《考研英语阅读理解100篇 高分版》 Unit 6 - TEXT ONE

After a brutal election cycle peppered with sexist attacks, a historic slate of women will serve in the 113th Congress. Allison Yarrow on how the winners' response to sexism brought them victory at the polls.
Remember 2008? The race when Tucker Carlson said he involuntarily crossed his legs whenever he caught sight of Hillary Clinton on television. When hecklers screamed “iron my shirt!” at her during a campaign stop. When her clothes and hairstyles were chronicled obsessively in the media.
One “war on women” later, the picture has evolved. When women's groups and activists speak about the exceptional gains made by women in the 113th Congress—a historic 20 Senate seats and at least 76 in the House, with some races still undecided—they won't simply hail the defeat of Tea Party candidates who would overturn Roe v. Wade and slash women's health-care funding. The politicians whom women's groups support didn't just beat candidates who rejected evolution, made incendiary statements about rape, or called the collision of sperm and egg a “person” because those candidates revealed those beliefs to constituents. Instead, the drubbing of anti-women candidates and the triumph of a new cadre of women leaders came about because women acknowledged the sexist attacks and rebutted them before their messages sunk in as truth, according to a partnership that scrutinizes gender bias in elections.
That's a change from 2008, when Clinton did not publicly address the sexism she faced until her concession speech. But speaking out early is how women candidates bounce back from the tremendous bump male opponents gain when they hurl sexist attacks, according to research from pollster Celinda Lake, the Women's Media Center, and the nonpartisan recruitment group She Should Run.
Yes, that's right. Sexist attacks, like other types of negative ads, though supposedly loathed by voters, are launched because they work. Confronting the sexist charge repairs voter confidence and boosts the woman candidate, says Lake, a Democratic pollster who calls the 2012 election “a poster child for sexist comments and sexist coverage.”
In a 2010 study, Lake engaged 800 subjects in a fabricated race between a male and female candidate during which both mild and overt sexism were used. She found that both types of sexism could be equally damaging. A newspaper article labeling the female candidate an “ice queen” could undercut her lead in just the same way as her being called “a prostitute” could. Seven of 10 voters polled said they would be less likely to vote for the fake female candidate after she was called “mean girl,” or worse.
So how did Reps. Todd Akin and Joe Walsh lose on Election Day after making much-publicized comments about rape and abortion and belittling their female opponents? Journalists, groups like Planned Parenthood and Emily's List, and even the Obama campaign took notice, spoke out against the sexism, and spread the message through Nov. 6. The result: Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Rep. -elect Tammy Duckworth of Illinois emerged victorious.
In Wisconsin, an aide to former governor Tommy Thompson suggested his opponent, Tammy Baldwin, was ill-equipped for the U.S. Senate because she is gay and then tweeted a video of Baldwin dancing at a Pride parade. Thompson critics highlighted the prejudice, and Baldwin is now the first openly gay senator in the country.
1. It is historic that a slate of women will serve in the 113th Congress because _____.
[A] the number of women to serve in the 113th Congress has increased a lot
[B] this achieves the exceptional gains made by women in the 113th Congress
[C] this slate of women represents the success of the war against sexism
[D] it defeats Tea Party candidates
2. Though the voters are fed up with sexist attacks, they still launch them because _____.
[A] Sexist attacks can make sense in the election
[B] Sexist attacks affect the confidence of women to take part in the election
[C] Sexist attacks give more possibility for the opponents of women to win in the election
[D] Sexist attacks decrease the ratio of the voters to vote for the women candidates
3. It is a change from 2008 because _____.
[A] there had been no speech about sexism before 2008
[B] Clinton spoke out early on how women candidates bounce back from the tremendous bump male opponents gain when they hurl sexist attacks
[C] Clinton brought sexism to the public
[D] Clinton declared the sexism she experienced the moment she resigned from her position
4. Compared with the anti-sexist, the sexist _____.
[A] made a lot of assaulted speech on women
[B] didn't agree with evolution and made incendiary statements about rape, or called the collision of sperm and egg a “person”
[C] screamed “iron my shirt” at Hillary Clinton during a campaign stop
[D] labeled the women candidates with ill title to undercut their lead
5. The word “overt”（Line 2, Paragraph 6） most probably means _____.
[A] wild
[B] obvious
[C] crude
[D] public