Educational and Professional Opportunities for Women in New Technologies - IELTS Reading Answer

The passage, Educational and Professional Opportunities for Women in New Technologies, is a reading passage that consists of 13 questions. With diligent practice, IELTS Reading can be the top-scoring category for IELTS aspirants. To score well, you must understand how to approach and answer the different question types in the Reading Module. You should be taking 20 minutes to attempt answering all the questions given in the passage.

By solving and reviewing Sample Reading Questions from past IELTS papers, you can ensure that your Reading skills are up to the mark. Take the practice test Educational and Professional Opportunities for Women in New Technologies below and try more IELTS reading practice tests.

Here are the question types in the reading test :

• IELTS Reading Matching Features (Q. 1-8)
• IELTS Reading Sentence Completion (Q. 9-14)

Reading Passage

Educational and Professional Opportunities for Women in New Technologies

Question 1-8

1 Rothschild

2 Alper

3 Woodfield

4 Turkle

5 Angrist

6 Shade

7 Kirkup

8 Li

List of Reported Findings

A Men and women perceive their environment differently.

B The advantages of ICTs in schools are difficult to pacify.

C Men see ICTs as an exciting new area of employment.

D Female students find working on their own unappealing.

E A greater female representation in scientific and technical posts would have enormous benefits

F Women can be seen as both passive and active users of ICTs

G Female students can benefit most from ICTs and distance learning.

H In Higher Education, men use a wider range of ICT skills than women.

I A considerable number of women give up ICT posts to work in different fields.

J The way the two genders regard computers reflects the differences in the way they develop their sense of self.

K Certain new employment sectors are soon colonized by workers of one sex.

Question 9-14

9 The term ……………………..refers to a company that is equally happy to promote workers of either sex.

10 It is clear that ICT developments in most fields are driven by………………………….

11 The range of institutions providing high-level instruction today is known as a ……………..

12 Women who are working find it hard to get their………………right.

13 The way workers of both sexes now face having to fit children, work, and continued learning into their lives is called the ………………

14 Women are thought to be suited to computer work as it involves developing ……….and ………………….

Answers of Educational and Professional Opportunities for Women in New Technologies Reading Answers With Location and Explanations

Go through the answers and detailed explanations of each question in the Educational and Professional Opportunities for Women in New Technologies passage and prepare to get a high IELTS Reading band score.

1 Answer: E

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph 1, last line

Answer explanation: The last line of the first paragraph states that feminist writers for many years have argued that if more women were engineers and scientists, we might live in a very different world. (Rothschild 1982). We can understand from these lines that Rothschild saying that feminist writers for several years have argued that if there are more women engineers, there might be a different world. Thus, it’s clear that a greater female representation in scientific and technical posts would have enormous benefits, as said by Rothschild. Hence, the answer is E.

2 Answer: I

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph 2

Answer explanation: Paragraph 2 states that in a review of five countries, Millar and Jagger examined women’s employment in ICT occupations. They found a pattern of a low proportion of female entrants, a significant ‘leaking’ (Alper 1993} of those who enter other areas of employment, and a ghetto of women in lower-paid jobs. These lines suggest Alper saying that in a review of five countries, Millar and Jagger examined women’s employment in ICT occupations, where they found a pattern of a low proportion of female entrants as they enter the other areas of employment. Thus, it’s clear that it was Alper saying that a considerable number of women give up ICT posts to work in different fields. So, the answer is I.

3 Answer: K

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of the 3rd Paragraph states that A study of a new high-tech ICT company (Woodfield 2000) employing a highly qualified graduate,’ showed that men were given management responsibility despite an acknowledgment by the company that they had poor management skills. These lines suggest that a study of high-tech ICT companies that employed highly qualified graduates showed that men were given management responsibility despite them having poor skills. Thus, it’s clear that it was decided Woodfield said that certain new employment sectors are soon colonized by workers of one sex. So the answer is K.

4 Answer: J

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph 4, line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of paragraph 4 states that Turkle (1984; I996) has done similar work on the way people interact with computers. She sees computers as tools used as an extension of our identities, with significant variations in the ways that men and women use them to explore and perform their gendered identities. These lines indicate that Turkle has done similar work on the way people interact with computers, which are used as tools as an extension of identity with significant variations in the ways that men and women use them to discover and perform their gendered identities. Hence, it’s clear that the way the two genders regard computers reflects the differences in the way they develop their sense of self as indicated by Turkle. So, the answer is J.

