文章大意:这是一篇议论文。文章主要讲述了由于经济不景气,越来越多的男性选择了传统上女性专属的一些职业。这种趋势好坏参半,一些支持者认为,这些职业因男性的加入待遇也得到了提高,也有人抱怨因为男性的加入,女性地位受到威胁。
More and more men are taking up occupations traditionally dominated by females. Searching for more meaningful work or simply desperate for a check in a sluggish economy, they are applying in increasing numbers for jobs or training in nursing, child care and housekeeping. The jobs are often crying out for more applicants and offer solid pay. There’s downside, though, including nicknames like “murses” for male nurses and “mannies” for nannies. The pop-culture stereotyping is hard to shake.
There may be strength in the shifting numbers. Men account for 5.4% of registered nurses, up from 2.7% in 1980—still a small number, but they represent 9% of nursing school students, and schools say applications have been allowed. In public schools, just 26% of teachers are men. But males account for about a third of students in training courses for teachers in New York City and Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, 43% of applicants for those courses are men. In Washington, a rush of men is hitting employment agencies like Help Unlimited, which says males account for half its placements in secretarial and administrative temporary jobs. Maria Raimo of Elite Nannies in New York City says, “Male applications are way up in the past year. I have people who used to work at IBM and other companies registering as housemen, companions for the elderly”.
For women, the trend is a mixed blessing. Some advocates have long argued that pay in fields like childcare and teaching would not rise much until men moved into them. But in today’s high unemployment, some women are worried that men are muscling into the last reliable sources of jobs for females. With men around, for women “it’s like being an apprentice who never becomes a skilled worker,” says Tina Abbott, secretary-treasurer in Michigan. Certainly the job market remains inactive. Overall unemployment rose again in April and half of all job seekers have switched industries over the past year. Given that the industries with the most openings include nursing and teaching, notes CEO John Challenger, “artificial barriers like gender begin to break down when people have to make ends meet”.
4. The underlined word “sluggish” most probably means ________.
A.modern | B.old | C.weak | D.growing |
5. Men are doing the female-dominated jobs partly because they are ________.
A.easy | B.highly paid | C.steady paying | D.comfortable |
6. What does Tina Abbott mean by saying the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?
A.Women will lose their traditional jobs. |
B.Men will not be skillful in women’s jobs. |
C.Men will find it hard to do women’s jobs. |
D.Women will have less advantage in their jobs. |
7. What is the best title for the text?
A.Women’s Worries | B.Male-to-Female-Job Trend |
C.Men Posing Threat to Women | D.Fast-growing Job Market |