Question

Twenty years ago, most experts believed that differences in how boys and girls behaved were mainly due to differences in how they were treated by their parents, teachers, and friends. It’s hard to cling to that belief today. Recent research has shown that there are biological differences between boys and girls. Understanding these differences is important in raising and educating children.

For example, girls are born with more sensitive hearing than boys, and the difference increases as kids grow up. So when a grown man speaks to a girl in what he thinks is a normal voice, she may hear it as yelling. Conversely (反过来), boys who appear to be inattentive in class may just be sitting too far away too hear the teacher.

Likewise, girls are better in their expression of feelings. Studies reveal that negative emotions are seated in an area of the brain called the amygdala. Girls develop all early connection between this area and the cerebral cortex (大脑皮层), enabling them to talk about their feelings. In boys these links develop later. So if you ask a troubled adolescent boy to tell you what his feelings are, he often cannot say much.

Dr. Sax, an advocate of single-sex education, points out that keeping boys and girls separate in the classroom has yielded striking educational, social, and interpersonal benefits. Therefore, parents and teachers should try to recognize, understand, and make use of the biological differences that make a girl a girl, and a boy a boy.

1.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Boys tend to pay less attention in class than girls.

B. Girls are better than boys in their ability to detect sounds.

C. Single-sex schools are not good because they keep boys and girls separate.

D. Boys and girls behave differently because of biological differences.

2.Why do girls express negative feelings better than boys?

A. Girls are more emotional than boys.

B. The links between certain parts of the brain develop earlier in girls than in boys.

C. The amygdala is located in different areas of the brain for boys and girls.

D. Girls have more brain cells than boys.

3.Which of the following does the author believe?

A. Boys and girls should be educated in different ways.

B. Girls need more training in communication.

C. Parents should pay more attention to boys.

D. Sex differences should be ignored in education。

4.What does the phase “cling to” in the first paragraph mean?

A. evaluate    B. abandon

C. maintain    D. challenge

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.C

【解析】

专家原来认为，男孩和女孩行为上的差异主要是因为他们受到父母、老师和朋友的不同对待。最近的研究表明这种观点不正确。男孩和女孩之间本身存在生物学上的差异。了解他们之间的差异对于提高和教育儿童有着重要的意义。

1.主旨大意题。根据第一段第三句“Recent research has shown that there are biological differences between boys and girls.”，本句是主题句，意为“最近的研究表明男孩和女孩之间存在生物学上的差异。由此可知，可知本文的主题是男孩和女孩的行为不同是因为生物差异。分析选项可知D项符合题意，故选D项。

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2.细节理解题。根据第三段第三句“Girls develop all early connection between this area and the cerebral cortex (大脑皮层), enabling them to talk about their feelings. In boys these links develop later.” 女孩子在这一区域与大脑皮层之间建立所有早期的联系，使她们能够谈论自己的感受。而在男孩中，这些联系发展较晚。分析选项可知B项（女孩大脑中某些部位的联系比男孩早），由此可知B项符合题意，故选B项。

3.推理判断题。根据文章最后一句“Therefore, parents and teachers should try to recognize, understand, and make use of the biological differences that make a girl a girl, and a boy a boy.”本句指的是“ 家长和老师应该努力认识、理解和利用女孩是女孩，男孩是男孩的生物学差异”。可看出在教育中了解性别差异并因材施教很重要，分析选项可知A项符合题意。

4.词义猜测题。文章第一段说二十多年前的专家认为男孩和女孩行为上的差异主要是因为他们受到父母、老师和朋友的不同对待。而最近的研究表明男孩和女孩之间存在生物学上的差异。而下文叙述了最近的研究发现和以前人们的观点是不一致的，所以很难再“保持”旧有的观点。分析以上的内容可知，这个短语是“保持”，即maintain.符合题意，故选C项。