Being a mother is apparently not like it was in the good old days.
Today’s parents yearn for the golden age that their own mothers enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found. Mothers have less time to themselves and feel under greater pressure to handle work and family life than the previous generation. As a result, 88 per cent said they felt guilty about the lack of time they spent with their children.
The survey of 1,000 mothers also found that more than a third said they had less time to themselves than their mothers did – just three hours a week or 26 minutes a day. And 64 per cent said this was because they felt they ‘had’ to go out to work, while nearly a third (29 per cent) said they were under constant pressure to be the ‘perfect mother’, the report found.
Other findings showed social networking and parenting websites, as well as technology such as Skype, were important in providing help and support among female communities. Kate Fox, a member of the Social Issues Research Centre, which conducted the survey for Procter & Gamble, said: ‘With increasing pressure on mothers to work a “double shift” — to be the perfect mother as well as a wage-earner — support networks are more important than ever.
It comes as a separate report examining childcare in the leading industrialised nations found that working mothers in Britain spend just 81 minutes a day caring for their children as a ‘primary activity’. Mothers who stay at home, on the other hand, manage twice as much time – more than two and a half hours – looking after their offspring, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Critics say the pressure on women to work long hours, and leave their offspring in the hands of nurseries or childminders, is putting the well-being of their children at risk.
The study also reveals that, despite the fact that more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare still falls on them - even if their husband is not in work. A father who is not in work tends to spend just 63 minutes a day looking after his child - 18 minutes less than a mother who goes out to work. Working fathers spare less than three quarters of an hour with their children.
1.. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The good old days of mothers in the 1970s and 1980s.
B. The great sufferings of today’s children.
C. The statistics of working mothers and full-time mothers.
D. The big problems that today’s working mothers face.
2.. What does the underlined phrase “yearn for” probably means ___________.
A. hate B. miss C. abandon D. control
3. Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Today’s mothers have less time left for their children and themselves.
B. The working mothers can hardly strike the balance between work and family.
C. Most of the mothers can not control their husbands nowadays.
D. Modern fathers do not spend enough time with their children.
4. From para. 4, we can infer that ___________.
A. working mothers can seek help on line
B. Skype is a very famous expert in studying social issues
C. working mothers’ double shift is to be a wife and a mother
D. Kate Fox has opened a website offering help to working mothers
5.. What critics say means that _____________.
A. it is wise for working mothers to put their kids in nurseries or childminders
B. too much time in nurseries or childminders is bad for kids’ mental and physical health
C. nurseries or childminders are dangerous places for children
D. children do not like nurseries or childminders at all
高三英语阅读理解困难题
Being a mother is apparently not like it was in the good old days.
Today’s parents yearn for the golden age that their own mothers enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found. Mothers have less time to themselves and feel under greater pressure to handle work and family life than the previous generation. As a result, 88 per cent said they felt guilty about the lack of time they spent with their children.
The survey of 1,000 mothers also found that more than a third said they had less time to themselves than their mothers did – just three hours a week or 26 minutes a day. And 64 per cent said this was because they felt they ‘had’ to go out to work, while nearly a third (29 per cent) said they were under constant pressure to be the ‘perfect mother’, the report found.
Other findings showed social networking and parenting websites, as well as technology such as Skype, were important in providing help and support among female communities. Kate Fox, a member of the Social Issues Research Centre, which conducted the survey for Procter & Gamble, said: ‘With increasing pressure on mothers to work a “double shift” — to be the perfect mother as well as a wage-earner — support networks are more important than ever.
It comes as a separate report examining childcare in the leading industrialised nations found that working mothers in Britain spend just 81 minutes a day caring for their children as a ‘primary activity’. Mothers who stay at home, on the other hand, manage twice as much time – more than two and a half hours – looking after their offspring, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Critics say the pressure on women to work long hours, and leave their offspring in the hands of nurseries or childminders, is putting the well-being of their children at risk.
The study also reveals that, despite the fact that more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare still falls on them - even if their husband is not in work. A father who is not in work tends to spend just 63 minutes a day looking after his child - 18 minutes less than a mother who goes out to work. Working fathers spare less than three quarters of an hour with their children.
1.. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The good old days of mothers in the 1970s and 1980s.
B. The great sufferings of today’s children.
C. The statistics of working mothers and full-time mothers.
D. The big problems that today’s working mothers face.
2.. What does the underlined phrase “yearn for” probably means ___________.
A. hate B. miss C. abandon D. control
3. Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Today’s mothers have less time left for their children and themselves.
B. The working mothers can hardly strike the balance between work and family.
C. Most of the mothers can not control their husbands nowadays.
D. Modern fathers do not spend enough time with their children.
4. From para. 4, we can infer that ___________.
A. working mothers can seek help on line
B. Skype is a very famous expert in studying social issues
C. working mothers’ double shift is to be a wife and a mother
D. Kate Fox has opened a website offering help to working mothers
5.. What critics say means that _____________.
A. it is wise for working mothers to put their kids in nurseries or childminders
B. too much time in nurseries or childminders is bad for kids’ mental and physical health
C. nurseries or childminders are dangerous places for children
D. children do not like nurseries or childminders at all
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
It is not uncommon for there________problems of communication between the old and the young.
A．being B．would be C．be D．to be
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
What was the hotel like in the past?
A. The meals were good but not the rooms.
B. The rooms were good but not the meals.
C. The meals and the rooms were terrible.
高三英语短对话简单题查看答案及解析
What was the hotel like in the past?
