A
According to a new US study, couples who expect their children to look after them in old age should hope they have daughters because daughters are twice as attentive as sons overall.
The research by Angelina Grigoryeva, from Princeton University, found that, while women provide as much care for their elderly parents as they can manage, men do as little as they can to get away with and often leave it to female family members.
Her analysis of the family networks of 26,000 old Americans concluded that gender (性别) is one of the most important things that decide whether or not people will actively care for their elderly parents.
In a paper presented at the annual conference of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco, she concludes that simply having a sister makes men likely provide less care.Using data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, a study which has been tracking a crosssection of over 50s for the last decade, she calculated that women provide an average of 12.3 hours a month of care for elderly parents while men offer only 5.6 hours.
“Sons reduce their relative caregiving efforts when they have a sister, while daughters increase theirs when they have a brother.”
“This suggests that sons pass on parent caregiving responsibilities to their sisters.”
In the UK, the 2011 Census (人口普查) showed that there are now around 6.5 million people with caring responsibilities, a figure which has risen by a tenth in a decade.
But many are doing so at the risk of their health.The census showed that those who provide 50 hours or more of care a week while trying to hold down a full time job are three times more likely to be struggling with ill health than their working counterparts (同事) who are not carers.
语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。研究表明，在照顾年迈的父母方面，性别差异影响着子女照顾父母的时间长短。
1．According to the finding of the research, from which of the following families will the old probably enjoyed the best care?
A．The parents with two sons.
B．The parents with one daughter.
C．The parents with two daughters.
D．The parents with one daughter and one son.
解析：选C 推理判断题。根据第二段中的while women provide as much care for their elderly parents as they can manage, men do as little as they can to get away with and often leave it to female family members可知，女性更会照顾父母，所以老年人在有两个女儿的家庭中会得到最好的照顾。故选C。
2．How did the researchers come to the conclusion?
A．By giving out some questionnaires.
B．By tracking some of the American families.
C．By doing some research on a nursing home.
D．By analyzing some of the American family networks.
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第三段中的Her analysis of the family networks of 26,000 old Americans可知，研究者通过分析一些美国家庭系统得出结论。故选D。
3．What can we know from the passage?
A．Angelina led the study of Health and Retirement Study.
B．Angelina analyzed various data and researches to get the finding.
C．Caring responsibilities are a heavy burden to most Americans.
D．Most male families will not take on the responsibility of looking after the old.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第三段中的Her analysis of the family networks of 26,000 old Americans以及第四段中的 ... a study which has been tracking a crosssection of over 50s for the last decade, she calculated that women provide an average of 12.3 hours a month of care for elderly parents while men offer only 5.6 hours.可知，安吉丽娜通过分析了各种数据和研究来得到这个发现。故选B。
4．What is implied in the last paragraph?
A．Many care providers work longer hours than others.
B．People should give up their job to care for the elderly.
C．People shouldn't pass on caring responsibilities to others.
D．Many care providers might have potential health problems.
解析：选D 推理判断题。根据最后一段中的 ... those who provide 50 hours or more of care a week while trying to hold down a full time job are three times more likely to be struggling with ill health than their working counterparts (同事) who are not carers.可知，许多护理提供者可能有潜在的健康问题。故选D。
