IELTS Forcast Reading Test 2025 - Q2 Test 3 with Practice Test, Answers And Explanation
Luyện tập đề IELTS Forcast Reading Test 2025 - Q2 Test 3 được lấy từ cuốn sách Forcast Test 2025 - Q2 với trải nghiệm thi IELTS trên máy và giải thích đáp án chi tiết bằng Linearthinking, kèm answer key và list từ vựng IELTS cần học trong bài đọc.
IELTS Forcast Reading Test 2025 - Q2 Test 3 with Practice Test, Answers And Explanation
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 1
Question 1 - 6
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-viii.
List of Headings
I
Opposition by employers to parental leave
II
An illustration of a trend in one country
III
An explanation for the limited success of government initiatives
IV
Pressure for change from an unlikely source
V
The need for cooperation at a global level
VI
The contrast in attitudes towards leave for mothers and fathers
VII
A range of measures to encourage more equal responsibility
VIII
The implications of maternity leave
1
Paragraph A
2
Paragraph B
3
Paragraph C
4
Paragraph D
5
Paragraph E
6
Paragraph F
Question 7 - 8
Choose TWO letters, A-E
According to the writer, which TWO problems may be caused by maternity leave?
A
women may be less effective at work after maternity leave
B
women may find it difficult to find suitable part-time work
C
women may find they are paid less for doing the same work
D
women's chances of professional advancement may be affected
E
women's pay may be insufficient to support them during maternity leave.
Question 9 - 13
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer
Encouraging more fathers to take paternity leave
Even in countries where paternity leave is easy to get, few fathers make use of it chiefly for reasons. However, issues connected with , including traditional views of male and female roles in the family, may also play a part. Some countries, such as Chile, have made it for men to take paternity leave. Sweden and Germany both offer a bonus to families where parents share leave, and in Poland, mothers and fathers each have of leave which are specified for them. Sharing children in this way may be good for both mothers and fathers and may also support the of the child.
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 2
Question 14 - 20
Reading Passage has 7 paragraphs A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
14
Recipes to get rid of facial defects caused by aging
15
Perfumes were presented to conquerors in war
16
Long hair of girls had special meanings in marriage
17
Evidence exists in abundance showing cosmetics use in ancient times
18
Protecting eyes from fly-transmitted diseases
19
A change from witchcraft to beautification
20
More expensive than gold
Question 21 - 26
Choose
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
21
The written record for cosmetics and perfumes dates back to the third millennium BC.
22
Since perfumes and spices were luxury products, their use was exclusive to the noble and the wealthy.
23
In the ancient Far East, fish fats were used as cream by women from poor households.
24
The teachings in the Bible were repeatedly against the use of kohl for painting the eyes.
25
Long hair as a symbol of beauty was born solely by women of ancient cultures
26
The Egyptian Queen Hatsheput sent a royal expedition to Punt to establish a trade route for myrrh
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 3
Question 27 - 31
Choose appropriate options A, B, C or D.
27
What does the writer suggest about game theory software in the first paragraph?
A
Traditional negotiating practices should be used to supplement the software.
B
Success of the software depends on the accuracy of the assigned.
C
This software anticipates the outcome of future events.
D
Future business negotiations will be dominated by this software.
28
Reinier van Oosten says predicting what people will do works best if
A
Participants are honest about how they feel.
B
There is a good understanding of the client's culture.
C
People strongly dislike the other party.
D
Profit is the primary motivator.
29
After using game theory software in 2006, Dr. Milgrom instructed his clients to
A
Buy big licenses.
B
Negotiate with the other parties directly.
C
Make one big offer at the end of the auction.
D
Purchase a mix of licenses.
30
The writer refers to Stephen Black's ice-cream seller example in order to
A
Show the impact new competitors have on business.
B
Highlight the importance of location on business success.
C
Demonstrate that businesses must follow a strategy.
D
Clarity how pricing affects sales.
31
Ponsati believes business negotiations are more likely to progress if
A
A solution is proposed by one of the interested parties.
B
Mediators or computers take over the bargaining process.
C
Both parties follow the rules of negotiating.
D
Sufficient time is allowed for the bargaining process.
Question 32 - 35
Choose
YES if the statement agrees with the information
NO if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
32
Game theory software may be unhelpful when dealing with political issues.
33
Dr. Milgrom was confident about applying his software to an auction in 2006.
34
Dr. Ponsati believes 'mediation machines' are an inappropriate method of negotiation in areas other than business.
35
Military organizations refuse to accept that software based on game theory could prevent wars.
