gre考试阅读真题解析(B)

　　In a perfectly free and open market economy, the type of employergovernment or privateshould have little or no impact on the earnings differentials between women and men. However, if there is discrimination against one sex, it is unlikely that the degree of discrimination by government and private employers will be the same. Differences in the degree of discrimination would result in earnings differentials associated with the type of employer. Given the nature of government and private employers, it seems most likely that discrimination by private employers would be greater. Thus, one would expect that, if women are being discriminated against, government employment would have a positive effect on womens earnings as compared with their earnings from private employment. The results of a study by Fuchs support this assumption. Fuchss results suggest that the earnings of women in an industry composed entirely of government employers would be 14. 6 percent greater than the earnings of women in an industry composed exclusively of private employees, other things being equal.

　　In addition, both Fuchs and Sanborn have suggested that the effect of discrimination by consumers on the earnings of self-employed women may be greater than the effect of either government or private employer discrimination on the earnings of women employees. To test this hypothesis, Brown selected a large sample of White male and female workers from the 1970 Census and divided them into three categories: private employees, government employees, and self-employed. Browns research design controlled for education, labor-force participation, mobility, motivation, and age in order to eliminate these factors as explanations of the studys results. Browns results suggest that men and women are not treated the same by employers and consumers. For men, self-employment is the highest earnings category, with private employment next, and government lowest. For women, this order is reversed.

　　One can infer from Browns results that consumers discriminate against self-employed women. In addition, self-employed women may have more difficulty than men in getting good employees and may encounter discrimination from suppliers and from financial institutions.

　　Browns results are clearly consistent with Fuchs argument that discrimination by consumers has a greater impact on the earnings of women than does discrimination by either government or private employers. Also, the fact that women do better working for government than for private employers implies that private employers are discriminating against women. The results do not prove that government does not discriminate against women. They do, however, demonstrate that if government is discriminating against women, its discrimination is not having as much effect on womens earnings as is discrimination in the private sector.

　　17. The passage mentions all of the following as difficulties that self-employed women may encounter EXCEPT:

　　 discrimination from suppliers

　　 discrimination from consumers

　　 discrimination from financial institutions

　　 problems in obtaining good employees

　　 problems in obtaining government assistance

　　18. The author would be most likely to agree with which of the following conclusions about discrimination against women by private employers and by government employers?

　　 Both private employers and government employers discriminate, with equal effects on womens earnings.

　　 Both private employers and government employers discriminate, but the discrimination by private employers has a greater effect on womens earnings.

　　 Both private employers and government employers discriminate, but the discrimination by government employers has a greater effect on womens earnings.

　　 Private employers discriminate; it is possible that government employers discriminate.

　　 Private employers discriminate; government employers do not discriminate.

　　19. A study of the practices of financial institutions that revealed no discrimination against self-employed women would tend to contradict which of the following?

　　 Some tentative results of Fuchss study

　　 Some explicit results of Browns study

　　 A suggestion made by the author

　　 Fuchss hypothesis

　　 Sanborns hypothesis

　　20. According to Browns study, womens earnings categories occur in which or the following orders, from highest earnings to lowest earnings?

　　 Government employment, self-employment, private employment

　　 Government employment, private employment, self-employment

　　 Private employment, self-employment, government employment

　　 Private employment, government employment, self-employment

　　 Self-employment, private employment, government employment

　　21. The passage explicitly answers which of the following questions?

　　 Why were Black workers excluded from the sample used in Browns study?

　　 Why do private employers illuminate more against women than do government employers?

　　 Why do self-employed women have more difficulty than men in hiring high-quality employees?

　　 Why do suppliers discriminate against self-employed women?

　　 Are Black women and Black men treated similarly by employers and consumers?

　　22. It can be inferred from the passage that the statements in the last paragraph are most probably which of the following?

　　 Browns elaboration of his research results

　　 Browns tentative inference from his data

　　 Browns conclusions, based on common-sense reasoning

　　 The authors conclusions, based on Fuchss and Browns results

　　 The authors criticisms of Fuchss argument, based on Browns results

　　23. Which of the following titles best describes the content of the passage as a whole?

　　 The Necessity for Earnings Differentials in a Free Market Economy

　　 Why Discrimination Against Employed Women by Government Employers and Private Employers Differs from Discrimination Against Self-Employed Women by Consumers

　　 How Discrimination Affects Womens Choice of Type of Employment

　　 The Relative Effect of Private Employer Discrimination on Mens Earnings as Compared to Womens Earnings

　　 The Relative Effect of Discrimination by Government Employers, Private Employers, and Consumers on Womens Earnings

　　The success of fluoride in combating dental decay is well established and, without a doubt , socially beneficial. However, fluorides toxic properties have been known for a century. In humans excessive intake over many years can lead to skeletal fluorosis, a well-defined skeletal disorder, and in some plant species, fluoride is more toxic than ozone, sulfur dioxide, or pesticides.

　　Some important questions remain. For example, the precise lower limit at which the fluoride content of bone becomes toxic is still undetermined. And while fluoride intake from water and air can be evaluated relatively easily, it is much harder to estimate how much a given population ingests from foodstuffs because of the wide variations in individual eating habits and in fluoride concentrations in foodstuffs. These difficulties suggest that we should by wary of indiscriminately using fluoride, even in the form of fluoride-containing dental products.

　　24. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with

　　 analyzing and categorizing

　　 comparing and contrasting

　　 synthesizing and predicting

　　 describing and cautioning

　　 summarizing and reinterpreting

　　25. The passage suggests that it would be easier to calculate fluoride intake from food if

　　 adequate diets were available for most people.

　　 individual eating habits were more uniform

　　 the fluoride content of food was more varied

　　 more people were aware of the fluoride content of food

　　 methods for measuring the fluoride content of food were more generally agreed on

　　26. One function of the second paragraph of the passage is to

　　 raise doubts about fluorides toxicity

　　 introduce the issue of fluorides toxicity

　　 differentiate a toxic from a nontoxic amount of fluoride

　　 indicate that necessary knowledge of fluoride remains incomplete

　　 discuss the foodstuffs that are most likely to contain significant concentrations of fluoride

　　27. The passage suggests which of the following about the effect of fluoride on humans?

　　 The effect is more easily measured than is the effect of exposure to pesticides.

　　 The effect of fluoride intake from water and air is relatively difficult to monitor.

　　 In general the effect is not likely to be as harmful as the effect of exposure to sulfur dioxide.

　　 An intake of 4 milligrams over a long period of time usually leads to a skeletal disorder in humans.

　　 An intake of slightly more than 4 milligrams for only a few months is not likely to be life-threatening.

答案：17-27：EDCBADEDBDE