78 Unit 2: World Issues
Context Clues
The words in bold print below are from this lesson. Use context clues to guess what each word means.
1. Many reports have been published on the rights of women.
2. The reports have a lot of good news, but they also have some negative news.
3. Women do most of the domestic work-for example, cooking and washing clothes.
4. Women do nearly 66% of the world's work.
5. Many programs help women, as well as men, improve their standard of living.
3 Women and Change
"Women hold up half the sky." This is an old Chinese saying. However, research suggests that perhaps women do more than their share of "holding up the sky."
s Many reports have been published on the
conditions and rights of women throughout the world.
Some of the news in the reports is very positive. For example, 90% of all countries have official
organizations to improve the lives of women. More than 1 o half of the countries have laws to protect the rights of
women, and 90% of all countries have passed laws to give women equal pay for equal work. WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) have
1 s programs to improve the health of people in developing countries, especially women and children. Birth-control methods are now available to more than half of the women in the world. Almost half of the children in
Lesson 3: Women and Change �_ 79
school now are girls, a big change from the past,
20 because in many countries education was not available to girls.
The reports also have negative news. Although most countries have official organizations to improve
women's lives, many of these organizations don't do
25 anything. Women make up 50% of the world's population, but they do nearly 66% of the world's work. They do most of the domestic work-for example, cooking and washing clothes. Millions of women also work outside the home. They have become
30 50% of the workforce in many countries. For this work, however, they earn about half as much as men, and, of course, they earn nothing for their domestic work.
Reports also show that there are still very few women in high government positions. In fact, only
35 about 15% of the positions in government are held by women. In addition, more than half of the people who can't read and write are women. Being illiterate doesn't mean people are not intelligent. However, not being able to read and write does make it more difficult for
40 people to change their lives.
In developing countries, where three quarters of the world's population lives, women produce more than half of the food. In Africa, 80% of all agricultural work is done by women. In some parts of Africa, this is a typical
45 day for a woman. At 4:45 a.m., she gets up, washes, and eats. It takes her a half hour to walk to the fields, and she works there until 3:00 p.m. She collects firewood and gets home at 4:00. She spends the next hour and a half preparing food to cook. Then she collects water for
50 another hour. From 6:30 to 8:30, she cooks. After dinner, she spends an hour washing the dishes and her children.
Finally, around 9:30 p.m., she goes to bed.
There are many programs to help people improve their agricultural skills. However, for years, these
55 programs provided money and training for men but not for women. Now this is changing. International
organizations and programs are helping women, as well as men, improve their agricultural production.
almost
total number of people working naturally; clearly jobs; places
farming
fields
80 �--- \$} Unit 2: World Issues
Clearly, women's lives have changed in many ways.
60 Some of these changes have been positive, giving many women legal rights and better living conditions. Ideally, in the future, more and more women will benefit from new opportunities, good education, and legal rights.
Vocabulary
published official especially domestic agriculture illiterate as well as of course
throughout pass positive nearly
1. What book company this book?
2. I like all kinds of fruit, but I like bananas.
3. A worker does a family's housework.
4. There are many programs available to help people learn to read and write.
5. Getting a new job was the most _______ thing that happened to her last year.
6. Overpopulation affects the environment _______ the standard of living.
7. In some countries, school students must _______ an exam before they graduate.
8. If you have $9.80, you have _______ ten dollars.
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Lesson 3: Women and Change
Vocabulary official
negative publish
of course field passed
agricultural position nearly
throughout workforce domestic
1. He wants to go to an school to learn about farming.
2. Her 12-year-old son wanted to drive the car, but she wouldn't let him.
3. They put a fence around the _______ so that the cattle couldn't leave the farm.
4. After working at several low-paying jobs, he finally got a good _______ at a bank.
5 . The of a country is made up of both men and women.
6. There have been wars human history.
7. The child was unhappy because his teacher said something _______ about his writing.
8. WHO is an _______ organization of the United Nations.
C Vocabulary Review: Definitions Match the words with their meaning.
1. relative 2. divorced 3. population 4. task
5. sociologist 6. majority 7. grow up 8. afford 9. descend ---10. exhausted
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a. a person who studies society b. become an adult
c. small job
d. have enough money to buy (something) e. extremely tired
f. person
g. number of people in an area h. way
i. more than half j. family member k. no longer married
1. go down
Unit 2: World Issues
� Multiple Choice
Use the text and this chart to answer the questions below.
Cuts down forests, prepares fields Turns the soil
Plants seeds and cuttings Hoes and weeds
Gathers crops Carries crops home Stores crops
Processes food crops Sells the extra crops Carries water and fuel Cares for domestic animals Hunts
Feeds and cares for the family
Source: UN Handbook on Women in Africa.
Percentage of Total Work Hours Put In by Men Women
95 5
70 30
50 50
30 70
40 60
20 80
20 80
10 90
40 60
10 90
50 50
90 10
5 95
1. According to the chart, women in Africa do about __ of the cooking.
a. 50%
b. 70%
C. 90%
2. of the world's countries have official organizations to improve the life of women.
a. All but 90%
b. Half
C. All but 10%
3. The average woman earns __ the average man.
a. more than b. the same as
c. less than
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