In both rich and poor countries, poverty most often has a feminine face. It is bad enough in America: according to the Census Bureau 14.1% of women live in poverty, compared with 11.1% of men. In the developing world, the situation is much worse. By some estimates 70% of the world's poor are women and the depth of their deprivation, which often involves subsisting on less than $2 a day, makes American poverty look positively benign.

   The World Bank would like this to change. Late in February, together with the OECD and several European governments, it convened a conference in Berlin on increasing the economic power of women. The bank reckons that restricting women's participation in the economy is not merely unfair, but bad economics. To put matters right it has released a “Gender Action Plan”, which calls for better data and a harder push for World Bank schemes that seek to move women into the economic mainstream.

   Currently, the World Bank says that women earn an average of 22% less than men, and have much less access to credit; in Africa, for example, they receive just 1% of the credit going to the agricultural sector. Changing this could have an enormous impact on deprivation around the world. This is why Grameen Bank, among other poverty-fighting institutions, has chosen to focus its efforts on women. Almost all of its borrowers are women, and the micro-lender tries to ensure that its loans raise the economic status of women within their families by ensuring, for example, that ownership of houses built with Grameen loans staying with the women.

   There is also evidence that giving women more financial power fosters economic development. Where men control most of the finances, it is more likely that households will distribute what they have unequally between male and female children, leaving the female family members with insufficient resources to meet basic needs. This, in turn, can hinder development of both mind and body. Giving women economic power can significantly alter decision-making in ways that improve general welfare. Households where women contribute a significant portion of the revenue spend more money on food and childcare and less on alcohol and tobacco.

   But the World Bank may have cause and effect reversed. Does liberating women promote economic growth or does economic growth spur women's liberation? In an economy where adding economic value involves muscle power, women are bound to be paid less, and valued less, than men even before the effects of childbirth and childcare are taken into account. And in most societies, lower economic value translates into reduced social and political status.

   The experience of developed countries certainly seems to indicate that economic growth is profoundly liberating for women. As the value of brute force falls opportunities in the labour market for women grow. Modern contraceptives, and labour-saving appliances, make it easier for them to take paid work. And with that comes economic and political power. There is a strong argument that women's liberation movement owes less to the “feminine mystique” than to the dishwashers and washing machines that reduced household drudgery. If so the bank would do better to concentrate on spurring economic growth rather than fretting about gender.

  注（1）：本文選自Economist， 03/03/2007

   注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象2004年真題Text 1。

   1． Why does the author claim that poverty has a feminine face?

    [A] Because women are in general poorer than men.

    [B] Because the world’s poorest people are all women.

    [C] Because the poverty rate among women are higher than men.

    [D] Because women earn less money then men

   2． Which of the following is NOT the oppinion of the World Bank?

    [A] It is almost impossible to change the American poverty situation.

    [B] It is desirable to raise women’s economic status.

    [C] Women should be entitled to access more credit.

    [D] Giving women more economic power is good for families.

   3． The expression “translate into” (Line 5, Paragraph 5) most probably means _______.

    [A] turn one language into another

    [B] transform into

    [C] transfer to

    [D] lead to

   4． What is the author’s attitude towards World Bank’s interpretation of female poverty?

    [A] Researved consent

    [B] Strong disapproval

    [C] Slight comtempt

    [D] Enthusiastic support

   5． Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

    [A] Poverty in America is of the similar condition as that of the rest of the world.

    [B] Female children and male children usually receive equal attention in households.

    [C] To raise women’s economic status, it is important to liberate them from housework.

    [D] Grameen Bank only deals with small loan businesses.

   篇章剖析

   本文是一篇以女性貧困為話題的議論文。第一段簡單介紹了當(dāng)前世界上關(guān)于女性的貧困問題；第二段世界銀行指出女性經(jīng)濟(jì)地位低導(dǎo)致了其貧困狀況，第三、四段通過事例和理論分析來進(jìn)一步論證上述觀點(diǎn)；第四、五段為作者對于世界觀點(diǎn)的反駁，認(rèn)為女性沒有得到徹底解放才是其貧困問題的根本原因。

   詞匯注釋

   deprivation [9depri`vei`En] n. 剝奪                mystique [mis`ti: k] n. 神秘性, 奧秘

   subsist [sEb`sist] v. 生存, 存在, 供養(yǎng)             drudgery [`drQdVEri] n. 苦差事, 苦工

   alter [`C:ltE] v. 改變                            fret [fret] v. (使)煩惱, (使)焦急

   contraceptive [9kCntrE`septiv] n. 避孕品, 避孕用具

   難句突破

   Almost all of its borrowers are women, and the micro-lender tries to ensure that its loans raise the economic status of women within their families by ensuring, for example, that ownership of houses built with Grameen loans staying with the women.