Question 36 - 40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
According to Reinier van Oosten, game theory software fails when
Dr. Milgrom's software is successful in detecting if
Dr. Black's game theory software is a helpful tool when
According to Dr. Ponsati, negotiators fall behind if
Dr. Ponsati's mediation machine is useful when
A
something is thought to be worth more than it really is.
B
discussions between the parties begin to break down.
C
too much information is given to the other parties early on.
D
businesses consider possible future developments
E
people allow their feelings to influence decisions.
F
a solution requires face-to-face negotiation.
DOL IELTS Đình Lực
05/05/2026
📖 Bài đọc passage 1
Paternity Leave
Men have long been discouraged from playing an equal role at home. That is at last starting to change.
A
A. At a course for fathers-to-be in New York, participants are introduced to baby maintenance for beginners: how to keep their babies fed, warm and clean. The City Dads Group was founded when Matt Schneider and Lance Somerfeld became fathers and discovered that people saw their place as firmly outside the home. New York was full of parents' support groups, but nearly all were aimed at mothers. Frustrated, the friends set up their own group, which has spread to 17 cities in the USA, helping fathers who want to get involved from day one.
B
In general, legal and financial support for new parents is better than it has ever been. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 85% of countries now provide at least 12 weeks' maternity leave. In all but two of the 185 countries it surveys, mothers are entitled to some leave paid for by the state, companies or some combination of the two. Although only a third of countries meet the ILO's recommended minimum of at least 14 weeks off for new mothers, paid at two-thirds their salary and funded publicly, the picture is improving.
But how many countries meet the ILO's guidelines on paternity leave? None because no such guidelines exist. Though it published detailed advice regarding female employees, the organization has drawn up no formal recommendations on fathers' rights and duties. Until recently, national governments have been similarly uninterested; less than half of countries offer new fathers more than a fortnight, and companies, not the state, usually foot the bill for the costs of paternity leave. In the eyes of most people, responsibility for bringing up baby still falls squarely on the mother.
C
C. Now a different view is slowly emerging, as growing evidence suggests that children benefit from seeing more of their fathers. But much of the demand for a shift in approaches to childcare has come from women, who have started to conclude that they are victims as well as beneficiaries of generous maternity-leave policies
D
This may appear paradoxical, as most countries have found that when they offer decent maternity leave, they increase female employment. If women have no right to take time off, or are entitled only to short or poorly paid spells of absence, many have little choice but to leave the workforce when their baby is born. If they can take a few months of paid leave before returning to their old job, they are more likely to continue working. But it turns out that long maternity breaks have unintended consequences. Time away from the labour market reduces women's earning power, as their skills degrade and they miss chances to gain experience and win promotion. Moving into senior management becomes particularly hard, partly because of discrimination by bosses and hiring committees, who reject candidates they think may be away a lot, and partly because many high-level jobs are hard to combine with serial leave-taking. And the effect is magnified when lengthy maternity leave is combined with policies to encourage part-time work, which tempt more women back into the labour force but help keep them in junior positions.
E
Rather than simply cutting maternity leave in response to such findings, a growing number of governments are trying to spread the child-rearing burden (or joy, depending on how one looks at it). Britain recently became the latest country to combine maternity and paternity leave into a single chunk of parental leave, to be split between mother and father however they see fit. Several European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, already have such a system.
The problem is that dads tend not to take up the offer. In Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland, where all parental leave is transferable, only about 3% of dads make use of it. In Britain, the government estimates that 2-8% of dads will take more than their existing fortnight. The main reason for low take-up by fathers is financial: even pre-childbirth, women are paid less than men, meaning that their salaries are easier to forgo during a period of unpaid or low-paid leave. But pressure related to culture also weigh heavily. Mothers still tend to be seen as the main carers, with dads portrayed in domestic terms as blundering sidekicks or well-meaning buffoons.
F
To overcome these obstacles, some countries are giving fathers a firm nudge. In a few, including Chile, Italy and Portugal, paternity leave is compulsory. Others offer incentives that are hard to turn down. Sweden grants a bonus to parents who share leave more equally. Swedish fathers now account for more than a fifth of all parental leave taken, compared with almost none when shared leave was introduced. Germany introduced the same system and saw the proportion of fathers taking time off rise from 3% in 2006 to 32% in 2013, and Poland has switched to gender-specific quotas, replacing the previous system of shared leave.
