英语口语高级训练(lesson18)a

Lesson 18 Should Women Be Treated the Same as Men？
　　Text For Women, There Is a Long Way to Go One-third of the people at work in Britain are women. By 1975 they will, by law, be on a footing of equal pay with men. Their prospects¹ of reaching the top, however, are still far from equal. A recently-published study called Women in Top Jobs examines why this should be so. For the purposes of this study four researchers, two men and two women, chose women in top management in two business organizations and women in senior jobs in the BBC and the Civil Service. In their findings they found that although there are conventional and entrenched² attitudes on both sides, there is a widespread awareness³ that no society can afford not to utilise ability. The studies confirm that there is no basic difference be tween the standards and quality of work performance of women who have reached top jobs and those of men in similar positions. Nevertheless, there emerged some distinctive⁴ factors in the performance of women in top jobs. Women were less interested in empire-building, in office politics, in status symbols. They are likely to be less forceful and competitive than men.
　　In the past, women tended to assume they would be overtaken y men in the race to the top. However, today's young women are far less philosophical⁵ about their status and are more aggressive in their resentment⁶ at being treated as in some way inferior to men. On the other hand, since lack of drive is one of the criticisms levelled against women, perhaps this aggression⁷ is a positive advantage. Some young women, though, find it very difficult to come to terms with the feeling hat characteristics of authority which are acceptable in men are often not acceptable in women.
　　A reason often advanced for women failing to reach the top is their desire for balance between work and a life outside work. Employers know this and tend, when a woman with young children applies for promotion⁸, to treat the fact that she has young children as an important factor and, given the choice, are more likely to give promotion to a man than to her. What about women whose children are almost grown up？ Well, the writers of the study recommend a much more positive approach by employers to women who want to return to their careers after their children are off their hands.
　　II.Read Read t6e following passages. Underline the important viewpoints while reading. 1. What Women's Lib Is about
　　Women's Lib is short for the Women's Liberation Movement which got its name in America some years ago. Its supporters demand their freedom and equality with men. In this dialogue Sheila believes in Women's Lib while Harry⁹ has his doubts.  Harry：   I've never understood what this Women's Lib business is all about.I can understand women in some countries struggling for their rights. But it strikes me that here in Britain women havc already？got as much freedom as they could possibly want. They've got the vote, they can go to university, they can compete with men in the professions on equal terms……
　　Sheila：   Rubbishl You're fooling yourself. How many women members of Parliament are there？ About 30 out of 635. How many women company directors？ How many trade union leaders？ How many judges？
　　Harry：   Not many, I agree. But why is that？ Maybe their talents don't lie in those directions. Perhaps they prefer to be housewives. Sheila：   Prefer to be housewives？ You can't have any idea what it's like, when you've been married fifteen years and you've cleaned a house every day； then your husband and kids come along and mess it all up again. Can you imagine the monotony, the boredom¹⁰, the frustration¹¹？
　　Harry：   Oh yes, I can imagine it easily enough. But don't forget that a lot of  , men have equally boring jobs and less freedom to do them their own way.But that's beside the point； the real point is that most housewives in my experience, are“ content to be housewives. Take my wife Jane, for example. She's not bored or frustrated¹²； she finds her life quite satisfying； she cleans, cooks, gardens……
　　Sheila：   Oh I'm aware of that.That's because over the centuries men have trained and educated women to consider themselves inferior and to accept their position. It isn't just the men who are piejudiced against the women. The women have become prejudiced against themselves.They believe they really are inferior. Harry：   You mean they've been conditioned to accept. an inferior position. Sheila：   Exactly； they've been brainwashed. It's the job of the Women's I.ib movement to open their eyes to the way they have been fooled and dominated and exploited all these years. Harry：   So you want to take all these nice contented¹³ women and make them discontent and rebellious¹⁴？
　　Sheila：   Right. Harry：   I see. Well, I don't accept that the present system is the result of conditioning or brain washing at all. It's the natural biological function of a woman first to bring children into the world and then to bring them up. That is how the animals do it. In the Stone Age, when we were cavemen, the women stayed at home in the cave and the men, being stronger and braver, went out to hunt.Now the men go out.and earn money instead.The Women's Lib movement denies woman her natural function.I'm not saying that wotnan's function is necessarily inferior； but I am saying that it's.not the same. Sheila：   So if something happened in the Stone Age it was “natural” and so it would be perfectly¹⁵ right and proper and “natural” to go and do it now. I suppose if a man thinks he wants a woman all he has to do is go out and knock one on the head with his club and drag her home by the hair. Or maybe swop her with his pal¹⁶ for a couple of tiger-skins？
　　Harry：   Don't be silly. We've grown out of that sort of barbarity . Sheila：   I should jolly well hope so too. Anyway all this Stone Age stuff is a myth made up by men. For all we know, Stone Age women were the top dogs. Harry：   All right, let's drop the Stone Age. Let's come down to the modern British family. I suppose you want to abolish it？
　　Sheila：   No, but I want to reorganize it； I believe that the housework and the bringing up of the children should be shared equally. Harry：   How？ The husband should wash up, presumably. Sheila：   Of course. Harry：   Well, I do that at my house； and I fill up the stove and mow¹⁷ the lawn and dig the garden. Sheila：   Naturally. Those are men's jobs, anyway. Harry：   Oh！ I didn't think you.believed in men's jobs' and women's jobs' Anyway I do quite a lot of the shopping. Sheila：   Fancy that！
　　Harry：   And in my time I've bathed a few babies. Sheila：   And changed nappies？
　　Harry：   Both changed them and washed them. Sheila：   Well, all I can say is you must be pretty unusual. My husband's never touched a nappy in his life.
　　Harry：   I wouldn't say it was all that unusual. There are plenty of men in England who do the same as I do. Maybe that's why our wives are so satisfied. Now suppose we all did the same and there were enough nursery schools and so on and all the women who wanted to work could do so, what would you say to that？
　　Sheila：   Well……
　　Harry：   Now suppose I was to stay at home and do all the housework and look after the children while my wife went out to work. What would you think about that？
　　Sheila：   I'd approve of it. Harry：   And you'd be willing for her to do any job at all？
　　Sheila：   Anything she was strong enough to do. Harry：   Good. Now some time last century a law was passed making it illegal for women to work down the coalmines. You would like that law abolished？
　　Sheila：   Certainly. Harry：   I hope you won't want men to open doors for you and give up their seats in the bus for you. Sheila：   Of course not, as long as I'm fit. Harry：   In fact, in return for equality you would give up all these special allowances formerly¹⁸ made for the so-called weaker sex？
　　Sheila：   If I'm going to be logical, yes. Harry：   Well, if women are going to be logical, that will be progress.