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Section C
Directions：There are 2 passages in this section．Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A.，B)，C)and D.You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answe，．
Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre．
Passage One
Questions 56 t0 60 are based on the following passage．
The endless debate about“work—life balance”often contains a hopeful footnote about stay at home dads．If American society and business won’t make it easier on future female leaders who choose to have children，there is still the ray of hope that increasing numbers of full—time fathers will．But based on today’s socioeconomic trends，this hope is，unfortunately，misguided．
It’s true that the number of men who have left work to do their thing as full—time parents has doubled in a decade，but it’s still very small：only 0．8％of married couples where the stay—at—horne father was out of the labor force for a year．Even that percentage is likely inflated by men thrust into their caretaker role by a downsizing．This is simply not a large enough group to reduce the social stigma(污名)and force other adjustments necessary to supporting men in this decision．even if onlywork more than their family．
Even shorter times away from work for working fathers are already difficult．A study found that 85％of new fathers take some time off after the birth of a child—but for all but a few．it’s a week or two at most． Meanwhile，the average for women who take leave is more than lo weeks．
Such choices impact who moves up in the organization．While you’re away，someone else is doing your work，making your sales，taking care of your customers．That can’t help you at work．It can only hurt you．Women，of course，face the same issues of returning after a long absence．But with many more women than men choosing to leave the workforce entirely to raise families，returning from an extended parental leave doesn’t raise as many eyebrows as it does for men．
Women would make more if they didn’t break their earning trajectory(轨迹)by leaving the workforce，or if higher-paying professions were more family friendly．In the foreseeable future，Stay at home fathers may make all the difference for individual families．but their presence won’t reduce the numbers of high potential women who are forced to choose between family and career．
56．What gives women a ray of hope to achieve work life balance?
A.More men taking an extended parental leave．
B.People’s changing attitudes towards family．
C.More women entering business management．
D.The improvement of their socioeconomic status．
57．Why does the author say the hope for more full—time fathers is misguided?
A.Women are better at taking care of children．
B.Many men value work more than their family．
C.Their number is too small to make a difference．
D.Not many men have the chance to stay at home．
58．Why do few men take a long parental leave?
A.A long leave will have a negative impact on their career．
B.They just have too many responsibilities to fulfill at work．
C.The economic loss will be too much for their family to bear．
D.They are likely to get fired if absent from work for too lon9．
59．What is the most likely reaction to men returning from an extended parental leave?
A.Jealousy．
B.Surprise
C.Admiration
D.Sympathy．
60．What does the author say about high-potential women in the not—too-distant future?
A.They will benefit from the trend of more fathers staying at home．
B.They will find high—paying professions a bit more family—friendly．
C.They are unlikely to break their career trajectory to raise a family．
D.They will still face the difficult choice between career and children．
Passage Two
Questions 61 tO 65 are based on the following passage．
Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines．One example comes from agriculture．Food riots and hunger make news．But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about．This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world’s major crops．A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where．and how far．this decline is occurring．
The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops：rice，wheat，corn and soyabeans(大豆)．They find that on between 24％ and 39％ of all harvested areas，the improvement in yields that took place before the l980s slowed down in the l990s and 2000s．There are two worrying features of the slowdown．One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous(人口多的)countries，India and China．Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets．
That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse．Second，yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in coll and soyabeans．This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods，accounting for around half of all calories consumed．Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains．The authors note that“we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world．”
The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050，as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued． Instead，it says，thanks to slowing population growth，land currently ploughed up for crops might be able to revert(回返)to forest or wilderness．This could happen．The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields which may not actually happen
61．What does the author try to draw attention to?
A.Food riots and hunger in the world．
B.News headlines in the leading media．
C.The decline of the grain yield growth．
D.The food supply in populous countries．
62．Why does the author mention India and China in particular?
A.Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets．
B.Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years．
C.Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns．
D 1 Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted．
63．What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts?
A. They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the l980s．
B.They contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production．
C.They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world．
D.They focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains．
64．What does the Food and Agriculture Organisation say about world food production in the coming decades?
A.The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies．
B.The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution．
C. The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be"reversed．
D.The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland．
65．How does the author view the argument of the Food and Agriculture Organisation?
A.It is built on the findings of a new study．
B.It is based on a doubtful assumption．
C.It is backed by strong evidence．
D. It is open to further discussion．
