阅读理解。
As women in the rich Asian country have become better educated, with five times as many now
getting advanced degrees as in 1995, they have also become choosier and are less likely to settle for
the role of gentle wife traditionally expected of Korean women.
"I heard if you are a female with master's degree, it is much harder to arrange a meeting than if you
have a bachelor's degree because of an unfavorable concept 'too smart women' here," said King, a
college senior in Seoul.
The age at which Korean women are getting hitched has risen by an average 4. 1 years over the
past 20 years to 28. 9 years, according to Statistics Korea, and that has created worried mothers
getting things rolling for their daughters.
"My daughter is in her early 30's, an age considered late for marriage here", said a woman who
took her daughter to a match-making agency in Seoul.
"If she does not find her match this year, it will be much more difficult to marry in the coming years.
So I went to the firm with her and made her join. "
At DUO, a matchmaking firm, its 26, 000 members can choose between five different membership
programs with fees from 1. 08 million won( 韩元)($971) to 8. 8 million won.
To attract more customers, the site displays the average annual income of its male and female
customers, as well as their professional standing.
"In a privately set-up blind date, you cannot be entirely sure of how much of personal information
given to you is accurate," said DUO spokesman Yon Jun.
Critics say the industry focuses more on income and status. Some of them have coined the phrase
"employage" to sum up employment and marriage.
"If your father works in the financial industry or is a high-ranking administrator, maybe you will find
your match with similar backgrounds through a matchmaking firm, starting a perfect marriage on the
back of parental support," said comedian Quan.
1. The underlined word "hitched" in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.
A. employed
B. married
C. educated
D. worried
2. What leads to the embarrassing state for Korean women in matchmaking is that .
A. they don't want to be gentle any more
B. most of them are not in good shape
C. they have a much higher education
D. matchmaking agencies pushed them too hard
3. From the passage, we can conclude that .
A. all the perfect marriages result from good backgrounds
B. blind date can help you get more accurate personal information
C. mothers are more worried about themselves than their daughters
D. twenty years ago, girls averaged less than 25 when they were married
4. Why do some people invent the word "employage"? Because .
A. they like the special way that matchmaking is arranged
B. the matchmaking firm pays more attention to money and status
C. mothers are more worried about their daughters in marriage
D. young women prefer personal information to profession
