When Europeans first came to Africa, they were amazed to find that many Africans had more than one wife. Because of this practice, many people thought that African men treated women like waves. But these first impressions proved to be false. Until about 50 years ago, most African women had more freedom and independence than women in Western nations did. In some places of Africa, women have owned most businesses and been the chief traders for many years. In Europe, however, there were many places where women were not even allowed to own property. How about African marriages? When there is more than one wife, each woman depends on her husband less. Ill a traditional (传统的)African home, each woman lives in her own hut and runs her own household (家庭). That kind of living arrangement gives the woman more independence. Each of the wives in an African family owns her won property and raises her own children. But some tasks, like cooking and baby-sitting, are shared with the other wives. Sharing these chore (家务)makes life easier for African women. In the first sentence the word' amazed' means ______.