Why do women earn less than men?

Women earn less than men. For example, in 1988 the hourly wages of women in the U.S. were 16% less than those of men. The gap between male and female incomes varies with age. The gap between the labor incomes of young women and young men is much smaller than that between middle-aged women and men. It is also clear that jobs in which women are concentrated pay less. The larger the number of workers in an industry who are women, the lower the average wages.

Why do women earn less than men? Are the differences explained by the fact that women are looked down upon? If so, the government has to intervene, to force the employers to pay equal wages to equal jobs. however, there is no agreement among economists about the causes of the gap. One view argues that women on the average have chosen low-paying jobs in which workers enjoy the freedom of entering and leaving the labor force, which reduces their years of experience relative to men. Other people say the gap can also be explained by the difference in educational background which is shown in the difference in the marginal product between men and women.

Much of the gap, however, has not been fully explained. It might be the result of some bias against women. It is this part that has produced calls for government action. What would happen if the government did intervene to increase the wages paid to women? One possibility is that incomes for women as a group might actually decline. An increase in wage decreases the quantity of labor input demanded, resulting in decreased employment as the rate of hiring new workers declines. The result will be a surplus of labor. Those who can find jobs might be better off while those who had jobs might find themselves out of work.

The difference in labor incomes is most obvious between _______.

A. young men and young women

B. young women in the same industry

C. middle-aged men and middle-aged women

D. middle-aged women in the same industry

Some economists believe women earn less than men partly because ______.

A. women are less experienced than men

B. women are only provided with low-paying jobs

C. women have much freedom in selecting their jobs

D. there is more than enough women in the labor force

Which of the following cannot be inferred from the second paragraph?

A. Women receive less education than men.

B. Women are not as productive as men.

C. Levels of education are closely related to productivity.

D. Goods produced by women are not as good as those by men.

What does the author suggest that the government should do for women workers?

A. To ensure equal pay for women.

B. To explain why women are paid less.

C. To force employers to hire more women.

D. No solution is clearly suggested.

What would happen if women’s wages were raised?

A. Input of capital would be increased.

B. The unemployment rate would go up.

C. Those that have jobs would become better off.

D. Women as a group would earn more than before.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Why must we pay taxes(税收)? The answer is that the government needs money for many things, for example, to pay its soldiers, sailors and airmen, to build roads, bridges, offices, schools, etc, and to buy goods from abroad; and only the people of the country can supply the money.

 One of the most important taxes is income-tax which a person pays according to the amount of his income, whether he is a merchant, a doctor, a lawyer, a shopkeeper, a miner or anything else. This is called a “direct” tax, because it is paid in money directly to the government.

 Another tax is paid on goods such as watches, jewelry, new clothes, tobacco, wine, etc, when they are brought into a country. Such a tax is paid as part of the price of these goods if they are late sold in shops. We call it “indirect” tax, because it is paid indirectly through the shopkeepers.

 People usually complain about having to pay taxes, but they forget that the money is spent on things that they and their families need. We need policemen to catch thieves, to see that men obey the laws, to direct traffic, etc, and they must be paid what they earn; children need education and there must be schools and teachers; we want our streets to be kept clean, and the wages of men who do this kind of work have to be paid. Above all, the country must always be ready to defend itself against attacking enemies, and we can’t have an army without paying for it. Besides, if a country wants to develop, there are many other things to do.

 Taxes, therefore, cannot be avoided. We buy our food and clothes and pay for our amusements; but, there are several things that the State finds the money for, and that is necessary for us if our society is to continue. We have no real reason to complain, therefore, when we are asked to supply money to be spent for the good of ourselves and for our fellow-citizens.

Tax is a   71   part of our life

Why must we pay taxes?

⊕The State need the money for our society to   72  .

⊕We supply money for the good of ourselves and   73  .

How do we pay taxes?

⊕  74 

The tax is paid according to one’s   75  .

The tax is paid to the government.

⊕  76 

The tax is paid through   77  .

The tax is paid as part of the price of goods.

Where does tax money go?

⊕To   78  —to keep us safe

⊕To teachers—to   79 

⊕To cleaners—to   80 

⊕To the army—to defend our country

 

第Ⅱ卷(非选择题 共35分)

第四部分:写作(共两节,满分35分)

第一节:任务型读写(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)

阅读下列短文,根据所读内容在文章后的横线上填入恰当的单词。注意:每个题号后只填1个单词。

Educating girls quite possibly harvests a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Women’s education may be all unusual field for economists(经济学家), but increasing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue.  And economics, with its focus on incentives(鼓励),provides an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of(剥夺) an education.

Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to  make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school — the prophecy(预言) becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in avicious circle(恶性循环) of neglect.

An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle.

Few will argue that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic  advant-ages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers.  Wages rise by 10 to 20 percent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant impact on health practices, including family planning.

Topic: The significance of female ______76_____ in developing countries

Viewpoint

Educating girls is more beneficial than any other _____77_____.

Families

From low-income families

From educated mothers’ families

Attitudes

Girls are of 1ess _78_than boys.

Development should be for all __79__

Practices

There is ___80__ investment in daughters.

Girls are made to stay at home, _____81___ housework.

Girls and boys have ____82____

chances.

Consequences

A vicious circle

A virtuous circle

Significance

Educating girls ____83____ to social benefits, ____84_____ advantages

and health practices, including family planning.

____85___

Educating girls in developing countries is important and rewarding.

 

阅读下面短文并回答问题, 然后将答案写到答题卡相应的位置上(请注意问题后的字数要求)。

2,4,6

 
Certainly dustmen prefer to be known as “Refuse Collection and Disposal Officers”. You may think that this is rather silly, and that it is better to call a spade. But dustmen can be just as sensitive as people of any other occupations, though we must admit that their job is not the most romantic one in the world. We often take dustmen for granted. Perhaps because they usually come very early in the morning, before most people are up, we are inclined to forget that they exist. Our dustbins are emptied regularly, but we rarely stop to think about the men who do this. However, it is one of the most important jobs in the world, and when there are no dustmen________, the general public soon becomes aware that something is wrong.

Recently, the dustmen of England went on strike for higher wages. During the first few days it was regarded as a joke. For some reason, jokes have always been made about dustmen, and some people thought this strike was very amusing. But when the first two weeks had passed, and the dustbins were overflowing in nearly every backyard in the country, the joke did not seem so funny any more. As the strike continued, people could not bear the accumulation of rubbish around their dustbins, and they looked for other places in which to get rid of it. Even when the strike was over, and the wages dispute had been settled, it took several weeks for the country to get cleaned up completely, as so much rubbish had accumulated. Perhaps now the English people appreciate the work of their dustmen rather more highly, and won’t take them for granted any more.

 

阅读表达(共5小题;每小题3分, 满分15分)

1.What is the main idea of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words. )

 ___________________________________________________________________________

2.Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

We usually find the dustbins clean, but ignoring the doers.

___________________________________________________________________________                                                                                                                                                      

3. Please fill in the blank in the first paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words. )

 ___________________________________________________________________________

4.How did the English people change their attitude to the dustmen? (Please answer within 30 words. )

 ___________________________________________________________________________                                                                              ___________________________________________________________________________

 ___________________________________________________________________________                                                                                                                                                             

5.Translate the underlined sentence in the second paragraph into Chinese.

 ___________________________________________________________________________

 ___________________________________________________________________________                                                                                                                                       

 

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