As a high school student in the 1970s, Mariko Kato was fascinated by physics. At an after-hours physics club at her school, she was so busy hearing Richard Feynman's lectures on quantum mechanics (量子力学) that she barely noticed she was the only girl i

As a high school student in the 1970s, Mariko Kato was fascinated by physics. At an after-hours physics club at her school, she was so busy hearing Richard Feynman's lectures on quantum mechanics (量子力学) that she barely noticed she was the only girl in the room. ”The complexity of nature was refined (提炼) into these simple, beautiful theories," says Kato. “I only wanted to learn more." Her parents, however, had other dreams for their daughter---they saw her as a piano teacher for young children. When Kato announced she intended to study physics at college, Kato's mother burst into tears.“Physics is for men," she said.“It's not ladylike." Kato's experience has been replayed in countless households and classrooms across Japan. Social-science and humanities courses remain popular choices for freshman women, while sciences such as physics and chemistry and engineering are still seen as disciplines for men. Kato, 51, kept on striving and is now an astronomy professor at Keio University. She was and continues to be an exception. Without a strong support network of female peers, women in the sciences can struggle. Though some have found supervisors, the hierarchical structure of Japanese academic-research teams often denies women precious and permanent positions in universities. Gender discrimination is prohibited under Japanese law. But prominent female scientist say there is a tacit (心照不宣的) prejudice against women. A bioinformatics professor, Mitiko Go says that many professors will choose a man over an equally qualified woman, believing that a woman will quit as soon as she marries or has children. After graduate school, Fumiko Yonezawa, a professor of theoretical physics and the first woman to lead the Physical Society of Japan in its more than 100-year history, was not hired as a full-time faculty member until she had proved that she could raise her three daughters while continuing with her research.“I had fun keeping up both aspects of my life, but I slept only four hours at night," she says.“I didn't see a movie or go to the ballet until my first child was 10 years old." And at least she was not expected to spend long nights in a lab, but could work at the kitchen table while her girls played in the next room. Some baby steps to help women have been taken. The Astronomy Society of Japan, for example, has provided day-care at its biannual meetings since 1997. Pressure from business and the Japanese Ministry of Education has pushed things forward, though slowly. Last month, the Chemical Society of Japan, which has had just two female board members since its founding in 1878, decided to reserve one of its 26 board seats for a woman. But Japan has a long way to go before it makes full use of the female half of its national brainpower.“I joke that women scientists have the advantage of a woman's intuition and patience," says Yonezawa.”But, really, being a scientist has nothing to do with being a man or a woman. Women simply haven't been given the chance."


5. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A.Women Physicists' Struggle in Japan

B.Attraction of Physics to Japanese Women

C.Women Scientists Fighting for Space in Japan

D.Women's Advantages in Japanese Universities

正确答案是C