Where leave is well-paid and not seen as 'belonging' to the mother, fathers seem willing to request it. State meddling in what has historically been regarded as a natural division of labour may annoy some people. But traditional maternity leave, which channels men into breadwinning and women into child-rearing, is hardly neutral. And shared involvement by parents stands to improve women's careers, children's development and perhaps even dads' life satisfaction.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 1
1
II
Giải thích chi tiết
☺️ Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài Matching Headings
✅ Paragraph A → Đáp án đúng: B. An illustration of a trend in one country
---------------
Step 01: Read to understand main idea
Dựa vào phần Simplify & Connection ở trên, ta có thể rút ra main idea như sau:
Đoạn văn bắt đầu bằng việc giới thiệu một nhóm hỗ trợ cho các ông bố mới ở New York.
Nhóm này được thành lập do cảm thấy vị trí của người cha bị gạt ra ngoài (outside the home) → cho thấy một nhu cầu thay đổi vai trò.
Sự kiện này (thành lập nhóm và mở rộng ra 17 thành phố ở Mỹ) là một minh họa cụ thể cho sự thay đổi thái độ của các ông bố.
⇒ Đoạn A minh họa cho một xu hướng mới của các ông bố muốn tham gia vào việc chăm sóc con cái ngay từ đầu, xảy ra ở một quốc gia (Mỹ).
---------------
Step 02: Compare meaning with meaning
Đại ý của đoạn:
Sự ra đời và mở rộng của City Dads Group tại Mỹ là một minh chứng cho xu hướng người cha chủ động muốn tham gia chăm sóc con cái từ ngày đầu.
✅ Đáp án đúng: B. An illustration of a trend in one country
Since cosmetics and perfumes are still in wide use today, it is interesting to compare the attitudes, customs, and beliefs related to them in ancient times to those of our own day and age. Cosmetics and perfumes have been popular since the dawn of civilization; it is shown by the discovery of a great deal of pertinent archaeological material, dating from the third millennium BC. Mosaics, glass perfume flaks, stone vessels, ovens, cooking pots, clay jars, etc., some inscribed by the hand of the artisan. Evidence also appears in the Bible and other classical writings, where it is written that spices and perfumes were prestigious products known throughout the ancient world and coveted by kings and princes. The written and pictorial descriptions, as well as archaeological findings, all show how important body care and aesthetic appearance were in the lives of the ancient people. The chain of evidence spans many centuries, detailing the usage of cosmetics in various cultures from the earliest period of recorded history.
B
In antiquity, however, at least in the onset, cosmetics served in religious ceremonies and for healing purposes. Cosmetics were also connected with cultic worship and witchcraft: to appease the various gods, fragrant ointments were applied to the statuary images and even to their attendants. From this, in the course of time, developed the custom of personal use, to enhance the beauty of the face and the body, and to conceal defects.
C
"Perfumes and fragrant spices were precious commodities in antiquity, very much in demand, and at times even exceeded silver and gold in value. Therefore, they were luxury products, used mainly in the temples and in the homes of the noble and the wealthy. The Judean kings kept them in treasure houses (2 Kings 20:13). And the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon "camels laden with spices, gold in great quantity and precious stones." (1 Kings 10:2, 10). However, within time, the use of cosmetics became the custom of that period. The use of cosmetics became widespread among the lower classes as well as among the wealthy; in the same way they washed the body, so they used to care for the body with substances that softened the skin and anoint it with fragrant oils and ointments."
D
Facial treatment was highly developed and women devoted many hours to it. They used to spread various scented creams on the face and to apply makeup in vivid and contrasting colors. An Egyptian papyrus from the 16th century BC contains detailed recipes to remove blemishes, wrinkles, and other signs of age. Greek and Roman women would cover their faces in the evening with a "beauty mask" to remove blemishes, which consisted mainly of flour mixed with fragrant spices, leaving it on their faces all night. The next morning, they would wash it off with asses' milk. The very common creams used by women in the ancient Far East, particularly important in the hot climate and prevalent in that area of the globe, were made up of oils and aromatic scents. Sometimes the oil in these creams was extracted from olives, almonds, gourds, sesame, or from trees and plants; but, for those of limited means, scented animal and fish fats were commonly used.
E
Women in the ancient past commonly put colors around their eyes. Besides beautification, its purpose was also medicinal as covering the sensitive skin of the lids with colored ointments that prevented dryness and eye diseases: the eye paint repelled the little flies that transmitted eye inflammations. Egyptian women colored the upper eyelid black and the lower one green and painted the space between the upper lid and the eyebrow gray or blue. The women of Mesopotamia favored yellows and reds. The use of kohl for painting the eyes is mentioned three times in the Bible, always with disapproval by the sages (2 Kings, 9:30; Jeremiah 4:30; Ezekiel 23:40). In contrast, Job named one of these daughters "Keren Happukh" - "horn of eye paint" (Job 42:14).
