请认真阅读下列短文，并在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。每空一词。
In the United States, engineering is a profession that has been dominated historically by men． Even today, it’s still true that few women become civil or chemical or mechanical engineers, but that’s something www．EngineerGirl．org aims to change． Young women who visit the web site can find out about a great career choice they might not have considered．
“Women are very much underrepresented in engineering and in engineering education programs and then of course, down the road, in the engineering workforce． So only about 20 percent of engineering undergraduate degrees go to women, and then only about nine percent of working engineers are women．”
Mary Mattis in the National Academy of Engineering, says the EngineerGirl website aims to reach young women around ages 11 through 14, when they are just getting old enough to start thinking about their futures．
“We know from the research that middle-school girls are at a critical point in their lives, and that it’s a time when we need to reach them, both with an understanding, increasing their awareness of interesting fields in engineering, what a wonderful productive and exciting career you can have as an engineer． But we also need to reach them at that time because you have to take certain courses, and you can’t start thinking about taking those courses when you’re a junior in high school．”
Engineering is a demanding course of study ---there is a lot of science and mathematics, for many girls and even boys, that can be challenging． But Ms． Mattis says that the EngineerGirl website stresses that engineering can also be fun and exciting．
“It’s about designing things． It’s about changing the world for people． It’s about making a difference． And, in addition, you can make a good living, you can be independent economically by becoming an engineer． All of those things are messages that girls need to get．”
While most engineers go into traditional fields such as mechanical and electrical engineering, the EngineerGirl site also highlights unusual engineering careers in fields such as sports engineering and --- believe it or not --- chocolate engineering．
“There’s a section called ‘why be an engineer,’ and that talks about the many opportunities and increasingly different opportunities like with bio-engineering and environmental engineering, some fields that might appeal to girls who want to make a difference or have a meaning for their careers beyond earning an income．”
Even if you are not a girl in the target age group, there’s a lot of interesting information on the site, including biographies of some notable women engineers．

Below is a housing guide for students going to London.
University accommodation（住所） office
Many university accommodation offices have their own list of registered landlords (房东). Others also provide information on accommodation agencies and other housing organizations. The advantage of using your university accommodation office is that you can get some support if you have 'a problem. The disadvantage is that they are unlikely to have enough registered landlords to house all their students.
Property papers: Loot and Renting
Loot is an important source (来源) of information about private housing for co-renters. The offers are from private landlords, agencies and individuals looking for other co-renters. They also have a website: www. loot. com. The advantage of using Loot is that there are some excellent bargains. The disadvantage is that there is no quality control over the offers.
Renting is another useful paper. The offers in this paper are mainly from accommodation agencies. Their website is at www. Renting.co. uk.
Accommodation agencies
The majority of rented accommodation in London is probably advertised through accommodation agencies. The advantage of using accommodation agencies is that you will have access to a large number of accommodations. A good agent will listen to your requirements and can save you time in looking for the right accommodation. The disadvantage is that they will make a range of charges to potential renters.
Noticeboards
Around the universities you will find a number of noticeboards where offers of accommodation will be posted. These will either be from landlords or from students. Some universities will also have online noticeboards where students can advertise to other students.  Advertisements from students can be an excellent way to find                                                             accommodation. However, advertisements from landlords can be problematic.
Word of mouth
Some of the best housing in London is never advertised but is passed on from one group of students to another by word of mouth. It might be that you can find out about good offers from final year students. However, don't suppose that just because you have found out about housing from a friend it is necessarily, going to be better than that found through any other source.
Family
Faced with the very high rents charged in London, some students and their parents will consider buying as an alternative. In some cases this might be a good choice.
1. What is the advantage of using Loot?
A. It has more offers from accommodation agencies than Renting.    
B. It gives you personal information about other co-renters.
C. Their website is designed mainly for students.    
D. There are some good bargains.
2. A good agent can help you      .
A. know more people                         
B. find cheap accommodation
C. get the right accommodation quickly
D. get free information about most accommodations
3. The information passed on by word of mouth is important because      .
A. it is better than that found through any other source
B. it helps you find some of the best housing never advertised    
C. the final year students always offer better information
D. the landlords have little valuable information
4. For students going to London for the first time, which of the following provides the most reliable information?
A. University accommodation offices.              
B. Loot and Renting.    
C. Noticeboards.                                 
D. Family.

