Passage two Educating girls quite possibly yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world .women’s education may be unusual territory for economists ,but enhancing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue .and economics ,with its emphasis on incentives ,provides guideposts that point to an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of an education Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expert themto make an economic contribution to he family :girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children .Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school-the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling ,trapping women in a vicious circle of neglect. An educated mother ,on the other hand ,has greater earning abilities outside the home and facesan entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insiston the development of all her children ,ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance .Theeducation of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls ,as well as of boys ,will be education and healthy . The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle. Few will dispute that education women has great social benefits.But it has enormous economicadvantages as well .Most obviously ,there is the direct effect of education on the wages of femaleworkers.Wages rise by 10 to 20 percent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns areimpressive by the standard of other available investments ,but they are just thebeginning .Education women also has a significant impact on health practices,including family planning.

By saying“…the prophecy becomes self –fulfilling…”(Lines45，para.2).the author means that （）

A:girls will turn out to be less valuable than boys B:girls will be capable of realizing their own dreams C:girls will eventually find their goals in life beyond reach D:girls will be increasingly discontented with their life at home

Passage Two
Educating girls quite possibly yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Women’s education may be unusual territory for economists, but enhancing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics, with its emphasis on incentives, provides guideposts that point to an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of an education. Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school- the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a vicious circle of neglect. An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle. Few will dispute that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by lo t0 20 percent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant impact on health practices, including family planning.

By saying "... the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling..." (Lines 4-5, Para. 2). the author means that （）.

A:girls will turn out to be less valuable than boys B:girls will be capable of realizing their own dreams C:girls will eventually find their goals in life beyond reach D:girls will be increasingly discontented with their life at home

Passage two Educating girls quite possibly yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world .women’s education may be unusual territory for economists ,but enhancing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue .and economics ,with its emphasis on incentives ,provides guideposts that point to an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of an education Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expert them to make an economic contribution to he family :girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children .Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school-the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling ,trapping women in a vicious circle of neglect. An educated mother ,on the other hand ,has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children ,ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance .The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls ,as well as of boys ,will be education and healthy . The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle. Few will dispute that education women has great social benefits.But it has enormous economic advantages as well .Most obviously ,there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers.Wages rise by 10 to 20 percent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments ,but they are just the beginning .Education women also has a significant impact on health practices,including family planning. By saying“…the prophecy becomes self –fulfilling…” （Lines45，para.2）.the author means that ( )

A:girls will turn out to be less valuable than boys B:girls will be capable of realizing their own dreams C:girls will eventually find their goals in life beyond reach D:girls will be increasingly discontented with their life at home

According to studies cited by the National Eating Disorders Association, 42 percent of girls in first through third grade want to be thinner, 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat, and 51 percent of 9-and 10-year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet.
In many ,ways, this fixation on weight at ever earlier ages comes at an inopportune time physiologically. At a recent Hadassah meeting at the Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains, Dr. Maxcie Schneider, the director of adolescent medicine at Greenwich Hospital, and Erica Leon, a registered dietitian, spoke about early adolescence as a time when a little bit of pudginess is necessary for proper growth, and youngsters wrestle constantly with their body image.
"I can’t tell you how many kids I’ve seen who’ve been on the Atkins diet, or on the South Beach diet," Ms. Leon said, adding that overweight children who try diets can be at risk of developing eating disorders.
After the presentation, three mothers from Hartsdale who wanted to help their children avoid such issues spoke about how their young daughters are already beginning to become weight-conscious.
Anorexia is a mental illness in which the victim eats barely enough to survive, because her distorted thinking makes her think she is fat. Bulimia, a mental illness in which someone binges on large amounts of food, then purges it through vomiting or the abuse of laxatives, is on the rise, and is surfacing in younger and younger patients, mostly girls, said Judy Scheel, the director of the Center for Eating Disorder Recovery in Mount Kisco.
About 90 percent of victims of eating disorders are female, and often the male victims are on teams like wrestling and crew, where they must keep their weight low for competitive reasons. Dr. Scheel believes that where girls claim the eating disorder enables them to be thin, boys typically state their goal is to achieve or maintain a muscular but thin physique. The average onset for bulimia used to be 17, but to see teenagers age 14 and 15 with bulimia is common these days, Dr. Scheel said.
Other people believe the disorders have genetic or chemical components, and many people with eating disorders respond well to anti-depressants, for example.
"A certain amount of education is necessary to help young people avoid becoming obsessed with their body image. Teachers need to stay outside of talking about diets," Dr. Scheel said. "It’s like a parent, always talking about their next diet. You have to help a child understand that if you cat healthily and exercise, your body is going to take care of itself."
And in relatively homogenous populations, like in some Westchester schools, competition runs high. "So the young people don’t really see how beautiful diversity is," she said, "and they tend to all be competing for kind of the same goals./
The studies cited by the National Eating Disorders Association is based on______.

