Women`s Work?
рабочие листы по английскому языку (11 класс)

Read the texts given below. How do you think people react when they find out about these people’s jobs?

In many ways, David Cunningham is a stereotypical Scottish man. In his free time, he plays golf, goes to football matches, and meets his friends in the local pub, all the things you'd expect a young, active man to do. And like many men, he isn't very good at housework. He's untidy, hardly ever hoovers and he's never cooked a meal in his life. However, one thing about him does not fit this stereotype: his job. David Cunningham is a midwife.

Although some women are surprised when they find out that their midwife is a man, David has a good reputation in the part of Scotland where he works. In his opinion, it's because of the way he carries out his duties. 'I really care about the women that I look after' he says. He gets on well with the husbands too. 'Having another man there calms them,'he explains. And many of them feel more comfortable asking a man questions.'

'I've been qualified for fourteen years and I've delivered hundreds of babies,' says David, who used to be a coal miner. 'There are only five or six male midwives ih Scodand. When I started, I expected more men to join the profession, but the number hasn't really changed. People still see it as a job which only women do.'

Base 34 is a new garage in Montpellier, in the south of France. Customers who take their cars there for repairs may be surprised to find that all the employees are women.

When Herve Malige advertised for women who wanted to become mechanics, he received 120 aplications. After tests and interviews, he chose fifteen. They included a nurse, a secretary, a beauty therapist and two flight attendants. They all wanted a chance to work in this traditionally male envitonment.

I think a lot of people instinctively trust women more. And female customers might feel more comfortable with somebody who doesn't treat them as if they don't understand anything!'

Altrough most car mechanics are still men, the situation is gradually changing. Men are starting to leave the profession, and women are joining it. Why? In a word, technology. In the past, being a mechanic was a physically tough and dirty job. Now, cars are much more complicated than they used to be. You need patience and intelligence to work out the problem is, not strength. Many people believe that this makes the job more suitable for women than for men.