研究生英语阅读教程 基础级第二版 第十一课.docVIP

READING SELECTION A A Case ( reason) for (against) Male Dishwashing By Page Smith 注黄字体为课后生词 male-female a case (reason) for sth.-a case against sth.; bowels-dishes- dishes [1] Recently there has been a great whooping and hollering (noisy argument) over (about) the diminished dignity and importance (status) of the American father. [2] The poor (pitiful) wretch (fellow/ guy), so the argument goes (says), once the fountainhead of domestic authority, has abdicated (given up), leaving (give/ let) the important child-raising duties to the wife. Pop (father) has become a comic figure (character), ridiculed in cartoons, on TV shows, and in the movies. [3] Because of Pops (father’s) deficiencies (deficient/, adj./ incompetence), we are told, the family is in bad shape (condition/ come down in the world), the children (are) undisciplined, the atmosphere of the home (is) anxious and insecure. [4] As a corollary (Consequently/ As a result) we have Momism -- the overbearing (bossy), overprotective, over-dominant mother who inflicts (impose/ bring about) all kinds of hideous psychic scars on her offspring (children) while Pop watches TV or sulks in a corner afraid to dispute (argue) the authority of his spouse. mother/ mom/ mum/; dominate; scarf [5] The charge, of course, is not a new one. It antedates (goes before) the republic. George Grenville, Minister to George III, is reported to have pushed the tea tax on the grounds (for the reasons of) that American wives were so addicted to tea drinking that they would never permit their henpecked husbands to ban (prohibit) the stuff. (charge sb. with. sth.=accuse sb. of sth.) [6] Every school child knows the result of this miscalculation. [7] Be that as it may (In fact), the symbol of the diminished domestic male has come to be dishwashing. Sociologists (or psychologists, I forget which/ who) and some opinionated (stubborn) laymen have informed (told) us that the washing of dishes by husbands is not only a symbol of domestic servitude,