1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. highlighting   B. total     C. enriched     D. urgent E. relief     F. perspective   G. ignoring     H. altered I. filling     J. separate   K. downgraded

Chinese Women Bridging Gap

Zhang Jianli used to employ only male workers on his construction sites throughout Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Now with large quantities of work but inadequate manpower, Mr. Zhang has     1    his mind. He offers daily wages of roughly 160 yuan for women workers to do such routine work as moving wood and bricks, and up to 200 yuan a day for     2    or complicated jobs.

A labor shortage is pushing employers to hire more women to build high-rises, maintain rail tracks and drive trucks, among other roles. Chinese women are     3     the labor shortage. They are increasingly taking on heavy-labor jobs long dominated by men in construction or transportation,     4     traditional gender roles.

Women’s presence on construction sites has grown a lot. As a consequence, employers have set up     5     living spaces and bathrooms for them. About one-third of the workers on some construction sites in major cities are women, according to estimates by researchers who study China’s labor and gender issues. Just eight years ago, women accounted for just over one-tenth of the     6     , according to a survey of over 6,000 construction workers in nine cities. Over time, the types of jobs performed by women have been     7     —truck driving and machine handling added to their working list.

State media, in recent years, have praised the roles of women working as truck drivers and construction workers,     8    their contribution to the economy. In July, Xinhua News Agency featured Xu Yingying, a kind-hearted woman truck driver, who delivered     9    materials to the virus-stricken Hubei province three times within nine days last year. “Having lived through so much, I feel that the best status of a woman is being self-independent, living to become a beam of light and warming others,” she shared her     10    in the video.