Question

第II 卷（共36分）

第一部分 任務型閱讀（共10小題； 每小題1分， 滿分10分）

請認真閱讀下列短文，并根據所讀內容在文章后表格中的空格中填入最適當的單詞。每空格1個單詞。

   Educating girls quite possibly harvests a higher rate of return than any other investment(投資) available in the developing world. Women’s education may be an unusual fields for economists(經濟學家), but increasing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics, with its focus on encouragement, provides an explanation for why so many girls are not educated.

   Parents in low-income families fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school---the prophecy (預言) becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a vicious circle(惡性循環) of neglect.

   An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an completely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all the children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle.

   Few will argue that educating women has great social benefits. Bit it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously , there is the direct effect of education on the pay of female workers. Pay rise by 10 to 20 percent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant impact on health practices, including family planning.

Topic: The significance of female  1._________ in developing countries

Viewpoint	Educating girls is more beneficial than any other investment
Families	From  2._________  families	From educated mothers’ families
Attitudes	Girls are of less 3._____than boys	Development should be for all 4.______
Practices	1.       There is 5.______investment in daughters 2.       Girls are made to stay at home, 6._____ housework.	Girls and boys have 7. ____chances.
Results	A vicious circle	A virtuous circle
significance	Educating girls 8. ____to social benefits, 9._  ___advantages and health practices, including family planning.
10.____________	Educating in developing countries is important and rewarding.

Answer 1

1. education   2. low-income   3. value/ importance/ significance   4. children    5. little/ no

6. doing      7. fair/ equal     8. leads/ contributes             9. economic   10. Conclusion