单选题   All societies have distinct role expectations for men and for women. In the United States, these expectations have been undergoing change for many decades. Today Americans live in a world of diverse family patterns and conflicting images of ideal life styles for men and women. The conventional norms of the first half century defined a successful woman as a wife and mother who stayed home to carry out a full array of household duties. The husband and father was expected to stay away from the home most of the day, earning enough money to pay the bills. Many adults still live by these expectations, but the traditional pattern is no longer held up as an ideal to be followed by everyone. Times have changed; there is no return to yesterday.
    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, hut 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.
单选题     The traditional roles for men and women ______.
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】定位：根据题干中的信息词traditional，可以把答题线索定位到文章第一段的倒数第二句。 第一段的倒数第二句提到：“现在仍然有很多成年人按照这种角色期待生活，但是这种传统模式已经不为所有人奉为典范了。”从中可知男女角色期待已经发生了变化，所以本题选C；而且，如果浏览过全文的话，会发现文章通篇都在讲两性角色发生的“变化”。选项A提到的“多样化”不是传统男女角色的特点，而是如今家庭模式的特点，所以错误。原文中虽然提到了“相互冲突”，但说的是“男性和女性对理想生活方式的概念相互冲突”，和传统男女角色无关，故排除B。选项D“不再被遵从”与第一段倒数第二句前半句的表述相违背，故错误。
单选题     Changing sex roles is not a recent issue because ______.
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】定位：根据题干中的信息词a recent issue，可以把答题线索定位到文章第二段第一句。 文章第二段的第一句否定了两性角色发生改变是最近的事，后面解释了原因。要说明这一改变不是“最近的事”，就需要指出这一事件在很早之前就已经出现了。从四个选项来看，只有选项A“女性在过去一百年里所占劳动力的比重增加”符合题意，这与文章第二段的表述也是一致的，所以本题选A。选项B、C、D的说法尽管正确，但在逻辑上都不能论证“两性角色发生改变不是最近的事”，故均可排除。
单选题     The fact that more women are joining the labor force as full time workers means that ______.
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】定位：根据题干信息词more women、joining the labor force、full time workers，可以把答题线索直接定位到第二段的倒数第三句。 第二段的倒数第三句提到：“有更多女性加入劳动者大军成为全职工人这一事实，并不意味单一性别角色模式的出现。”所以可直接排除选项C。选项A文中未提及。选项B“家庭模式变得多样化”与第二段倒数第二句“我们生活在一个家庭模式多样化的时代”说法一致，所以本题选B。选项D说“女性渴望去工作”，但文中并没有提到女性的主观意愿，所以该选项也可排除。
单选题     It's stated in the last paragraph that ______.
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】定位：根据题干信息可直接定位到最后一段。 文章最后一段的主旨是女性仍未享受完全平等，因为“女性在职场的工资仍然低于男性，而且人们依然认为她们应该承担大多数家务劳动”，这与选项A“现代女性在工作和生活中仍然遭受着不平等的待遇”是一致的，所以本题选A。选项B、C、D文中并未提及，故排除。
单选题     According to this passage, the statement which is NOT true is ______.
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】定位：题干中没有明确的信息词，只能逐一查看选项。 要注意本题要选出的是“不正确的一项”。选项A说“很多人仍然信守传统生活方式的观念”，这一点可以在第一段倒数第二句得到印证，所以该项正确。选项B“今天的女性与以前的女性相比，生育的孩子更少”可以在第二段的第三句得到印证，所以B正确。选项C“越来越多的女性选择工作而不是做家庭主妇”可以在第二段最后一句话中得到印证，故C正确。选项D“男性与女性在家中承担一样多的家务”与最后一段的表述是相违背的，所以本题选D。