Today's parents miss the golden age that their own mothers enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found. Mothers have less time to themselves and feel under greater pressure to  _ work and family life than the previous generation. As a result, 88 per cent said they felt guilty about the lack of time they spent with their children.     The survey of 1,000 mothers also found that more than a third said they had less time to themselves than their mothers did -- just three hours a week or 26 minutes a day And 64 percent said this was because they felt they 'had' to go out to work, while nearly a third (29 per cent) said they were under constant pressure to be the 'perfect mother', the report found. Other findings showed social network and parenting website were important in proving help and support among female communities     Kate Fox, of the Social Issues Research Centre, which conducted the survey for Procter & Gamble, said: "With increasing pressure on mothers to work a 'double shift' -- to be the perfect mother as well as a wage-earner -- support networks are more important than ever It comes as a separate report examining childcare in the leading industrialized nations found that working mothers in Britain spend just 81 minutes a day caring for their children as a "primary activity".     Critics say the pressure on women to work long hours, and leave their children in the hands of nurseries or child minders, is putting the well-being of their children at risk.     The study also reveals that, despite the fact that more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare still falls on them -- even if their husband is not in work A father who is not in work tends to spend just 63 minutes a day looking after his child -- 18 minutes less than a mother who goes out to work. Working fathers spare less than three quarters of an hour with their children. Which of the following statements is True? A) Mothers usually spend three hours looking after their children a day. B) Since more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare falls on fathers. C) Child minders are good to the health of the children. D) Mothers spend more time with their children than fathers.
D


(Question)
Not all vegetables need lots of sunshine. Mark Hoffman and his wife own a bed-and-breakfast guesthouse in rural Kempton, Illinois. They often serve their guests fresh products from the garden. The Hoffmans have been growing food and flowers for twenty-five years. For almost ten of those years, Mr. Hoffman has been experimenting and working with shade   plantings. He says, "The bottom line here is that most plants will produce more in full sun. But if you do not have full sun, there are other choices." For example, he grows tomatoes near oak trees. Oak trees can produce a lot of shade. But Mr. Hoffman says his tomato plants grow as long as they get five hours' direct sunshine a day, especially morning sun. Not only does this go against the traditional advice that tomatoes need six, eight, even twelve hours' full sun a day. It also shows how plants and tree roots can share nutrients and water. Mr. Hoffman says plants with wider leaves seem to do better in shady environments. He also found that his potatoes did better partly in shade than in full sun. Moving them out of the sun helped control an insect problem. Mr. Hoffman does not use pesticide  . Instead, he planted the potatoes in the shade, especially on the east side of the tree. The potatoes get morning sun, but they are shaded during the hottest part of the day. Some insects dislike shade, and the hottest part day is when they do the worst of their damage. Time of day, sun intensity  , shadows from trees, walls and buildings all influence how much sunlight falls on plants. And people interested in shade planting should also remember something else. The term "shade" can describe different amounts of darkness. It can even mean different things in different parts of the world. How many hours of sunshine are enough to keep tomato plants growing in Hoffman's garden? A) five hours a day B) Six hours a day C) Eight hours a day D) Twelve hours a day
(Answer)
A


Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. A recent report said that 40%of Americans hate tipping. In America alone, tipping is a $16 billion-a-year industry. Consumers acting politely ought not to pay more than they have to for a given service. Tips should not exist. So why do they? The common opinion in the past was that tips both rewarded the efforts of good service and reduced uncomfortable feelings of inequality. And also, tipping makes for closer relations. It went without saying that the better the service, the bigger the tip. But according to a new research from Cornell University, tips no longer serve any useful function. The paper analyzes numbers they got from 2,547 groups dining at 20 different restaurants. The connection between larger tips and better service was very weak. Only a tiny part of the size of the tip had anything to do with the quality of service. Tipping is better explained, by culture than by the money people spend. In America, the custom came into being a long time ago. It is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. In New York restaurants, failing to tip at least l5% could well mean dissatisfaction from the customers. Hairdressers can expect to get l5%-20%, and the man who delivers your fast food $2. In Europe, tipping is less common. In many restaurants the amount of tip is decided by a standard service charge. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on at all. Only a few have really taken to tipping. According to Michael Lynn, the Cornell papers' author, countries in which people are more social or outgoing tend to tip more. Tipping may reduce anxiety about being served by strangers. And Mr. Lynn says, "In America, where people are expressive and eager to mix up with others, tipping is about social approval. If you tip badly, people think less of you. Tipping well is a chance to show off." This passage is mainly about   _  . A) different kinds of tipping in different countries B) the relationship between tipping and custom C) the origin and present meaning of tipping D) most American people hate tipping

C