F
Great importance was attached to the care for hair in ancient times. Long hair was always considered a symbol of beauty, and kings, nobles, and dignitaries grew their hair long and kept it well-groomed and cared for. Women devoted much time to the style of the hair; while not cutting, they would apply much care to it by arranging it skillfully in plaits and "building it up" sometimes with the help of wigs. Egyptian women generally wore their hair flowing down to their shoulders or even longer. In Mesopotamia, women cherished long hair as a part of their beauty, and hair flowing down their backs in a thick plait and tied with a ribbon is seen in art. Assyrian women wore their hair shorter, braiding and binding it in a bun at the back. In Ancient Israel, brides would wear their hair long on the wedding day as a sign of their virginity. Ordinary people and slaves, however, usually wore their hair short, mainly for hygienic reasons, since they could not afford to invest in the kind of treatment that long hair required.
G
From the Bible and Egyptian and Assyrian sources, as well as the words of classical authors, it appears that the centers of the trade in aromatic resins and incense were located in the kingdoms of Southern Arabia, and even as far as India, where some of these precious aromatic plants were grown. "Dealers from Sheba and Rammah dealt with you, offering the choicest spices..." (Ezekiel 27:22). The Nabateans functioned as the important middlemen in this trade; Palestine also served as a very important component, as the trade routes crisscrossed the country. It is known that the Egyptian Queen Hatsheput (15th century BC) sent a royal expedition to the Land of Punt (Somalia) in order to bring back myrrh seedlings to plant in her temple. In Assyrian records of tribute and spoils of war, perfumes and resins are mentioned; the text from the time of Tukulti-Ninurta Il (890-884 BC) refers to balls of myrrh as part of the tribute brought to the Assyrian king by the Aramaean kings. The trade-in spices and perfumes is also mentioned in the Bible as written in Genesis (37:25-36), "Camels carrying gum tragacanth and balm and myrrh" light. Our material problems are fundamentally those of biology. We need to think, and we need our politicians to think, biologically. Do that, and take the ideas seriously, and we are in with a chance. Ignore biology and we and our fellow creatures haven't a hope.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 2
14
D
Giải thích chi tiết
☺️ Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài Matching Information
📌 Dạng Matching Information chúng ta nên làm cuối cùng, sau khi đã làm các dạng câu hỏi khác nhé DOLBIES, bởi vì lúc này mình đã đọc và hiểu nội dung của bài rồi, cộng thêm nghệ thuật Specify của Linearthinking → sẽ nhanh chóng tìm được vị trí đáp án hơn!!
-------
Step 01: Read the question to predict
Hiểu câu hỏi: Recipes to get rid of facial defects caused by aging
Specify & Predict: Tìm đoạn mô tả các công thức / phương pháp làm đẹp cụ thể nhằm xoá nếp nhăn, vết thâm, dấu hiệu tuổi tác, có thể nhắc đến thành phần như dầu, bột, hương liệu.
-------
Step 02: Khoanh vùng đoạn văn
🔍 Từ khóa: “recipes”, “facial defects”, “aging”
-> Dựa vào các từ khoá trên, có thể khoanh vùng được đoạn D vì có xuất hiện các cụm như “detailed recipes” (các công thức chi tiết); “remove blemishes, wrinkles” (loại bỏ khuyết điểm, nếp nhăn).
-> Bài đọc cũng nêu chi tiết recipes như "consisted mainly of flour mixed with fragrant spices"/"were made up of oils and aromatic scents" (gồm bột trộn với gia vị thơm/ làm từ dầu và hương thơm).
→ Đây là ví dụ cụ thể về các công thức loại bỏ dấu hiệu lão hoá.
Computer software that models human behaviour can make forecasts outsmart rivals and transform negotiations
According to game theory, our chances of success in negotiations are based on the choices of others. Computer models have been developed to work out how events will unfold as people and organizations act in what they perceive to be their own best interests. Numerical values are placed on the goals, motivations, and influence of players, and likely options are considered. Game theory software then evaluates the ability of each of those players to influence others, and hence predicts the course of events.
