PART Ⅲ CLOZE
At least since the Industrial Revolution, gender roles have
been in a state of transition. As a result, cultural scripts about marriage have
undergone change. One of the more obvious changes has occurred in the roles that
women 1 . Women have moved into the
world of work and have become adept at meeting expectations in that arena, while
maintaining their family roles of nurturing and creating a (n)
2 that is a haven for all family members.
3 many women experience strain from
trying to "do it all," they often enjoy the increased rewards that can result
from playing multiple roles. As women's roles have changed, changing
expectations about men's roles have become more 4
Many men are relinquishing their major responsibility
5 the family provider. Probably the most
significant change in men's roles, however, is in the emotional
6 of family life. Men are increasingly expected
to meet the emotional needs of their families, especially their wives.
In fact, expectations about the emotional domain of marriage have become
more significant for marriage in general. Research on
7 marriage has changed over recent decades points to the
increasing importance of the emotional side of the relationships and the
importance of sharing in the "emotion work" 8
to nourish marriages and other family relationships. Men and
women want to experience marriages that are interdependent,
9 both partners nurture each other, attend and respond to
each other, and encourage and promote each other. We are thus seeing marriages
in which men's and women's roles are becoming increasingly more
10
PART Ⅳ READING COMPREHENSION
Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected,
means of handling the difficult situations in our lives. It can be used for
patching up differences, apologizing, saying "no", criticizing, getting the
other fellow to do what you want without losing his face. For some jobs, it is
the only tool that can succeed. It is a way to discuss subjects so sensitive
that serious dialogue may start a riot. For example, many believe that comedians
on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance than are
people in any other forum.
Humor is often the best way to keep
a small misunderstanding from escalating into a big deal. Recently a neighbor of
mine had a squabble with his wife as she drove him to the airport. Airborne, he
felt miserable, and he knew she did, too. Two hours after she returned home, she
received a long-distance phone call. "Person-to-person for Mrs. I.A. Pologize,"
intoned the operator. "That's spelled 'P' as in...". In a twinkling, the whole
day changed from grim to lovely at both ends of the wire.
An
English hostess with a quick wit was giving a formal dinner for eight
distinguished guests whom she hoped to enlist in a major charity drive.
Austerity was a fashion in England at the time, and she had asked her children
to serve the meal. She knew that anything could happen—and it did, just as her
son, with the studied concentration of a tightrope walker, brought in a large
roast turkey: he successfully elbowed the swinging dining-room door, but the
back swing bespattered the bird onto the dining-room floor.
The
boy stood rooted, guests stared at their plates. Moving only her head the
hostess smiled at her son, "No harm, Daniel," she said, "just pick him up and
take him back to the kitchen"—she enunciated clearly so he would think about
what she was saying—"and bring in the other one".
A wink and a
one-liner instantly changed the dinner from a red-faced embarrassment to a
conspiracy of fun.
A father's relationship to his child's
current and future academic success and the level of his or her development in
academic potential and scholastic achievement are both factors with some rather
interesting implications that educators are beginning to study and evaluate. As
a matter of fact, "life with father" has been discovered to be a very important
factor in determining a child's progress or lack of progress in school.
A recent survey of over 16,000 children made by the National
Child Development Study in London, England, revealed that children whose fathers
came to school conferences and accompanied their children on outing did
measurably better in school than did those children whose fathers were not
involved in those activities. The study, which monitored children born during a
week in March, 1958, from the time of their birth through the years of their
early schooling, further revealed that the children of actively involved fathers
scored as much as seven months higher in reading and math than did those
children whose only involved parent was the mother. The purpose of the study was
to evaluate the role played by fathers in the raising of a child. It indicated a
much higher level of parental involvement by the father than had been estimated.
Over 66% of the fathers were said to have played a major role in parental
responsibility.
The study also suggested that the
greatest level of paternal parenting took place in the families of only
children. As the number of children and financial obligations increases, the
father's apparent interest and involvement with the children decreased. However,
no matter what the size or financial condition of the family, a father's active
participation in the child's development made a definite difference in the
child's progress.
