Forty years ago, when Marilyn Loden, then 31 and a manager at a telephone company, made a speech at the 1978 Women's Exposition, she didn't know that a phrase she came up with on that day would still be alive after all these years. "It seemed to me there was an invisible barrier to advancement that people didn't recognize," Loden said at the expo when talking about how hard it was for women to climb the career ladder. And that barrier, according to her, could all be boiled down to one phrase-" glass ceiling".
Since then, there have been major advances in gender equality. We've seen women achieving bigger and bigger things in cinema, education, politics and even business. But sadly, there's one field that's still run mainly by men: science.
That's why it was inspiring when Zhang Miman, 82, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was given a L'OreaI-UNESCO For Women in Science award on March 22.
According to China Daily, the number of women working in science around the world has increased by 12 percent in the past 20 years. But even so, the glass ceiling is still there. Indeed, less than 30 percent of researchers are women, and only 3 percent of Nobel Prizes for Science have been awarded to women.
Of course, it has little to do with the stereotype (思维定势) that "women are bad at science". In fact, a study found that nearly half of the "highly qualified" scientists and engineers in the US are women.
"Since so few are in the upper ranks, there aren't female instructor to guide women through challenges and support them for promotions," wrote Tara Weiss on Forbes.
May 24 marks the 40th anniversary of the phrase "glass ceiling". Even though the ceiling is still there, things are changing. And with Zhang winning her award, one more crack has been added to the ceiling.
12. Why does the author introduce Marilyn Loden at the beginning of the text?
A.To attract readers' attention. |
B.To introduce the topic of the text. |
C.To make Loden well-known. |
D.To amuse readers with Loden's story. |
13. What does the underlined phrase "glass ceiling" in the first paragraph refer to?
A.the good news for women to be promoted. |
B.the shortest way for women to succeed. |
C.the unseen barriers for women to advance. |
D.the unknown advantages for women to develop. |
14. What can be inferred from paragraph 4, 5 and 6?
A.Women scientists have very high status in the world. |
B.Women are naturally not good at science at all. |
C.Women's liberation in science still has a long way to go. |
D.Women don't like challenges in career. |
15. What is the author's purpose in writing the text?
A.To praise Zhang Miman. |
B.To remember Marilyn Loden. |
C.To encourage women to break the barrier. |
D.To introduce a phrase "glass ceiling". |