The law says that women should have the chance of doing the same jobs as men and earn the same as them.

　 The reality is very different. Women lose because, 25 years after the Equal Pay Act, many of them still get paid less than men.

　 They lose because they do lower-paid jobs which men just won’t consider. And they lose they are the ones who interrupt a career to have children.

　 All this is reported in an independent study ordered by the Government’s women’s unite.

　 The biggest problem isn’t equal pay in work places such as factories. It is a sort of work women do.

　 Make a list of low-paid of jobs_ then consider who does them.

　 Try nurses, secretaries, cleaner, clerks, teachers in primary schools, dinner ladies, and child care helpers. Not a lot of men among that group, are there?

　 Yet some of those jobs are really important. Surely no one would deny that about nurses and teachers, for a start.

　 So why do we reward the people who do them so poorly? There can be only one answer--- because they are women.

　 This is not going to be put right overnight. But the Government, which employs a lot of them,, and other bosses have to make a start.

　 It is disgraceful(可耻的) that we have gone into the 21st Century still treating women like second-class citizens.

41. Women should have the chance of doing the same jobs and be paid equally as men ____.

　 A. after 25 years　                              B. according to the law

　 C. as a result of the Equal Pay Act　　  D. because women are as strong as men

42. We can learn from the text what the problem really matters is ____.

　 A. that the women interrupt a career to have children

　 B. what sort of work women do

　 C. because they are women

　 D. what an unfair pay women get in workplaces.

43. Which of the following best describes the writer’s idea?

　 A. Women should get equal pay for equal work to that of men.

　 B. Women should strengthen加强 themselves.

　 C. The Government ought to protect women against getting paid less than men.

　 D. Some of the jobs that women do are of great importance.

44. When the writer says “This is not going to be put right overnight”, he means ____.

　 A. we must solve the problem very quickly.

　 B. there is not completely fair thing all over the world.

　 C. we need a long time to change the unfair reality.

　 D. the problem that women lose will be solved soon.

45. Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?

　 A. Work to give women a fair pay deal.

　 B. Time to change the situation.

　 C. Equal work, equal pay.

　 D. Should women be treated like second-class citizens?

The Queen’s English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts has found. Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard Received.

Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany’s University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent changes recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. “As far as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records,” he said.

He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels (元音) had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-class accent over the past years. “Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago. But these are very, very small and slow changes that we don’t notice from year to year.”

“We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes,” he told The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper. “In 1952 she would have been heard saying ‘thet men in the bleck het’. Now it would be ‘that man in the black hat’. Similarly, she would have spoken of ‘the citay’ and ‘dutay’, rather than ‘citee’ and ‘dutee’, and ‘hame’ rather than ‘home’. In the 1950s she would have been ‘lorst’, but by the 1970s ‘lost’.”

The Queen’s broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each  Christmas, the 10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch (传统火鸡午餐).

The results were published (发表) in the Journal of Phonetics.

1.What is the text mainly about?

A．The relationship between accents and social classes.

B．The Queen’s Christmas speeches on TV.

C．The changes in a person’s accent.

D．The recent development of the English language.

2.The Queen’s broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because ______.

A．she has been Queen for many years

B．she has a less upper-class accent now

C．her speeches are familiar to many people

D．her speeches have been recorded for 50 years

3.Which of the following is an example of a less noble accent in English?

A．“dutay”

B．“citee”

C．“hame”

D．“lorst”

4.We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on ______.

A．speech sounds	B．Christmas customs
C．TV broadcasting	D．personal messages

 

The British film star Hugh Grant can’t seem to work out what women want.?

“There’s no girl who only wants bastards（坏种），and no girl who wants a nice guy（伙计）.Women want both,” the British star tells the May issue of the Talk magazine.?

“And，really，they’d like to change by turns on a weekly basis. Can any man be both? I like to keep women guessing.”

Since Grant’s break-up last year with his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley，the thought of throwing himself into another big relationship doesn’t seem like it’s expected.?

“How easy do you think it is to find someone you can share 14 years of personal jokes with? Not easy. And I don’t know that I will，” he says.

Still，the 40-year-old star admits he can’t help thinking that his clock is ticking.?

“In the end，I want to have kids（children）.But in the back of my mind，I never wanted to have kids until I’d done something I’m proud of written a book，had my name on something really worthwhile,” he says. “I’m determined not to be in front of the cameras any more.”?

With all of these concerns（心思)inside，has Grant ever considered seeing a psychiatrist（精神病医生)to sort things out??

“I don’t think I need treatment，thank you,” sniffs the star.?

“I’m frightened of those people. And more than that，I don’t want to know what lies ?beneath?（在下面）.”?

1.Judging from what Hugh Grant says，the film star may consider himself 　　　　.?

A. either a bastard or a nice guy

B. both a bastard and a nice guy at the same time?

C. a bastard in one week and a nice guy in the other?

D. neither a bastard nor a nice guy?

2. Hugh Grant 　　　 .

A. is looking for another girlfriend at the present time?

B. never feels sure of finding a girlfriend who can take the place of Elizabeth Hurley?

C. considers it a shame to look for another girlfriend?

D. doesn’t value much the relationship he had with Elizabeth Hurley?

3.The underlined clause “his clock is ticking” possibly means 　　　 .?

A. he’s having a good time　　　　　 B. he can’t stand being single?

C. his film life is going to end soon　　　　 D. he is getting too old?

4.Hugh Grant thinks that he is not yet successful enough to be 　　　 .

A. a nice guy　　　　　　　　　　 B. a husband

C. a film star　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. a father??