HOT on the heels of equality

【小题1】 They lengthen the legs but shorten the steps; they give the wearer a sense of power but can also be painful to wear; they are worn by working women, but their visual appeal has nothing to do with work.

In Japan, a new social media campaign highlights the issues many women have with this footwear. 【小题2】In May, thousands of women signed an online petition(请愿书)demanding that the government ban the practice.

“【小题3】” said the movement founder Yuni Ishikawa, 32 yeas old, in an interview with the Associated Press. “It’s the view that appearances are more important for women at work than for men.”

As early as January, Ishikawa shared her frustration about the unfairness of this dress code on the Instagram social network. In her part-time job as a funeral usher(迎宾员), she was required to wear black heels between 5 and 7cm high.【小题4】. “High heels can cause bunions, blisters and strain the lower back. It’s hard to move, you can’t run and your feet hurt,” Ishikawa wrote in the petition, “【小题5】“

It’s a modest dream. Not too long ago, Japanese businessmen were expected to wear neckties, even on hot days. Then, the government encouraged companies to use less air conditioning and reduce electricity use. Men were freed from neckties. “This petition is the first step toward ‘creating a working environment free from unnecessary burdens’.” Ishikawa said.

   For the last few decades，women have been breaking barriers in professions. But a new study shows that there is a hidden barrier girls are meeting with.

"Girls are facing prejudice（偏见）from boys，from some parents，and even from each other. We have made a lot of progress in gender（性别）equality but we still have a long way to go，"said Richard Weissbourd，who conducted this study. The prejudice could hold girls back from succeeding.

The study shows only 8%of girls prefer female political leaders. Many tend to believe males have always led，so they have a preference for males' leading，which becomes one of their habits. What's more surprising is that even some mothers appear to be prejudiced，supporting school councils more led by men. The girls say that they feel threatened by boys' successes in school.

Rachel Simmons says these findings are amazing，but she's not really surprised by them. "Even today we've given girls every opportunity but our attitudes still have to change，"Simmons said. "We're still giving girls messages to look at each other as threats. Girls are not looking at each other for support，and they're also feeling so insecure about how they look."

Simmons offers ways to parents to help break these patterns of gender prejudice：

Research shows that chores（日常琐事）can be given to kids in really gendered ways. Change it at home. That's a big thing parents can do. Let boys do some care-giving because attitudes start very early and parents can help kids change them very early in the home. Another thing is to change the way we talk to our kids. If you have an outspoken girl，do you call her a bossy-boots，or do you say" I'm so glad you spoke up"？

We all have our own prejudice. I have a 3-year-old daughter and when she doesn't want to wear a dress, I get a little upset about it. Again, every parent has to look at their own prejudice. What toys are we buying for our kids? Are we buying girls the make-up kits and boys the science kits?

   During the recent school holidays I was walking past a playground on my way to a meeting. The thing that _____ me was not the number of children _____ the fresh air on a pleasant Queensland winter day，but the number of older people _____ those children.

Sure，there were a few younger mums and dads，but there were _____ more“old folk”who I doubt were all grandparents. It is great that they are able to _____ quality time with their grandchildren. After all，we often hear people say that their _____  for retiring（退休）is that they can devote more time to their families. However，I _____ how many grandparents are spending their retirement years taking on the role of full-or part-time _____ of their grandchildren.

Retirement is a(n) _____ time. We are generally living much longer than our own grandparents did, but as we ______ we become more limited in our ability to pursue our own ______. However, what if your plans for pursuing some of these lifetime dreams are ______ out of a sense of ______ for your family?

So how can you keep a ______ balance between helping out your family and ______ your dreams altogether？I'm not sure where the answer lies，but having an open and honest ______ with your family should be at the top of the list. You need to nip any sense of duty in the bud（对……一开始即加以阻止）— and sooner ______ later.

By all means，help your family whenever you can. Everyone will ______ from it，and your grandchildren will get the rewards from staying with their ______. Do it because you want to，not because you feel you have to. ______ spare time for yourself to realize your dreams and ensure that nobody puts your retirement on hold.

Many of us in developed societies【小题1】 (trap） in a spending circle. We work hard so that we can earn more money. Sometimes we try to deposit a little or change our money into different countries’ currencies in the hope of【小题2】 (make）even more money. But【小题3】 (strange） enough, the more money we earn, the less often we see it. Because we are taxpayers, the more we earn the more tax we should pay to those【小题4】govern us. In this spending circle, on the one hand, we accumulate【小题5】 (possess） but never feel like we have enough. On the other hand, we work hard for【小题6】 ( big） and better houses and cars but have no time to enjoy【小题7】 (they）. They seem like a big burden. There is a growing resistance to the consumer society which is especially affecting the youth of today. The government should make some laws.【小题8】laws came into being, a huge adjustment would be required and there would be diverse reactions. As【小题9】society, it's high time that we【小题10】 (take） these issues more seriously.