High childcare costs are putting British mothers off going out to work. It really is that simple. Eurostat figures show that 66 per cent of mothers in the UK work, less than France (72 per cent), Denmark (86 per cent), the Netherlands (78 per cent) or Germany (69 per cent). This not only damages Britain’s economic prosperity—it limits women’s careers and squeezes family incomes. It would be fine if this is the choice parents want to make, but it isn’t. Half of those surveyed want to go to work and the expense of childcare is one of the key reasons they couldn’t.

??? Despite claims made by Labour (工党) about childcare, a forthcoming (即将到来的) report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) confirms the true legacy of their time in government. They left behind a childcare system with high costs to parents, variable quality and patchy (不均匀的) coverage, despite soaring government spending. British parents now face the highest childcare bills in the world after Switzerland.

??? In the Eighties and Nineties under Mrs Thatcher and John Major, the picture was very different. Mothers in England were more likely to go out to work than their Dutch or German counterparts. But the position has reversed, despite a huge rise in public spending.

??? So why does the British Government spend more on childcare than France or Germany, even though the costs given to parents are sky-high? As always, under the previous government, money was frittered away (浪费) without adequate focus on improving quality. Instead of clear and transparent funding, four separate funding streams were created, skewing (偏离) the market and confusing parents and providers alike. The majority of the money was given away in cash benefits; so much of it did not get through to the front line.

??? The IPPR report points out that continental systems, in countries such as Germany, France, Denmark and the Netherlands, manage to deliver better value for money. What all of these systems have in common is a focus on quality, with greater flexibility and autonomy given to local providers. They also see a much higher proportion of government money getting to the front line.

1.Which of the following doesn’t belong to the disadvantages caused by the mothers prevented from going to work?

A. Damaging Britain’s economic development.

B. Causing damage to women’s careers.

C. Decreasing the family incomes.

D. Causing childcare costs to go up.

2.According to the second paragraph, we can infer that the former government of the Labour Party _______.

A. was highly praised by British people

B. made British people face the highest childcare bills

C. left behind a childcare system full of problems

D. managed to decrease the government spending

3.We can learn from the passage that _______.

A. in the Eighties and Nineties, mothers in the UK were likely to work

B. there is a prejudice against mothers in the UK employment market

C. most of the mothers surveyed in the UK don’t want to work

D. the percentage of mothers who work in the UK is the lowest in the world

In the United States, engineering is a profession(职业) that has been historically under the control of men. Even today, it’s still true that few women become civil or chemical or mechanical engineers, but that’s something on www.EngineerGirl.org encouraging girls to change the present situation. Young women who visit the web site can find out about a great job choice they might not have considered.
"Women are not well represented in engineering and in engineering education programs and then of course, down the road, in the engineering workforce. So only about 20 percent of engineering undergraduate degrees(本科文凭) go to women, and then only about nine percent of working engineers are women."
Mary Mattis, the National Academy of Engineering, says "we know from the research that middle-school girls are at a critical point in their lives, and that it’s a time when we need to reach them, so this website aims to increase their awareness of interesting fields in engineering. On the other hand, it wants to make them understand what a wonderful productive and exciting job you can have as an engineer.”
Engineering is a demanding course of study—there is a lot of science and math, for many girls and even boys that can be challenging. But Ms. Mattis says that the EngineerGirl website stresses that engineering can also be fun and exciting.
"It’s about designing things. It’s about changing the world for people. It’s about making a difference. And, in addition, you can make a good living; you can be independent economically by becoming an engineer. All of those things are messages that girls need to get."
While most engineers go into traditional fields such as mechanical and electrical engineering, the EngineerGirl site also emphasizes engineering jobs which are related to other fields such as bio-engineering, sports engineering and --- believe it or not—chocolate engineering.
Even if you are not a girl in the target(目标) age group, there’s a lot of interesting information on the site, including biographies(自传)of some well-known women engineers.

Facebook users may feel socially successful in the web world but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams. The majority of students who use Facebook every day are doing badly compared with those who don’t. About 83% of British 16 to 24-year-old people are using social networking site such as Facebook and MySpace, to keep in touch with friends and organize their social activities.
“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher. “Every generation has its distractions(娱乐), but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.” Karpinski and a colleague questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study and general Internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook. They found 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in(登录) varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.
Some UK students have already realized the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate, realized the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades, urging her to deactivate(使无效) her account, “I was in the library and tried to write a 2,000-word essay when I realized my Facebook habit had got out of hand,” she said. “I couldn’t resist going online, when thinking about it. Before you know it , a couple of minutes have turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a word.”
Jones is among the few to have realized the risks. 79% of the users, however, believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work. The CEO of Facebook said, “There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students to decide how to spend their time.”
【小题1】What can we know from Paragraph 1?