New Changes inAmerican Life

Once it was possibleto define male and female roles easily by the division of labor. Men workedoutside the home and earned the income to support their families,while

women cooked themeals and took care of the home and the children.______(46)But by the middle ofthis centu- ry,men's and women's roles were becoming less firmly fixed.

In the1950s,economic and social success was the goal of the typical American.But inthe l960s a new force developed called the counterculture.______(47)The

counterculturepresen- ted men and women with new role choices.Taking more interest inchildcare,men began to share child-raising tasks with their wives.In fact,some

young men and womenmoved to communal homes or farms where the economic and childcareresponsibilities were shared equally by both se- xes.______(48)Some young

men refused to bedrafted as soldiers to fight in the war in Viet-nam。

In terms ofnumbers,the counterculture was not a very large group of people.______(49)Working men of all classes began to change their economic and social

patterns.Industrialworkers and business executives alike cut down on“overtime”work so that they couldspend more leisure time with their families.Some

doctors,lawyers,andteachers turned away from high paying situa-tions to practice their professionsin poorer neighborhoods.

In the 1970s,thefeminist movement,or women's liberation,produced additional economic and socialchanges.Women of all ages and at all levels of society were entering the

work force ingreater numbers.______(50)But some women began to enter traditionally maleoccupations: police work,banking,dentistry,and construction work.Women were

asking for equalwork,and equal opportunities for promotion.

Today the expertsgenerally agree that important changes are taking place in the roles of men andwomen.Naturally,there are difficulties in adjusting to these transformations.______(46)

A.In addition,manyAmericans did not value the traditional male role of soldier.

B. Most of themstill took traditional women's jobs as public school teaching,nursing,andsecretarial work.

C. These roles werefirmly fixed for most people,and there was not much opportunity for women toexchange their roles.

D. But its influencespread to many parts of American society.

E. The peopleinvolved in this movement did not value the middle-class American goals.