A. The meals were good but not the rooms.
B. The rooms were good but not the meals.
C. The meals and the rooms were terrible.
高三英语短对话简单题查看答案及解析
I like getting up early in summer. The morning air is good________.
A．to be breathed B．being breathed C．to breathe D．breathing
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
________by the teacher in class is not a bad thing, but a good thing.
A．Being asked B．Asking C．Asked D．Ask
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
It was black in the evening. Jason, a 12-year-old boy didn’t want to go outside. But his mother, Branda, was worried about his father and36 he go.
That evening the man had to37 his car, a Buick outside their house in the driveway.
38 enough, the wife hadn’t heard a single39 for at least one hour. “Go and find him,” she told Jason.
The kid stepped outside in the darkness and called into the shadows “Dad?”
“Jason?”40 was his father, but his voice sounded41 . He spoke slowly, in a strange way.
That evening, when the man had to get42 the car to fix it, he used a forklift to lift the car.43 , the man didn’t place the blocks in front of the car’ s front tires to keep it from44 forward off the forks, which was exactly45 it did afterwards.
Little Jason saw his dad’s feet46 out from beneath the car.47 to take a full breath, Old Jason sank into a sleepy, half-alive48 .
“Calm down. It will be OK.” The boy49 his mother. Now he couldn’t afford to be scared.
He climbed on and started up, the Buick started to come off the ground and 50 in the air.
Minutes later, 911 policemen arrived. Old Jason 51beneath the car, still breathing.
It wasn’t52 his dad was loaded into an ambulance that the little boy 53 and sobbed.
Little Jason says one happy change has come out of the 54 : he gets to spend more time with his dad. Old Jason, who hasn’t touched a car55 the Buick fell on him often spends evenings with his son playing.
1.A. claimed B. demanded C. declared D. announced
2.A. clean B. buy C. fix D. sell
3.A. Strangely B. Interestingly C. Fortunately D. Dangerously
4.A. word B. sentence C. noise D. sound
5.A. He B. This C. There D. It
6.A. usual B. different C. calm D. unhappy
7.A. into B. onto C. beneath D. above
8.A. Somehow B. Anyhow C. Somewhat D. Anyway
9.A. sinking B. rolling C. driving D. running
10.A. what B. how C. why D. when
11.A. bringing B. moving C. sticking D. taking
12.A. Unable B. Unlikely C. Likely D. Able
13.A. environment B. circumstance C. state D. position
14.A. inspired B. comforted C. required D. persuaded
15.A. moved B. drove C. bent D. suspended
16.A. slept B. sat C. stood D. lay
17.A. until B. unless C. when D. while
18.A. broke out B. broke down C. broke up D. broke off
19.A. matter B. affair C. accident D. event
20.A. after B. till C. when D. since
高三英语完型填空简单题查看答案及解析
The old house ______________ roof was damaged in a storm is being repaired now.
| A．where | B．which | C．that | D．whose |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
It was not what Tom said but what he wrote in the letter ______ touched his mother.
A. what B. which
C. that D. who
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The Leaning Tower of Pisa was not leaning when it was built in 1173 and it was straight like a pole. It started to shift direction soon after construction because of poor foundation in addition to the loose layer of subsoil(底土). At the beginning, it leaned to the southeast before the shaky foundation started to shift leaning towards the southwest. After the period of structural strengthening in the beginning of 21st century, now the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans at an angle of 3.97 degrees.
In 1178, the shift in direction was observed for the first time when the construction had progressed further to the third floor. The tower was very heavy for the three-meter foundation that was built on a weak area of land.
For compensating(补偿) the leaning position, the builders started to construct the upper floors with one side higher than the other one. This caused the tower to lean in the other direction. This unusual structure led to the tower being actually curved. In spite of these efforts, the tower kept on leaning.
The government of Italy started to plan a prevention of the complete collapse of the tower in 1964. However, a request was put forward by the authorities to keep the leaning position because of the tourism industry of the region.
After nearly two decades of careful planning by engineers, historians and mathematicians, the stabilization efforts for the Leaning Tower of Pisa started in 1990. The tower was closed for the general public and the people living nearby moved away. For reducing the total weight of the tower, its seven bells which represented the seven musical notes were removed. The tower was reopened for the general public on December 15, 2001.
In May 2008, after removing another 70 metric tons of earth, the engineers announced that the tower had been finally stabilized and it would remain stable for at least 200 years.
1.Why did the Leaning Tower of Pisa began to lean?
A. It was too high like a pole.
B. Its foundation was far from strong.
C. The work of repair was delayed.
D. Its foundation shook badly.
2.When did people notice the Leaning Tower of Pisa shift its direction?
A. As soon as it was constructed.
B. At the end of the construction.
C. Soon after the construction.
D. In the course of the construction.
3.Why did the authorities prefer to keep the leaning position of the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
A. They wanted to attract more tourists.
B. They lacked funds then.
C. It was a mission impossible to make the Tower up-straight.
D. They were short of engineers, historians and mathematicians.
4.Which of the following is the right order according to this passage?
a. People noticed the tower began to shift its direction.
b. The repair work was carried out last time.
c. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was repaired for the first time.
d. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built.
e. The tower was opened to the visitors again.
f. The government started to make a plan for the tower.
A. c, d, a, f, b, e
B. f, e, a, d, c, b
C. d, e, b, f, c, a
D. d, a, f, c, e, b
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析