In Eritrea, a small country in northeast Africa, approximately 80 percent of the population is illiterate. That percentage is even higher in woman. As in many developing countries, many Eritreans have traditional ideas about the role of women. They believe that women should stay home and take care of the family and should not get an education or look for a job.
These beliefs are one of the factors that prevent Eritrea and other developing countries from improving their economic situation. Experience in many developing counters has shown that educated women have fewer children and have more opportunities for improving their lives and the lives of their families. In Eritrea, in fact, there is great need for improvement. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. For many Eritrean families, getting enough food is a daily problem.
To deal with these problems, the Eritrean government together with the World Food Program, has a new program that offers food as a reward for learning. In primary schools, all the children receive food packages to take home to their families. However, with the new program, the girls receive more food than the boys. This way, parents are encouraged to send their daughter to school rather than keeping them at home.
Another government program that aims to educate women is Food for Training. Managed by the National Union of Eritrean Women, this program offer food rewards (also from World Food Organization) to women and elder girls who are willing to join the program. Because of the war with Ethiopia, many women are bringing up their families on their own. They often live in refugee camps, with no land of their own and no way to earn money. Most of these women are illiterate and have no skills to find a job. They spend most of their day looking for food and preparing it for their families.
The Food for Training program helps the teenagers and women change their lives. If they agree to join the program, they receive a large package of food each month. In return, the women are required to attend free literate classes for two hours every day. When Food for Training classes in two regions of Eritrea, 5,000 girls and women joined in the first two months. It is especially popular with teenage girls, aged fourteen to sixteen, who have never had a chance to go to school before.
The organizers of Food for Traing also plans to offer other kinds of courses for women, using the same system of food rewards. In these courses, they will teach women job skills and crafts such as basket weaving. These women will not only learn to read and write. They will become aware of what is going on in their country.
单选题
According to the passage, traditional ideas about women ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第一段最后一句话“They believe that women should stay home and take care of the family and should not get an education or look for a job.”可知,他们认为妇女应该待在家中照顾家庭,不应该接受教育或寻找工作,据此可知,这种观念对经济发展的影响微乎其微。
单选题
The Eritrean government is offering extra food to girls in school in order to ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第三段最后两句内容“...the girls receive more food than the boys. This way, parents are encouraged to send their daughter to school rather than keeping them at home...”可知,多给女孩食物的方式使得父母愿意把女孩送到学校里,而不是让她们在家,据此可知,目的是为了改变对妇女的传统观念。
单选题
With the Food for Learning program, women get a large package of food as long as ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第五段第三句话“In return, the women are required to attend free literate classes.”可知,作为回报,要求妇女参加免费的识字课。
单选题
The new literacy programs are an example of ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第三段第一句话“To deal with these problems, the Eritrean government together with the World Food Program, has a new program that offers food as a reward for learning.”可知,为了解决这些问题,当地政府和世界粮食计划组织一起合作一个新项目,即食物换学习。
单选题
According to the passage, Food for Training will ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第五段第一句话“The Food for Training program helps the teenagers and women change their lives.”可知,食物换学习项目可帮助年轻人和妇女改善生活条件。