Question

    In 1992, Teen Talk Barbie was released with the controversial voice fragment, “Math class is hard.” While the toy's release met with strong public reaction, this underlying assumption persists, spreading the myth that women do not thrive in science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) fields due to biological inadequacies in math aptitude. However, in 2019 Jessica Cantlon at Carnegie Mellon University led a research team that comprehensively examined the brain development of young boys and girls and found no gender difference in brain function or math ability.

Cantlon and her team conducted the first neuroimaging study to evaluate biological gender differences in math aptitude of young children. Her team used functional MRI（核磁共振）to measure the brain activity in 104 young children (3-to-10-year-old; 55 girls) while watching an educational video covering early math topics, like counting and addition. The researchers compared scans from the boys and girls to evaluate brain similarity. In addition, the team examined brain maturity by comparing the children's scans to those taken from a group of adults (63 adults; 25 women) who watched the same math videos.

After numerous statistical comparisons, Cantlon and her team found no difference in the brain development of girls and boys. In addition, the researchers found no difference in how boys and girls processed math skills and were equally engaged while watching the educational videos. Finally, boys' and girls' brain maturity were statistically equivalent when compared to either men or women in the adult group.

Cantlon said she thinks society and culture are likely steering girls and young women away from math and STEM fields, as previous studies show that families spend more time with young boys in play that involves spatial cognition（空间认知）. “Typical socialization can make worse small differences between boys and girls that can snowball into how we treat them in science and math,” Cantlon said. “We need to be aware of these origins to ensure we aren't the ones causing the gender inequities.”

However, this project is focused on early childhood development using a limited set of math tasks. Cantlon wants to continue this work using a broader scope of math skills, such as spatial processing and memory, and follow the children over many years.

1.What can we infer about the toy’s release?

A.It has raised a storm of applause.

B.Girls perform no worse than boys in math.

C.Math is a subject difficult to every one of us.

D.Women are born with insufficient math abilities.

2.What can we learn from the study conducted by Cantlon?

A.Boys process math skills more quickly than girls.

B.Boys and girls have similar brain in math abilities.

C.Boys and girls have similar interest in math.

D.Adults have better brain than children in math.

3.What will Cantlon most likely agree with?

A.Parents should lengthen the time spent with girls.

B.Society is causing a greater gender difference in math abilities.

C.Culture plays a leading role in children’s brain development.

D.We should cultivate boys’ and girls’ math abilities equally.

4.How will Cantlon further her research?

A.By using a wider range of math skills.

B.By involving a broader scope of subjects.

C.By increasing the complexity of math tasks.

D.By following the children until their adulthood.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.D

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇夹叙夹议的文章。文章讲述了在1992年，《青少年谈话》芭比娃娃发布了"数学课很难"这一有争议的声音片段，传播了“女性由于生物学缺陷，无法在STEM领域茁壮成长”的没有事实根据的理论。2019年，卡内基梅隆大学的杰西卡·坎特隆带领一个研究小组，经过研究和比对，发现了不管是成年人还是儿童，不同性别在学习数学技能方面没有差别。

1.推理判断题。第一段中的 “…spreading the myth that women do not thrive in science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) fields due to biological inadequacies in math aptitude. （……传播了“女性由于生物学缺陷，无法在STEM领域茁壮成长”的没有事实根据的理论。）”与D选项“女人天生数学能力不足。”相呼应，故选D选。

2.推理判断题。第一段中的“…and found no gender difference in brain function or math ability.（……发现大脑功能或数学能力没有性别差异。）”与B选项“Boys and girls have similar brain in math abilities.（男孩和女孩在数学能力上有相似的大脑。）”意思相近。故选B项。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段坎特隆所说的话“Typical socialization can make worse small differences between boys and girls that can snowball into how we treat them in science and math,（典型的社会化会让男孩和女孩之间的小差异变得更严重，这些小差异会像滚雪球一样影响我们对待他们的科学和数学，）”和“We need to be aware of these origins to ensure we aren't the ones causing the gender inequities. 我们需要意识到这些根源，以确保我们不是那个导致性别不平等的人。”可知，坎特隆认为，人们不应该有意识地区别对待男孩和女孩在科学和数学领域的发展。与D项“我们应该平等地培养男孩和女孩的数学能力。”意思相符。故选D项。

4.推理判断题。题目的意思是“坎特伦将如何推进她的研究？”根据文章最后一段中的“Cantlon wants to continue this work using a broader scope of math skills, such as spatial processing and memory, and follow the children over many years.（坎特隆希望通过使用更广泛的数学技能继续这项工作，如空间处理和记忆，并将跟踪儿童多年。）”与A选项的“By using a wider range of math skills.（通过使用更广泛的数学技能。）”意思相符，B选项的“subjects”表述不准确。故选A项。