Passage Three

My mother used to tell my father that he was a very good mother. This was her way of praising his attendance at every concert and game, his patience and care. In those days, "good mother" was the highest domestic achievement; to have called him a good father, given how low the bar was set, wouldn't have done him justice.  

But that was long, long ago. Now fathers sing to their babies in uteri, come to birthing class, coach mom through delivery (as opposed to the days of the hospital clubs, where fathers smoked and paced while mothers delivered their offspring). They can buy strap-on breasts, so they can share in the bonding. And  baby toupees, for those sensitive about hairlessness. I can't help thinking that the increased engagement of fathers has some direct connection to [the increased  availability of baby gadgets], since having two fanatically engaged parents offers twice the target for retailers.  

The typical father spends about seven hours per week in "primary child care", which doesn't sound like a lot until you realize it's more than twice as much as in 1965. Among other things, this all means fathers are now much better positioned to write parenting books like Michael Lewis' Home Game and Sam Apple's American Parent: My Strange and Surprising Adventures in Modern Babyland. 

The dad diarists approach their subject like anthropologists, engaged in rational inquiry into an alien culture and the nature of nurture. Thus I learned from  Apple things I never knew from reading What to Expect When You're Expecting, like the fact that in the I st century Pliny the Elder recommended that women in labor drink goose semen mixed with water to ease the process along. 

Maybe the respectful distance men keep reflects the obvious ambivalence so many women show about male involvement. We talk about fathers like puppies ripping over their big paws, a portrait long mirrored in a culture in which "Father Knows Least". We diminish with faint praise; dads still get points for returning children at the end of the day with all their limbs in place. But the more engaged fathers become, the more women have to reckon with what a true parenting  partnership would look like.   

Questions 11-15 are based on Passage Three.

Why did the author's mother call her father a "very good mother"? 

Girls are overly concerned about weight and body shape. (46. hey strive for the "perfect" body and judge themselves by their looks, appearance, and above all thinness. But boys don't escape either. They are concerned with the size and strength of their body. There has been a shift in the male body image. Boys live in a culture that showcases males as glamorous “macho”figures who have to be “tough", build muscles and sculpt their bodies— if they want to ft in. They think they have to be a“real”man, but many admit being confused as to what that means or what's expected of them. This confusion can make it harder than ever to feel good about themselves.

Most of our cues about what we should look like come from the media, our parents, and our peers. This constant obsession with weight, the size of our bodies and longing for a different shape or size can be painful. 

Where do these negative perceptions come from?  

The media plays a big part. (47. Surrounded by thin models and TV stars, teenage girls are taught to achieve an impossible goal. As a result, many teenage girls intensely dislike their bodies and can tell you down to the minutest detail what's wrong with it.) Most teens watch an average of 22 hours of TV a week and are deluged with images of fat-free bodies in the pages of health, fashion and teen magazines. The "standard" is impossible to achieve. A female should look like, and have the same dimensions as Barbie, and a male should look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

(48. Western society places a high value upon appearance. Self-worth is enhanced for those who are judged attractive. Those who are deemed unattractive can feel at a disadvantage.) The message from the media, fashion and our peers can create a longing to win the approval of our culture and fit in at any cost. And that can be disastrous to our self-esteem. 

Parents can give mixed messages, too. Especially if they're constantly dieting or have body or food issues of their own. How we perceive and internalize these childhood messages about our bodies determines our ability to build self-esteem and confidence in our appearance.

(49. Why is a positive body image so important? Psychologists and counselors agree that a negative body image is directly related to self-esteem. The more negative the perception of our bodies. the more negative we feel about ourselves.)

When most people think about body image they think about aspects of physical appearance, attractiveness, and beauty. But body image is much more. It is the mental picture a person has of his/her body as well as their thoughts, feelings, judgments, sensations, awareness and behavior. Body image is developed through interactions with people and the social world. It's our mental picture of ourselves, it's what allows us to become ourselves.

(50. Body image influences behavior. self-esteem, and our psyche. When we feel bad about our body, our satisfaction and mood plummets. If we are constantly trying to push, reshape or remake our bodies, our sense of self becomes unhealthy.) We lose confidence in our abilities. It's not uncommon for people who think poorly of their bodies to have problems in other areas of their lives, including sexuality, careers and relationships.

Paragraph Ten

On your interview day, you should arrive at least half an hour earlier. Tell the secretary at the reception desk about your arranged interview as soon as you get there, and wait in the lounge just to relax. But while waiting, watch your posture. When you name is called, let your interviewer see a candidate full of confidence and ready for nothing else but the interview.

T______ for interviews.

Paragraph Nine

Soil conservation methods help farmers protect their land from the damage caused by farming and the forces of nature. One method of soil conservation is the use of windbreaks. Windbreaks are barriers formed by trees and other plants. Farmers plant these barriers around their fields.

Windbreaks may stop the wind from b_____ soil away.

Paragraph Eight

One of the most influential studies of human performance find that one less hour of sleep is not equal to an extra hour of achievement. In many cases the opposite occurs. When you lose an hour of sleep, it decreases your well-being, productivity, health, and ability to think the following day.

Insufficient sleep, p_______ performance.

Paragraph Seven

Researchers found that of all the forms of inactivity they examined, television-viewing was the worst. It was linked to significantly higher blood pressure in children一the more TV kids watched, the higher their blood pressure一and the effect held true regardless of whether a child was heavy or at a healthy weight.

The c________ between TV watching and high blood pressure in children.

Paragraph Six

Change is the most changeless thing in the universe. We need to accept all changes— welcome or unwelcome — with the understanding that nothing comes to stay, but only to pass. As two things can never occupy the same space at the same time, one change makes way for the next.

Change is i_____.

Paragraph Five

Quite a number of people believe that women's abilities are not so good as men's. As a result, most employers do not choose women to be in charge of important projects. But I think such a view is ridiculous. Everyone is born equal and the ability is cultivated later through education, social action and communication.

The a_______ towards working women should be changed attitude

Paragraph Four

High salaries in the electricity, telecommunications and other monopoly industries have drawn strong criticism in China, where the Gini coefficient now stands at 0.46, exceeding the internationally recognized alarm level of 0.45. So China is considering cutting wages in monopoly industries to reduce the country's widening income gap. A draft directive document has been worked out for this purpose.

A measure taken to n______ the income gap.

Paragraph Three

Researchers tested obese men before and after they joined a one-year modest walking plan. The result: Their blood pressure improved and the amount of body fat around their abdomen一the dangerous kind of fat that leads to higher rates 01 heart disease and diabetes一significantly decreased. 

The amazing e____ of modest walking on health.

Paragraph One

The term "Grit”first appeared on the Canadian political scene in 1849 to describe the more progressive members of the Upper Canada Reform Party. They saw themselves as genuine reformers "ll sand and no dirt, clear grit all the way through," as David Christie, one of the reformers, put it.

O______ of a political term.