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1、Unit 14 WomenPart BExercise 1Most women in France work. Their average salary is about 75% that of their male co-workers, even though laws passed in 1972 require professional equality between the sexes. The good news is that women are increasingly moving into middle management. A handful are top exec
2、utives. The higher their position, the harder it is to balance family and career. A 38-year-old woman who graduated from the prestigious National School of Administration remembers that when she took a senior post in a ministry, her male colleagues assured her, You are one of us, one of the guys. Bu
3、t when she became a mother, they stuck to age-old traditions that she couldnt follow long lunches and late-night meetings. It was too much pressure and I felt like I was being sabotaged, she says. For those who want to balance family with a job, as opposed to a high-pressure, high-visibility career,
4、 France is a haven. Women marry later, on average, than in America at age 25. And they stay in the workforce. Part-time jobs are easy to find. Maternity benefits are generous, with over six months of paid leave. Women whove raised three or more children are entitled to a state-funded pension. The qu
5、ality of publicly funded education for children is high. And abortion is not only legal, but its paid for by the state. French businesswomen dress elegantly, argue intelligently and play hardball at the negotiating table. They show their wit, intellect, ability to make puns and understanding of poli
6、tics, history and literature. Unlike most American female executives who dress conservatively in a dark, not particularly flattering suit, with no jewelry and little makeup, Frenchwomen see no need to abandon femininity and elegance in the business world. They prefer soft colors, stylish clothes, si
7、lk scarves, manicured nails, light makeup, and simple but elegant jewelry.Questions1. What do you know about French businesswomen?2. What does the speaker intend to say through the passage about French businesswomen?3. What is implied in the passage about French businesswomen?Exercise 1Women and men
8、 are not created equal. Mother Nature favors her own sex when it comes to longevity, with women living about seven years or 10% longer than men. Still, men actually get a head start in the battle of the sexes, since male babies outnumber female babies by 115 to 100. But by about age 30, women have c
9、aught up with men numerically, and they then leave men in the dust, with three women alive for every man by age 85. But theres the paradox: While women live longer than men,theyre generally sicker. Men tend to die from rapidly fatal health problems such as heart attacks, accidents,suicides and homic
10、ides. Women, on the other hand, tend to develop lingering illnesses that often cause years of discomfort. Women spend twice as much money on health care as men do. They also consult doctors more frequently, take more drugs, spend more days in hospitals and have more operations. They also take more s
11、ick time off from work. Why? The chief causes seem to be genes, hormones and interactions of the two. Many women suffer from chronic conditions like muscle and joint pain, sleep disorder, anxiety, headaches, and fatigue. There is no known cause for them, but they probably result from the bodys abnor
12、mal response to stress. Women may be more likely than men to have these diseases simply because they are under more stress. A woman is often under tremendous stress to fulfill what she sees as her obligations to her family, her community and her employer. Researchers still know little about womens h
13、ealth. There is clearly a need for more research into why women come down with chronic illnesses and what can be done about it.Questions1. What is the main idea of the passage?2. What is the speakers attitude toward womens health problems?Statements1. Women live ten years longer than men.2. The numb
14、er of women gradually exceeds that of men by age 30.3. Women spend more money on medicine because they are often seriously ill.4. A woman bears a greater responsibility to her family, community and employer than a man does.5. Women can cope with stress better than men.6. Men are likely to die from r
15、apidly fatal health problems while women often complain about stress-related diseases.7. Theres still much to be discovered about womens health.Part CMore and more women today can be found in top positions in business and industry. An example of this trend is Jennifer Bradbury. After a very successf
16、ul career as a model, she became a clothes designer. Then,with money she had saved and borrowed, she bought part of a small company that manufactured sportswear and became one of its directors. As she says, it was then that the real battle began. The other directors often asked her opinions about th
17、e design and the color of the companys products but they refused to believe she understood anything about the hard side of business. Jennifer gives an example. She says, The company sold its sportswear only through small specialist shops. I was sure we would never increase our sales unless we sold t
18、hrough big department stores and even supermarkets. The other two directors didnt like the idea at all at first. They were afraid we would lose some of our traditional customers if we did what I wanted. I think part of the trouble was they didnt take the idea very seriously simply because it came fr
19、om a woman. But Jennifer and her ideas are certainly taken very seriously now. Under her leadership, the company has increased its sales and the number of customers. It also manufactures a much wider variety of sports clothes, many of them designed by Jennifer herself.Questions1. What does Jennifer do now?2. How were the companys products sold in the past?3. What does Jennifer mean by the real battle?02:05.814. What can you learn about Jennifer from the passage?