A:primary school girls B:secondary school girls C:girls in college and universities D:American females in general

Text 4

The studies cited by the National Eating Disorders Association is based on______.

A:primary school girls B:secondary school girls C:girls in college and universities D:American females in general

According to studies cited by the National Eating Disorders Association, 42 percent of girls in first through third grade want to be thinner, 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat, and 51 percent of 9-and 10-year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet.
In many ,ways, this fixation on weight at ever earlier ages comes at an inopportune time physiologically. At a recent Hadassah meeting at the Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains, Dr. Maxcie Schneider, the director of adolescent medicine at Greenwich Hospital, and Erica Leon, a registered dietitian, spoke about early adolescence as a time when a little bit of pudginess is necessary for proper growth, and youngsters wrestle constantly with their body image.
"I can’t tell you how many kids I’ve seen who’ve been on the Atkins diet, or on the South Beach diet," Ms. Leon said, adding that overweight children who try diets can be at risk of developing eating disorders.
 

After the presentation, three mothers from Hartsdale who wanted to help their children avoid such issues spoke about how their young daughters are already beginning to become weight-conscious.Anorexia is a mental illness in which the victim eats barely enough to survive, because her distorted thinking makes her think she is fat. Bulimia, a mental illness in which someone binges on large amounts of food, then purges it through vomiting or the abuse of laxatives, is on the rise, and is surfacing in younger and younger patients, mostly girls, said Judy Scheel, the director of the Center for Eating Disorder Recovery in Mount Kisco.About 90 percent of victims of eating disorders are female, and often the male victims are on teams like wrestling and crew, where they must keep their weight low for competitive reasons. Dr. Scheel believes that where girls claim the eating disorder enables them to be thin, boys typically state their goal is to achieve or maintain a muscular but thin physique. The average onset for bulimia used to be 17, but to see teenagers age 14 and 15 with bulimia is common these days, Dr. Scheel said.
Other people believe the disorders have genetic or chemical components, and many people with eating disorders respond well to anti-depressants, for example.
"A certain amount of education is necessary to help young people avoid becoming obsessed with their body image. Teachers need to stay outside of talking about diets," Dr. Scheel said. "It’s like a parent, always talking about their next diet. You have to help a child understand that if you cat healthily and exercise, your body is going to take care of itself."And in relatively homogenous populations, like in some Westchester schools, competition runs high. "So the young people don’t really see how beautiful diversity is," she said, "and they tend to all be competing for kind of the same goals.

The studies cited by the National Eating Disorders Association is based on（）

A:primary school girls B:secondary school girls C:girls in college and universities D:American females in general

Text2 　　Pretty in pink: adult women do not rememer being so obsessed with the colour, yet it is pervasive in our young girls’ lives. Tt is not that pink is intrinsically bad, but it is such a tiny slice of the rainbow and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girls’ identity to appearance. Then it presents that connection, even among two-year-olds, between girls as not only innocent but as evidence of innocence. Looking around, I despaired at the singular lack of imagination about girls’ lives and interests. 　　Girls’ attraction to pink may seem unavoidable, somehow encoded in their DNA, but according to Jo Paoletti, an associate professor of American Studies, it is not. Children were not colour-coded at all until the early 20th century: in the era before domestic washing machines all babies wore white as a practical matter, since the only way of getting clothes clean was to boil them. What’s more, both boys and girls wore what were thought of as gender-neutral dresses.When nursery colours were introduced, pink was actually considered the more masculine colour, a pastel version of red, which was associated with strength. Blue, with its intimations of the Virgin Mary, constancy and faithfulness, symbolised femininity. It was not until the mid-1980s, when amplifying age and sex differences became a dominant children’s marketing strategy, that pink fully came into its own, when it began to seem inherently attractive to girls, part of what defined them as female, at least for the first few critical years. 　　I had not realised how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kins, including our core beliefs about their psychological development. Take the toddler. I assumed that phase was something experts developed after years of research into children’s behaviour: wrong. Turns out, acdording to Daniel Cook, a historian of childhood consumerism, it was popularised as a marketing trick by clothing manufacrurers in the 1930s. 　　Trade publications counselled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they should create a “third stepping stone” between infant wear and older kids’ clothes. Tt was only after “toddler”became a common shoppers’ term that it evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage. Splitting kids, or adults,into ever-tinier categories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits. And one of the easiest ways to segment a market is to magnify gender differences – or invent them where they did not previously exist. By saying "it is...the rainbow"(Line 3, Para.1),the author means pink______.

