作者：新东方考试研究中心
出版社：浙江教育出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
四级晨读美文：真题精选篇试读：
PASSAGE 001
扫码听音频男女的思维方式有所不同，这是大家的共识。很多人由此得出结论：男女的大脑也是有显著区别的。然而，研究表明，其实大脑并没有性别之分，倒是性别的不同对大脑功能的发挥起到了至关重要的作用。换句话说，男女思维方式不同并不是因为大脑不同引起的，反而是性别差异会对大脑产生不同的影响。Can Brains Be Distinguished by Gender?性别决定大脑？
Many men and women have long bought into the idea that there are “male” and “female” brains, believing that explains just about every difference between the sexes. A new study challenges that belief, questioning whether brains really can be distinguished by gender.
In the study, Tel Aviv University researchers searched for sex differences throughout the entire human brain.
And what did they find? Not much. Rather than offer evidence for categorizing brains as “male” or “female”, research shows that brains fall into a wide range, with most people falling right in the middle.
Daphna Joel, who led the study, said her research found that while there are some gender-based similarities, many different types of brain can't always be distinguished by gender.
While the “average” male and “average” female brains were slightly different, you couldn't tell it by looking at individual brain scans . Only a small percentage of people had “all-male” or “all-female” characteristics.
Larry Cahill, an American neuroscientist , said the study is an important addition to a growing body of research questioning traditional beliefs about gender and brain function. But he cautioned against concluding from this study that all brains are the same, regardless of gender.
“There's a mountain of evidence proving the importance of sex influences at all levels of brain function,” he told The Seattle Times.
If anything, he said, the study suggests that gender plays a very important role in the brain—“even when we are not clear exactly how.”
长期以来，许多男性和女性都接受大脑有“男性”和“女性”之分这个观点，相信这刚好解释了所有由性别不同导致的差异。一项新研究对这个观念发起了挑战，质疑大脑是否真的能够用性别区分。
在这项研究中，特拉维夫大学的研究人员探究了整个人脑，以寻找性别间的差异。
他们都发现了些什么？并没有太多发现。该研究表明，大脑有很多种类型，大多数人正好属于中间类型，但是并没能提供大脑有男女之分的证据。
该研究的主要负责人达芙娜·乔尔说，她的研究发现，虽然大脑中存在一些基于性别的相似性，但许多类型的大脑不能总是依靠性别来区分。
虽然“普通”男性和“普通”女性的大脑有些许不同，但是无法通过察看大脑扫描结果来识别这种差异。只有一小部分人的特征完全是“男性”或“女性”。
美国神经系统科学家拉里·卡希尔说，传统观念认为，性别与大脑功能有关，但越来越多的研究开始质疑这一观念，此次研究对此做出了重要补充。但他也告诫说，不能通过这项研究得出所有大脑都相同，而与性别无关的结论。“大量证据证明，性别因素在各个层面对大脑功能产生的影响是十分重要的，”他告诉《西雅图时报》说。
他说，如果说该研究有什么发现，那就是性别对大脑起着十分重要的作用——“虽然我们还不确切知道它是怎样发挥作用的。”巧记词汇
distinguish [dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ]
v.区分；辨别
拓 identify [aɪˈdentɪfaɪ]
v.识别
categorize [ˈkætəɡəraɪz]
v.分类
拓 classify [ˈklæsɪfaɪ]
v.分类
scan [skæn]
n.扫描
拓 skim [skɪm]
v.浏览
neuroscientist [ˈnjʊərəʊsaɪəntɪst]
n.神经系统科学家
拓 neurology [njʊəˈrɒlədʒi]
n.神经学
caution [ˈkɔːʃn]
v.告诫，警告
拓 warn [wɔːn]
v.警告趣学短语
1 regardless of 不管，不顾
[例]Now all you need to do is believe everything will be okay and believe in your abilities, regardless of any path you choose. 现在，你们需要做的就是相信一切都会好，不管你们选择什么样的路，都要相信自己的能力。
2 conclude from 从……中得出结论
[例]He concludes from this article that hard work pays. 通过这篇文章，他得出一个结论：付出总会有回报。
PASSAGE 002
扫码听音频传说在18世纪的伦敦餐馆里，常常可以看见餐桌上放着一只碗，上面写着“to insure prompt service（确保服务迅速）”，以此提醒顾客可以在碗中放入一些零钱，以便鼓励服务人员提供更加快速和周到的服务。把上面几个单词的首字母放在一起则构成了tips（小费）。很多国家和地区都有给小费的习惯，标准不一，大概是总消费金额的5%~25%。Should We Get Rid of Tipping?我们应该取消小费吗？
As a person who writes about food and drink for a living, I couldn't tell you the first thing about Bill Perry or whether the beers he sells are that great. But I can tell you that I like this guy. That's because he plans to ban tipping in favor of paying his servers an actual living wage.
