1 . Along with its neighbors, Sweden features near the top of most sex-equality rankings. The World Economic Forum rates it as having one of the narrowest sex gaps in the world. Sweden is not only a good place for a woman, but it appears to be one for new dads. Close to ninety percent of Swedish fathers take paternity leave (陪产假). Last year some 340,000 dads took a total of 12 million days’ leave, that is, approximately seven weeks each. Women take even more leave days to spend time with their children, but the gap is shrinking. Why do Swedish dads take so much time off work to raise their children?

Forty years ago Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce a paid parental-leave allowance. Benefits consisted of ninety percent of wages for 180 days per child, and parents were free to share the days between them in whatever way they pleased. But the policy was hardly a hit with dads: in the policy’s first year men took only 0.5% of all paid parental leave.

Today they take a quarter of it. One reason is that the policy has become more generous, with the number of paid leave days for the first child increasing from 180 to 480. In 1995 the first so-called “daddy month” was introduced. Under this reform, families in which each parent took at least one month of leave received an additional month to add to their total allowance. The policy was expanded in 2002 so that if the mother and father each took at least two months’ leave, the family would get two extra months. Some politicians now want to go further, advocating that the present system of shared leave be turned into one of personal rights, under which mothers should be allowed to take only half of the family’s allowance, with the rest reserved for fathers.

Since Swedish men started to take more responsibility for child upbringing, women have seen both their incomes and levels of self-reported happiness increase. Paying dads to change nappies(尿布) and hang out at playgrounds seems to benefit the whole family.

1. What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．Swedish Sex Equality	B．Swedish Fathers’ Paternity Leave
C．Swedish New Dad Policy	D．Swedish New Fathers’ Family Role

2. Why does Sweden appear a good place for new dads?

A．Sweden has the smallest global sex gap.

B．They feed their children instead of mothers.

C．Most of them are provided with paternity leave.

D．Swedish fathers take more leave days than mothers.

3. How has the policy changed over time?

A．Fathers can have longer paternity leave.

B．Paternity leave decreases fathers’ incomes.

C．Fathers take more responsibility than mothers.

D．Leave days are divided equally between parents.

2 . New rules will let millions of Americans know where more of their food comes from．The law is known as COOL—Country of Origin Labeling．
American Congress first passed the law in 2002．Stores have had to label seafood by country of origin since 2005．But industry pressure delayed other requirements until last week．
Products that must now be labeled include fresh fruits and vegetables, muscle meats and some kinds of nuts．But the rules are complex, and many foods are excluded．For example, organ meats are free to be labeled．So are processed foods, including cooked or smoked food．
The United States has imported more and more food in recent years to save money and expand choices．Country-of-origin labeling has become more common lately but has still been limited in many stores．
Food safety is one reason why some shoppers pay close attention to where foods came from．For example, when a large number of people recently got sick from salmonella（沙门菌病）, officials blamed peppers from Mexico．Yet the last big food scare involved spinach （菠菜） grown in California．But labeling is also a way for people to know they are getting what they want．Some want to buy local foods or foods from a particular country．
The country-of-origin labeling law gives stores 30 days to correct any violations that are found．Stores and suppliers that are found to be deliberately violating the law could be fined 1000 dollars per violation．Federal inspectors are not to take action to enforce the law for six months to give time for an education campaign．
Some food safety activists say they are generally pleased with the law．They call it a good step that will give people more useful information．
1. Why has more and more food been imported to the United States in recent years?

A．Because it is economical and provides people with more choices．

B．Because the United States is short of food supply．

C．Because Americans need more and more food recently．

D．Because foreign food is of higher quality than native food．

2. What’s the regulation in the new rules?

A．Stores have to label food by its producing date from now on．

B．The country-of-origin labeling has to be marked on more food．

C．Stores have to label seafood by country of origin．

D．Labeling of food should include more useful information．

3. The new rules of the country-of-origin labeling law will come into effect ______．

A．right now	B．in a month
C．in three months	D．in half a year

4. Consumers are more concerned about where foods came from because ______．

A．they are curious about the country of the food origin

B．they are particular about the tastes of the food

C．they are concerned about food safety and want to get what they want

D．most of the shoppers are food safety activists themselves