(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Women in the Kitchen, Men in the Garage, Americans Say
The United States could elect its first woman president in November.
But most Americans still believe in the traditional division of household jobs, according to a new study.
The study surveyed 1,000 adults. It was released at last weekend's meeting of the American Sociological Association in Seattle, Washington.
Three in four adults believe that in a couple with a man and a woman, the woman should do most housework, the study found. That includes cooking, the laundry, and cleaning the house.
Nearly 90 percent believe that the man should do the automobile repairs and outdoor work.
The survey found that 82 percent of Americans said that women should be responsible for a child's physical needs. Seventy-two percent said woman should also take care of a child's emotional needs.
Discipline is an exception
The exception, in the question of childcare, is discipline. Fifty-five percent said men should deal with discipline of children.
And if a couple decides a parent is needed at home to take care of children, 62 percent said it should be the woman, not the man, who stays home.
"Sex was by far the strongest determinant of which tasks people assigned to each spouse in heterosexual couples," said Natasha Quadlin, lead author of the study.
Quadlin is a doctoral student in sociology at Indiana University. Working with her on the study was Long Doan, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Maryland.
Survey Released Before Presidential Election
The study's release comes less than three months before Americans vote for a new a president -- choosing between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. If Clinton wins, she would be America's first woman president.
For same-sex couples, the study found most Americans believe the decisions about who does what should be decided by which partner is most feminine and which is more masculine.
Sixty percent of Americans said the most feminine partners should cook and buy the food. Sixty-seven percent said that the more masculine partners should handle car repairs and do outdoor work.
Old Stereotypes
Terry O'Neill is president of the National Organization for Women, which works for women's rights.
She is surprised that a majority of Americans support divisions of work based on old stereotypes. A stereotype is an often unfair belief about what people should or can do based on their sex or other characteristics.
Old stereotypes about what women do better and what men do better do not make sense for many couples, O'Neill said.
For example, O'Neill said she could fix the family car far better than her ex-husband. But she said her former husband was very good at comforting their daughter. She said he also was able to get her to appointments on time, despite the stereotype that men do not do those tasks very well.
In O'Neill's opinion, too many couples let one partner, often the man, make decisions about who does the work. What should happen is a "sharing of power, and sharing of decisions," with negotiations to decide who does what and when, she said.
It does not seem to matter that many women are working as hard if not harder and earning as much, if not more, than their husbands, said Natasha Quadlin.
"Even if women have higher earnings than their husbands they are expected to come home and perform a second shift of chores and childcare," she said.
However, men may pay a price for taking on the outside work responsibilities by themselves.
Another study found that men's psychological well-being and health declined when they were their families' only member earning an income. Researchers from the University of Connecticut carried out that study, which also was presented at the American Sociological Association meeting.
I'm Bruce Alpert.
词汇解析
1.take care of 照顾;照料
I'll have one of my men here take care of him.
我会叫我这儿的一个职员来安插他 。
2.deal with 处理
Security guards were stationed at the door to deal with any interlopers.
门口已设警卫人员以阻止闯入的人 。
3.by far 目前为止
By far the most common snake in Britain is the adder.
在英国最常见的蛇是蝰蛇 。
4.pay a price 付出代价
The American people are willing to pay a price for energy independence.
美国人民愿意为能源自立付出代价 。
内容解析
1.She is surprised that a majority of Americans support divisions of work based on old stereotypes.
a majority of 大多数的
A majority of those polled were worried about inflation.
接受民意测验中的大多数人担心通货膨胀 。
The bill was carried by a majority of 55.
该议案以五十五票的多数获得通过 。
2.Old stereotypes about what women do better and what men do better do not make sense for many couples, O'Neill said.
make sense 有意义;讲得通
Does that seem to make sense?
这讲得通吗?
What you say doesn't make sense to me.
你说的话我不能理解 。
参考译文
美国人能否接受一位女总统?
11月,美国或将选出史上第一位女总统 。
然而,最新一项研究却显示,多数美国人仍然秉持传统的家庭分工模式 。
该研究对1000名成年人进行了调查 。该研究结果于上周在华盛顿西雅图举行的美国社会学协会会议上发表 。
研究发现,约四分之三的成年人认为在两性婚姻中,女性应负责大部分家务 。包括做饭、洗衣服和打扫房间 。
约90%的人则认为,男性应该做汽车维修和户外类工作 。
调查发现,82%的美国人认为,女性应该照顾子女的身体发育 。72%的人表示,女性还应该满足孩子的情感需求 。
而教孩子守纪则是个例外
在教孩子守纪的一事上,男性是个例外 。55%的人认为,教育孩子遵纪守法理应由男性负责 。
若一对夫妇必须得有一方留在家里照顾孩子,62%的人认为,女性应该留在家里 。
“目前,划分异性配偶家庭分工的决定因素是性别,”该研究的首席作者娜塔莎·邱安霖说道 。
邱安霖是印第安纳大学社会学博士生 。与其合作研究的是马里兰大学社会学助理教授郎杜安 。
总统大选前公布调查结果
距民主党候选人希拉里·克林顿与共和党候选人唐纳德·特朗普角逐白宫只剩不到三个月的时间,该研究结果被发表出来 。倘若克林顿胜出,那么她将成为美国史上首位女总统 。
研究发现,多数美国人认为,同性伴侣划分家庭分工取决于谁更接近女性角色,谁更接近于男性角色 。
60%的美国人表示,大多数女性应该负责做饭和买菜 。67%的人表示,男性应该主要负责汽车维修及户外工作 。
陈旧观念
特里·奥尼尔是全国妇女组织的主席,该组织旨在为妇女争取权益 。
对于大多数美国人支持陈旧的家庭分工模式,她感到十分惊讶 。该模式是一种根据性别或其他特征来定义社会分工的不平等观念 。
奥尼尔指出,这种传统模式在限制两性分工方面没有任何意义 。
例如,奥尼尔在修理家用汽车方面远胜她的前夫 。但她的前夫却很擅长安抚、引导女儿 。她说前夫还帮自己准时赴约,尽管这与男性无法担任“主妇”的传统观念背道而驰 。
奥尼尔认为,很多夫妻让其中一方(通常是男性)来决定家庭分工 。其实这本应该“权力分摊、决策共享”,通过协商来决定彼此分工 。
“妻子和丈夫一样辛苦,与丈夫挣同样多的钱,甚至妻子更辛苦,挣更多的钱,似乎也没什么不妥 。”娜塔莎·邱安霖说道 。
她说,“即使女性比丈夫收入更高,传统观念还是希望她们能够回归家庭,料理家务,照顾孩子” 。
然而,男性可能要为担负起外出养家的责任而付出代价 。
另一项研究发现,当男性成为家庭唯一的收入来源,他们的幸福指数和健康指数都有所下降 。康涅狄格大学的研究人员进行了该项研究,并在美国社会学协会的会议上陈述了研究结果 。
布鲁斯·阿尔珀特为您播报 。
译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!