I hate tipping.
I hate it because it's an obligation disguised as an option. I hate it for the post-dinner math it requires of me. But mostly, I hate tipping because I believe I would be in a better place if pay decisions regarding employees were simply left up to their employers, as is the custom in virtually every other industry.
Most of you probably think that you hate tipping, too. Research suggests otherwise. You actually love tipping! You like to feel that you have a voice in how much money your server makes. No matter how the math works out, you persistently view restaurants with voluntary tipping systems as being a better value, which makes it extremely difficult for restaurants and bars to do away with the tipping system.
One argument that you tend to hear a lot from the pro-tipping crowd seems logical enough: the service is better when waiters depend on tips, presumably because they see a benefit to successfully veiling their contempt for you. Well, if this were true we would all be slipping a few 100-dollar bills to our doctors on the way out their doors, too. But as it turns out, waiters see only a tiny bump in tips when they do an exceptional job compared to a passable one. Waiters, keen observers of humanity that they are, are catching on to this; in one poll, a full 30% said they didn't believe the job they did had any impact on the tips they received.
So come on, folks: get on board with ditching the outdated tip system. Pay a little more up-front for your beer or burger. Support Bill Perry's pub, and any other bar or restaurant that doesn't ask you to do drunken math.
作为一名靠撰写与美食和酒水相关文章为生的人，我不知道该从哪里谈起比尔·佩里，也不能说他售卖的啤酒是否真的那么好喝。但我能告诉你，我喜欢这个人。这是因为他计划取缔小费制度，赞同给服务员支付实实在在的足以维持基本生活的工资。
我讨厌给小费。
我讨厌它是因为它看似是一种选择，实际上却是义务。我讨厌它要求我在餐后做数学题。但我讨厌给小费的主要原因还是因为我相信如果员工的薪酬完全交由雇主来决定，就像几乎其他所有产业那样，我的体验会更好。
你们大多数人或许认为自己也同样讨厌付小费。但研究表明结果正相反，你们实际上十分喜欢付小费！你们喜欢那种有权决定服务员应得费用的感觉。无论给小费的结果如何，你都坚持认为要求客人自愿支付小费习惯的餐馆会更棒，这也让餐馆和酒吧很难舍弃付小费制度。
你常常从支持付小费的人那里听到一个看似足够有逻辑的观点：当服务员依赖小费时，他们所提供的服务会更好，这大概是因为他们能够看到成功掩饰对你们的轻蔑所得到的好处。如果真是这样的话，我们从医生那里离开时，真应该抽出几百美元给医生。但事实证明，服务员们提供极其出色的服务时所获得的小费只比他们马马虎虎干活时多了一丁点。对人性有敏锐观察的服务员们对此了然于心。在一项民意调查中，有整整30%的人说他们认为自己的工作质量对收到多少小费没有任何影响。
所以，来吧，朋友们，让我们一同摒弃过时的小费制度。预先为你的啤酒或者汉堡多付一些钱。支持比尔·佩里的酒馆以及其他无需在酒后算数学题的酒吧或者餐馆吧。巧记词汇
tip [tɪp]
v.给小费
拓 bestow [bɪˈstəʊ]
v.赠送
obligation [ˌɒblɪˈɡeɪʃn]
n.义务；职责
拓 duty [ˈdjuːti]
n.职责
disguise [dɪsˈɡaɪz]
v.伪装；掩饰
拓 fake [feɪk]
v.假装
virtually [ˈvɜːtʃuəli]
ad.几乎
拓 nearly [ˈnɪəli]
ad.几乎
persistently [pəˈsɪstəntli]
ad.坚持地，固执地
拓 persistence [pəˈsɪstəns]
n.毅力
veil [veɪl]
v.掩饰
拓 cover [ˈkʌvə(r)]
v.遮盖
contempt [kənˈtempt]
n.轻视，蔑视
拓 look down on 看不起，轻视
passable [ˈpɑːsəbl]
a.尚可的
拓 possible [ˈpɒsəbl]
a.可能的
ditch [dɪtʃ]
v.摆脱；挖沟
拓 trench [trentʃ]
n.沟；战壕趣学短语
in favor of 支持，赞同
[例]Many people are in favor of this policy because it can offer much convenience to common people. 很多人都支持这项政策是因为它为普通民众提供了很多的便利。
PASSAGE 003
扫码听音频我们或许都遇见过只在课堂上学习，下课时间完全奉献给各种体育运动但是成绩还总是名列前茅的“学霸”。他们看上去并没有其他很多同学那么勤奋刻苦，而是在球场上“浪费”了大把光阴，别人在学习的时候他们在愉快地玩耍。然而，研究表明，体育活动不只是能够强身健体，实际上也可能使人的大脑得到锻炼，从而提高学习成绩。你今天运动了吗？Physical Activity May Lead to Better Grades体育活动或能提高学习成绩
