C Woman have more problems than men in old age. First of all, they have less money—or no money at all — and because of this, they often feel they get less respect , even at home. Quite a large number have no pension(退休费) because they have never worked outside the home, and thirty-eight percent are supported mainly by their husbands or children. Second, a larger number of old women than old men become window(single women). Men are normally older than the women they marry, and women generally live longer than men. The remarriage among older windows is lower than that among widows(single men). Statistics (统计) from 1990 in Shanghai show only 52 percent of elderly women with husbands still living, compared to(与---相比)82 percent of men. Because of lower incomes and the difficulty of remarriage, many elderly women who live alone, are poor and have almost no social life. Even an old couple lives with children, it is the woman who ends up doing the work around the house. She cleans the rooms, prepares meals, and takes care of the family. Some 75 percent of them carry out such heavy physical tasks as buying and carrying grain, coal and other supplies for the home. How to improve the quality of life of women in their later years is a question that needs to be dealt with by all the society.
D Our surroundings are being polluted faster than ever and it seems that people cannot prevent it. Time is bringing us more people, and more people will bring us more industry, more cars, larger cities, and the growing use of man-made materials. What can explain and settle this problem? The fact is that pollution is caused by man—by his desire(欲望) for a modern way of life. We make “increasing industrialization”(工业化) our first aim. So we are often ready to offer everything: clean air, pure water, good food, our health and the future of our children. There is a constant flow of people from the country-side into the cities, eager for the achievements of our modern society. But as our technological achievements have grown in the last twenty years, pollution has become a serious problem. Isn’t it time we stopped to ask ourslves where we are going—and why? It makes one think of the story about the pilot (飞行员) who told his passengers over the loudspeaker : “I’ve some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we ’re making rapid progress at 530 miles per hour. The bad news is that we are lost and don’t know where we’re going.” The sad fact is that this becomes a true story when speaking of our modern society.