Question

Educating Girls Is a Real Lifesaver

Clare Short knows it. Every developing economist knows it. The World Bank knows it. The education of girls is the surest way to reduce poverty.

The reason is simple. All the evidence shows that taking girls out of the fields and homes, and putting them behind desks, raises economic productivity, lowers infant and maternal(产妇) death rates, reduces birth rates, and improves environmental management.

Why, then, are 90 million primary school-age girls around the world not in school? For the same reason that when Charles Dickens was writing David Copperfield 150 years ago girls were absent from the British education system: Men in power mostly prefer it that way, or are not interested enough in changing the situation to commit energy and money to doing so.

The countries with the poorest record for having women in positions of power or influence have the worst figures for girls’ education. High-profile intervention(介入) by organizations such as the World Bank has begun successfully with several countries, and more of the same will probably be needed to bring change in conservative, male-run states.

Even if there were no development payoff from gender equality in schools, the education of girls would still be a cause worth fighting for. Education is a human right, and the denial of it to girls is a scar on the community in the twenty-first century.

To be born a girl in a rural area in Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco, Togo, or Sudan — half a dozen of the most shameful performers — means being condemned to a life without school, education, or clean water, marriage and babies coming too early, too many births, children who die of preventable diseases, backbreaking work in the fields, subordination(从属) to husband and his family, and an early death.

Every year, almost 12 million children under the age of five needlessly die of infectious diseases associated with poverty. But each additional year spent by their mothers in primary school lowers the risk of premature child deaths by about 8 percent. In Pakistan, an extra year of school for 1,000 girls could prevent sixty infant deaths.

With women and girls being the main farmers in Africa and southern Asia, their education offers a chance to develop more efficient farming practices, improve output, and raise awareness of the ecological needs of the land with tree planting and farming. Therefore, the world community cannot afford to ignore this avenue of change.

1.Which is Not the reason why educating girls reduces poverty?

A. It improves environmental management.

B. It raises economic productivity.

C. It creates more children.

D. It lowers maternal death rates.

2.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. The poor economy at that time.

B. Girls’ absence from school.

C. Energy and money.

D. The education of girls.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The countries where women have great influence and are in power always do worse in girls’ education.

B. Some organizations such as the World Bank haven’t taken the lead in girls’ education.

C. Some girls in Sudan and Indonesia are bound to live a life without education when they are born.

D. Each extra year of school for girls has nothing to do with the birthrate and maternal deaths.

4.How many more infants will survive when 100 girls stay in school for another year?

A. 5            B. 6          C. 8      D. 12

5.What does the author think of girls’ education?

A. essential     B. terrible

C. indifferent   D. helpless

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.C

4.B

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述女孩教育在提高生产，降低婴儿和产妇死亡率，改善环境管理方面起着重要的作用，这是世界所共认的，在尼泊尔，印度尼西亚、摩洛哥、多哥或苏丹这些地方女孩不能接受很好的教育，会使经济落后，所以要重视女孩的教育问题。

1.C 细节理解题。根据第一段提到All the evidence shows that taking girls out of the fields and homes, and putting them behind desks, raises economic productivity, lowers infant and maternal(产妇) death rates, reduces birth rates, and improves environmental management女孩可以提高生产，降低婴儿与产妇死亡率，提高环境管理，没有提到C项，故选C项。

2.B 细节理解题。根据第三段提到For the same reason that when Charles Dickens was writing David Copperfield 150 years ago girls were absent from the British education system: Men in power mostly prefer it that way,在狄更斯写的大卫 科波菲尔这本书中提到，女孩不接受教育，男人在某些方面是很喜欢的，故选B项。

3.C 细节理解题。根据倒数第三段提到To be born a girl in a rural area in Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco, Togo, or Sudan — half a dozen of the most shameful performers — means being condemned to a life without school, education, or clean water, marriage and babies coming too early, too many births, children who die of preventable diseases, backbreaking work in the fields, subordination(从属) to husband and his family, and an early death在尼泊尔，印度尼西亚、摩洛哥、多哥或苏丹，一些女孩出生在农村地区，就意味着注定过着，没有教育，没有清洁饮用水，早婚等等问题，故选C项正确。

4.B 细节理解题，根据倒数第二段In Pakistan, an extra year of school for 1,000 girls could prevent sixty infant deaths可知1000中可以避免60个婴儿早亡，故选B项。

5.A 细节理解题。根据最后一段提到Therefore, the world community cannot afford to ignore this avenue of change.可知国际社会不能忽视女孩教育这一重要的变化，故选A项对女子的教育是十分有必要的。

考点：社会现象类阅读。