   主體句式  Almost all of its borrowers are women, and the micro-lender tries to ensure that…

   結(jié)構(gòu)分析  這個(gè)句子由兩個(gè)并列結(jié)構(gòu)構(gòu)成，以第一個(gè)逗號后面的and連接。第一個(gè)部分是一個(gè)簡單句，而第二個(gè)部分則較為復(fù)雜。首先，第一個(gè)that后面引導(dǎo)的是一個(gè)賓語從句，其次by后面跟了一個(gè)名詞性動詞短語，比較后with后面也是一個(gè)名詞行動次短語。

   句子譯文  該銀行的貸款人大部分是女性，小額貸款通過諸如擔(dān)保貸款建房的房屋所有權(quán)歸婦女等措施，試圖確保其貸款能提高女性在家庭中的經(jīng)濟(jì)地位。

   題目分析

   1．C. 推理題。從文章第一段中可以推斷，所謂的“貧窮總帶著女性的面具”意指女性的貧困率要高于男性。

   2．A. 細(xì)節(jié)題。B、C和D選項(xiàng)的內(nèi)容分別可以在文章第二、三、四段中找到。同時(shí)，文章第二段第一句話就指出，世界銀行要努力改變女性高貧困率這一狀況，因此A選項(xiàng)不是世界銀行的意見。

   3．D. 語義題。從文章第四段比較后一句中可以看出，translate into前后存在因果關(guān)系，因此答案為D。

   4．B. 態(tài)度題。文章第四段作者稱世界銀行將整個(gè)問題的因果關(guān)系本末倒置了，這說明作者對世界銀行就婦女貧困問題作出的解釋持反對態(tài)度。

   5．C. 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第五和六段都涉及到了相關(guān)論述，如“婦女解放運(yùn)動……應(yīng)該歸功于減輕家務(wù)負(fù)擔(dān)的洗碗機(jī)和洗衣機(jī)”等，答案顯然為C。

   參考譯文

    不論在發(fā)達(dá)還是貧窮國家，貧窮總帶著女性的面具。這個(gè)問題在美國已經(jīng)夠嚴(yán)重的了：根據(jù)人口調(diào)查局統(tǒng)計(jì)，14.1%的婦女生活在貧困中，相比卻只有11.1%的男人生活貧困。但在發(fā)展中國家，這一情況就更糟糕了。據(jù)估計(jì)，世界70%的窮人是女性，她們通常依靠每日不足2美元的費(fèi)用生活，相比之下，美國國內(nèi)所謂的貧困就顯得日子好過多了。

    世界銀行希望改變這一現(xiàn)狀，并于二月底與經(jīng)濟(jì)合作與發(fā)展組織及歐洲部分國家的政府?dāng)y手，在柏林召開了一次關(guān)于加強(qiáng)婦女的經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)力的會議。世界銀行認(rèn)為限制婦女參與經(jīng)濟(jì)不僅對婦女不公平，在經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)上看來也非常不利。為扭轉(zhuǎn)這一現(xiàn)象，會議發(fā)表了一項(xiàng)“性別行為草案”，呼吁搜集更好的資料，并推動世界銀行采取更加積極的措施來爭取使婦女踏入經(jīng)濟(jì)主流地位。

    目前，世界銀行稱婦女平均比男人少賺22%，且貸款能力也更加有限；比如在非洲，婦女僅獲取了1%的農(nóng)用貸款。改變這一現(xiàn)狀將對世界范圍內(nèi)的婦女受剝奪狀況產(chǎn)生巨大的影響。因此孟加拉的格萊明銀行同其他努力減少貧困的組織一道，決定集中力量關(guān)注婦女。該銀行的貸款人大部分是女性，小額貸款通過諸如擔(dān)保貸款建房的房屋所有權(quán)歸婦女等措施，試圖確保其貸款能提高女性在家庭中的經(jīng)濟(jì)地位。

    有證據(jù)表明，賦予女性財(cái)政權(quán)力能夠促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展。當(dāng)男人掌控大部分財(cái)政時(shí)，家庭支出極有可能在男女孩子間分配不均，導(dǎo)致家庭女性成員得不到維持基本生活需要的資源。這會阻礙女性成員們的身心發(fā)展。賦予女性經(jīng)濟(jì)權(quán)力能夠改變家庭中的決策機(jī)制，從而改進(jìn)工公眾福利。女性掌管財(cái)政支出時(shí)，家庭會在食品和育兒方面花費(fèi)更多，而不是在煙酒上。

    但是世界銀行似乎將事情本末倒置了。是解放婦女促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長還是經(jīng)濟(jì)增長刺激婦女解放？在那種體力創(chuàng)造經(jīng)濟(jì)價(jià)值的經(jīng)濟(jì)體中，即使考慮了生子育兒等因素，婦女仍然注定比男人得到的更少回報(bào)，體現(xiàn)更小的價(jià)值。在多數(shù)社會中，經(jīng)濟(jì)價(jià)值低意味著社會和政治地位也很低。

   發(fā)達(dá)國家的經(jīng)驗(yàn)看起來意味著經(jīng)濟(jì)增長引發(fā)了根本性的婦女解放。隨著蠻力價(jià)值的下降，勞動力市場為女性提供了更多的機(jī)會。現(xiàn)代避孕用品、省力的工具使得女性更容易得到帶薪工作，于是隨之而來的就是她們的經(jīng)濟(jì)和政治實(shí)力。有一種觀點(diǎn)認(rèn)為，婦女解放運(yùn)動的成功并不是由于所謂的“女性的神秘性”，而應(yīng)該歸功于減輕家務(wù)負(fù)擔(dān)的洗碗機(jī)和洗衣機(jī)。倘若如此，世界銀行更應(yīng)該注重促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長而不是操心性別問題。