5 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph 5, last line

Answer explanation: The last line of the 5th Paragraph states that One researcher, Angrist, from MIT found when examining ICTs in the classroom that the set-up costs were obvious and the benefits much less so (Economist 2002). It could be more effective to have more teacher involvement and lower class sizes. These lines suggest Angrist saying the advantages of ICTs in schools are difficult to pacify. Thus, the answer is B.

6 Answer: F

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph 8, line 2

Answer explanation: The 2nd line of paragraph 8 states that Shade (2002) distinguishes between the feminization of the Internet, where women are targeted as consumers rather than citizens or learners, and feminist uses of the Internet where women develop content that creates opportunities for women. These lines suggest Shade distinguishing between the feminization of the internet, where women are targeted as consumers rather than citizens or learners where women develop content that creates opportunities for women. Thus, it’s evident that Women can be seen as both passive and active users of ICTs as said by Shade. Hence, the answer is F.

7 Answer: D

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph 9

Answer explanation: The 9th Paragraph states that Digital media may also produce inflexibility for women engaged in learning. A survey of open and distance learning students (Kirkup and Prummer 1997: Kirkup 2001) demonstrated differences in the preferred learning styles of women and men. These lines suggest that female students find working on their own unappealing as demonstrated by Kirkup. Thus, the answer is D.

8 Answer: H

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph 9, line 5

Answer explanation: The 5th line of the 9th Paragraph states that Unfortunately, however, empirical work challenges this. Li (2002), in a study of university students in the UK and China, found that male students used e-mail more frequently spent more time online, and engaged in more varied activities than women students. These lines indicate that In Higher Education, men use a wider range of ICT skills than women as said by Li. Hence, the answer is H.

9 Answer: gender-blind

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 3

Answer explanation: The initial lines of the 3rd Paragraph states that It is often said that new industries are both ‘gender blind’ (i.e. if you are good at your work you’ll succeed whatever your gender) and that they value ‘feminine’ communication and ‘people’ skills. These lines suggest that the term gender-blind refers to a company that is equally happy to promote workers of either sex. Hence, the answer is gender-blind.

10 Answer: Economic force

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4, last line

Answer explanation: The last line of the 4th Paragraph states that the subtle way of understanding our relationship with this technology, however, must go in parallel with a materialist view, which is that an underlying motivation for most ICT-based initiatives in work, education, leisure, citizenship is the economic force. These lines suggest that It is clear that ICT developments in most fields are driven by the economic force. Hence, the answer is an economic force.

11 Answer: multiversity

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 6

Answer explanation: Paragraph 6 states that in 1963 Clark Kerr, the President of the University of California, coined the term ‘multiversity’, to suggest that universities were no longer based on a body of universal knowledge or a heterogeneous body of students. We can deduce from these lines that the range of institutions providing high-level instruction today is known as multiversity. Hence, the answer is multiversity.

12 Answer: work/life balance

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 7

Answer explanation: Paragraph 7 illustrates the term ‘Second Shift’ was invented to identify the work/life balance of employed women. Women In paid employment did not substitute this for their domestic work; they struggled to carry out both obligations. We can deduce from these lines that women who are working find it hard to get their work/life balance right. Hence, the answer is work/life balance.

13 Answer: third shift

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 7,last line

Answer explanation: Paragraph 7, last line states, “Kramarae sees education in the new century as the ‘Third Shift’: ‘As lifelong learning and knowledge becomes ever more important, women and men find they juggle not only the demands of work and family but also the demands of further education throughout their lives. ‘(2001).” These lines suggest that the way workers of both sexes now face having to fit children, work, and continued learning into their lives is called the third shift. Hence, the answer is the third shift.

14 Answer: network and relationship

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 9, line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of the paragraph states that engagement in creating and maintaining networks and relationships is often cited as a reason why computer-mediated communication will be a ‘female’ technology. These lines indicate that Women are thought to be suited to computer work as it involves developing networks and relationships. Thus, the answer is network and relationship.

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