单项选择题
During the 20th century there was a great change in the lives of women. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle 20s, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was 15, the mother would have been in her early 50s and would expect to live a further 20 years, during which chance and health made it unusual for them to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be 15 when she is 35 and can be expected to live another 35 years and is likely to take paid work until 60.
This important change in women’s life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school and took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is 16, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Many more afterwards return to full-time or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life.
A. few children died before they were five
B. seven or eight children lived to be more than five
C. the youngest child would be 15
D. many children died before the age of five