随着社会的发展，妇女在社会中扮演着越来越重要的位置。关于男女平等的问题也是我们一直探讨的问题，今天的英语话题就是：男女平等。

Should Women Be Treated the Same as Men?

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For Women, There Is a Long Way to Go

One-third of the people at work in Britain are women. By 1975 they will, by law, be on a footing of equal pay with men. Their prospects of reaching the top, however, are still far from equal.

A recently-published study called Women in Top Jobs examines why this should be so. For the purposes of this study four researchers, two men and two women, chose women in top management in two business organizations and women in senior jobs in the BBC and the Civil Service. In their findings they found that although there are conventional and entrenched attitudes on both sides, there is a widespread awareness that no society can afford not to utilise ability.

The studies confirm that there is no basic difference be tween the standards and quality of work performance of women who have reached top jobs and those of men in similar positions. Nevertheless, there emerged some distinctive factors in the performance of women in top jobs. Women were less interested in empire-building, in office politics, in status symbols. They are likely to be less forceful and competitive than men.

In the past, women tended to assume they would be overtaken y men in the race to the top. However, today's young women are far less philosophical about their status and are more aggressive in their resentment at being treated as in some way inferior to men. On the other hand, since lack of drive is one of the criticisms levelled against women, perhaps this aggression is a positive advantage. Some young women, though, find it very difficult to come to terms with the feeling hat characteristics of authority which are acceptable in men are often not acceptable in women.

A reason often advanced for women failing to reach the top is their desire for balance between work and a life outside work. Employers know this and tend, when a woman with young children applies for promotion, to treat the fact that she has young children as an important factor and, given the choice, are more likely to give promotion to a man than to her.

What about women whose children are almost grown up? Well, the writers of the study recommend a much more positive approach by employers to women who want to return to their careers after their children are off their hands.

II.Read

Read t6e following passages. Underline the important viewpoints while reading.

1. What Women's Lib Is about

Women's Lib is short for the Women's Liberation Movement which got its name in America some years ago. Its supporters demand their freedom and equality with men.

In this dialogue Sheila believes in Women's Lib while Harry has his doubts.

　

Harry: I've never understood what this Women's Lib business is all about.I can

understand women in some countries struggling for their rights. But it

strikes me that here in Britain women havc already?got as much freedom

as they could possibly want. They've got the vote, they can go to

university, they can compete with men in the professions on equal

terms...

Sheila: Rubbishl You're fooling yourself. How many women members of Parliament

are there? About 30 out of 635. How many women company directors? How

many trade union leaders? How many judges?

　



Harry: Not many, I agree. But why is that? Maybe their talents don't lie in

those directions. Perhaps they prefer to be housewives.

Sheila: Prefer to be housewives? You can't have any idea what it's like,

when you've been married fifteen years and you've cleaned a house every

day; then your husband and kids come along and mess it all up again.

Can you imagine the monotony, the boredom, the frustration?

Harry: Oh yes, I can imagine it easily enough. But don't forget that a lot of ,

men have equally boring jobs and less freedom to do them their own

way.But that's beside the point; the real point is that most housewives

in my experience, are" content to be housewives. Take my wife Jane, for

example. She's not bored or frustrated; she finds her life quite

satisfying; she cleans, cooks, gardens...

　



Sheila: Oh I'm aware of that.That's because over the centuries men have trained

and educated women to consider themselves inferior and to accept

their position. It isn't just the men who are piejudiced against the

women. The women have become prejudiced against themselves.They

believe they really are inferior.

Harry: You mean they've been conditioned to accept. an inferior position.

Sheila: Exactly; they've been brainwashed. It's the job of the Women's I.ib

movement to open their eyes to

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