阅读理解。

　　The girls in this sixth grade class in East Palo Alto, California, all have the same access to computers as boys．But researchers say, by the time they get to high school, they are victims(受害者)of what the researchers call a major new gender(性别)gap in technology．Janice Weinman of the American Association of University Women(AAUW)says,“Girls tend to be less comfortable than boys with the computer．They use it more for word processing rather than for problem solving, rather than to discover new ways in which to understand information．

　　After re-examining a thousand studies, the AAUW researchers found that girls make up only a small percentage of students in computer science classes．Girls rate themselves significantly lower than boys in their ability and confidence in using computers．And they use computers less often than boys outside the classroom．

　　An instructor of a computer lab says he's already noticed some difference．Charles Cheadle of Cesar Chavez School says,“Boys are not so afraid they might do something that will harm the computer, whereas girls are afraid they might break it somehow．”

　　Six years ago, the software company Purple Moon noticed that girls' computer usage was falling behind boys．Karen Gould with the company says,“The number one reason girls told us they don't like computer games is not that they're too violent, or too competitive．Girls just said they're unbelievably boring．”What girls want, Purple Moon found, is characters they can relate to and story lines relative to what's going on in their own lives．“What we definitely found from girls is(that there is no intrinsic)(内在的)reason why they wouldn't want to play on a computer; it was just a content thing,”says Karen Gould．

　　The sponsor of the study says it all boils down to this：the technology gender gap that separates the girls from the boys must be closed if women are to compete effectively with men in the 21st century．

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阅读理解

　　In my opinion, between persons of equal income, there is no social difference except that of achievements and value．Money is nothing．Character, behavior and ability are everything．There would be great people and ordinary people and little people, but the great would always be those who had done great things, and never the fools whose mothers had cared for them too much and whose fathers had left them a hundred thousand dollars a year; and the little people would be persons of small minds and mean characters, and not poor persons who had never had a chance．That is why fools are always favor of inequality of income(their only chance of being well-known), and the really great in favor of equality．

　　As for Americans, being hardworking, thrift(节俭), and ambition are positive values．They encourage their children to be competitive and to get ahead, to make money and to get possession．In games and in business alike, the aim is to win the game, the award, the contract．They go in for labor-saving devices, new inventions, speed and shortcuts．They think every young couple should set up a home of their own, and they pity the couple who must share their home with their parents, or get along with other relatives．Actually, of course, not all Americans hold all these values, and those who do may hold others, and at times contradictory(矛盾的)values may affect their ways of behaving．In the main, however, the collective(集体的)expectation of their society is that these are desirable(值得做的)goals, and each person, whatever his personal opinion may be, is under considerable and similar pressure．

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阅读理解

　　Educating girls quite possibly outputs a higher rate of return than any other investment(投资)available in the developing world．Women’s education may be an unusual field for economists, but raising women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social problem．And economics, with its emphasis on motivation, provides an explanation for why so many girls can’t receive 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 prediction becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a vicious circle(恶性循环)of lack of attention．

　　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 good circle．

　　Few will disagree with it that educating women has great social benefits．But it has huge economic advantages as well．Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers．Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each extra 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 an important influence on health practices, including family planning．

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