Housework is a frequent source of disputes (争论) between lazy husbands and their hard-working wives, but women have been warned not to expect men to pull their weight any time soon.

    A study from Oxford University has found that men are unlikely to be doing an equal share of housework before 2050. Mothers, the researchers warned, will continue to shoulder the burden of childcare and housework for the next four decades, largely because housework such as cleaning and cooking is still regarded as “women's work”.

    The gap between the amount of time men and women spend on housework has narrowed slowly over the past 40 years. But it will take another four decades before true housework equality (平等) is achieved, the study concluded.

    The research found that in the Nordic countries, the burden of housework is shared more equally between men and women. In the UK, women spend an average of four hours and forty minutes each day on housework, compared with two hours and twenty-eight minutes for men. This is an improvement from the 1960s, when British women typically spent six hours a day on housework, while men spent just 90 minutes every day.

    But progress towards housework equality appears to be slowing in some countries. Dr Oriel Sullivan, a research reader from Oxford's Department of Sociology, said, “we've looked at what is affecting the equality in the home, and we have found that certain tasks seem to be given according to whether they are viewed as ‘men's work' or ‘women's work'.”

    Dr Sullivan said cultural attitudes taught at school may be responsible for the views of housework. “At school it is much easier for a girl to be a tomboy, but it is much more difficult for a boy to enjoy baking and dancing,” she said.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项 （A 、B 、C  和 D ）中，选出最佳选项。

    Here are some of the world's most impressive subways．

    Now many young people are traveling around the world on their own, not because they have no one to travel with, but because they prefer to go alone.

    Kristina Wegscheider from California first traveled alone when she was at college and believes that it is something everyone should do at least once in their life. “It opens up your mind to new things and pushes you out of your comfort zone.” Wegscheider has visited 46 countries covering all seven continents.

    In foreign countries, with no one to help you read a map, look after you if you get ill, or lend you money if your wallet is stolen, it is challenging. This is what drives young people to travel alone. It is seen as character building and a chance to prove that they can make it on their own.

    Chris Richardson decided to leave his sales job in Australia to go traveling last year. He set up a website, The Aussie Nomad, to document his adventures. He says he wished he had traveled alone earlier. “The people you meet, the places you visit, or the things you do, everything is up to you and it forces you to grow as a person,” said the 30-year-old man.

    Richardson describes traveling alone like “a shot in the arm”, which “makes you a more confident person that is ready to deal with anything”. He said, “The feeling of having overcome something on my own is a major part of what drives me each day when I'm dealing with a difficult task. I walk around with my head up because I know deep down inside that nothing is impossible if you try.”

    The great 19^thcentury explorer John Muir once said, “Only by going alone in silence can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness.”

    A young woman sits alone in café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: “Where are the toilets please?” This is a familiar scene in Tokyo's so-called “silent cafes”, where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.

    The concept rises by a desire to be alone among young Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainly, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation. The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a “one woman wedding” – a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression – “botchi-zoku”, referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.

    One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the café, Miss Higashikokubaru said: “I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I'm going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere.”

    The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million “hikikomori” – a more extreme example of social recluses（隐士）who withdraw completely from society.

    Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.

    In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.

    Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea; clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?

    Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist (免疫学家), encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.

    It seems that technology could be changing the places where we live. A project conducted by Johann Siau, a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire's School of Engineering and Technology, has built on the university's InterHome project aimed to create a home that supervises people living at home who are weak or elderly.

    “We've developed a wristband type of device（装罝）,” said Johann Siau, “which allows us to monitor the condition of an elderly person, or whoever is wearing the device. It allows us to collect data of a person to see if the person has fallen or is away from where they are supposed to be. It connects an elderly person with an assisted living type of device with the InterHome.” The assisted living project is part of the university's wider InterHome project, which is the development of a smart house. The house stores the usage patterns of the person living there and can adapt to make it use as little energy as possible. Connecting the two together and building the service element（元素）allow us to introduce the assisted living idea to care for the elderly. It's very important that these technologies are there to help and support rather than to replace any of the existing services.

    The InterHome is not just a prototype（样品）or a vehicle for research. It's a study tool to help students from different scientific backgrounds learn about and develop technology. The InterHome combines the latest broadband technology, mobile data and communication. Researchers and students make sure that all the technology works together. Students get experience by developing new hardware and software themselves. It requires a variety of skills from students—electronic engineers, computer students, design students and so on. “The present plan we are working on is a smart home project in Watford with some commercial companies, ” said Johann Siau. “We are looking at how a smarter home can provide extra value services.”