英语四六级阅读练习（二）

英语四六级阅读练习（15）：性别与权力：为何女性自愿放弃高层职位？There are 5,400 women missing from Britain's most powerful jobs. They should be in parliament, in the cabinet, and running big companies and major public sector organisations. At the current rate of progress, it will be another 70 years before there is equal representation of women in parliament and on the boards of FTSE 100 companies. Gender equality makes periodic leaps forward and then slows to a glacial pace for a few decades; it sprints in some areas and remains stubbornly stuck in others.Now we are fast moving into a strange paradox in which the numbers of women overtake men in entering further education and many professions women are set to make up a majority of doctors by 2017 but men still overtake them to reach the top. It's a rum state of affairs when the most powerful are selected from an ever smaller section of the workforce, leaving to waste the huge investment in women's skills.paradox  n. 悖论；似是而非的人或事overtake  v. 赶上；压倒；超过be set to  被设为；已成定势Time for a reckoning. It's roughly my generation that is failing to break through into the top jobs. Women in their 40s and 50s who could now be running the country but aren't, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's report Sex and Power. Its analysis is that it's a case of discrimination direct and indirect. Motherhood and domestic responsibilities still exact a steep penalty. I feel like I'm back on the school hockey pitch (I was useless) with my PE teacher urging me to make a bit more of an effort and get stuck in.break through  突破；突围；冲出get stuck in  陷入了；被困在Well, before we creep off the pitch with a chronic sense of failure, it's cheering to remember what this generation has achieved. Twenty five years ago, part-time work in professional occupations was virtually unheard of. There was only one model of female career success, and it consciously aimed to emulate a driven, obsessive male version it was the era of shoulder pads and cliches of ball-crunching women bosses.creep off  爬出来emulate  v. 效法，尽力赶上；仿真Since then, the workplace has been revolutionised with a huge increase in the number of women working part-time. Working mothers are no longer a novelty, and fathering no longer part of a hidden private life. In most offices, slipping the Christmas nativity play or a teacher meeting into a busy day is routine. The importance of family life, and the necessity of flexibility for childcare have become part of office culture. Women bosses have escaped ludicrous stereotypes to become normal. That's quite an achievement something I never dreamed would be possible when I had my first child and was back at the desk full-time within four months of her birth. Now I look at colleagues routinely taking a year's maternity leave and returning part-time.maternity leave  产假But it's two steps forward, one step back. The labour market has segregated into one for mums and one for serious players. Mums look for cosy niches jobs they can manage without too much strain on the family, for which they still take the bulk of responsibility. When men take on the primary-carer role and go part-time, it can play a crucial role in helping women to reach the top but change here inches forward. The gender roles around caring and breadwinning have proved resistant to change.segregate  v. 使隔离；使分离resistant  adj. 抵抗的；顽固的Perhaps we should be less surprised or frustrated that this kind of social change can take time. We have been a transitional generation, trying to live up to our stay-at-home mothers' standards of availability and attention while also carving out careers. Equally, men have sought to emulate their fathers' career dedication while responding to new expectations of engaged parenting. It's hardly surprising the concept of "role strain" litters the research studies.live up to  不辜负；做到；实践carve out  创业；开拓seek(过去分词 sought) to  追求；争取respond to  响应；对 反应It's not just the infamous "homemade" mince pies for the school fete (bought and bashed about with a rolling pin at midnight to look homemade) in Allison Pearson's novel I Don't Know How She Does It, but now new communication technologies require instantaneous multi-tasking a child texting that they are locked out/been mugged/hungry as you sit in an important meeting. Or the reverse, at home and caught between the demands of a BlackBerry and a toddler. The complete separation of personal and professional life, a hallmark of 20th-century careers, has imploded, bequeathing us with a complex juggling act. Not only is it exhausting, but it can simply do your head in.instantaneous  adj. 瞬间的；即时的bequeath  v. 遗赠；把遗赠给；把传下去juggling act  变戏法似的把戏；同时做几件事又难以做好的局面Some men and women enjoy juggling and get very good at it, but it requires ferocious organisation, focus and energy. Lots don't have them, or don't even want them. I know many women my age who could be among those "missing" at the top; instead of becoming chief executives they've worked out a combination of family and work that leaves time for friends, hobbies, voluntary work and exercise. Its priorities map well on to the research literature on happiness; an aspect that perhaps doesn't get the acknowledgement it deserves.ferocious  adj. 惊人的；极度的Ambition has proved hard to combine with the mundane requirements of secure nurturing. The cost is obvious; they don't get the power or conventional measures of professional success. It's not letting the sisterhood down but holding on to values of relationships and wellbeing. We're delighted to see others forging ahead and crashing through the prejudices, but we shiver at the price it might exact in our own lives.mundane  adj. 世俗的；平凡的conventional  adj.  常见的；符合世俗的；惯例的hold on to  坚持；紧握；克制forge ahead  继续进行；取得进展crash through 撞毁；推翻（16）：为什么缺少睡眠会使人变胖？