Seinan Gakuin University: Economics in 1996
In past centuries, the education of young men and women was much different than it is today, reflecting the social roles viewed as "proper" for the two sexes. As long as women were brought up and educated very differently from men and as long as their whole mode of life was different, it was safe and suitable to uphold the traditional beliefs as to certain mental differences. But as the differences in the education of the two sexes lessened, so have the actual differences in their abilities and interests.
Today the survival of some of these stereotypes is psychological shackles for both sexes. Witness the fact that some 40 percent of women undergraduates have confessed (the proportion was confirmed in two studies on widely separate college campuses) that they have occasionally "played dumb" on dates, that is, concealed some academic honor, pretended ignorance of a subject, purposely lost games, played down certain skills in obedience to the social rule that the man must be superior in those particular areas. If he were superior, the deception would not be necessary. "It embarrassed me that my boyfriend in high school," recalled a college junior in an interview, "got worse marks than I. A boy should naturally do better in school. I would never tell him my marks and would often ask him to help me with my homework."
Confront the belief "a boy should naturally do better in school" with the fact that the marks of high school girls are generally somewhat superior to those of boys, probably because girls study more conscientiously. Could a surer recipe for trouble be invented? Indeed, though education at least seems to offer equal opportunities for learning for both sexes, it seems many of the attitudes and beliefs from the past continue to haunt us all.
本文に合致するものを３つ選びなさい。
イThe belief that young men and women should share the same social roles was properly reflected in education of the past.
ロSince women were inferior in intelligence,
they were obliged to be brought up and educated
differently from men.
ハThe fact that women undergraduates have
occasionally "played dumb" on dates indicates
that they have been influenced by the traditional
beliefs as to certain mental differences.
ニWhen men are superior, women must play
the role of a fool and when men are inferior,
women must play the role of a wise woman.
ホThe woman who obeys the social rule that
the man must be superior behaves as if she
were inferior even when she finds herself
superior.
ヘIn high schools of the past, boys used
to help girls with their homework, but recently
these roles have been reversed.
トGenerally speaking, high school girls get
better marks than boys in school because
they are both more diligent as students and
superior in academic ability.
チAlthough we have equal educational opportunities
today, we still seem to be affected by many
of the attitudes and beliefs from the past.
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