For nearly thirty years I did parent programs in all of the fifty states, and regardless of the community, there was always a shortage of fathers attending, usually by a 10:1 (mothersfathers) ratio. Maybe they were all tending to business, and they obviously didn't think school was any of their business.
The world is now flat. How's that for a sea change? As Thomas Friedman described it in his book The World Is Flat twenty-five years ago, the power structure of the world consisted of highs and lows. The countries with the power and knowledge were at the top of the mountains and the rest were down in the valleys. A handful of countries (the United States, Britain, Germany, and Japan) ruled the world's economy because they monopolize (垄断)the information and power.
Then came the Internet. Suddenly the countries down in the valleys were connected to the information network and the work flow. These included India, Eastern Europe, South Korea, Brazil, and China. Don't believe it? Walk into a supermarket and pick up any ten toys, checking each for where it was made, My last count: China, ten out of ten. The world's workforce became “flattened”. No more disconnected valleys.
Since 2000, U.S. manufacturing has lost six million jobs, one-third of its workforce, most of them males. For the first time in history, women hold the majority of jobs in the U.S.
The only people who don't understand the sea change in business are the fathers and sons still clinging to the image of the male who doesn't need to play school—just play ball. It's been thirty years since that idea had any wings, but too many males are still trying to make it fly. Once the only thing that mattered for men was what they could get out of the ground with their hands. Now it's what they can get out of their heads that counts. And without classroom success, today's male faces an impossible challenge from both intelligent women on the home front and foreigners willing to do the same job for less while sitting in an office in Bangalore or Singapore.
【小题1】Based on Friedman's description, why is the world becoming flat?| A．US which is the most powerful country controls the information. |
| B．Knowledge is shared globally with the development of the Internet. |
| C．Goods made in China and other countries are increasingly popular. |
| D．The mountains and valleys are flooded by the sea water these days. |
| A．be positively involved in boys' schooling for academic success |
| B．focus mainly on the physical development of their boys |
| C．spend more time playing with their boys to get their belief fly |
| D．do more housework because the mothers are more intelligent |
| A．A news story. | B．A book review. |
| C．An educational book. | D．An economic report. |
