There have been great changes in the lives of women. During the twentieth century ,there was an unusual shortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have about eight children, of whom about five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances(家用电器) and convenience(方便) foods.

This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards, return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each them.

45．Women marrying at the end of the 19th century ________.

A. would have fewer children than those today.

B. would have more children than those today.

C. lived as hard as those in the 20th century

D. lived more comfortably than those in the 20th century

46． According to the passage, a woman in the 19th century would likely to have about eight children and _______.

A. only about three of them could live more than five years old.

B. only about three of them could live for five years.

C. about eight children lived to be more than five years.

D. about eight children lived to be less than five years.

47． From the second paragraph, we know _______.

A. women today are not willing to run their home together with their husbands.

B. women today wouldn’t like to do any housework.

C. women today will return to work after they have their babies.

D. were unlikely to find jobs like the mothers before .

48．According to the passage, which of the following is right ?

A. in the past most women often stay at home after leaving school

B. women today like to marry men younger than themselves

C. women today are playing important parts in work and family life.

D. husbands today needn’t do any work at home.

Job sharing refers to the situation in which two people divide the responsibility of one full-time job. The people willingly act as part-time workers, enough hours between them to fulfill the duties of a full-time worker. If they each work half the job, for example, they each receive 50 percent of the job’s wages, its holidays and its other benefits.

Job sharing differs from conventional(常规的) part-time work in that it occurs mainly in the more highly skilled and professional areas, which require higher levels of responsibility and employee commitment.

Job sharing should not be confused with the term work sharing, which refers to increasing the number of jobs by reducing the number of hours of each existing job, thus offering more positions to the growing number of unemployed people. Job sharing by contrast, is not designed to address the growing number of unemployed people. Job sharing, by contrast, is not designed to address unemployment problems; its focus, rather is to provide well-paid work for skilled workers and professionals who want more free time for other activities.

As would be expected, most job sharers are women. A survey carried out in 1988 by Britain’s Equal Opportunities Commission showed that 78 per cent of sharers were female, the majority of whom were between 20 and 40 years of age. Subsequent studies have come up with similar results. Many of these women were re-entering the job market after having had children, but they chose not to seek part-time work because it would have meant lower status. Job sharing also offered an acceptable shift back into full-time work after a long absence.

The necessity of close cooperation when sharing a job with another person makes the actual work quite different from conventional one-position jobs. However, to ensure a greater chance that the partnership will succeed, each person needs to know the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of his or her partner before applying for a position. Moreover, there must be a fair division of both routine tasks and interesting ones. In sum, for a position to be job-shared well, the two individuals must be well matched and must treat each other as equals.

1.In what way is work sharing different from job sharing?

A．Work sharing requires more working hours.

B．Work sharing is aimed at creating more jobs.

C．Work sharing provides a more satisfactory salary.

D．Work sharing depends on the employer’s decision.

2.According to paragraph4, young mothers preferred job sharing to conventional part-time work mainly because______.

A．they sought higher social status

B．they were over ideal working ages

C．they had difficulty finding full-time jobs

D．they had to take care of both work and family

3.In job sharing the partners should ______.

A．enjoy equal social status

B．have similar work experience

C．keep in touch with each other

D．know each other very well