Question

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of “grey matter” and  “white matter”. While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources（来源）at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.

There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial (空间的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: Why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!

The differences begin when fetuses (胎儿) are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.

If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it,” says a biologist.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the first paragraph?

A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s.

B．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.

C．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.

D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter.

2.What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

A．Women don’t need to tell directions.

B．Women prefer doing many things at a time.

C．Men have weaker spatial abilities.

D．Men do better dealing with one job at a time.

3.Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls.

B．Women may have stronger feelings than men.

C．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills.

D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.

4.What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A．Defensive.

B．Persuasive.

C．Supportive.

D．Objective.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.D

【解析】文章分析了男女脑量的不同，以及男女所擅长的不同方面和不同的特点。

1.推理题。根据第一段最后一句The brain consists of “grey matter” and   “white matter”. While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.可知男性的white matter更多，而grey matter男女几乎一致，而这一部分正是控制思维的。故B正确。

2.推理题。根据第二段最后When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.可知女性可以同时兼顾好几项工作，可以推断出男性一次做一份工作可能会更好一点，故D正确。

3.推理题。根据第4段These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills.可知女性更擅长语言技能，故选C。

4.观点态度题。通读全文可知作者是以一种客观的态度阐述事实，并没有太多的个人倾向，故D正确。