Physical activity does the body good, and there's growing evidence that it helps the brain, too. Researchers in the Netherlands report that children who get more exercise, whether at school or on their own, tend to have higher GPAs and better scores on standardized tests. In a review of 14 studies that looked at physical activity and academic performance, investigators found that the more children moved, the better their grades were in school, particularly in the basic subjects of math, English and reading.
The data will certainly fuel the ongoing debate over whether physical education classes should be cut as schools struggle to survive on smaller budgets. The arguments against physical education have included concerns that gym time may be taking away from study time. With standardized test scores in the U.S. dropping in recent years, some administrators believe students need to spend more time in the classroom instead of on the playground. But as these findings show, exercise and academics may not be mutually exclusive. Physical activity can improve blood flow to the brain, fueling memory, attention and creativity, which are essential to learning. And exercise releases hormones that can improve mood and relieve stress, which can also help learning. So while it may seem as if kids are just exercising their bodies when they're running around, they may actually be exercising their brains as well.
体育活动对身体有好处，而且有越来越多的证据表明，它对大脑也有好处。荷兰的研究人员报告称，运动更多的孩子，无论是在校还是在家运动，平均分数都往往更高，在标准化考试中取得的成绩也往往更好。回顾14项关于体育活动与学习成绩的研究时，研究人员发现，孩子们活动得越多，他们的在校成绩就越好，特别是数学、英语和阅读这样的基础课程。
该数据势必会激化长久以来对是否应该减少体育课的争论，因为学校正在靠缩减的预算艰难维持。支持减少体育课的观点中包含的一种担忧是体育课会占用学习时间。近些年来，美国的标准化测试成绩不断下降，一些行政官员认为学生应该把更多的时间花在教室，而不是操场上。但正如这些结果所表明的那样，体育活动和学业可能并不相互排斥。体育活动可以促进血液到大脑的流通并提升记忆力、注意力和创造力，而这些对学习来说都很重要。并且运动所释放的荷尔蒙可以改善情绪和缓解压力，这同样有助于学习。因此，当孩子们跑来跑去时，他们看似在活动身体，实际上可能也在锻炼自己的大脑。巧记词汇
Netherlands [ˈneðələndz]
n.荷兰
拓 Dutch [dʌtʃ]
n.荷兰人
academic [ˌækəˈdemɪk]
a.学术的
拓 academy [əˈkædəmi]
n.学院
investigator [ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪtə(r)]
n.研究者
拓 researcher [rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)]
n.研究员
administrator [ədˈmɪnɪstreɪtə(r)]
n.行政官员
拓 authority [ɔːˈθɒrəti]
n.权威；当局
hormone [ˈhɔːməʊn]
n.激素
拓 chemical [ˈkemɪkl]
a.化学的
relieve [rɪˈliːv]
v.释放
拓 ease [iːz]
v.减轻；使安心趣学短语
be essential to 对……必不可少
[例]Fresh water is essential to humans and ecosystems, so all of us are responsible for protecting it from pollution. 淡水对于人类和生态系统都是不可或缺的，所以我们所有人都有责任保护它不受污染。
PASSAGE 004
扫码听音频古往今来，上至王侯将相，下至平民百姓，大多都希望自己能够活得更久一些。为了达到这个目标，大部分人将努力的方向放在饮食、健身等方面。事实上，性格也是影响生命长短的重要因素。研究表明，长寿的人和普通人相比，性格更加开朗、活跃，更不容易神经过敏。可见，长寿不仅关乎生理健康，还关乎心理健康。Your Personality Has an Effect on Your Longevity性格影响长寿
Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations: keeping a moderate diet, engaging in regular exercise, etc. But what effect does your personality have on your longevity? Do some kinds of personalities lead to longer lives? A new study in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100.
