Part II Reading Comprehension 4—1
Passage 1
The Tokyo District Court, in a ruling(大本钟四有好老师的标准裁决) last week, ordered the bank to pay the women a total of almost $900 000 and declared that the 11 of the 12 plaintiffs(原告) must be promoted to management positions immediately. It was the first time a Japane court has held against an employer liable for denying promotions becau of gender and a landmark ruling in a country where women face discrimination in nearly every aspect of their lives.
The working conditions faced by the women at the bank are similar to tho faced by millions of others across Japan. More than 99 percent of the bank’s managers were men; overall in Japan, only 4 percent of managers are women, compared with more than 40 percent in the US.
In their suit, filed more than nine years ago, the women argued that most of the bank’s 200 female employees were expected to rve tea to their male colleagues. College educat
ed women with up to 40 years’ niority were stuck in jobs counting coins or answering phones, while men were usually promoted to management within 15 years.
The “glass ceiling” for women in the workplace has long been decried in the US, but that ceiling is t veral stories lower in Japan. Women who do succeed face more subtle pressures. They are routinely encouraged to quit their jobs when they have children. Tho who choo to stay at work, or not to marry, are subjected to heavy pressure from boss and coworkers to follow a more “normal” cour.
Nonetheless in recent years more women have postponed marriage, even rejected it altogether, and stayed in the workplace. And as they do, pressure is building from Japane women who want the kind of opportunities available to their American and European counterparts. In 1990, a Japane court for the first time ruled that unequal pay for women and men doing the same work was illegal. The new ruling against Japan’s systematic denial of management positions to women is expected to boost the chances of at least 10 similar suits that have been filed against other employers.
高中生自我陈述成方园
21. The women filed a suit against the bank becau ________.
A) they wanted to have a pay ri B) their working conditions were very bad everywhere in Japan
爆浆巧克力蛋糕
C) they were denied promotions being women D) there were too many male employees in the bank
宝梵寺
22. According to the passage, female employees in Japan________.
A) are more highly educated than men B) enjoy giving rvice to their male colleagues
e团建C) are less likely to be promoted than their U.S. counterparts D) must work for 40 years before they get promotion
23. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
A) The ceiling of a hou in Japan is much lower than that in the U.S.
B) In Japan, there exists gender discrimination in almost all walks of life.
C) Women in Japan tend to marry older nowadays.
D) It was not illegal before 1990 to underpay women doing the same work as men.
24. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A) successful women have fewer children than ordinary women
B) American female employees are also not equally treated
凤山公园C) women in America usually quit their jobs when they have children
D) women who choo not to marry may have better opportunities to be promoted
25. The best title for this passage would be ________.
A) Pressures Women Face B) Successful Women and Marriage
C) Means to Management Positions D) A Ruling — A New Start
Passage 2
Questions 26 to 30 are bad on the following passage:
The English language is the lingua franca of business to an extent not imaginable even a decade ago. Three-quarters of the world’s mail, telexes and cables are in English. And each of tho figures is growing.
English is now the official language of a number of international companies. The EFTA organization has English as its official language despite the fact that none of its six member countries us it as a native language. The European Community (EC), by contrast, so complicates its affairs by using all nine official languages that 60% of its administration budget goes on translation and interpretation, despite the fact that most of its staff speak English or French.
The first foreign language the Japane learn is English. Every Japane child who finishes condary school will have had an average of eight years of English language in
struction, for a total of 1,000 hours. There are over 700 English language training schools in Tokyo alone, as many as there are in all of England. A further 13,000 Japane students undertake cours, many of which emphasize language as well as technical skills, in America. The shortage of Japane managers able to speak other European languages is far greater, that is a major factor in attracting Japane firms to Britain rather than anywhere el in the EC.
26. According to the author, the English language ________.
A) has been the lingua franca for a decade B) began to be ud in business one decade ago
C) has been more widely ud in business in recent years D) was not imaginable to be ud in business ten years ago
