It was graduation day at Etihad Training Academy，where the national airline of the United Arab Emirates holds a seven-week training course for new flight attendants．

Despite her obvious pride，Ms．Fathi，a 22-year-old from Egypt，was amazed to find herself here．“I never in my life thought I’d work abroad，” said Ms．Fathi，who was a university student in Cairo when she began noticing newspaper advertisements employing young Egyptians to work at airlines based in the Persian Gulf.

Twenty years ago，unmarried Arab women like Ms．Fathi，working outside their home countries，were rare．But just as young men from poor Arab nations poured into the oil-rich Persian Gulf states for jobs，more young women are doing so．

Flight attendants have become the public face of the new mobility for some young Arab women，just as they were the face of new freedoms for women in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s．They have become a subject of social anxiety and fascination in much the same way．

For many families，allowing a daughter to work may call her virtue into question．Yet this culture is changing，said Musa Shteiwi，a sociologist at Jordan University in Amman．“We’re noticing more and more single women going to the gulf these days，” he said． “It’s still not exactly common，but over the last four or five years it’s become quite an observable phenomenon.”

Many of the young Arab women working in the Persian Gulf take delight in their status as pioneers，role models for their friends and younger female relatives．Young women brought up in a culture that highly values community，have learned to see themselves as individuals．The experience of living independently and working hard for high salaries has forever changed their beliefs about themselves，though it can also lead to a painful sense of separation from their home countries and their families.

—From New York Times (December 22，2014)

【1】It can be inferred from the passage that young Arab women _________．

A． go to work abroad after American women’s example

B． didn’t start to work abroad until the late 20th century

C． are commonly used to living and working separately

D． expect to take the same family responsibilities as men

【2】According to the passage，the Arab women flight attendants can be described as _________.

A． proud，homesick or independent

B． honest，outstanding or optimistic

C． mature，enthusiastic or energetic

D． painful，desperate or conservative

【3】How do the public respond to young Arab women’s new mobility?

A． The public think highly of it.

B． The public care very little about it.

D． The public are strongly against it.

【4】The author intends to tell the readers that __________.

A． Arab women can hardly find any work

B． flight attendants are badly needed in the gulf

C． flight attendants lead quite a different life

D． young Arab women’s values are changing

【答案】

【1】B

【2】A

【3】C

【4】D

【解析】

【1】推理判断.根据文章第二段Twenty years ago，unmarried Arab women like Ms．Fathi，working outside their home countries，were rare，可知在上世纪后期（也就是20多年前），阿拉伯的女人是很少在外面工作的，故选B。

【2】推理判断.由最后一段中的t take delight in their status as pioneers，role models for their friends and younger female relatives 可推断她们是proud和independent（自豪与独立）这种性格；同时，也从最后一段的lead to a painful sense of separation from their home countries and their families，也可以理解她们离乡背井到外地工作是homesick（想家的），故选A。

【3】细节理解.根据文章中的You may also wish to bring a towel or a rug to sit on at the Penguin Parade viewing platform.，可知本题应选B。

【4】推理判断.本文是一篇介绍旅游的广告，由文章的最后一段的第一句Please download Travel Voucher from this website可推断此文章来源于网络。