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The endless debate about "work-life balance" often contains a hopeful footnote about stay at home dads.If American society and business won't make it easier on future female leaders who choose to have children，there is still the ray of hope that increasing numbers of full-time fathers will.But based on today's socioeconomic trends，this hope is，unfortunately，misguided.
It's true that the number of men who have left work to do their thing as full-time parents has doubled in a decade，but it's still very small：only 0.8％ of married couples where the stay-at-home father was out of the labor force for a year.Even that percentage is likely inflated by men thrust into their caretaker role by a downsizing.This is simply not a large enough group to reduce the social stigma(污名)and force other adjustments necessary to supporting men in this decision, even if only for a relatively short time.
Even shorter times away from work for working fathers are already difficult.A study found that 85％ of new fathers take some time off after the birth of a child—but for all but a few, it's a week or two at most.Meanwhile，the average for women who take leave is more than 10 weeks.
Such choices impact who moves up in the organization.While you're away，someone else is doing your work，making your sales，taking care of your customers.That can't help you at work.It can only hurt you.Women，of course，face the same issues of returning after a long absence.But with many more women than men choosing to leave the workforce entirely to raise families，returning from an extended parental leave doesn't raise as many eyebrows as it does for men.
Women would make more if they didn't break their earning trajectory(轨迹)by leaving the workforce，or if higher-paying professions were more family-friendly.In the foreseeable future，stay-at-home fathers may make all the difference for individual families, but their presence won't reduce the numbers of high potential women who are forced to choose between family and career.
1
What gives women a ray of hope to achieve work-life balance?
A.
More men taking an extended parental leave.
B.
People's changing attitudes towards family.
C.
More women entering business management.
D.
The improvement of their socioeconomic status.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
推理判断题。由文章第一段第一、二句可知，全职父亲的增多给女性职工在工作和家庭之间进行选择的两难境地带来了一丝希望。根据常识可知,在传统的观念里，女性吏多地承担家庭责任，选项B“人们对于家庭的态度的转变",也就是文中所述的越来越多的男性回归家庭,故答案为B。
2
Why does the author say the hope for more full—time fathers is misguided?
A.
Women are better at taking care of children.
B.
Many men value work more than their family.
C.
Their number is too small to make a difference.
D.
Not many men have the chance to stay at home.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
C
系统解析：
推理判断题。文章笫一段最后一句提到了misguided一词，接着第二段第一句提到,近十年里放弃工作成为全职父亲的人数翻倍的确是事实，但是这个数字仍然很小，该句是解释这种希塑是被误导的原因。选项C“这个数字太小以至于产生不了什么影响”，是原文的同义转述，故答案为C。
3
Why do few men take a long parental leave?
A.
A long leave will have a negative impact on their career.
B.
They just have too many responsibilities to fulfill at work.
C.
The economic loss will be too much for their family to bear.
D.
They are likely to get fired if absent from work for too long.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
推理判断题。文章笫四段前四句指出，这样的选择（即长期休假）会影响到那些在组织中希望晋升的人。当你离开的时候，其他人会承担你的工作,替你完成销售，照顾你的客户。这些并不能有助于你的工作。这只能伤害你。由此可知,答案为A。
4
What is the most likely reaction to men returning from an extended parental leave?
A.
Jealousy.
B.
Surprise.
C.
Admiration.
D.
Sympathy.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
推理判断题。文章第四段最后一句中raise eyebrows表示“惊讶”，suiprise是该词组的同义转述，故答案为B。
5
What does the author say about high-potential women in the not-too-distant future?
A.
They will benefit from the trend of more fathers staying at home.
B.
They will find high-paying professions a bit more family-friendly.
C.
They are unlikely to break their career trajectory to raise a family.
D.
They will still face the difficult choice between career and children.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
推理判断题。文章最后一段最后一句提到，在可以预见的未来，全职父亲可能会给个体家庭带来改变,但是他们的存在并不能减少那些在工作和家庭之间被迫做选择的很有潜力的女性的数量。选项D“女性仍然会面临家庭和事业的两难选择”是对文章意思的合理推断，故答案为D。
Some of the world's most significant problems never hit headlines.One example comes from agriculture.Food riots and hunger make news.But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about.This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world's major crops.A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where，and how far, this decline is occurring.
The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops：rice，wheat，corn and soyabeans(大豆).They find that on between 24％ and 39％ of all harvested areas，the improvement in yields that took place before the l980s slowed down in the l990s and 2000s.
There are two worrying features of the slowdown.One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world's most populous(人口多的)countries，India and China.Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets.That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse.
Second，yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soyabeans.This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods，accounting for around half of all calories consumed.Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains.The authors note that "we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world."
The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050，as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued.
Instead，it says，thanks to slowing population growth，land currently ploughed up for crops might be able to revert(回返)to forest or wilderness.This could happen.The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields which may not actually happen.
6
What does the author try to draw attention to?
A.
Food riots and hunger in the world.
B.
News headlines in the leading media.
C.
The decline of the grain yield growth.
D.
The food supply in populous countries.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
C
系统解析：
推理判断题。由第一段第三、四句可知，食物短缺引发的暴乱和饥饿通常是大新闻。但是很少有人谈论这些事情背后的发展趋势。第五句中的this指的就是第四句中的the trend lying behind these matters,所以作者想让大家关注的是 the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world's major crops，故答案为C“粮食产量增速下降”。
7
Why does the author mention India and China in particular?
A.
Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets.
B.
Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years.
C.
Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns.
D.
Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
推理判断题。由第三段第二句可知,研究发现印度和中国粮食产量增速下降尤其剧烈。第三句进一步解释这一点为什么令人担心,原因在于这两个国家人口众多,它们养活自己的能力是保证两国内和世界粮食市场相对稳定的重要来源,故答案为A “他们的自给自足对世界粮食市场的稳定性至关重要”。
8
What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts?
A.
They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the l980s.
B.
They contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production.
C.
They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world.
D.
They focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
推理判断题。由第四段第四句可知,研究者们认为人们偏向专注于提高喂养动物和为汽车提供能源的农作物的产量,而不是能养活人类的农作物的产量，故答案为D“他们更加关注动物饲料而不是人类粮食产量的增加”。
9
What does the Food and Agriculture Organisation say about world food production in the coming decades?
A.
The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies.
B.
The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution.
C.
The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be reversed.
D.
The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
推理判断题。第五段中which suggests后面即是联合国粮食农业组织的观点，它认为人们不需要再开垦更多的土地来耕种以养活到2050年的90亿人口，故答案为D“不增加农田世界也能养活所有人口”。
10
How does the author view the argument of the Food and Agriculture Organisation?
A.
It is built on the findings of a new study.
B.
It is based on a doubtful assumption.
C.
It is backed by strong evidence.
D.
It is open to further discussion.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
观点态度题。原文第五段提到了联合国粮食农业组织的乐观预测，最后一段第一、二句首先说明这一预测是有可能发生的,而笫三句才是作者真正的观点，即该预测的问题在于假设产量会持续增加,但是这未必会发生。故答案为B“它是基于不可靠的假设”。
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