Sleepless nights dont just ruin your mood the next daythey could also damage your waistline. According to new research in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, sleep deprivation can cause people to pack on extra pounds.sleep deprivation  睡眠不足pack on the pounds  长胖；变肥；增加体重Researchers at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital found that sleep-deprived people seem to burn the same number of calories as the well-rested, but they consume about 300 more calories a day. Given that it takes just 3,500 calories to add a pound to your body, those calories can quickly turn into extra weight.well-rested  休息充分的given that  只要是，考虑到；假定，已知turn into  转变为；变成But there are several other reasons that sleep loss could lead to weight gain, says sleep disorder specialist Michael Breus. When we get too little shut-eye, our metabolism slows down to conserve energy. That slowdown triggers the release of the hormone cortisol, which increases appetite. Your body thinks it needs more energy, so it asks for more food.metabolism  n. 新陈代谢trigger  v. 引发；引起appetite  n. 食欲；胃口In a vicious cycle, sleep loss also causes our bodies to release more ghrelin, another hormone that signals hunger, and less leptin, the hormone that tells your stomach that its full. With your hormones off-kilter, your body wants more food and lacks the sensitivity to know when to stop eating. Not to mention that being awake more hours gives you more time to snack.vicious cycle  恶性循环not to mention  更不用说；更别提“The later youre up at night, the greater the likelihood that youre going to eat,” Breus says. And “youre more likely to eat high-fat, high-carb foods.”likelihood  n. 可能性；可能One other contributing factor to such weight gain is that the body burns the most calories during REM sleep, a deeply restful phase. And less sleep means less time in REM.For optimal health, experts say you should try to get 7.5 hours of sleep a night. If you have trouble sleeping, stick to a nightly routine, exercise during the day, banish worries to a journal, and keep pre-bedtime activities relaxing.optimal  adj. 最佳的；最理想的stick to  坚持banish  v. 放逐；驱逐（17）：保持大脑年轻化的七种方法1. Move ItQuick whats the No. 1 thing you can do for your brains health? Differential calculus, you say? Chess? Chaos theory? Nope, the best brain sharpener may be sneakers? Yup. Once theyre on your feet, you can pump up your heart rate. “The best advice I can give to keep your brain healthy and young is aerobic exercise,” says Donald Stuss, PhD, a neuropsychologist and director of the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto.differential calculus  数微积分；微分学chaos theory  混沌理论pump up  给打气；加速aerobic exercise  有氧运动Mark McDaniel, PhD, professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, agrees, but adds, “I would suggest a combined program of aerobics and weight training. Studies show the best outcomes for those engaged in both types of exercise.”As we age, our brain cells, called neurons, lose the tree-branch-like connections between them. These connections, or synapses, are essential to thought. Quite literally, over time, our brains lose their heft. Perhaps the most striking brain research today is the strong evidence we now have that “exercise may forestall some kinds of mental decline,” notes McDaniel. It may even restore memory. Myriad animal studies have shown that, among other brain benefits, aerobic exercise increases capillary development in the brain, meaning more blood supply, more nutrients and a big requirement for brain health more oxygen.forestall  v. 垄断；预先阻止mental decline  智力下降The preeminent exercise and brain-health researcher in humans is Arthur Kramer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a dozen studies over the past few years, with titles such as “Aerobic Fitness Reduces Brain Tissue Loss in Aging Humans,” Kramer and his colleagues have proved two critical findings: Fit people have sharper brains, and people who are out of shape, but then get into shape, sharpen up their brains. This second finding is vital. Theres no question that working out makes you smarter, and it does so, Kramer notes, at all stages of life. Just as important, exercise staves off heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other maladies that increase the risk of brain problems as we age.preeminent  adj. 卓越的a dozen  一打；十二个out of shape  （身体）走形；变样sharpen up  使更敏锐；认真思考stave off  避开；延缓2. Feed ItAnother path to a better brain is through your stomach. Weve all heard about antioxidants as cancer fighters. Eating foods that contain these molecules, which neutralize harmful free radicals, may be especially good for your brain too. Free radicals have nothing to do with Berkeley politics and everything to do with breaking down the neurons in our brains. Many colorful fruits and vegetables are packed with antioxidants, as are some beans, whole grains, nuts and spices.neutralize  v. 抵消；中和；使 中立have nothing to do with 与无关 be packed with  挤满；塞满；充满More important, though, is overall nutrition. In concert with a good workout routine, you should eat right to avoid the diseases that modern flesh is heir to. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol all make life tough on your brain, says Carol Greenwood, PhD, a geriatric research scientist at the University of Toronto.in concert with 和相呼应；与 合作；和一致flesh is heir to  人所难免 共有的If your diet is heavy, then youre probably also heavy. The same weight that burdens your legs on the stairs also burdens your brain for the witty reply or quick problem solving. The best things you can eat for your body, Greenwood notes, are also the best things you can eat for your brain. Your brain is in your body, after all. Greenwoods recommendation is to follow the dietary guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (available at ).3. Speed It UpSorry to say, our brains naturally start slowing down at the cruelly young age of 30 (yes, 30). It used to be thought that this couldnt be helped, but a barrage of new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to be faster and, in effect, younger. “Your