The study shows that those living the longest are more outgoing, more active and less neurotic than other people. Long-living women are also more likely to be sympathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span . These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory: those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough times.
Interestingly, however, other characteristics that you might consider advantageous had no impact on whether study participants were likely to live longer. Those who were more self-disciplined, for instance, were no more likely to live to be very old. Also, being open to new ideas had no relationship to long life, which might explain all those bad-tempered old people who are fixed in their ways.
Whether you can successfully change your personality as an adult is the subject of a longstanding psychological debate. But the new paper suggests that if you want long life, you should strive to be as outgoing as possible.
Unfortunately, another recent study shows that your mother's personality may also help determine your longevity. That study looked at nearly 28,000 Norwegian mothers and found that those moms who were more anxious, depressed and angry were more likely to feed their kids unhealthy diets. Patterns of childhood eating can be hard to break when we're adults, which may mean that kids of depressed moms end up dying younger.
Personality isn't destiny, and everyone knows that individuals can learn to change. But both studies show that long life isn't just a matter of your physical health but of your mental health.
为什么有些人会比其他人长寿？你知道标准的解释：坚持合理的饮食，定期锻炼身体，诸如此类。但你的性格对长寿有什么样的影响呢？某些类型的性格特征会让你活得更久吗？《美国老年病学会志》上面发表的一项新研究探讨了这一问题，该研究仔细观察了246人的性格特征，这些人都是百岁老人或者活得更久的老人们的子女。
研究表明，和普通人相比，那些最为高寿的人更加开朗、活跃，不那么神经质。和寿命正常的女性相比，寿命长久的女性更加富有同情心和合作精神。这些发现正是人们期待从进化论中得到的：那些愿意交友以及帮助他人的人可以整合足够的资源以渡过难关。
有意思的是，人们眼中的其他一些有益的性格特征却对参与研究的调查对象是否长寿没有影响。例如，那些更加自律的人并不太会高寿。同样，对新思想保持开放态度也与长寿没有关系，这也许解释了为什么脾气差且不肯改变自己做事方式的老人们也可以活得长久。
一个成年人能否成功地改变自己的性格是心理学界长期争论的一个话题。但这一新研究表明，如果你想活得长久，你就要设法做到尽可能地开朗。
不幸的是，另外一项近期的研究表明，你母亲的性格或许也有助于决定你的寿命长短。这项研究观察了近28 000名来自挪威的母亲，发现那些更焦虑、抑郁、易怒的母亲更容易用不健康的饮食喂养自己的孩子。儿童的饮食模式在成年以后很难被打破，这也许意味着如果母亲患有抑郁症，其子女也会较早去世。
性格不是命运，而且每个人都知道人们可以学着改变。但两项研究都表明，长寿不仅与生理健康有关，还与心理健康有关。巧记词汇
moderate [ˈmɒdərət]
a.适度的
拓 mild [maɪld]
a.温和的
neurotic [njʊəˈrɒtɪk]
a.神经质的
拓 nerve [nɜːv]
n.神经
span [spæn]
n.范围；跨度
拓 scope [skəʊp]
n.范围；视野
advantageous [ˌædvənˈteɪdʒəs]
a.有利的
拓 beneficial [ˌbenɪˈfɪʃl]
a.有利的
longstanding ['lɒŋ'stændɪŋ]
a.长期存在的
拓 enduring [ɪnˈdjʊərɪŋ]
a.持久的；能忍受的
strive [straɪv]
v.努力
拓 endeavour [ɪnˈdevə(r)]
v.努力；尽力趣学短语
strive to do sth. 努力做某事
[例]Though it might be difficult, you should strive to be strong in your life. 在生活中，你应该努力让自己保持坚强，虽然做到这一点可能会很难。
PASSAGE 005
