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(A)

Todays dad spends more hours on childcare than a dad a generation ago. But he still lags behind(落后于) the modern-day mom, even when her wages are equal, a new study reports. Researchers found that the number of hours a mother spent at work had no effect on the amount of time a father devoted to childcare during the week. Similarly, a mothers income had very little influence on a fathers involvement in childcare. On weekends, however, fathers spent more time with their children. Despite womens increasing role in the labor market, most mothers remain the primary caregivers of young children on weekdays.

Researchers found that fathers spent an average of 2.5 hours on a weekday and about 6 hours on a weekend with their children. This included time spent playing together or doing schoolwork, personal care such as bathing and feeding. On weekdays, children spent one-third less time with their fathers than with their mothers, but on weekends the time gap closed and kids spent only 13% more time with their mothers than with their fathers. Children of women who made more money spent more time with their fathers on weekends, however. “The good news is that as women become equal contributing partners, the relative involvement of fathers does increase,” one researcher said. “The bad news is that men still do less on traditional womens jobs—(taking care of) babies, dishes, etc.”

In other findings, fathers with some college education spent 17 more minutes per weekday with their children than dads without any college education. Fathers who made more money spent less time with children on weekdays, but the amount of time was fairly small. “Our findings suggest that although mothers still shoulder most parenting, fathers involvement relative to that of mothers appears to be on the increase,” the researchers concluded. “A ‘new father role is emerging on weekends in families.”

1． The underlined word “This” in the second paragraph refers to ____.

A． the study reported in the text

B． the role a father plays in childcare

C． time a father spends with his children on weekends

D． time a father spends with his children during the whole week

2． Which of the following explains a fathers increasing involvement in childcare? ____.

A． Womens liberation movement B． The kind of job women do

C． The kind of job fathers do D． A mothers income

3． Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the text? ____.

A． Fathers are more involved but mothers are still main caregivers

B． Children need care from both parents in a family

C． Education is the key to the improvement of womens good health and happiness

D． Women have become equal contributing partners of income in a family

4． Which of the words below best describes the researchers attitude towards a “new father” role? ____.

A． Surprised B． Pleased C． Disappointed D． Dissatisfied

(B)

Last year my husband developed a terrible disease. Dale became fearful of going anywhere alone or of being alone as some of his seizures（發作） were quite severe, even putting him in the hospital on three separate occasions.

We decided that a trained medical service dog would greatly help Dale. It would be a companion for Dale, and the dog would be trained to stay with him. If he had a seizure, with a service dog beside a downed person, others could see and would be more likely to help.

A local person sold us a black Labrador puppy at a reduced price. Nevaeh was eight weeks old when we got her. At that point, we turned to the local papers for help. We hoped that getting Dales story out would help raise funds to pay for the puppys training. Dale has been on disability, and his need to have someone with him at all times means I can not work either. We dont have a lot of money left over at the end of the month.

Fundraising started off with the help of family donations, but we had a long way to go. Then one day there was a knock at the door. I went to answer it; a stranger stood there holding the newspaper article about Dale in her hand. She introduced herself as June and told me that her daughters dog had warned her of a cancer she never knew she had, probably saving her life. Now, she felt obliged to help our dog because a dog had helped her. She shocked us when she gave us $100! We never expected such caring and kindness from a complete stranger.

Dale had been feeling the world didnt care, but this help renewed his faith. The next thing that happened was that Dale emailed local vets, asking for care for our puppy. We received a response from Dr. Noonan, who has since provided Nevaehs care for free. The staff and the vet are the most loving, caring people we have met. They even helped us find a local trainer who cut the training costs by more than half. If it werent for such amazing people, Dale probably would have become a total recluse, feeling he could never go anywhere alone.

1． Why did the couple think a medical service dog would be of great help? ____.

A． Dale would not be so lonely, and would get well again soon

B． It could accompany Dale and in a seizure, it could save Dale

C． People are more likely to save a person if he is a dog lover

D． It could accompany Dale, and when a seizure came, it could attract people to help

2． What made Dale gain confidence again? ____.

A． Getting a service dog

B． A ladys offering an amount of money to him

C． The vets offering to help

D． His being able to go anywhere

3． Why did the couple think the staff and the vet are the most loving, caring people they have met? ____.

A． They provided the puppys care for free

B． They trained the puppy for the couple

C． They provided the puppy's care for free and cut the training cost

by half

D． They not only provided the puppy's care for free but also found a

trainer with less than half the cost

4． What does the underlined sentence “She felt obliged to help…” mean? ____.

A． She felt it a duty to help B． She felt she was forced to help

C． She felt willing to help D． She felt grateful to help

5． What is the purpose of writing this passage? ____.

A． To show how important a good service dog is

B． To show a united family is important

C． To show thanks to those kind people

D． To encourage people not to give up

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