A recent study shows that an unequal share of household chores is still the norm in many
households, despite the fact that many more women now have jobs. In a survey of 1,256 people
ages between18 and 65, men said they contributed an average of 37 per cent of the total housework,
while the women estimated their share to be nearly double that, at 70 per cent. This ratio was not
affected by whether the woman was working or not.
When they were asked what they thought was a fair division of labor, women with jobs felt that
housework should be shared equally between male and female partners. Women who did not work
outside the home were satisfied to perform 80 per cent ­ the majority of the household work ­ if their
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husbands did the remainder. Research has shown that, if levels increase beyond these percentages,
women become unhappy and anxious, and feel they are unimportant.
After marriage, a woman is reported to increase her household workload by 14 hours per week, but
for men the amount is just 90 minutes. So the division of labor becomes unbalanced, as a man's
share increases much less than the woman's. It is the inequality and loss of respect, not the actual
number of hours, which leads to anxiety and depression. The research describes housework as
thankless and unfulfilling. Activities included in the study were cooking, cleaning, shopping, doing
laundry, washing­up and childcare. Women who have jobs report that they feel overworked by these
chores in addition to their professional duties. In contrast, full­time homemakers frequently
anticipate going back to work when the children grow up. Distress for this group is caused by losing
the teamwork in the marriage.
Question 36: The word “remainder” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _______.
A. what is done B. what is left C. what is fulfilled. D. what is shared
Question 37: Although women think men should share the housework, those who do not have a
paid job share _______ of the chores.
A. 14 per cent B. 70 per cent C. 37 per cent D. 80 per cent
Question 38: It can be interfered from the passage that after getting married, _______.
A. men do more housework than women
B. women do less and less housework
C. men spend much less time doing the housework than women
D. women do twice as much housework as men
Question 39: Women who do not have jobs become depressed _______.
A. if their husbands do 20 per cent of the chores
B. when their husbands do not help them
C. if they have to do more than half of the housework
D. because they have no self­respect
Question 40: The word “norm” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______.
A. changing thing B. strange thing C. unequal thing D. usual thing
Question 41: According to the passage, a good relationship is the one in which _______.
A. women do 14 hours of housework
B. women and men divide the housework equally
C. men do more housework than women
D. women do 80 per cent of the housework
Question 42: Objects of the survey were _______.
A. unemployed people B. working people
C. married people D. people of a wide range of ages