Educating girls quite possibly harvests a higher rate of return than any other investment (投资) available in the developing world．Women’s education may be an unusual field for economists (经济学家), but increasing women’s contribution to the development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics, with its focus on incentives (刺激), provides an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of (剥夺) an education.
Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school —trapping women in a vicious circle (恶性循环) of neglect (忽视).
An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle (良性循环).
Few will argue that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each additional year of schooling.
Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant impact on health practices, including family planning.
Topic: The significance of female education in（71）▲ countries
| Viewpoint | Educating girls is more beneficial than any other （72）▲ . | |
| Families | From low-income families | From educated mothers’ families |
| Attitudes | Girls are of less（73）▲ than boys. | Development should be for all（74）▲ |
| Practices | ●There is （75） ▲ investment in daughters. ●Girls are made to stay at home, doing（76）▲ . | Girls and boys have （77）▲ chances. |
| Consequences | A vicious circle | A virtuous circle |
| Significance | Educating girls （78）▲ to social benefits, （79）▲ advantages and health practices, including family planning. | |
| （80）▲ | Educating girls in developing countries is important and rewarding. | |
75. no/little 76.housework 77.fair/equal 78.contributes/leads 79.economic 80.Conclusion