Although many individuals would feel uncomfortable having a computer make decisions for them, many organizations run such computer simulations for law firms, companies, and governments. But feeding software with accurate data on all the players involved is especially tricky for political matters. Reinier van Oosten of Decide, a Dutch firm that models political negotiations, notes that predictions may become unreliable when people unexpectedly give in to 'non-rational emotions', such as hatred, rather than pursuing what is apparently in their best interests. However, sorting out people's motivations is much easier when making money is the main object. Accordingly, modeling behavior using game theory is proving especially useful when applied to economics.
Using game theory software to model auctions can be very lucrative. Consulting firms are entering the market to help clients design profitable auctions, or to win them less expensively. In 2006, in the run-up to an online auction of radio-spectrum licenses by America's Federal Communications Commission, Dr. Paul Milgrom, a consultant and Stanford University professor in the United States, customized his game theory software to assist a consortium of bidders. He was apprehensive at first, but the result was a triumph. When the auction began, Milgrom's software tracked competitors' bids to estimate their budgets for the 1,132 licenses on offer. Crucially, the software estimated the secret values bidders placed on specific licenses, and determined that certain big licenses were being overvalued. Milgrom's clients were then directed to obtain a collection of smaller, less expensive licenses instead. Two of his clients paid about a third less than their competitors for an equivalent amount of spectrum, saving almost $1.2 billion. Such a saving makes one wonder why everyone isn't using game theory software. And, if they were, how would that affect the game?
PA Consulting, a British firm, designs models for software based on game theory to help its clients solve specific problems in areas from pharmaceuticals to the production of television shows. British government agencies have asked PA Consulting to build models to test zoning rules that govern how many of a certain type of business should be allowed to operate in one area. To give a simple example; if two competing ice-cream sellers share a long beach, they will set up stalls back-to-back in the middle and stay put, explains Dr. Stephen Black, a modeller for PA. Unfortunately for potential customers at the far ends of the beach, each seller prevents the other from relocating - no other spot would be closer to more people. Introduce a third seller, however, and the stifling equilibrium is broken as relocations and pricing changes energize the market. By studying a chain of events such as this, software designers can assess the effect of change and see the patterns in possible outcomes that may occur. As a result, the use of modeling makes clients more inclined to look at future repercussions when making business decisions, Black says.
Where is all this heading? Alongside the increasingly elaborate modeling software, there are also efforts to develop software that can assist in negotiation and mediation. Two decades ago, Dr. Clara Ponsati, a Spanish academic, came up with a clever idea. She accepted that, as negotiators everywhere know, the first side to disclose the maximum amount that it is willing to pay loses considerable bargaining power. Without leverage, it can be pushed backward in the bargaining process by a clever opponent. But if neither side reveals the concessions it is prepared to make, negotiations can become very slow or collapse. However, difficult negotiations can often be pushed along by neutral mediators, especially if they are entrusted with the secret bottom lines of all parties. Ponsati's idea was that if a human mediator was not trusted, affordable, or available, a computer could do the job instead. Negotiating parties would update the software with the confidential information on their bargaining positions after each round of talks. Once positions on both sides were no longer mutually exclusive, the software would be used to split the difference and propose an agreement. Ponsati, now head of the Institute of Economic Analysis at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain, says such 'mediation machines' could be employed to push negotiations forward by unlocking information that would otherwise be withheld from an opponent.
Could mediation which has been achieved using software based on game theory spread from auction bids and utility pricing to resolving political and military disputes? Today's game theory software is not yet sufficiently advanced to mediate between warring countries. But one day opponents on the brink of war might be tempted to use it to exchange information without having to engage in conflict. According to some game theorists, opponents could learn how a war would turn out, skip the fighting, and strike a deal. Over-optimistic, perhaps - but game theorists do have rather an impressive track record when it comes to predicting the future.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 3
27
C
Giải thích chi tiết
☺️ Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài Multiple Choice
Step 01: Read the question to understand
Simplified: the writer suggests what about game-theory software in the first paragraph
Main idea: Hỏi ý kiến/nhận định của tác giả về phần mềm game theory được nêu trong đoạn 1.
-------
Step 02: Locate relevant information
🔍 Từ khoá: “game theory software”
-> Tìm câu nói về chức năng/đặc điểm của phần mềm game theory trong đoạn 1.
-------
Step 03: Read relevant information to understand
📌 Trích dẫn: “Game theory software then evaluates the ability of each of those players to influence others, and hence predicts the course of events.”
Simplified: Game theory software predicts the course of events .
Main idea: Phần mềm dự đoán (anticipates) diễn biến/tương lai của sự việc.