The study further revealed that while
the frequency of overnight absences reflected a corresponding deficiency
employment on late shifts appeared to have little effect on the child's academic
progress. The data from the study was Obtained primarily through interviews from
parents, teachers and physicians. The information evaluating the level of the
father's parenting performance was obtained primarily from the admittedly
subjective observations of their wives.
It began as just another research project, in this
case to examine the effects of various drugs on patients with a severe mood
disorder. Using an advanced brain scanning technology--the clumsily named
echo-planar magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (磁共振光谱成像 ) procedure, or
EP-MRSI--researchers at Boston's McLean Hospital scanned the medicated and
un-medicated brains of 30 people with bipolar disorder in order to detect
possible new treatments for the more than 2 million American adults who suffer
from the disease.
But something unexpected happened. A patient
who had been so depressed that she could barely speak became
ebullient after the 45-minute brain scan. Then a second
patient, who seemed incapable of even a smile, emerged actually telling jokes.
Then another and another. Was this some coincidence? Aimee Parow, the technician
who made these observations didn't think so. She mentioned the patients'
striking mood shifts to her boss, and together they completely refocused the
study: to see if the electromagnetic fields might actually have a curative
effect on depressive mood.
As it turns out, they did. As
reported last month in the American Journal of Psychiatry, 23 of the 30 people
who were part of the study reported feeling significantly less depressed after
the scan. The most dramatic improvements were among those who were taking no
medication. The researchers are cautious. Says Bruce Cohen, McLean's president
and psychiatrist in chief: "I want to emphasize that we are not saying this is
the answer but this is a completely different approach in trying to help
the brain than anything that was done before."
It's a
completely different approach because of the way the magnetism is applied to the
brain. But it's an example of new research on an old idea: that the brain is an
electromagnetic organ and that brain disorders might result from disorder in
magnetic function. The idea has huge appeal to psychiatrists and patients alike,
since for many people the side effects of psychiatric (精神的 ) drugs are almost as
difficult to manage as the disease itself. And 30 percent of the nearly 18.8
million people who suffer from depression do not respond to any of the
antidepressants available now. People with other severe mental disorders might
benefit as well. And while no one fully understands exactly why or how the brain
responds as it does to electrical currents and magnetic waves, fascinating new
research is offering some possible explanations.
Innovation. It's what got us through the Dark Ages.
But over the years, instead of moving forward, some scientists and inventors
have taken a few steps back. This article is dedicated to all the men and women
who knew they'd never find a cure for the common cold, so they aimed much, much
lower. Here are some of the winners.
PEACE PRIZE—researchers
from the University of Bern, Switzerland, for determining which hurts mor—being
smashed over the head with a full bottle of beer or with an empty
bottle.
An inherent problem in an experiment of this nature is
finding volunteers who will agree to be brained with a beer bottle in the name
of science. The scientists overcame this obstacle by dropping steel balls onto
full and empty beer bottles. They found that the empties were stronger than
their full brethren because the gas pressure from the liquid produces additional
strain on the glass.
Needless to say, full or not, beer bottles
can cause a whole lot of hurt, which is why the scientists advocate prohibiting
them "in situations that involve risk of human conflicts."
VETERINARY MEDICINE PRIZE—researchers from Newcastle University, the United
Kingdom: for showing that cows that have names give more milk than cows that are
nameless.
It turns out our attitudes make a difference. Being
friendly and remembering a cow's name can increase milk yield by 258 liters a
year. This came as no surprise to farmers, one of whom told the researchers that
cows "hurt and love like anyone else."
BIOLOGY
PRiZE—researchers from Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences
in Japan, for demonstrating that kitchen refuse can be reduced by more than 90
percent by using an enzyme (酶)-producing bacteria extracted from the waste of
giant pandas.
While this has potential applications—reducing
garbage and waste—it still raises the question. How did it dawn on someone to
try this experiment? And, of course, if one of your aims in ridding yourself of
garbage is to get rid of the bad smell, adding panda waste to it is not likely
to help.