Text 2
In 1997 the prestigious Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea, announced the opening of the first women’s studies program in Asia. Few academic programs have ever received such public attention. In broadcast debates, critics dismissed the program as a betrayal of national identity, an imitation of Western ideas, and a distraction from the real task of national unification and economic development. Even supporters underestimated the program; they thought it would be merely another of the many Western ideas that had already proved useful in Asian culture, similar to airlines, electricity, and the assembly line. The founders of the program, however, realized that neither view was correct. They had some reservations about the applicability of Western feminist theories to the role of women in Asia and felt that such theories should be closely examined. Their approach has thus far yielded important critiques of Western theory, informed by the special experience of Asian women.
For instance, like the Western feminist critique of the Freudian model of the human psyche, the Korean critique finds Freudian theory culture-bound, but in ways different from those cited by Western theorists. The Korean theorists claim that Freudian theory assumes the universality of the Western nuclear, male-headed family and focuses on the personality formation of the individual, independent of society. An analysis based on such assumptions could be valid for a highly competitive, individualistic society. In the Freudian family drama, family members are assumed to be engaged in a Darwinian struggle against each other －father against son and mother against daughter. Such a concept projects the competitive model of Western society onto human personalities. But in the Asian concept of personality there is no ideal attached to individualism or to the independent self. The Western model of personality development does not explain major characteristics of the Korean personality, which is social and group-centered. The “self” is a social being defined by and acting in a group, and the well-being of both men and women is determined by the equilibrium of the group, not by individual self-assertion. The ideal is one of interdependency.
In such a context, what is recognized as “dependency” in Western psychiatric terms is not, in Korean terms, an admission of weakness or failure. All this bears directly on the Asian perception of men’s and women’s psychology because men are also “dependent”. In Korean culture, men cry and otherwise easily show their emotions, something that might be considered a betrayal of masculinity in Western culture. In the kinship-based society of Korea, four generations may live in the same house, which means that people can be sons and daughters all their lives, whereas in Western culture, the roles of husband and son, wife and daughter, are often incompatible. (451 words)
Notes: prestigious 有聲望的。national identity 民族性。feminist 女權(quán)主義的。thus far 至今。 be informed by 被…貫穿。culture-bound 受文化限制的。psyche 心靈。project … onto 把…投射到…上，使…反映在…上。social being 社會(huì)存在。well-being 幸福。equilibrium 平衡。bear on 影響…。masculinity 男子氣。kinship-based 親屬為基礎(chǔ)的。
1. Some of the supporters of the Ewha women’s studies program __________.
A. assumed that the program would be based on the uncritical adoption of Western theories
B. failed to show concern for the issues of national unification and economic development
C. were unfamiliar with Western feminist theories and their important roles in social life
D. were not themselves scholars in the field of women’s studies and had no idea about them
2. According to paragraph 2, the Western feminist critique of Freudian theory __________.
A. fails to address the issue of competitiveness in Western society
B. recognizes the influence of Western culture on Freudian theory
C. acknowledges the universality of the nuclear, male-headed family
D. challenges Freudian analysis of the women’s role in Western society
3. It can be inferred from the second paragraph that the Ewha women’s studies group holds that __________.
A. personality development occurs in identifiable stages from childhood to adulthood
B. any theory of personality development, in order to be valid, must be universal
C. personality development is influenced by the characteristics of the society a person lives in
D. personality development is hindered if a person is not permitted to be independent
4. By referring to “dependency” in the last paragraph, the author intends to show .
A. the betrayal of masculinity in Western culture
B. the characteristics of kinship-based Korean culture
C. the compatible attitude of parents towards their children
D. the distinction between the Western culture and the Korean culture
5. Which of the following best summarizes the content of the text?
A. A critique of a particular women’s studies program.
B. A brief history of Korean women’s studies program.
C. An assessment of a particular women’s studies program.
D. A report of work in social theory done by a particular women’s studies program.
Word Study
1. dismiss (下課)讓走掉，使（會(huì)）解散；解雇；打消（想法），不考慮；認(rèn)為（不重要）而不加考慮：
1) The teacher dismissed the class ten minutes earlier. (老師提前10分鐘下課了。)
2) No lecturer may be dismissed from his post for misconduct without proper inquiry being held. (沒(méi)有進(jìn)行好好的調(diào)查就認(rèn)為行為不端是不可以解聘老師的。)
3) She did her best to dismiss the thoughts. (她盡力打消這些想法。)
4) He dismissed the suggestion with a shake of his head. (他搖搖頭不考慮這項(xiàng)建議。)
5) He just laughed, and dismissed the idea as unimportant. (他只是大笑，認(rèn)為這個(gè)主意不重要而不加考慮。)
6) He dismissed the story as mere rumor. (他認(rèn)為這件事是謠言不屑一顧。)
同根詞：dismissal 解雇：Martin was not free from a fear of dismissal if he refused to obey. (如果馬丁不肯服從，那他就無(wú)法擺脫擔(dān)心被解雇。)
2. reserve vt. 保留；預(yù)定；留到以后（再宣布討論等）：
1) I reserve the right to make my own decision. (我保留做出我自己決定的權(quán)利。)
2) I will reserve my opinion at this time. (這次我將保留我的看法。)
3) The use of this room is reserved to members of the staff. (這個(gè)房間的使用權(quán)留給內(nèi)部人員。)
4) He reserved a table for two.
reserve n. 保留或儲(chǔ)備的東西，儲(chǔ)備金，儲(chǔ)量；后備軍人；自然保護(hù)區(qū)：
1) As I require money quickly I must draw on my reserve. (當(dāng)我馬上需要錢時(shí)，我必須利用我的儲(chǔ)備金。)
2) The old man keeps a large reserve of firewood for cold weather. (這位老人保存了大量生火木柴天冷時(shí)用。)
3) the bank’s reserves銀行儲(chǔ)備金；the gold reserve 黃金儲(chǔ)備。
4) Animals are kept in reserves lest they should be shot. (動(dòng)物關(guān)在自然保護(hù)區(qū)以免被射殺。)
5) He is a person of reserve. (他是一個(gè)沉默寡言的人。)
用于成語(yǔ)：in reserve 保存起來(lái)：I still have a little money in reserve. with reserve 有保留地：Clearly, he spoke with reserve, but even so his meaning was quite plain. without reserve 無(wú)保留地：We accept your statement without reserve.
reserved adj. 沉默寡言的；有保留的：
1) He was naturally thoughtful and reserved.
2) reserved consent (有保留的同意)。
reservation 保留(意見(jiàn))；定（票、座）；保留地：
1) I have no reservation about hiring him.
2) We make reservations of rooms at a hotel.
3) The government has set apart Indian reservations. (政府已經(jīng)劃出印第安人保留地。
