You feel especially smart and funny when talking to a particular person, only to feel hopelessly unintelligent and tongue-tied in the presence of another.
Experiments show when people report feeling comfortable with a conversational partner, they are judged by those partners and by observers as actually being more witty (机智的）。
It's just one example of the powerful influence that social factors can have on intelligence. As parents, teachers and students settle into the school year, this work should encourage us to think about intelligence not as a “lump of something that's in our heads,” as the psychologist Joshua Aronson puts it, but as “a transaction among people.”
Mr. Aronson, an associate professor at New York University, has been a leader in investigating the effects of social forces on academic achievement. Along with the psychologist Claude Steele, he identified the phenomenon known as “stereotype (刻板印象） threat.” Members of groups believed not to be academically good score much lower on tests when reminded in advance of their race or gender.
The pair's experiments in the 1990s concluded that the performance of these students suffered because they were worried about confirming negative stereotypes about their group.
Minorities aren't the only ones easily hurt by stereotype threat. We all are. A group of people especially confident about their mathematical abilities did worse on a math test when told that the experiment was intended to investigate “why Asians appear to perform better than other students on tests of math ability.”
And in a study published earlier this year in the journal Learning and Individual Differences, high school students did worse on a test of spatial (空间的） skills when told that males are better at solving spatial problems because of genetic differences between males and females. The girls were anxious about confirming assumptions about their gender, while the boys were anxious about living up to them.
The evolving literature on stereotype threat shows that performance is always social in nature. Even alone in an exam room, we hear a chorus of voices assessing, evaluating, passing judgment. And as social creatures, humans are strongly affected by what these voices say.
1.What does the underlined word “transaction” in paragraph 3 refer to?
A.Spatial reasoning skills. B.The ability to remember information.
C.Interaction between us and the environment. D.Passing on knowledge from teachers to students.
2.After being told males typically perform better than females in math, males are most likely to perform .
A.better than females B.the same as females
C.worse than usual D.worse than females
3.Which of the following “voices” in our head may influence performance on an exam?
A.“I am as prepared as I can be.”
B.“I am supposed to do well on this.”
C.“The testing room is different from my classroom.”
D.“I am solving the problems faster than the one sitting in front of me.”
4.How do stereotypes threaten our academic achievement?
A.Making us unintelligent. B.Reminding us of our weaknesses.
C.Limiting our spatial reasoning skills. D.Raising our anxiety level.
He really did look like a tourist, with a camera around his neck and a bottle of sunscreen sticking out of his tote bag.
The portly man sat on the terrace, sipping lemonade and pretending to look at a glossy cruise brochure. His sunglasses masked his eyes, but I knew he wasn't looking at the brochure: he hadn't turned a page for the last ten minutes.
As I brought him his clam chowder (蛤肉菜汤）, he coughed up a “thank you” and looked at me briefly. I tried not to stare at the tiny scar across his left eyebrow.
I walked back inside with my empty tray, shaking my head. He looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place him.Then it hit me. The car accident. The mysterious (神秘的） stranger who helped me out of my smashed car, just before it exploded. I rushed back to his table. He was gone.
I moved his saucer and found his tip, along with a card: I am deeply indebted to you. The night of your car accident, I was on my way to rob a jewelry store. Saving your life brought things back in perspective (观点） . I now live an honest life, thanks to you. God bless you! Mr. D.
I trembled. The night of my car accident, I was heading for an interview in a shady dance club. Seeing human kindness through his heroic gesture turned my life around and brought faith back into my life.
I unfolded the tip he left. Among the singles was a grand with a pen mark underlining “In God We Trust.” I said a silent prayer for him and got back to work, smiling.
1.Why did the man come to this restaurant?
A.To get travel tips from the brochures. B.To have delicious clam chowder.
C.To spy on the waitress. D.To say thanks.
2.What can best describe the man?
A.Brave. B.Honest. C.Generous. D.Transformed.
3.What does the waitress probably want the man to know the most?
