Minab, Iran, 1998
Photograph by Alexandra Avakian

A Baluchi woman wears a traditional red mask to conceal her features from public view. Iranian women are, in fact, among the most educated and accomplished in the Muslim world. Before the 1979 revolution 35 percent of women were literate; now the rate stands at 74 percent. In 1999, one in three Iranian physicians was a woman.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Iran: Testing the Waters of Reform," July 1999, National Geographic magazine)

参考答案：

伊朗，1998
亚历山大•阿万肯 摄

一名伊朗妇女身着红色的传统面纱，遮住自己的面孔。事实上在穆斯林世界中，伊朗妇女受到了良好的教育，并且能力突出。1979年战争前该国35%的妇女都识字，到了现在，这一数据更是达到了74%。1999年，在伊朗，有三分之一的医生都是妇女。
（图文为《国家地理》1999年七月“伊朗：改革试水”而作，未发表）

■TIPS■

Baluchi:俾路支人，伊朗人

Test the water(s): to find out what people’s opinions of something are before you ask them to do something, 中国有“小马试水”这一说，有几分相似之处。