【小阅读^大脑袋】0719 NO.389

As nanny, cook, cleaner, shopper, driver, and gardener, she has one of the most demanding jobs in Britain today. And paying someone else to do the chores which take the average housewife 71 hours a week would cost €349.

At over €18,000 a year that’s more than the earnings of 70 percent of the population, including train drivers, firemen, prison officers, and social worker. Looking after a baby less than a year old takes a housewife into a even higher pay league. According to a study, she earns €457 a week – at nearly €24,000 a year, the same as teachers, engineers, and chemists.

Researchers put a price on each chore, then tried to find out how long the average person takes doing them. They found housewives spend an average 70.7 hours a week on housework – with looking after the children (17.9hours) and cooking and cleaning (12.9 hours each) the most time-consuming.

A wife with a part-time job still works an average of 59 hours a week at home. Those in full-time employment put in longer hours at home than in the workplace. The good news is that these hours drop sharply as children get older. While the average mother with child under one puts in 90 hours weekly, the figure drops to 80 hours from one to four and to 66 hours from five to ten.

Mother-of-four Karen Williams from London said, “Paying the housewives may not be practical, but the government should recognize the value of housework, perhaps through the tax. Running a house takes a lot of time and most husbands don’t understand this. For example, my husband only puts a shelf up now and again. He never cleans the kitchen – that’s the real test.”
DAA
答案解析：
1. Who earns most according to the text?
A. A social worker.
B. A fireman.
C. A gardener.
D. A teacher.
解析：D正确
根据文章谁挣钱最多？
可根据第二段提供的数据比较。over €18,000 a year就比70%的人高，除D以外的选项都在这70%的人里面，可以说他们的工资一年低于18000。nearly €24,000 a year, the same as teachers, engineers, and chemists所以教师比其他选项的工作的工资要高。

 

2. We lean from the text that looking after children ______.
A. takes more time than doing any other housework
B. means more duties than being a teacher
C. requires the mother to be well-educated
D. prevents the mother from working outside
解析：A正确
我们从文章可以知道照顾孩子怎么样？
Looking after a baby less than a year old takes a housewife into a even higher pay league.工资高意味着花费更多的时间。
其他与文章主题无关。

3. By mentioning her husband, Karen Williams wants to show that ______.
A. housework is no easy job
B. her husband has no time to clean the kitchen
C. a housewife needs to be paid for cleaning
D. the kitchen is hard to clean
解析：A正确
凯伦•威廉姆斯提到她的丈夫是为了显示什么？
前面提到很多丈夫没有意识到家务的价值。cleans the kitchen – that’s the real test，前面有个for example,清洁厨房只是家务的一个例子，说明做家务很不容易。

参考译文：
作为保姆，厨师，清洁工，采购员，司机和园丁，她从事的是当今英国最费力的工作。给一个人付钱做花费家庭主妇平均一周71个小时的家务活，要支付349英镑。

一年超过18000英镑的收入要高过全国70%的人的收入，这些人中有火车司机，消防员，监狱官和社会工作者。照顾不到一岁的孩子，家庭主妇的工作量价值更高的工资水平。据研究显示，她一周可挣得457英镑——一年将近24000英镑，与教师，工程师和化学家的收入相等。

研究者为每一件家务活标了价，然后试着找出做它们平均花费的时间。他们发现家庭主妇一周平均花费70.7个小时在家务上——其中照顾孩子（17.9个小时），烧饭，清洁（每个12.9个小时），这些是最费时的工作。

一个做兼职的妻子一周仍然要花59个小时在家里。做全职工作的妻子在家的时间要比工作场所的时间长。好消息是这些时间随着孩子长大也急速减少。不到一岁的孩子的母亲平均一周要花90个小时，一岁到四岁减少到80小时，五岁到十岁66小时。

凯伦•威廉姆斯是伦敦的一位四个孩子的母亲，她说：“给家庭主妇支付薪水可能不太实际，但是政府应该意识到家务的价值，也许可以从税收方面体现。持家要花很多时间，但大多数丈夫却不明白这一点。例如，我的丈夫只会偶尔把架子放上去。他从不清理厨房——那才是真正的考验。

 

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词汇词汇及短语：
nanny:保姆,奶妈
shopper: (商店的)顾客, 买东西的人
gardener: 园丁, 园艺爱好者
demanding: 很费心的, 很费力的
chore: 零星工作(尤指家常杂务)
prison officer: 监狱官
social worker: 社会工作者
league: 等级, 范畴
time-consuming: 耗时的
workplace:工作场所; 工厂; 车间