A.He is grateful to her. B.He changed her perspective on life.
C.She could have died in a car accident. D.She remembers who he is.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.A Happy Accident B.Two Sorrowful People
C.A Mysterious Stranger D.Never Too Late to Say “Thank You”
There's so much to discover at the new Bell Museum
Audubon Animated
January 25-May 31
This fantastic exhibit brings to life artist John James Audubon's Birds of America. Enter “The Audubon Experience” video room and find yourself surrounded by a virtual swamp and forest where Audubon's painted birds are brought to life through motion and sound. View rare selections from the Bell's Birds of America elephant folio. Flex (活动） your creative and observational muscles in a “Draw like Audubon” hands-on sketching activity.
Star Parties
Monthly: January 31, February 28, March 13, April 3, May 1
Have you looked at the rings of Saturn? The moons of Jupiter? Explore the sky with the Bell! Free, informal telescope observing nights are informational and fun for the whole family. Bell staff will guide you through observations of the same celestial (天空的） objects that have inspired sky-gazers throughout history!
Space Fest
February 1 and 2
Join us for our annual festival of the cosmos! We'll be celebrating the many women in space science and their contributions to the field. There will be special guest speakers, science demonstrations, special planetarium (天象馆） shows, and hands-on astronomy activities all weekend long.
Bell Summer Camps
Adventures for the promising scientist in your life
Camps go on sale to Bell members on Saturday, February 8, for an exclusive week's pre-sale and discounts of $ 30/ camp on full-week registration.
Bell camps offer kids in kindergarten-8th grade a fun and enriching environment that encourages them to explore their scientific passions as well as new subjects. Our camps include hands-on activities, planetarium visits, games, creative activities, field trips to see researchers and labs around the University's Twin Cities campus, and much more!
1.Which of the following can you do at Audubon Animated?
A.Drawing birds. B.Taking field trips.
C.Observing the night sky. D.Watching a science demonstration.
2.What event would you go to if you want to celebrate women in space science?
A.Audubon Animated. B.Star Parties. C.Space Fest. D.Bell Summer Camps.
3.When should you buy tickets for Bell Summer Camps to save money?
A.On January 25. B.On February 1. C.On February 8. D.On March 13.
假定你是李华，你的美国朋友Jack发来邮件，想了解中国茶文化常识。现在请你给他回封 邮件，内容包括：
1. 中国茶文化简介（四千多年历史，饮茶是一种休闲方式）；
2. 饮茶的好处；
3. 邀请他来中国体验茶文化。
注意:1.词数100左右；
2. 邮件开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数；
3.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Jack,
I’m glad to hear from you.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
下面短文中有10处语言错误。请在错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在英下面写上该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉：。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意： 1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词:
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I’m glad to know that you were interested in Chinese painting but desire to learn it, and I’m writing to recommending professor Li to you. Professor Li is famous Chinese painting master, who not only teach Chinese painting at university but also works him as a Chinese painting trainer at home when he’s free. There are buses running frequent from our school to his home, that takes only about 20 minutes, so it’s very convenient for you to go there. Please tell us when you will begin learning Chinese painting so that I can make arrangements for advance.
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
When Albert was five years old, his father gave him 1. compass. Albert was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass needle always pointed in the same 2. (direct) ---the north. He asked his father and his uncle 3. caused the needle to move. Their 4. (answer) were difficult for Albert to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time 5. (think) about them. He said later that he felt something must 6. (hide) behind things.
Albert didn't like school. The German schools of that time were not pleasant. Students couldn't ask questions. Albert said he 7. (feel) as if he were in prison.
One day Albert told his uncle Jacob how much he hated school, 8. (especial) mathematics. His uncle told him to solve mathematical problems by pretending 9. (be) a policeman. ''You are looking 10. someone, '' he said, ''but you don't know who he is. Call him X. Find him by using your mathematical tools. ''
Albert learned to love mathematics. He was studying the complex mathematics of calculus while all his friends were still studying simple mathematics.