扫码听音频写作从来都不是一件容易的事，单单是几百字的作文有时候都能让我们倍感煎熬，更不用说长篇幅的大作。相比之下，对别人写作的东西提出批评却很容易。但是，真正厉害的批评家总是在提出批评的同时，还能提出更好的观点或改进办法。这就要求我们凡事要做更多、更全面的思考，尽可能去帮助解决问题和取得进步，而不是单纯地否定他人。Genuine Criticism真诚的批评
Franz Kafka once said: “Writing is utter solitude , the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.” My mother's criticism had shown me that Kafka is right about the cold abyss, and when you make the introspective descent that writing requires, you are not always pleased by what you find. But, in the years that followed, her sustained tutoring suggested that Kafka might be wrong about the solitude. I was lucky enough to find a critic and teacher who was willing to make the journey of writing with me. “It is a thing of no great difficulty,” according to Plutarch, “to raise objections against another man's speech, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.” I am sure I wrote essays in the later years of high school without my mother's guidance, but I can't recall them. What I remember, however, is how she took up the “extremely troublesome” work of ongoing criticism.
There are two ways to interpret Plutarch when he suggests that a critic should be able to produce “a better in its place.” In a straightforward sense, he could mean that a critic must be more talented than the artist she critiques. My mother was well covered on this count. But perhaps Plutarch is suggesting something slightly different, something a bit closer to Marcus Cicero's claim that one should “criticize by creation, not by finding fault.” Genuine criticism creates a precious opening for an author to become better on his own terms—a process that is often extremely painful, but also almost always meaningful.
弗兰兹·卡夫卡曾经说过：“写作是彻底的独处，深入到自己内心最冷静的深渊。”我母亲的批评告诉我，卡夫卡说的“最冷静的深渊”的说法是对的。当写作要求你反省时，你所发现的东西并不总令你满意。然而，在接下来的几年里，她坚持不断的辅导表明，卡夫卡对写作需要独处的理解也许是错误的。我很幸运，能够找到一位愿意陪伴我一起经历写作历程的评论家兼老师。根据普鲁塔克的观点，“对另一个人的言辞提出异议不是难事，那很简单，但是在原有的版本上创造一个更好的版本却是十分棘手的。”我很确信，在我高中后面几年的时间里，我在脱离母亲的辅导下写过一些文章，但我已经想不起来写了什么了。然而，我记得她是如何持续不断地提出批评，做好这项“十分棘手的”工作的。
普鲁塔克说：“一位评论家应该能够在原有的基础上创造更好的版本”，这句话有两种解读方式。简单来讲，他的意思可能是评论家应该比她所批评的艺术家更有才华。我母亲就很符合这一点。但普鲁塔克可能还有另一层稍微不同的含义，这层含义更接近马库斯·西塞罗的观点，即一个人应当“通过创造来进行批评，而不是通过发现错误。”真诚的批评是让作者变得更好的开端——这个过程常常让人感到极为痛苦，但也几乎都是有意义的。巧记词汇
utter [ˈʌtə(r)]
a.完全的
拓 sheer [ʃɪə(r)]
a.绝对的；纯粹的
solitude [ˈsɒlɪtjuːd]
n.孤独
拓 loneliness [ˈləʊnlinəs]
n.孤独
descent [dɪˈsent]
n.下降；血统
拓 decline [dɪˈklaɪn]
n.下降
abyss [əˈbɪs]
n.深渊
拓 depth [depθ]
n.深度；深奥
introspective [ˌɪntrəˈspektɪv]
a.内省的
拓 reflection [rɪˈflekʃ]
n.反思
straightforward [ˌstreɪtˈfɔːwəd]
a.简单的；直接的
拓 direct [dəˈrekt]
a.直接的
genuine [ˈdʒenjuɪn]
a.真诚的
拓 sincere [sɪnˈsɪə(r)]
a.真诚的趣学短语
be willing to do sth. 愿意做某事
[例]He is willing to devote everything to his dream. 他愿意为了自己的梦想付出所有。
PASSAGE 006
扫码听音频和与人争执相比，我们通常会更喜欢被人赞同的感觉，那会增强我们的自信，让我们感觉舒适和轻松，因此，大多数时候，我们都会习惯于最大程度地避免争论。然而，总是和周围的人保持一团和气的话，我们的思想容易变得僵化，视野也容易变得狭隘。因此，在避免无谓的争执的同时，对于有探讨必要的事宜还是应该大胆提出，以此激发更多有益的思考。From Confrontation Comes Brilliance争论出真知
