A new hot line aimed at helping aging women will open on Monday by the Maple Women's Psychological Counseling Centre (心理咨询中心) in Beijing.
By dialing 010-64073800, people can get free consulting service on such problems as health-care, marriage, family, social welfare and psychological pressure.
The hot line, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m., Monday to Saturday, is aimed at protecting legitimate (合法的) rights and interests of elderly women and helping them deal with the problems that most worry them, said Wang Xingjuan, director of the centre.
Hot line advisers are volunteers, mostly married women with rich experiences in life, many with post graduate education and special knowledge in psychology, marriage and family.
“The hot line hopes to meet the needs of aging women who suffer from various problems. By setting up the hot line, we hope people can pay more attention to the problems that affect their lives.” said Wang.
She said the problems facing China's aging women have become increasingly serious over the past years.
China's aging women enjoy an average life expectancy of 73, five years longer than that of men, but many elderly women suffer from poor health and loneliness.
China in the next century will have an elderly population of 120 million. More than half will be women.
(218 words)
Choose the best answer:
1. Hot line advisers are made up of __________ .
A. married women
B. those women with college education
C. those women with good qualifications who work for the centre, for which they are not paid
D. women who have special knowledge
2. According to the passage, what kind of women can ask the centre for help?
A. Women who elderly and need professional advice
B. Women who have too many children or grandchildren
C. Women who have cruel husbands
D. Women who live with their sons or daughters
3. The word “their” in paragraph 5 refers to __________ .
A. all people B. elderly women C. advisers D. any women
4. The purpose of setting up the hot line is __________ .
A. to tell people China will soon become a country with an elderly population
B. to tell there will be more women than men in China in the next century
C. to set a good example for the public
D. to draw people's attention to helping aging women
5. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. to introduce a new hot line to help aging women
B. to explain why a new hot line should be set up
C. to show China's of status (状况)
D. to give advice about how to deal with aging women
参考答案：1.C 2.C 3.B 4.D 5.A
