The early lack of exposure to science ，technology，engineering and mathematics (STEM) can be harmful to achieving gender (性别）balance in these fields. It begins when we are young and continues throughout our time in high school.
While at home，girls generally don’t get to experience the level of exposure or encouragement in STEM fields that their male counterparts do. It is often subtle ，but it’s the first hurdle that faces and confuses so many women. Boys ，on the other hand, get on their path ，and are encouraged to do so， generally earlier than girls. For example ，boys are more often given science sets as toys ，which spark an interest in these subjects.
In school 3 boys are often pushed to take the more challenging math and science classes. So if we want to attract the best and brightest minds into the fields that will advance us as a people ? a country，and a planet，we can no longer look to only half of the population. Young girls cannot possibly consider opportunities they do not know exist. If girls are not exposed to certain subject and career paths，they are highly unlikely to choose to follow them in college.
Our bias(偏见)toward girls9 either from families or from schools ，is so rooted in our culture that we often don’t even recognize it. Although the situation Has changed greatly in the past 20 or 30 years，there is still a sense that girls aren't as good at math 9 for instance 9 even though there is almost no evidence to support such a belief.
It is important that as a society we deal with gender stereotypes long before young people are faced with a decision to declare or choose a major in college. Without making efforts to break them， we are limiting the potentials of our youth，both male and female. Providing the necessary resources， exposure , and encouragement would help young women understand that their gender shouldn’t determine the career path they choose, and that pursuing a STEM career does not make them less feminine.
【小题1】According to the passage ? not many girls grow to enter STEM fields because .A．girls are not as good at STEM as boysB．girls do not like to take science classesC．girls get fewer chances to know about STEMD．girls seldom survive the high pressure positions【小题2】The underlined word “it” in Para. 4 refers to A．our biasB．our cultureC．the situationD．a sense【小题3】The main purpose of the passage is to .A．show women’s potentials in STEM fieldsB．praise women’s contributions to STEM fieldsC．describe the present gender bias in STEM fieldsD．call for more involvement of women in STEM fields【小题4】Which of the following shows the structure of the passage? C
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(答案→)C
解析：
试题分析：本文介绍了没有很多女性进入STEM领域工作，是因为她们没有什么机会接触这方面的知识。是由于我们的文化导致对女性的偏见，呼吁多一些女性参与STEM领域的工作。
【小题1】细节题：从第二段的句子：While at home，girls generally don’t get to experience the level of exposure or encouragement in STEM fields that their male counterparts do.可知没有很多女性进入STEM领域工作，是因为她们没有什么机会接触这方面的知识。选C
【小题2】猜词题：我们的偏见扎根于文化，以至于我们都没有意识到这种偏见。选A
【小题3】推理题：从最后一段的句子：Providing the necessary resources， exposure , and encouragement would help young women understand that their gender shouldn’t determine the career path they choose, and that pursuing a STEM career does not make them less feminine.可知文章呼吁在STEM领域多一些女性。选D
【小题4】文章结构题：文章第一段提出话题：现在女性在STEM领域的很少是因为早年没有接触到这方面的知识。第二段讲的是在家里的情况，第三段是在学校的情况，第四段把上两段总结起来说，第五段是这篇文章的总结。选D
考点：考查社会现象类短文
点评：本文介绍了没有很多女性进入STEM领域工作，是因为她们没有什么机会接触这方面的知识。是由于我们的文化导致对女性的偏见，呼吁多一些女性参与STEM领域的工作。这类文章结构清晰易懂，。集中考查了句意理解题和细节题，要求考生有较强的细节理解能力。做题时也可以结合自己的生活常识和经验，再通过逻辑推理和判断。文章结构图的解答关键是弄清每段的大意。