Passage Two

Questions 51to 55 are based on the following passage.

Women have historically been paid less. But in the US in the 1980s, they began to catch up-fast. During that decade, the gender pay gap closed by about one percentage point a year. Had that trend continued, the gender wage gap would have been closed by 2017. But the trend didn't continue, and the gap remains yawning.

According to a new study from academics at Harvard, the stagnation can be put down, perhaps

counter intuitively, to the introduction of state and federal family leave policies. The academics argue that during the 1990s, as governments began to introduce leave policies, it was mainly women who took advantage of them. though the leave policies might have helped those women to stay in the workplace—instead of dropping out to have families-those who returned saw their wages had increased at lower rates than the men.

After family leave was introduced in the US, in fact, the rate of gender wage convergence fell to just 0.03 percentage points per year, and has remained there ever since. Those monitoring the process towards salary equity at work have long watched as progress slowed in many countries around the world. In fact, that progress began to reverse during the pandemic(大流行病).

The gender pay gap is one of the most outstanding examples of that lack of parity(平等),and still exists just about everywhere. The motherhood penalty has become a shorthand for describing why: In many places, especially rich countries, women earn the same as men until they reach their childbearing years. Women who have children begin to see their salaries slip behind their male counterparts.

Part of this is because women take on more of the unpaid labor at home, which can eat into time available for work and energy for career advancement. But it's also because mothers are passed over for raises and promotion, and because time out of the workplace sets women back, even if that time is taken voluntarily. and supported by company or government policy.

What would have happened if leave policies hadn't been introduced? The study doesn't go into that question, other than to say that if the 1980s trend continued, we would have been at parity by now.

It's possible, however, that the journey towards wage parity would have stalled either way. If women's gains in the 1980s were made through the erasure of things like bias, once those less uncontrollable problems had been addressed, there would still have been an issue with women-who are the ones to bear children and take care of them in the early weeks because of biological factors like the ability to breastfeed, forcing them to take breaks, whether or not those breaks were mandated.

51. What do we learn about the gender pay gap in the US during the 1980s?

A) It was being slowly closed.

B) It was shrinking rapidly.

C) It started to yawn.

D) It remained substantial.

52. What happened with the introduction of state and federal family leave policies?

A) The process towards salary equity at work began to reverse.

B) The rate of gender wage convergence started to fall noticeably.

C) The trend of women returning to work after childbirth started.

D) The narrowing of the gender pay gap attracted more attention.

53. What partly accounts for the slip in women's salaries?

A) The insufficient motivation women generally have for career advancement.

B) The opportunities numerous women give up for pay raise and promotion.

C) The huge amounts of time and energy women spend taking care of the family

D) The lack of policy support from government and business corporations.

54. What does the new study say about wage parity?

A) It would have stalled if those controllable problems had not been addressed.

B) It would have halted if company and government had not worked together.

C) It would have been achieved with the complete erasure of gender biases.

D) It would have been attained with the continuation of the 1980s trend.

55. What prevents women from achieving parity with men in the final analysis?

A) Ignoring biases against women in the workplace.

C) Failing to mandate breaks for childbirth and care to address biological.

B) Giving birth to children and taking care of them.

D) Lacking resources problems.

答案解析：

由题干中的关键词“gender pay gap in the US during the 1980s”定位到第一段。第一段提到“During that decade, the gender pay gap closed by about one percentage point a year.”，说明在20世纪80年代，性别薪酬差距以每年约一个百分点的速度缩小，即缩小速度很快，所以选B。

由题干中的关键词“introduction of state and federal family leave policies”定位到第三段。第三段提到“After family leave was introduced in the US, in fact, the rate of gender wage convergence fell to just 0.03 percentage points per year”，说明在引入州和联邦的家庭休假政策后，性别工资趋同率明显下降，所以选B。

由题干中的关键词“slip in women's salaries”定位到第五段。第五段提到“Part of this is because women take on more of the unpaid labor at home, which can eat into time available for work and energy for career advancement.”，说明女性薪酬下滑的部分原因是她们承担了更多无偿的家务劳动，消耗了工作和职业发展的时间和精力，所以选C。

由题干中的关键词“new study say about wage parity”定位到第六段和第七段。第六段提到“The study doesn't go into that question, other than to say that if the 1980s trend continued, we would have been at parity by now.”，说明新研究指出如果20世纪80年代的趋势继续下去，现在就已经实现薪酬平等了，所以选D。

由题干中的关键词“prevents women from achieving parity with men”定位到最后一段。最后一段提到“...there would still have been an issue with women-who are the ones to bear children and take care of them in the early weeks because of biological factors...”，说明女性因生育和照顾孩子而在最终实现与男性薪酬平等方面受到阻碍，所以选B。