Part IV Cloze (10%)

Life as a woman in the colonial (殖民的) America seems quite different from it is today. Women were considered inferior to men, a fact  56  in tradition, law, and religion. Their place was in the home,  57  they were to serve as devoted wives and mothers. They were therefore considered unfit to operate  58  political beings and unable to  59  the benefits of citizenship given to men. Very few women  60  a college education, secured a well-paid job, or pursued a fruitful career. Other than marrying well, they could do  61  to improve their economic status.

     62  their secondary status, women  63  play a central role in developing, civilizing, and advancing the nation long before the United States gained its independence  64  Great Britain. During the colonial period, they made great contributions to family and community. They worked alongside their husbands  65   family survival demanded that chores (杂事) be shared by all. Women helped to sow, plant, and harvest crops. They  66  pigs and chickens, planted gardens and milked cows. This need for shared male and female labor  67  a constant  theme (主题)as families moved to the frontier, where all family members' having to work  68  essential.

      69  scholars still debate the nature of white women's standing during the colonial period, many of them admit that colonial women  70  some standing in their families and communities  71  their contributions were so essential. A woman might  72  chores in the home but also assist her husband in  73  a newspaper or a store. But this cooperative(合作的)approach did not translate into  74  rights for women; instead, it  75  the realities and uncertainties of colonial life.