A:should not be the sole representation of girlhood B:should not be associated with girls’ innocence C:cannot explain girls’ lack of imagination D:cannot influence girls’ lives and interests

When she was twelve, Maria made her first important decision about the course of her life. She decided that she wanted to continue her education, Most girls from middle-class families chose to stay home after primary school,though some attended private Catholic "finishing" schools. There they learned a little about music,art,needlework,and how to make polite conversation. This was not the sort of education that interested Maria—or her mother. By this time,she had begun to take her studies more seriously. She read constantly and brought her books everywhere. One time she even brought her math book to the theater and tried to study in the dark.
Maria knew that she wanted to go on learning in a serious way. That meant attending the public high school,something that very few girls did. In Italy at the time,there were two types of high schools: the "classical" schools and the "technical" schools. In the classical schools,the students followed a very traditional program of studies,with courses in Latin and Greek language and literature,and Italian literature and history1. The few girls who continued studying after primary school usually chose these schools.
Maria,however,wanted to attend a technical school. The technical schools were more modem than the classical schools and they offered courses in modern languages,mathematics,science,and accounting2.Most people—including Maria’s father—believed that girls would never be able to understand these subjects. Furthermore,they did not think it was proper for girls to study them.
Maria did not care if it was proper or not. Math and science were the subjects that interested her most. But before she could sign up for the technical school,she had to win her father’ sapproval. She finally did,with her mother’s help,though for many years after,there was tension in the family. Maria’s father continued to oppose her plans,while her mother helped her.
In 1883,at age thirteen,Maria entered the "Regia Scuola Tecnica Michelangelo Buonarroti" in Rome. Her experience at this school is difficult for us to imagine. Though the courses included modern subjects,the teaching methods were very traditional. Learning consisted of memorizing long lists of facts and repeating them back to the teacher. Students were not supposed to ask questions or think for themselves in any way. Teachers were very demanding,discipline in the classroom was strict,and punishment was severe for those who failed to achieve or were disobedient.

We can infer from this passage that （　）.

A:girls usually attended private primary schools B:only girls attended classical schools C:girls did not like going to school D:Maria was a girl of strong will

When she was twelve, Maria made her first important decision about the course of her life. She decided that she wanted to continue her education, Most girls from middle-class families chose to stay home after primary school,though some attended private Catholic "finishing" schools. There they learned a little about music,art,needlework,and how to make polite conversation. This was not the sort of education that interested Maria—or her mother. By this time,she had begun to take her studies more seriously. She read constantly and brought her books everywhere. One time she even brought her math book to the theater and tried to study in the dark.
Maria knew that she wanted to go on learning in a serious way. That meant attending the public high school,something that very few girls did. In Italy at the time,there were two types of high schools: the "classical" schools and the "technical" schools. In the classical schools,the students followed a very traditional program of studies,with courses in Latin and Greek language and literature,and Italian literature and history1. The few girls who continued studying after primary school usually chose these schools.
Maria,however,wanted to attend a technical school. The technical schools were more modem than the classical schools and they offered courses in modern languages,mathematics,science,and accounting2.Most people—including Maria’s father—believed that girls would never be able to understand these subjects. Furthermore,they did not think it was proper for girls to study them.
Maria did not care if it was proper or not. Math and science were the subjects that interested her most. But before she could sign up for the technical school,she had to win her father’ sapproval. She finally did,with her mother’s help,though for many years after,there was tension in the family. Maria’s father continued to oppose her plans,while her mother helped her.
In 1883,at age thirteen,Maria entered the "Regia Scuola Tecnica Michelangelo Buonarroti" in Rome. Her experience at this school is difficult for us to imagine. Though the courses included modern subjects,the teaching methods were very traditional. Learning consisted of memorizing long lists of facts and repeating them back to the teacher. Students were not supposed to ask questions or think for themselves in any way. Teachers were very demanding,discipline in the classroom was strict,and punishment was severe for those who failed to achieve or were disobedient.

We can infer from this passage that （）.

A:girls usually attended private primary schools B:only girls attended classical schools C:girls did not like going to school D:Maria was a girl of strong will