A full-time job doesn"t have to destroy all hope of family dinners or afternoon playtime. Women can increase their chances of getting on the new mommy track through successful negotiation both at work and at home. After lawyer Lindsay Androski Kelly, 30, decided she would work only at a firm that allowed flexible hours, she specifically asked about family-friendlypolicies during job interviews. While Kelly"s approach worked for her, Michelle Goodman, warns against asking for flexibility too early, before proving oneself on the job. "You do need to pay your dues a little bit," she says. She recommends researching companies ahead of time to find out whether they"re known for family-friendly arrangements. Pat Katepoo, founder of WorkOptions.com, which offers guidance on achieving customized work arrangements, suggests first pitching a trial period. "Even if supervisors are nervous about a nontraditional arrangement, they will feel some sense of control if there"s a backdoor option for stopping it." Putting the proposal in writing with clear explanations of how the job will still get done also helps, Katepoo says. In her experience, if employees have worked for a manager for at least one to two years, are reliable performers, and have a trusting relationship with their manager, they have an 80 percent chance of at least getting a trial period. Regardless of the schedule, setting boundaries—such as having a policy against meetings after 5 p.m. —is key, says Mary Ann Mason, co-author of Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers. She also urges women not to wait too long before having children. For some fields, especially those that require extensive training such as academia or medicine, it"s easier to have small children earlier, rather than during what Mason calls the "make or break" years between ages 30 and 40. Women working in low-skilled jobs, on the other hand, usually find flexibility only by lucking into employers who accept it, says Leslie Morgan Steiner, editor of Mommy Wars. "Men and women at the lowest income levels don"t have any leverage," she says. Women across the economic spectrum benefit from support at home. Leslie Bennetts, author of The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much?, encourages women to find a way to continue working throughout motherhood: "Women must insist that their husbands share everything." Many women appear to be doing just that:A University of Maryland study found that the time men spent on housework almost doubled between the 1960s and 1990s, by which time they were doing one third of it.
单选题 "New mommy track" in the first paragraph is probably featured as _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。第二句讲到妈妈的这种新的生活轨道就是将工作和家庭生活协调妥当,故B项与之相符。
单选题 By saying "You do need to pay your dues a little bit" (Para. 2), Michelle means that women _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:语义理解题。第二句讲到人们找工作时应该先证明自己的工作能力,所以必须先付出一些努力,而不是一开始就要求弹性工作制,pay one"s due意为“为成功付出代价”,故C项正确。
单选题 According to Pat Katepoo, women are more likely to get a trial period when they _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。该段第四句提出如果雇员为上司工作了至少一到两年,且办事可靠,得到上司信赖,那么她们对弹性工作制的请求有80%的可能性得到准许,至少能获得一段试验期。故D项正确。
单选题 Which of the following is true according to the text?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。选项涵盖了文章中不同人物关于话题的不同意见。在第四段第二句中,Mary Ann Mason力劝妇女不要等到年纪很大才生孩子,A项是正确选项。
单选题 Leslie Bennetts" comments suggest that working women _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:推理判断题。第二句表明Leslie Bennetts认为女性在有孩子之后应该尽量想办法继续工作,而且必须坚持让她们的丈夫在任何事上都有所分担,D项与之相符,为答案。