前程百利小编为考生带来了性别与社会分工的托福阅读背景材料。在托福阅读考试中出现过关于男女分工在农业发展中的变化的考题。所以前程百利小编为大家普及一下关于性别与社会分工差异的背景知识，这样有助于考生在面对这类题目时方便作答。
先来看看托福阅读真题是什么样的：
版本一：原始社会男女各自司职的变化，以前原始女人地位高，因为她们负责种田。后来工具发明后男人地位比女人高，女人只能生产副产品，比如养牛羊、织布、带孩子。
版本二：性别作用和地位在农业发展中的变化
版本三：农业发展对男女角色分工和的影响，从女人务农到男耕女织
以下是背景材料：
The gender division of labor varies significantly across societies. In particular there are large differences in the extent to which women participate in activities outside of the home. For instance in 2000 the share of women aged 15 to 64 in the labor force ranged from a low of 16.1% in Pakistan to 90.5% in Burundi.
A number of scholars have argued that these differences reflect differences in underlying cultural values and beliefs. Consistent with this data on self-reported values about gender confirm that countries with lower female labor force participation also have stronger beliefs of gender inequality. However this culture-based explanation still leaves unanswered the deeper question of why cultural differences exist in the first place.
One hypothesis initially proposed by Ester Boserup (1970) is that the origin of these differences lies in the different types of agriculture traditionally practiced across societies. In particular she highlights important differences between shifting agriculture and plough agriculture. Shifting agriculture which uses hand-held tools like the hoe and the digging stick is labor-intensive with women actively participating in farm work. By contrast plough agriculture is more capital-intensive using the plough to prepare the soil. Unlike the hoe or digging stick the plough requires significant upper body strength grip strength and bursts of power which are needed to either pull the plough or control the animal that pulls it. As well farming with the plough is less compatible with simultaneous childcare which is almost always the responsibility of women. As a result men tended to specialize in agricultural work outside the home.
Within plough agriculture societies centuries of a gender-based division of labor created a cultural belief that it is more natural for men to work outside the home than women. These cultural beliefs then continue to persist even after the economy transitions from agriculture to industry and services. Through this cultural channel traditional agriculture affects the participation of women in activities performed outside of the home today.
以上就是今天的托福阅读材料，大家可以在练习托福阅读材料的同时，积累一些相关词汇及句型，以便考试的时候更好地把握文意，夺得托福阅读的高分。前程百利小编预祝大家托福考试取得优异成绩!