It's nice to have people of like mind around. Agreeable people boost your confidence and allow you to relax and feel comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort can hinder the very learning that can expand your company and your career.
It's nice to have people agree, but you need conflicting perspectives to dig out the truth. If everyone around you has similar views, your work will suffer from confirmation bias.
Take a look at your own network. Do your contacts share your point of view on most subjects? If yes, it's time to shake things up. As a leader, it can be challenging to create an environment in which people will freely disagree and argue, but as the saying goes: From confrontation comes brilliance.
It's not easy for most people to actively seek conflict. Many spend their lives trying to avoid arguments. There's no need to go out and find people you hate, but you need to do some self- assessment to determine where you have become stale in your thinking. You may need to start by encouraging your current network to help you identify your blind spots.
Passionate, energetic debate does not require anger and hard feelings to be effective. But it does require moral strength. Once you have worthy opponents, set some ground rules so everyone understands responsibilities and boundaries. The objective of this debating game is not to win but to get to the truth that will allow you to move faster, farther, and better.
Fierce debating can hurt feelings, particularly when strong personalities are involved. Make sure you check in with your opponents so that they are not carrying the emotion of the battles beyond the battlefield. Break the tension with smiles and humor to reinforce the idea that this is friendly discourse and that all are working toward a common goal.
Reward all those involved in the debate sufficiently when the goals are reached. Let your sparring partners know how much you appreciate their contribution. The more they feel appreciated, the more they'll be willing to get into the ring next time.
周围的人和自己想法相似是一件令人高兴的事。赞同你的观点的人可以增强你的自信，让你感觉放松和舒适。不幸的是，这种舒适会阻碍你学习到可以拓展你的公司和事业的东西。
得到别人的赞同是一件好事，但你需要依靠冲突的观点来挖掘真相。如果你周围的人都持有相似的观点，你的工作会受到这种被普遍认同的偏见的影响。
看看你自己的人际关系网。你接触的人在大多数问题上都与你的观点一致吗？如果是这样，那就是时候改变这种状况了。作为领导者，创造一个允许人们自由地表达不同意见并进行争论的环境是很有挑战性的，但是正如俗话所说：争论出真知。
对大多数人来说，想要积极寻求争论并不容易。许多人一生都在逃避争论。你不必出去寻找你讨厌的人，但你需要做些自我评估，确定自己的哪些思维方式是陈旧过时的。你可以从鼓励你当前人际网中的人们开始，让他们帮助你发现你的盲点。
慷慨激昂而又充满活力的辩论要取得有效的成果是不需要愤怒和怨气的。但是它的确需要道德力量。一旦你有了值得与之抗衡的对手，那就设定一些基本规则，让每个人都明白辩论的责任和界限。这场辩论赛的目的不是要赢得胜利，而是获取让你能够前进得更快、更远、更好的真相。
激烈的辩论可能会伤及感情，尤其是当参与辩论的人个性很强的时候。确保你和对手确认过，这样就不会把争论时的情绪带到辩论场之外的地方。用微笑和幽默化解紧张的气氛，并且强化这样一种想法，即：这是友好的讨论，一切努力都是为了一个共同的目标。
一旦目标达成，充分奖励那些参与辩论的人。让你的辩论对手知道你有多么感激他们的贡献。他们越是感到被感激，下次就越愿意参加辩论。巧记词汇
