Part 2. Questions 66 – 75

Read the passage below and choose the best answer to each question

Sex–trait stereotypes may be defines as a set of psychological attributes that characterize men more frequently than women. Thus, males are often described as ambitious, unemotional, and independent and, on the other hand, like selfish, unrefined, and insensitive. Females are described as emotional, irrational, high-strung, and tentative. In spite of the egalitarian movement, recent studies have demonstrated that sex-trait stereotypes remain common among young adults today. In fact, such stereotyping has proved to be the psychological justification for social beliefs concerning the appropriateness of various activities for men and women that further perpetuate the different sex roles traditionally ascribed to men and women.

The awareness of sex – trait stereotypes in the United States developes a linear fashion between the ages of four and ten. Generally, knowledge of male stereotypical characteristics develops earlier, whereas knowledge of female characteristics increases more rapidly between the ages of four and seven. While the reasons for this learning are not fully understood, evidence suggests that at the preschool level children’s literature and television programs provide powerful models and reinforcement for stereotyped views. Studies designed to compare sex-trait stereotypes cross–nationally show a high degree of correspondence in the characteristics ascribed to men and women. As finding have been obtained in the other countries, two hypotheses have been advanced to explain the commonalities in sex trait stereotyping. One states that pancultural similarities play a role in the psychological characteristics attributed to men and women, and the second states that the general picture is one of cultural relativism.

The passage is probably an excerpt from an article on _________.