-------
Step 04: Compare meaning with meaning
❌ A. Traditional negotiating practices should be used to supplement the software. -> Đoạn 1 không nhắc phải kết hợp “practices” truyền thống với phần mềm.
❌ B. Success of the software depends on the accuracy of the assigned. -> Ý “độ chính xác giá trị được gán” xuất hiện ở đoạn sau, không phải gợi ý của tác giả trong đoạn 1.
✅ C. This software anticipates the outcome of future events.-> Hoàn toàn khớp: “predicts the course of events” = anticipates outcomes.
❌ D. Future business negotiations will be dominated by this software. -> Đoạn 1 không dự đoán “dominate”; chỉ mô tả chức năng dự báo của phần mềm.
➡️ ✅ Đáp án đúng: C. This software anticipates the outcome of future events.
B. In general, legal and financial support for new parents is better than it has ever been. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 85% of countries now provide at least 12 weeks' maternity leave. In all but two of the 185 countries it surveys, mothers are entitled to some leave paid for by the state, companies or some combination of the two. Although only a third of countries meet the ILO's recommended minimum of at least 14 weeks off for new mothers, paid at two-thirds their salary and funded publicly, the picture is improving.
But how many countries meet the ILO's guidelines on paternity leave? None because no such guidelines exist. Though it published detailed advice regarding female employees, the organization has drawn up no formal recommendations on fathers' rights and duties. Until recently, national governments have been similarly uninterested; less than half of countries offer new fathers more than a fortnight, and companies, not the state, usually foot the bill for the costs of paternity leave. In the eyes of most people, responsibility for bringing up baby still falls squarely on the mother.
D. This may appear paradoxical, as most countries have found that when they offer decent maternity leave, they increase female employment. If women have no right to take time off, or are entitled only to short or poorly paid spells of absence, many have little choice but to leave the workforce when their baby is born. If they can take a few months of paid leave before returning to their old job, they are more likely to continue working. But it turns out that long maternity breaks have unintended consequences. Time away from the labour market reduces women's earning power, as their skills degrade and they miss chances to gain experience and win promotion. Moving into senior management becomes particularly hard, partly because of discrimination by bosses and hiring committees, who reject candidates they think may be away a lot, and partly because many high-level jobs are hard to combine with serial leave-taking. And the effect is magnified when lengthy maternity leave is combined with policies to encourage part-time work, which tempt more women back into the labour force but help keep them in junior positions.
E. Rather than simply cutting maternity leave in response to such findings, a growing number of governments are trying to spread the child-rearing burden (or joy, depending on how one looks at it). Britain recently became the latest country to combine maternity and paternity leave into a single chunk of parental leave, to be split between mother and father however they see fit. Several European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, already have such a system.
The problem is that dads tend not to take up the offer. In Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland, where all parental leave is transferable, only about 3% of dads make use of it. In Britain, the government estimates that 2-8% of dads will take more than their existing fortnight. The main reason for low take-up by fathers is financial: even pre-childbirth, women are paid less than men, meaning that their salaries are easier to forgo during a period of unpaid or low-paid leave. But pressure related to culture also weigh heavily. Mothers still tend to be seen as the main carers, with dads portrayed in domestic terms as blundering sidekicks or well-meaning buffoons.
F. To overcome these obstacles, some countries are giving fathers a firm nudge. In a few, including Chile, Italy and Portugal, paternity leave is compulsory. Others offer incentives that are hard to turn down. Sweden grants a bonus to parents who share leave more equally. Swedish fathers now account for more than a fifth of all parental leave taken, compared with almost none when shared leave was introduced. Germany introduced the same system and saw the proportion of fathers taking time off rise from 3% in 2006 to 32% in 2013, and Poland has switched to gender-specific quotas, replacing the previous system of shared leave.
Where leave is well-paid and not seen as 'belonging' to the mother, fathers seem willing to request it. State meddling in what has historically been regarded as a natural division of labour may annoy some people. But traditional maternity leave, which channels men into breadwinning and women into child-rearing, is hardly neutral. And shared involvement by parents stands to improve women's careers, children's development and perhaps even dads' life satisfaction.
Since cosmetics and perfumes are still in wide use today, it is interesting to compare the attitudes, customs, and beliefs related to them in ancient times to those of our own day and age. Cosmetics and perfumes have been popular since the dawn of civilization; it is shown by the discovery of a great deal of pertinent archaeological material, dating from the third millennium BC. Mosaics, glass perfume flaks, stone vessels, ovens, cooking pots, clay jars, etc., some inscribed by the hand of the artisan. Evidence also appears in the Bible and other classical writings, where it is written that spices and perfumes were prestigious products known throughout the ancient world and coveted by kings and princes. The written and pictorial descriptions, as well as archaeological findings, all show how important body care and aesthetic appearance were in the lives of the ancient people. The chain of evidence spans many centuries, detailing the usage of cosmetics in various cultures from the earliest period of recorded history.
