Having a husband means an extra seven hours of housework each week for women, according to a new study. For men, getting married saves an hour of housework a week. "It's a well-known pattern(模式)," said lead researcher Frank Stafford at University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. "Men usually work more outside the home, while women take on more of the housework."

He points out that differences among households(家庭) exist. But in general, marriage means more housework for women and less for men. "And the situation gets worse for women when they have children," Stafford said.

Overall, times are changing in the American home. In 1976, women busied themselves with 26 weekly hours of housework, compared with 17 hours in 2005. Men are taking on more housework, more than doubling their housework hours from 6 in 1976 to 13 in 2005.

Single women in their 20s and 30s did the least housework, about 12 weekly hours, while married women in their 60s and 70s did the most-about 21 hours a week.

Men showed a somewhat different pattern, with older men picking up the broom(扫帚) more often than younger men. Single men worked the hardest around the house, more than that of all other age groups of married men.

Having children increases housework even further. With more than three children, for example, wives took on more of the extra work, clocking about 28 hours a week compared with husbands'10 hours.

1.According to the "well-known pattern" in Paragraph 1, a married man ________.

A.takes on heavier work B.does more housework

C.is the main breadwinner D.is the master of the house

2.How many hours of housework did men do every week in the 1970s?

A.About 23. B.About 28. C.About 13. D.About 6.

3.What kind of man is doing most housework according to the text?

A.An unmarried man. B.An older married man.

C.A younger married man. D.A married man with children.

4.What can we conclude from Stafford's research?

A.Marriage gives men less freedom. B.Marriage has effects on job choices.

C.Housework sharing changes over time. D.Having children means doubled housework.

Read the passage and fill in the blanks with proper words (在短文的空格内填入适当的词,使其内容通顺。每空格限填一词,首字母已给)

A boy named Michael visited his grandparents on their farm with his sister, May. One day, Grandma gave him a slingshot (弹弓) to play with out in the woods. He practiced how to use it for some time but he still couldn’t hit the target (目标) he set for himself.

Feeling a little u 1., he headed back to the farmhouse for dinner. On the way, he happened to see Grandma’s pet duck. Just then, an idea suddenly came to his mind. He a 2. at the duck with his slingshot and let it fly, hitting the duck in the head and killing it.

In a panic (惊慌), Michael hid the dead duck in the bushes, only to find that his sister was watching him all the time. May had seen everything he did, but she said n 3..

After lunch the next day, Grandma said, “May, let’s wash the dishes.” But May said, “Grandma, Michael told me he wanted to help in the k 4..” Then she came close to Michael and whispered (低语), “Remember the duck?” So Michael did the washing.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if Michael and May wanted to go fishing, but Grandma interrupted, “I’m sorry but I need May to help me prepare for dinner.” May just smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Michael told me he wanted to help you.” Then she whispered to Michael again, “Remember the duck?”

So May went fishing and Michael stayed b 5. to help make supper. After several days of doing both his chores and May’s, Michael finally couldn’t bear it anymore. He went to his grandma and told her the t 6. that he had caused the death of her pet duck.

It really s 7. Michael that Grandma just smiled and gave him a big hug. “Sweetheart, I know,” said Grandma. “You see, I was standing at the window the other day and saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I just wanted to find out how long you would let May make a slave of you!”

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