging.

On the contrary, we are living in a period of diverse family patterns. According to Kathleen Gerson, “the domestic woman who builds her life around children and homemaking persists, but she now coexists with a growing number of working mothers and permanently childless women.”

Women today face hard choices as they make decisions about work, career, and motherhood. Despite women’s liberation, women still earn less than men in the work place and are still expected to do most of the work in the home. Women work substantially more hours each week in the home and at the workplace than men do. Women are working harder than ever, yet many do not enjoy the benefits of full equality.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2 上作答。

52. The traditional roles for men and women ___.

A) are diverse

B) are conflicting

C) have been changing

D) are no longer followed

53. Changing sex roles is not a recent issue because ___.

A) women have increased their participation in the labor force over the past hundred years

B) more and more women are becoming working mothers or childless women

C) the conventional image of women has changed beyond recognition

D) people have changed their expectations of women in modern society

54. The fact that more women are joining the labor force as full time workers mean that ___.

A) women are becoming more independent

B) the family patterns are becoming diverse

C) a single-role pattern is emerging

D) women are eager to work

55. It’s stated in the last paragraph that ___.

A) women today still suffer from inequality in work and life

B) women’s liberation has promoted their social status

C) the society expects more from women than from men

D) women are more capable and diligent than men

56. According to this passage, the statement which is NOT true is ___.

A) many people still follow the conventional norms of life style

B) women today give birth to fewer children than women in the past

C) more and more women choose to work rather than to be housewives

D) men do as much domestic work as women do at home