B. In antiquity, however, at least in the onset, cosmetics served in religious ceremonies and for healing purposes. Cosmetics were also connected with cultic worship and witchcraft: to appease the various gods, fragrant ointments were applied to the statuary images and even to their attendants. From this, in the course of time, developed the custom of personal use, to enhance the beauty of the face and the body, and to conceal defects.
C. "Perfumes and fragrant spices were precious commodities in antiquity, very much in demand, and at times even exceeded silver and gold in value. Therefore, they were luxury products, used mainly in the temples and in the homes of the noble and the wealthy. The Judean kings kept them in treasure houses (2 Kings 20:13). And the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon "camels laden with spices, gold in great quantity and precious stones." (1 Kings 10:2, 10). However, within time, the use of cosmetics became the custom of that period. The use of cosmetics became widespread among the lower classes as well as among the wealthy; in the same way they washed the body, so they used to care for the body with substances that softened the skin and anoint it with fragrant oils and ointments."
D. Facial treatment was highly developed and women devoted many hours to it. They used to spread various scented creams on the face and to apply makeup in vivid and contrasting colors. An Egyptian papyrus from the 16th century BC contains detailed recipes to remove blemishes, wrinkles, and other signs of age. Greek and Roman women would cover their faces in the evening with a "beauty mask" to remove blemishes, which consisted mainly of flour mixed with fragrant spices, leaving it on their faces all night. The next morning, they would wash it off with asses' milk. The very common creams used by women in the ancient Far East, particularly important in the hot climate and prevalent in that area of the globe, were made up of oils and aromatic scents. Sometimes the oil in these creams was extracted from olives, almonds, gourds, sesame, or from trees and plants; but, for those of limited means, scented animal and fish fats were commonly used.
E. Women in the ancient past commonly put colors around their eyes. Besides beautification, its purpose was also medicinal as covering the sensitive skin of the lids with colored ointments that prevented dryness and eye diseases: the eye paint repelled the little flies that transmitted eye inflammations. Egyptian women colored the upper eyelid black and the lower one green and painted the space between the upper lid and the eyebrow gray or blue. The women of Mesopotamia favored yellows and reds. The use of kohl for painting the eyes is mentioned three times in the Bible, always with disapproval by the sages (2 Kings, 9:30; Jeremiah 4:30; Ezekiel 23:40). In contrast, Job named one of these daughters "Keren Happukh" - "horn of eye paint" (Job 42:14).
F. Great importance was attached to the care for hair in ancient times. Long hair was always considered a symbol of beauty, and kings, nobles, and dignitaries grew their hair long and kept it well-groomed and cared for. Women devoted much time to the style of the hair; while not cutting, they would apply much care to it by arranging it skillfully in plaits and "building it up" sometimes with the help of wigs. Egyptian women generally wore their hair flowing down to their shoulders or even longer. In Mesopotamia, women cherished long hair as a part of their beauty, and hair flowing down their backs in a thick plait and tied with a ribbon is seen in art. Assyrian women wore their hair shorter, braiding and binding it in a bun at the back. In Ancient Israel, brides would wear their hair long on the wedding day as a sign of their virginity. Ordinary people and slaves, however, usually wore their hair short, mainly for hygienic reasons, since they could not afford to invest in the kind of treatment that long hair required.
G. From the Bible and Egyptian and Assyrian sources, as well as the words of classical authors, it appears that the centers of the trade in aromatic resins and incense were located in the kingdoms of Southern Arabia, and even as far as India, where some of these precious aromatic plants were grown. "Dealers from Sheba and Rammah dealt with you, offering the choicest spices..." (Ezekiel 27:22). The Nabateans functioned as the important middlemen in this trade; Palestine also served as a very important component, as the trade routes crisscrossed the country. It is known that the Egyptian Queen Hatsheput (15th century BC) sent a royal expedition to the Land of Punt (Somalia) in order to bring back myrrh seedlings to plant in her temple. In Assyrian records of tribute and spoils of war, perfumes and resins are mentioned; the text from the time of Tukulti-Ninurta Il (890-884 BC) refers to balls of myrrh as part of the tribute brought to the Assyrian king by the Aramaean kings. The trade-in spices and perfumes is also mentioned in the Bible as written in Genesis (37:25-36), "Camels carrying gum tragacanth and balm and myrrh" light. Our material problems are fundamentally those of biology. We need to think, and we need our politicians to think, biologically. Do that, and take the ideas seriously, and we are in with a chance. Ignore biology and we and our fellow creatures haven't a hope.
