An Observation and an Explanation

It is worth looking at one or two aspects of the way a mother behaves towards her baby. The usual fondling, cuddling and cleaning require little comment, but the position in which she holds the baby against her body when resting is rather revealing. Careful studies have shown the fact that 80 percent of mothers hold their infants in their left arms, holding them against the left side of their bodies. If asked to explain the significance of this preference most people reply that it is obviously the result of the predominance of right-handedness in the population. By holding the babies in their left arms, the mothers keep their dominant arm free for manipulations, But a detaileed analysis shows that this is not the case. True, there is a slight difference between right-handed and left-handed femates; but not enough to provide adequate explanation. It emerges that 83 percent of right-handed mothers hold the baby on the left side, but so do 78 percent of left-handed mothers. In other words, only 22 percent of the left-handed mothers have their dominant hands free for actions. Clearly there must be some other, less obvious explanation.

The only other clue comes from the fact that the heart is on the side of the mother's body. Could it be that the sound of her heartbeat is the vital factor? And in what way? Thinking along these lines it was argued that perhaps during its existence inside the body of the mother the unborn baby get used to the sound of the heart beat. If this is so, then the re-discovery of this familiar sound after birth might have a claiming effect on the infant, especially as it has just been born into a strange and frighteningly new world. If this is so then the mother would, somehow, soon arrive at the discovery that her baby is more at peace if held on the left against her heart than on the right.

16. We can learn a lot by observing the position in which a mother holds her baby against her body.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

17. Most left-handed women feel comfortable by holding their babies in their left arm and keep the right arm free.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

18. The number of right-handed mothers who hold the baby on the left side exceeds that of left-handed ones by 22％.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

19. The fact that most left-handed mothers hold the baby on their left side renders the first explanation unsustainable.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

20. The fact that the heart is on the left side of the mother's body provides the most convincing explanation of all.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

21. A baby held in the right arm of its mother can be easily frightened.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

22. The writer's explanation of the phenomenon is supported by the fact that babies tend to be more peaceful if held in their mothers' left arms than in the right arms.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

Women's Rights Movement

1Women's rights are guarantees of political, social, and economic equality for women in a society that traditionally gives more power and freedom to men. Among these rights are control of property, equality of opportunity in education and employment, right of voting, and freedom of marriage. Today, complete political, economic, and social equality with men remains to be achieved.

2Male control was obvious from the time of the earliest written historical records, probably as a result of men's role in hunting and warfare. The belief that women were naturally weaker and inferior to men was also found in god-centered religions. Therefore, in most traditional societies, women generally were at a disadvantage. Their education was limited to learning domestic skills, and they had no access to positions of power. A woman had no legal control over her person, her own land and money, or her children.

3The Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, which caused economic and social progress, provided a favorable climate for the rise of women's rights movement in the late 18th and 19th century. In 1848 more than 100 persons held the first women's rights convention in New York, and the feminists demanded equal rights, including the vote.

4In the late 1960s women made up about 40 percent of the work force in England, France, Germany, and the United States. This figure rose to more than 50 percent by the mid-1981s. A commission under the President was established in 1960 to consider equal opportunities for women. Acts of Congress entitled them to equality in education, employment, and legal rights. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act, initially intended only for blacks was extended to women.

5The objectives of the women's movement included equal pay for equal work, federal support for day-care centers, recognition of lesbian(女性同性戀) rights, making abortion legal, and the focus of serious attention on the problems of forced sex relations, wife and child beating, and discrimination against older and minority women.

23Paragraph 2 ___________

24Paragraph 3 ___________

25Paragraph 4 ___________

26Paragraph 5 ___________

AGoals

BHistory of Women's Rights Movement

CStart of Women's Rights Movement

DTraditional Status of Women

ERights of Women

FDevelopment

27In some religions, women were considered ___________.

28Traditionally the law did not allow women to have the control over ___________.

29Women's rights movement started in the ___________.

30Acts of Congress gave women the right of ___________.

Alate 18th century

Bequal education and employment with men

Cweaker and lower in social position

Dearly 20th century

Eher children

Fthe rights of voting

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