hinder [ˈhɪndə(r)]
v.阻碍
拓 block [blɒk]
v.阻止；阻塞
assessment [əˈsesmənt]
n.评估
拓 judge [dʒʌdʒ]
v.评价；审判
stale [steɪl]
a.陈腐的；不新鲜的
拓 fresh [freʃ]
a.新鲜的
ground [ɡraʊnd]
a.基本的
拓 elemental [ˌelɪˈmentl]
a.基本的
reinforce [ˌriːɪnˈfɔːs]
v.加强
拓 enlarge [ɪnˈlɑːdʒ]
v.扩大，扩展
discourse [ˈdɪskɔːs]
n.论说；话语
拓 speech [spiːtʃ]
n.演说，讲话
sufficiently [səˈfɪʃntli]
ad.充分地
拓 enough [ɪˈnʌf]
ad.足够地趣学短语
dig out 发掘，发现
[例]The child was extremely happy that he dug the sled out of the cellar. 这个孩子从地下室里找到了雪橇，为此他感到十分高兴。
PASSAGE 007
扫码听音频男主外，女主内，这好像是人类长期进化、发展形成的社会分工。然而，在商业文明高度发达的今天，随处可见丝毫不逊色于男人的女强人。这是否意味着以后可以指望男性全职在家照看孩子呢？不尽然。虽然全职爸爸的数量有所增加，但在社会约定俗成的观念中，全职爸爸似乎依然是个并不十分光彩的身份。The Rise of Stay-at-Home Dads全职爸爸数量变多
The endless debate about “work-life balance” often contains a hopeful footnote about stay-at-home dads. If American society and business won't make it easier on future female leaders who choose to have children, there is still the ray of hope that increasing numbers of full-time fathers will. But based on today's socioeconomic trends, this hope is, unfortunately, misguided .
It's true that the number of men who have left work to do their thing as full-time parents has doubled in a decade, but it's still very small: only 0.8% of married couples where the stay-at-home father was out of the labor force for a year. Even that percentage is likely inflated by men thrust into their caretaker role by a downsizing . This is simply not a large enough group to reduce the social stigma and force other adjustments necessary to supporting men in this decision, even if only for a relatively short time.
Even shorter times away from work for working fathers are already difficult. A study found that 85% of new fathers take some time off after the birth of a child—but for all but a few, it's a week or two at most. Meanwhile, the average for women who take leave is more than ten weeks.
Such choices impact who moves up in the organization. While you're away, someone else is doing your work, making your sales, taking care of your customers. That can't help you at work. It can only hurt you. Women, of course, face the same issues of returning after a long absence. But with many more women than men choosing to leave the workforce entirely to raise families, returning from an extended parental leave doesn't raise as many eyebrows as it does for men.
如何平衡工作和生活是一场无休止的争论，而在这场争论中，通常包含一个与全职爸爸相关的令人充满希望的说法。对于那些想要生育的未来女性领导者来说，如果美国社会和商业不能让她们的生活变得轻松一些，她们还可以从越来越多的全职父亲那里找到一线希望。但很不幸，根据现在的社会经济趋势，这种希望是被人误导的。
过去十年中，放弃工作而成为全职父亲的人数已经翻番，这确实是事实，但人数仍然很少。已婚夫妇中，只有0.8%的父亲全年待在家不出去工作。而这一比例还可能被抬高了，因为那些由于裁员被迫回家照顾孩子的男性也被计算在内。这个群体还不够大，无法减少社会认为这一职业不光彩的印象，也无法迫使人们做出其他必要的调整以支持男性做这一决定，即使只是很短的一段时间。
对于在职的父亲来说，即使是短时间不上班都已经很困难了。研究发现，刚刚成为父亲的人中，有85%的人会在孩子出生后请几天假——但除了极少数人，大部分人最多请一到两周假。同时，女性的
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