According to game theory, our chances of success in negotiations are based on the choices of others. Computer models have been developed to work out how events will unfold as people and organizations act in what they perceive to be their own best interests. Numerical values are placed on the goals, motivations, and influence of players, and likely options are considered. Game theory software then evaluates the ability of each of those players to influence others, and hence predicts the course of events.
Although many individuals would feel uncomfortable having a computer make decisions for them, many organizations run such computer simulations for law firms, companies, and governments. But feeding software with accurate data on all the players involved is especially tricky for political matters. Reinier van Oosten of Decide, a Dutch firm that models political negotiations, notes that predictions may become unreliable when people unexpectedly give in to 'non-rational emotions', such as hatred, rather than pursuing what is apparently in their best interests. However, sorting out people's motivations is much easier when making money is the main object. Accordingly, modeling behavior using game theory is proving especially useful when applied to economics.
Using game theory software to model auctions can be very lucrative. Consulting firms are entering the market to help clients design profitable auctions, or to win them less expensively. In 2006, in the run-up to an online auction of radio-spectrum licenses by America's Federal Communications Commission, Dr. Paul Milgrom, a consultant and Stanford University professor in the United States, customized his game theory software to assist a consortium of bidders. He was apprehensive at first, but the result was a triumph. When the auction began, Milgrom's software tracked competitors' bids to estimate their budgets for the 1,132 licenses on offer. Crucially, the software estimated the secret values bidders placed on specific licenses, and determined that certain big licenses were being overvalued. Milgrom's clients were then directed to obtain a collection of smaller, less expensive licenses instead. Two of his clients paid about a third less than their competitors for an equivalent amount of spectrum, saving almost $1.2 billion. Such a saving makes one wonder why everyone isn't using game theory software. And, if they were, how would that affect the game?
PA Consulting, a British firm, designs models for software based on game theory to help its clients solve specific problems in areas from pharmaceuticals to the production of television shows. British government agencies have asked PA Consulting to build models to test zoning rules that govern how many of a certain type of business should be allowed to operate in one area. To give a simple example; if two competing ice-cream sellers share a long beach, they will set up stalls back-to-back in the middle and stay put, explains Dr. Stephen Black, a modeller for PA. Unfortunately for potential customers at the far ends of the beach, each seller prevents the other from relocating - no other spot would be closer to more people. Introduce a third seller, however, and the stifling equilibrium is broken as relocations and pricing changes energize the market. By studying a chain of events such as this, software designers can assess the effect of change and see the patterns in possible outcomes that may occur. As a result, the use of modeling makes clients more inclined to look at future repercussions when making business decisions, Black says.
Where is all this heading? Alongside the increasingly elaborate modeling software, there are also efforts to develop software that can assist in negotiation and mediation. Two decades ago, Dr. Clara Ponsati, a Spanish academic, came up with a clever idea. She accepted that, as negotiators everywhere know, the first side to disclose the maximum amount that it is willing to pay loses considerable bargaining power. Without leverage, it can be pushed backward in the bargaining process by a clever opponent. But if neither side reveals the concessions it is prepared to make, negotiations can become very slow or collapse. However, difficult negotiations can often be pushed along by neutral mediators, especially if they are entrusted with the secret bottom lines of all parties. Ponsati's idea was that if a human mediator was not trusted, affordable, or available, a computer could do the job instead. Negotiating parties would update the software with the confidential information on their bargaining positions after each round of talks. Once positions on both sides were no longer mutually exclusive, the software would be used to split the difference and propose an agreement. Ponsati, now head of the Institute of Economic Analysis at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain, says such 'mediation machines' could be employed to push negotiations forward by unlocking information that would otherwise be withheld from an opponent.
Could mediation which has been achieved using software based on game theory spread from auction bids and utility pricing to resolving political and military disputes? Today's game theory software is not yet sufficiently advanced to mediate between warring countries. But one day opponents on the brink of war might be tempted to use it to exchange information without having to engage in conflict. According to some game theorists, opponents could learn how a war would turn out, skip the fighting, and strike a deal. Over-optimistic, perhaps - but game theorists do have rather an impressive track record when it comes to predicting the future.
