It's unusual now for father to persue(追求)his trade of other employment at home, and his children rarely, if ever, see him at his place of work. Boys are therefore seldom trained to follow their father's business, and in many towns they have a fairly wide choice of employment and so do girls. The young wage-earner often earns good money, and soon gains a feeling of economic independence (经济上的独立). In textile areas it has been customary for mothers to go out to work, but this practice has become so widespread that the working mother is now not an unusual factor in a child's home life, the number of married women in employment having more than doubled in the last twenty five years. With mother earning and older children drawing wages, father is seldom the most important figure that he still was at the beginning of the century. When mother works, economic advantages increase, but children lose something of great value if mother's employment prevents her from being home to greet them when they return from School.
The writer compares home to a workshop because ______.
A. fathers often persue employment at home
B. many families produce goods at home for sale
C. both fathers and mothers in most families are workers
D. parents have to make food and necessity themselves for their daily life
A.produceB.playC.makeD.get
A. produce
B. play
C. make
D. get
A.wentB.leftC.passedD.past
A. went
B. left
C. passed
D. past
To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains, but actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against rain. Its first use was as a shade against the sun.
Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times. Probably the Chinese were the first to use it in the eleventh century B. C.
We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor and authority. In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by the king or by those in high office.
In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. And the umbrella was in common use in ancient Greece. But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans. During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared, Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And a gain it was considered a symbol of power and authority. By 1680, the umbrella appeared in France, and later on in England.
By the 18th century the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe. Umbrella have not changed much in style. during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It wasn't until the twentieth century that women's umbrellas were made, in a whole variety of colors.
According to this passage, the umbrella was probably first invented ______.
A. in ancient China
B. in ancient Europe
C. in ancient Greece
D. in ancient Rome