Question

At one time it was the dream of many little girls to become a nurse. Today, however, America is facing its worst nurse shortage since World War I. Recently about 2, 000, 000 nurses are needed and 60 percent of all hospitals in the US have shortages large enough to threaten the quality of care provided. The demand for nurses spreads widely throughout the nursing field.

What has become of these women in white? The answer lies in not one but several causes. One possibility is the fact that women have greater career options（職業(yè)選擇）. In the past, women who chose to work outside the home had two basic choices: nursing or teaching. Today, more women than ever are in the work force, but their options have greatly increased. There are women doctors, lawyers, firefighters and police officers. In fact, women today are found in nearly every field of work. Nursing has been left behind, as women move on to jobs with higher pay and greater status（地位）. A woman or man in the nursing field is often looked down upon as “merely a nurse”. Teachers may be also at fault. Many high school students are actually being persuaded to keep away from nursing, told by teachers that they are “too bright to be a nurse”.

Americans are living longer than ever and requiring more medical attention. In fact, the number of elderly patients has almost doubled in the past twenty years. Obviously a larger population requires more nurses. AIDS and other diseases have caused more and more people to need nursing care. Usually fatal diseases mean long drawn-out hospital stay, that is to say, more nurses are needed to care for these patients. It is said that the demand for nurses will be doubled in the coming ten years.

1.What are the main factors that are responsible for the shortage of nurses in America?

A. Women are better educated and provided with more different jobs than men.

B. More women are clever enough to be doctors, lawyers and police officers.

C. Greater career options are offered for women and more patients require nurse care

D. There are more diseases and nurses are badly paid and looked down upon.

2.The passage tells us that high school teachers are to blame for______.

A. not mentioning the worst nurse shortage in the US

B. advising the students not to choose to be nurses

C. introducing jobs with higher pay and greater status to their students

D. not asking the government to raise the nurses’ payment

3.The author wrote this passage in order to ______.

A. describe the unequal treatment of women in the US

B. tell us women’s free choice of jobs today in America

C. draw people’s attention to the nursing shortage problem

D. call on more women to be nurses after graduating from high school

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. High school students think themselves too bright to be nurses.

B. Women in the US have greater career choice than in other countries.

C. Nursing used to be an ideal job for women in the US at one time.

D. 60 percent of hospitals in the world are faced with nurse shortage.

Answer 1