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?

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• The author mentions the trail pheromone of the leafcutter ant in line 11 to point out ........

• In the first paragraph, the word "elements" is closest in meaning to .............

• Who were the subjects of the study?

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• The highlight word “it” in the passage refers to ................

• According to the passage, the banded gecko ..................

• Which of the following is TRUE according to passage?

• According to the passage, the difficulty in diagnosing allergies to foods is due to ______________.

• The passage supports which of the following conclusions?

• Which of the following is NOT true about Facebook users in UK?

• When taking the university entrance exams, ..............

• What is the most important purpose of the ozone layer?

• It can be inferred from the passage that the eye ___.

• Why did George Washington not live in the White House?

• What two factors help protect the Earth from radiation?

• Nowadays, there are ............

• What possible use for beta blockers was NOT discussed in this passage?

• According to the text, people could come to live in the future city in the year ............

• Gestures __________.

• According to the text, people could come to live in the future city in the year _______.

• According to the first paragraph, how is the life changed since our parents time?