Breaking down walls (Page 4)
北京市和平街第一中学  甘露

Lead-in 
Close your eyes and picture a scientist. Which image comes to mind first? A male or a female? 

Science = Male?
Conscious and unconscious bias toward women

Prediction
In November, at the World Laureates Forum (世界顶尖科学家论坛) in Shanghai, a WLA SHE Forum was held. Can you guess what it was about?

Read and explore
Read the passage quickly to check your guess. What was the WLA SHE Forum about?

In November, at a forum for the scientific community held in Shanghai, some of the world’s top female scientists announced an initiative encouraging worldwide institutions in all arenas and at all levels to promote gender equality in STEM areas – science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions.

1. What happened to Indian female scientist Linda?
When she returned to work after a short break to be with her children, Linda was given jobs including sorting out files needed by other support staff just because she is a woman and a mother now. But as an ambitious woman, Linda felt “exhausted mentally”.

2. How did Lily feel despite the fact that she completed her doctoral study in chemical and biological engineering?     
She felt that she was turned away from academia due to her gender and skin color. “It felt like I had to work harder to be treated with the same amount of respect and to be given the same amount of time from professors than other students did.”

3. What did female scientists at the forum say was needed to change gender discrimination in modern society?
• “To achieve that, role models of women scientists need to be better represented on important international stages and allow their voices to be heard as a way to encourage youths to see women can fulfill their potentials in science arenas as well,” Lenore Blum, a female scientist from the US, said.
•But more importantly, “If you want to get something, you have to fight for it; you must show your ability,” said Ye Shuhua, China’s first female observatory (天文台) director.     

Think and share
Click the following link to watch the video and discuss in groups. (https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1C44y1i7nN/?spm_id_from=333.788.recommend_more_video.1)

1. What’s Ye Shuhua’s attitude toward gender discrimination?   
She said NO to gender discrimination and she encouraged women to break the “glass ceiling” and take action to fight for equality between men and women.

2. What impresses you most in this video?
   
She is a role model. It was her commitment and persistence and efforts that contributed to her great achievements.

Language study
1. When asked about the reason, she just got the reply: “You’re a woman and a mother now. That’s the job more suitable for you,” noted the website Feminism in India.    
本句中When asked about the reason = When she was asked about the reason，当从句的主语和主句主语一致时，可以省去从句中的主语+ be动词，即连词+过去分词表示被动。
   如：When asked about the secret to his success, he gave credit to his family’s support. 
被问到成功的秘诀时，他将其归功于家庭的支持。

2. Despite the fact that she completed her doctoral study in chemical and biological engineering, she got the feeling that she was turned away from academia due to her gender and skin color.
（1）句中despite the fact that和got the feeling that后面均为同位语从句，分别解释说明前面的抽象名词fact和feeling的具体内容。
（2）due to her gender and skin color “由于她的性别和肤色”，此处 due to“ 因为”是介词短语，后面接名词短语。

Post reading 
Surf the internet to find more about gender discrimination in other fields and learn about how feminists have made changes.