I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) сле­дующие утверждения.

1. Some scientists explain girls' lack of success in science and mathe­matics by their biological characteristics.

2. The author believes that mathematics and science are treated as masculine subjects because they are more difficult than other subjects.

3. Teachers of mathematics and science tend to encourage the difference between sexes.

4. Male students don't usually allow female students to take the lead in classroom discussions.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. What are social reasons for which girls avoid mathematics courses?

2. What do the worldwide statistics on science achievement show?

3. When, according to the author, does the difference in the approach to girls and boys come out?

4. What, according to the author, is the essential behaviour for learning how to- solve problems?

III. Исправьте предложения в соответствии с содержани­ем текста.

1. Girls are more likely to take up mathematics and science as they become teenagers.

2. It seems certain that where mathematics and science are concerned school encourages competition between boys and girls.

№29

Прочитайте текст два раза и выполните следующие задания.

Airline pilots have high social status and earn a great deal of money. Air hostesses' have an uncertain status and earn little. For those recently qualified, the basic pay in some airlines is as little as £300 a month.

This is little to balance against the possibility of a hijack² or a disaster. So why do they do it?

I went to see Diane Humphreys, Senior Hostess with Dan-Air at Manchester Airport, to try to find the answer to this question. Mrs. Humphreys has had the job for 16 years. Before that she was an ordinary air hostess for six years.

One reason why air hostesses don't get over-anxious about flying • may be that they're so busy, before, during and after a flight. I asked Mrs. Humphreys to tell me what a typical summer timetable for a hostess would be. She said that four or five flights a week during the summer is not uncommon.

«On a Monday morning, a hostess might have an early morning flight, ' perhaps at 7 a.m. She has to check in 1.5 hours before the flight.

She has to prepare the cabin and toilets and make sure that the food and drinks are aboard. Dan-Air does not do long-distance flights, just short or medium distance ones, and so there are no overnight stopovers unless weather conditions prevent take-off or landing, or the plane develops technical problems. There's a 45-minute interval, when the hostesses have to prepare the plane for the return flight. Depending on where you're flying, this can make it a 12-hour day; with delays it can even be 16 hours.»

«During the flight you've got no time to relax — the safety instructions have to be demonstrated and the food and drinks served. You're always busy. So one day you might have an early morning flight; the next an afternoon flight; the day after you might be on relief duty and have to be ready to work if someone else becomes ill or there is an emergency. This means that you have to stay near a phone all the time and be no more than an hour and a half from the airport.»

¹ air hostess — стюардесса

² hijack—угон самолета

Test № 29