Food for Learning
In Eritrea, a small country in northeast Africa, approximately 80 percent of the population is illiterate. That percentage is even higher in woman. As in many developing countries, many Eritreans have traditional ideas about the role of women. They believe that women should stay home and take care of the family and should not get an education or look for a job.
These beliefs are one of the factors that prevent Eritriea and other developing countries from improving their economic situation. Experience in many developing countnes has shown that educated women have fewer children and have more opportunities for improving their lives and the lives of their families. In Eritrea, in fact, there is great need for improvement. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. For many Eritrean families, getting enough food is a daily problem.
To deal with these problems, the Eritrean government together with the World Food Program,has a new program that offers food as a reward for leaming. In primary schools, all the children receive food packages to take home to their families. However, with the new program, the girls receive more food than the boys. This way, parents are encouraged to send their daughter to school rather than keeping them at home.
Another govemment program that aims to educate women is Food for Training. Managed by the National Union of Eritrean Women, this program offer food rewards (also from World Food Organiza tion) to women and elder girls who are willing to join the program. Because of the war with Ethiopia, many women are bringing up their families on their own. They often live in refugee camps, with no land of their own and no way to earn money. Most of these women are illiterate and have no skills to find a job. They spend most of their day looking for food and preparing it for their families.
The Food for Training program helps the tennagers and women change their lives. If they agree to join the program, they receive a large package of food each month. In return, the women are required to attend free literate classes for two hours every day. When Food for Training classes in two regions of Eritrea, 5000 girls and women joined in the first two months. It is especially popular with teenage girls, aged fourteen to sixteen, who have never had a chance to go to school before.
The organizers of Food for Traing also plans to offer other kinds of courses for women, using the same system of food rewards. In these courses, they will teach women job skills and crafts such as basket weaving. These women will not only learn to read and write. They will become aware of what is going on in their country.
41. According to the passage, traditional ideas about women __________.
A. are rejected by younger generation
B. help improve the economy
C. hinder economic development
D. have little impact on economic development
42. The Eritrean govemment is offering extra food to girls in school in order to __________.
A. encourage to keep girls at home
B. change traditional attitudes towards women
C. help girls feed their families
D. creat more jobs for Eritrean teachers
43. With the Food for Learning program, women get a large package of food as long as__________.
A. they attend free literacy classes every day
B. they have no land of their own
C. they bring up their families on their own
D. they live in refugee camps
44. The new literacy programs are an example of __________.
A. the work of 5,000 women and teenage girls
B. the problems with the aid of international organizations
C. local and international organizations working together
D. the Eritrean govemment working to keep its power
45. According to the passage, Food for Training will__________.
A. help women better their lives
B. encourage women to leave their country
C. teach women about intemational aid
D. allow women to spend more time at home
参考答案：
41.D [解析]问题是对妇女的传统观念是什么。从文章第一段后一句我们知道，传统观念中妇女的作用仅限于照顾家庭，可见，她们对经济发展的影响微乎其微，所以D正确。
42.B [解析]问题是厄立特里亚政府给到学校上学的女孩提供更多的食物目的何在?第三段中间说到"…the girls receive more food than the boys. This way，parents are encouraged to send their daughter to school rather than keeping them at home…"显然，政府此举在于改变对妇女的传统观念。
43.A [解析]问题是在什么情况下妇女可以得到一大包食物。第五段第三句"In retum，the women are required to attend free literate classes."即只要她们参加免费的识字课就可以领到食物，所以选A。
44.C [解析]问题是新扫盲项目是什么的范例，第三段第一句"To deal with thes prob-lems, the Eritrean govemment together with the World Food Program, has a new program that offers food as a reward for leaming."可见，这一项目是当地政府和国际组织合作的结果。因此，选项C正确。
45.A [解析]问题是食物换学习项目的结果是什么。文中第五段的第一句"The Food for Training program helps the tennagers and women change their lives."显然，该项目期望改善妇女的生活条件。
