2015江苏启东中学期初调研测试英语试题及答案(4)

“Sweden is really the pioneer,” says Lann Hornscheidt, a professor of gender studies. “No other country has made such an effort to break down gender barriers among children.” 
Though there are no official statistics regarding the number of Swedish nurseries using “hen”, Maria Hulth notes that individual teachers now often opt to use “hen” even when it’s not the nursery’s policy. But, she notes, “Swedish nurseries’ and primary schools’ gender-neutral efforts don’t end at the neutral word. They’re putting a lot of effort into avoiding words like boys and girls, instead just saying ‘children’. 
To its supporters, Sweden’s nursery world of “hen” and pink-for-all is a civil rights heaven. But, Dr David Eberhard argues that a new word won’t change the fact that the vast majority of people identify either as men or women. “Whatever you choose to call people, the biological differences between men and women remain,” he notes. “We should treat each other with respect, but ignoring biological gender differences is crazy. Making us the same won’t create more equality.” He thinks boys should be allowed to play with dolls – and girls with cars – if they like to. “But”, he adds, “calling them hen instead of him or her? That’s child cruelty.”
Given that Sweden is the world’s fourth most gender-equal country, as measured in the World Economic Forum’s latest gender gap report (only Iceland, Finland and Denmark score higher), practices like the use of “hen” suggest an already progressive country trying to fix a minor problem.
“Far from it, the gender gap creates poverty among women,” argues Hornscheidt. “Movements like the use of “hen” are all part of an effort to create a more just world.”
59.The author mentions some major retailers in Paragraph 2 to show___________. 
A. the influence of the gender-neutral campaign
  B. these retailers’ efforts to promote toy sales
  C. the importance of making boys and girls equal
  D. the varieties of toys for children to choose from
60.The underlined word “opt” in Paragraph 5 is closes in meaning to ___________. 
  A. hesitate    B. prefer     C. pretend     D. refuse 
61. Which of the following would Lann Hornscheidt most probably agree with?
  A. Both men and women should wear pink clothes to show equality. 
  B. Kids and adults will stay equal if they both use the word “hen”. 
  C. Sweden has taken the lead in advocating the real gender equality. 
  D. There are no biological gender differences between men and women. 
62. What is the purpose of the passage?
  A. To seek a new solution to gender inequality. 
  B. To introduce a new development in gender equality. 
  C. To stress the significance of Sweden’s gender neutral movement. 
  D. To compare Sweden’s education with that of other European countries. 
                                     C
By 2050, a completely new type of human evolve as a result of extremely new technology, behavior, and natural selection. This is according to Cadell Last, a researcher at the Global Brain Institute, who claims mankind is undergoing a major “evolutionary transition”. 
In less than four decades, Mr. Last claims we will live longer, have children in old age and rely on artificial intelligence to do ordinary and boring tasks. This shift is so significant, he claims, it is comparable to the change from monkeys to apes, and apes to humans. “Your 80 or 100 is going to be so radically different than your grandparents,” Mr. Last says, who believes we will spend much of our time living in virtual reality. Some evolutionary scientists believe this age could be as high as 120 by 2050. 
Mr. Last claims humans will also demonstrate delayed sexual maturation, according to a report by Christina Sterbenz in Business Insider. This refers to something known as life history theory which attempts to explain how natural selection shapes key events in a creature’s life, such as reproduction. It suggests that as brain sizes increase, organisms need more energy and time to reach their full potential, and so reproduce less. 
Instead of living fast and dying younger, Mr. Last believes humans will live slow and die old. “Global society at the moment is a complete mess,” he told MailOnline. “But in crisis there is opportunity, and in apocalypse (启示) there can be transformation. So I think the next system humanity creates will be far more sophisticated, fair, and abundant than our current civilization.” 
“I think our next system will be as different from the modern world, as our contemporary world is from the medieval (中世纪的) world. The biological clock isn't going to be around forever,” he added, and said that people could pause it for some time using future technology. 
The change is already happening. Today, the average age at which a woman in Britain has her first baby has been rising steadily stands at 29. 8. In the US, just one percent of first children were born to women over the age of 35 in 1970. By 2012, that figure rose to 15 percent.
“As countries become socio-economically advanced, more and more people, especially women have the option to engage in cultural reproduction,” Mr. Last added. And as well as having more child-free years to enjoy leisure time, he believes artificial intelligence will make up the need for low-skill jobs. We may also spend a large amount of time living in virtual reality. “I’m not quite sure most people have really absorbed the implications of this possibility,” Mr. Last said.