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.

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

What is the main idea of this passage?

Câu hỏi liên quan

• The word ‘akin’ in paragraph 1 could be best replaced by __________.

• Which of the following best summarizes this passage?

• What does the passage mainly discuss?

ZUNIA12

• What is the main idea of this passage?

• The author believes that rote rotation is ........

• Which one of the statements doesn’t refer to smallpox?

• According to the passage, what causes the unique color and look of hummingbirds?

• According to the passage, which of the following countries attracts more tourists than the others?

• With which of the following statements is the author most likely to agree?

• In line 12, the word “They” refers to ………………...

• What did researchers discover in the study of honeybees discussed in paragraph 2?

• It’s probable that the next paragraph would discuss ________.

• What will the speaker probably discuss next?

• According to the passage, which of the following sentence is NOT true?

• Which of the following statements is not TRUE about Thanksgiving ______?

• Which of the following is NOT true about the concerns over roboties?

• According to the passage, which of the following is learning in broad view comprised of?

• The man mentioned in the passage, who used his cellphone too often, ______.

• Which of the following is NOT given as a name for the third type of cooperation?

• According to the writer, “A picture is worth a thousand words” means __________.