Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

Until recently, most American entrepreneurs were men. Discrimination against women in business, the demands of caring for families, and lack of business training had kept the number of women entrepreneurs small. Now, however, businesses owned by women account for more than $40 billion in annual revenues, and this figure is likely to continue rising throughout the 1990s. As Carolyn Doppelt Gray, an official of the Small Business Administration, has noted, "The 1970s was the decade of women entering management, and the 1980s turned out to be the decade of the woman entrepreneur". What are some of the factors behind this trend? For one thing, as more women earn advanced degrees in business and enter the corporate world, they are finding obstacles. Women are still excluded from most executive suites. Charlotte Taylor, a management consultant, had noted, "In the 1970s women believed if they got an MBA and worked hard they could become chairman of the board. Now they've found out that isn't going to happen, so they go out on their own".

 In the past, most women entrepreneurs worked in "women's" fields: cosmetics and clothing, for example. But this is changing. Consider ASK Computer Systems, a $22-million-a-year computer software business. It was founded in 1973 by Sandra Kurtzig, who was then a housewife with degrees in math and engineering. When Kurtzig founded the business, her first product was software that let weekly newspapers keep tabs on their newspaper carriers-and her office was a bedroom at home, with a shoebox under the bed to hold the company's cash. After she succeeded with the newspaper software system, she hired several bright computer-science graduates to develop additional programs. When these were marketed and sold, ASK began to grow. It now has 200 employees, and Sandra Kurtzig owns $66.9 million of stock.

Of course, many women who start their own businesses fail, just as men often do. They still face hurdles in the business world, especially problems in raising money; the banking and finance world is still dominated by men, and old attitudes die hard. Most businesses owned by women are still quite small. But the situation is changing; there are likely to be many more Sandra Kurtzigs in the years ahead.

What is the main idea of this passage?

• A. Women are better at small business than men are.
• B. The computer is especially lucrative for women today.
• C. Women today are opening more business of their own.
• D. Women today are better educated than in the past, making them more attractive to the business world.

• Câu 2: Mã câu hỏi: 42895

  The word "excluded" in the passage is closest meaning to________.

• Câu 3: Mã câu hỏi: 42896

  All of the following were mentioned in the passage as detriments to women in the business world EXCEPT__________.

  • A. Women lacked ability to work in business.
  • B. Women were not trained in business.
  • C. Women were required to stay at home with their families.
  • D. Women faced discrimination in business.

• Câu 4: Mã câu hỏi: 42897

  In the passage, “that” refers to_________.

  • A. women working hard
  • B. women achieving advanced degrees
  • C. women believing that business is a place for them
  • D. a woman becomes chairman of the board

• Câu 5: Mã câu hỏi: 42898

  According to the passage, Charlotte Taylor believes that women in 1970s ______.

  • A. were unable to work hard enough to success in business
  • B. had fewer obstacles in business than they do today
  • C. were unrealistic about their opportunities in business management
  • D. were still more interested in education than business opportunities

• Câu 6: Mã câu hỏi: 42899

  The author mentions the “shoesbox under the bed” in the passage in order to __________.

  • A. show the frugality of women in business
  • B. show the resourcefulness of Sandra Kurtzig
  • C. point out that initially the financial resources of Sandra Kurtzig’s business were limited
  • D. suggest that the company needed to expand

• Câu 7: Mã câu hỏi: 42900

  The expression “keep tabs on” in the passage is closest meaning to _________.

  • A. pay the salaries of 
  • B. keep records of
  • C. provide transportation for
  • D. recognize the appearance of

• Câu 8: Mã câu hỏi: 42901

  The word “hurdles” in the passage can be best replaced by _________.

  • A. fences
  • B. obstacles
  • C. questions
  • D. small groups

• Câu 9: Mã câu hỏi: 42902

  It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that business operated by women are small because _________.

• Câu 10: Mã câu hỏi: 42903

  The author’s attitude about the future of women in business is _________.

  • A. skeptical
  • B. optimistic
  • C. frustrated
  • D. negative