brain is a learning machine,” says Michael Merzenich, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. Given the right tools, we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger. All thats required is dedicated practice: exercises for the mind.a barrage of  大量的in effect  实际上Merzenich has developed a computer-based training regimen to speed up how the brain processes information (). Since much of the data we receive comes through speech, the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to improve both speed and accuracy. Over the course of your training, the program starts asking you to distinguish sounds (between “dog” and “bog,” for instance) at an increasingly faster rate. Its a bit like a tennis instructor, says Merzenich, shooting balls at you faster and faster over the course of the summer to keep you challenged. Though you may have started out slow, by Labor Day youre pretty nimble.nimble adj. 敏捷的；聪明的Similarly, Nintendo was inspired by the research of a Japanese doctor to develop a handheld game called Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, which has sold more than two million copies in Japan. No software out there has yet been approved by the FDA as a treatment for cognitive impairment, but an increasing number of reputable scientific studies suggest that programs like Merzenichs could help slow down typical brain aging, or even treat dementia. The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly adaptable, or “plastic,” as neurologists put it. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn. And it may speed up in the process.Nintendo  任天堂（日本电子游戏公司及其开发的电脑游戏名称）FDA  （美）食品及药物管理局（Food and Drug Administration ）cognitive impairment  认知障碍；认知损害brain aging 脑老化To keep your brain young and supple, you can purchase software like Merzenichs, or you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you: playing Ping-Pong or contract bridge, doing jigsaw puzzles, learning a new language or the tango, taking accordion lessons, building a kit airplane, mastering bonsai technique, discovering the subtleties of beer-brewing and, sure, relearning differential calculus.supple adj. 灵活的；柔软的jigsaw puzzles  拼图游戏；拼图玩具“Anything that closely engages your focus and is strongly rewarding,” says Merzenich, will kick your brain into learning mode and necessarily notch it up. For his part, Merzenich, 64, has “4,000 hobbies,” including a wood shop and a vineyard.notch up  完成4. Stay CalmSo you may be saying to yourself, I have to sign up right now for Swahili and calculus and accordion lessons before my brain withers away! Stop! Breathe. Relax. Good.wither away  枯萎；幻灭While challenging your brain is very important, remaining calm is equally so. In a paper on the brain and stress, Jeansok Kim of the University of Washington asserts, in no uncertain terms, that traumatic stress is bad for your brain cells. Stress can “disturb cognitive processes such as learning and memory, and consequently limit the quality of human life,” writes Kim.in no uncertain terms  明确地One example is a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is a primary locus of memory formation, but which can be seriously debilitated by chronic stress. Of course, physical exercise is always a great destressor, as are calmer activities like yoga and meditation. And when you line up your mental calisthenics (your Swahili and swing lessons), make sure you can stay loose and have fun. 5. Give It a RestPerhaps the most extreme example of the mental power of staying calm is the creative benefit of sleep. Next time youre working on a complex problem, whether it be a calculus proof or choosing the right car for your family, it really pays to “sleep on it.”Researchers at Harvard Medical School have looked at the conditions under which people come up with creative solutions. In a study involving math problems, they found that a good nights rest doubled participants chances of finding a creative solution to the problems the next day. The sleeping brain, they theorize, is vastly capable of synthesizing complex information.6. Laugh a LittleHumor stimulates the parts of our brain that use the “feel good” chemical messenger dopamine. That puts laughter in the category of activities you want to do over and over again, such as eating chocolate or having sex. Laughter is pleasurable, perhaps even “addictive,” to the brain.But can humor make us smarter? The jury is still out and more studies are needed, but the initial results are encouraging. Look for a feature on exciting new research about humor and intelligence in the September issue of Readers Digest.7. Get Better With AgeIn our youth-obsessed culture, no ones suggesting a revision to the Constitution allowing 20-year-olds to run for President. The age requirement remains at 35. Youve heard about the wisdom and judgment of older people? Scientists are starting to understand how wisdom works on a neurological level.run for  竞选When you are older, explains Merzenich, “you have recorded in your brain millions and millions of little social scenarios and facts” that you can call upon at any time. Furthermore, he notes, “you are a much better synthesizer and integrator of that information.”Older people are better at solving problems, because they have more mental information to draw upon than younger people do. Thats why those in their 50s and 60s are sage. Theyre the ones we turn to for the best advice, the ones we want to run our companies and our country.As Barry Gordon, a neurologist at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and author of Intelligent Memory: Improve the Memory That Makes You Smarter, puts it, “Its nice to know some things get better with age.”（18）：美国孩子担心未来工资You might think teens have it easy. But they worry about a lot: bullying, getting into college, fitting in, finding a date. Now add earning enough money to the list.have it easy 过得舒服；处境很好；放松fit in  融入；适应Jus