Question

　 Betty and Harold have been married for years. But one thing still puzzles old Harold. How is it that he can leave Betty and her friend Joan sitting on the sofa, talking, go out to a ball game, come back three and a half hours later, and they’re still sitting on the sofa, talking?

　 What in the world, Harold wonders, do they have to talk about?

Betty shrugs（耸肩）. Talk? We’re friends.

Researching this matter called friendship, psychologist Lilian Rubin spent two hundred women and men. No matter what their age, their jobs, their sex, the results were completely clear: women have more friendships than men, and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is “marked and unmistakable”.

More than two-thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed could not name a best friend. Those who could were likely to name a woman. Yet three-quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend, most trusted person, or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress（感情危机）. “Most women,” says Rubin, “identified（认定） at least one, usually more, trusted friends to whom they could turn in a troubled moment, and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives.”

“In general,” writes Rubin in her new book, “women’s friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support, but men’s relationships are marked by shared activities. “For the most part, Rubin says, interactions（交往） between men are emotionally controlled – a good fit with the social requirements of “manly behavior”.

“Even when a man is said to be a best friend,” Rubin writes, “the two share little about their innermost feelings. Whereas a woman’s closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage, it wasn’t unusual to hear a man say he didn’t know his friend’s marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared on night asking if he could sleep on the sofa.”

1. What old Harold cannot understand or explain is the fact that _________.

　 A. he is treated as an outsider rather than a husband

　 B. women have so much to share

　 C. women show little interest in ball games

　 D. he finds his wife difficult to talk to

2. Rubin’s study shows that for emotional support a married woman is more likely to turn to _______.

　 A. a male friend　　　　　　 B. a female friend

　 C. her parents　　　　　　　 D. her husband

3. According to the text, which type of behavior is NOT expected of a man by society?

　 A. Ending his marriage without good reason.

　 B. Spending too much time with his friends.

　 C. Complaining about his marriage trouble.

　 D. Going out to ball games too often.

4. Which of the following statements is best supported by the last paragraph?

　 A. Men keep their innermost feelings to themselves.

　 B. Women are more serious than men about marriage.

　 C. Men often take sudden action to end their marriage.

　 D. Women depend on others in making decisions.

5. The research done by psychologist Rubin centres around _________.

　 A. happy and successful marriages

　 B. friendships of men and women

　 C. emotional problems in marriage

　 D. interactions between men and women

 

Answer 1

BBCAB