People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions — and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly(均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
“We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions,” Jack said. “Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect (忽略) the mouth.”
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than did Westerners. “The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions,” Jack said. “Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less.”
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.
1.The discovery shows that Westerners _____________.
A.pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth
B.consider facial expressions universally reliable
C.observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways
D.have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions
2.What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 6 refer to?
A.The participants in the study. B.The researchers of the study.
C.The errors made during the study. D.The data collected from the study.
3.What can be the best title for the passage?
A.The Eye as the Window to the Soul
B.Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions
C.Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills
D.How to increase Cross-cultural Understanding
Are your children liked by their teachers? All parents want their children to impress their teachers and succeed in school. You can get your children to impress their teachers by following these easy steps.
Make sure they’re prepared. Teachers are impressed by children coming to school prepared to learn. Make sure they have everything they need—pencils, textbooks, erasers and so on.
Require them to be active in class. Teach them to ask teachers questions when they don’t understand something, some children think teachers are bothered by questions, but most teachers are impressed when children take the initiative(采取主动) in asking questions. They should take part in class discussions, giving their opinions politely.
Keep your children healthy. If your children are tired and hungry, they won’t be ready to learn. Children need at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night. Feed your children a solid breakfast and prepare a healthy lunch. Provide them with fruit and other healthy foods—apples or bananas are better for them than cookies.
Make sure that your children do their homework. If they really don’t understand it , discuss it with them patiently. Don’t help them do their homework. Teachers can always tell who it is that does the work.
Teach your children good manners and habits. Children need to arrive at the school punctually, and be polite to their teachers and classmates. Parents need to teach these skills at home. Nothing is sweeter than children who say”please” and “thank you”, and these are children their teachers are certain to love.
1.The first paragraph serves as .
A.an explanation B.an introduction
C.a background D.an example
2.What should parents do according to the passage?
A.They should ask their children’s teachers questions at times.
B.They should prepare their children cookies as well as fruits.
C.They have to require their children to get materials for learning themselves.
D.They ought to have discussions over difficulties with their children patiently.
3.The main idea of the passage is that being parents, you should .
A.Help your children to impress their teachers at school.
B.Ask your children to get ready for classes before going to school
C.Teach your children to be polite to both their teachers and classmates.
D.Remind your children to observe all the rules when at school.
Last July, my parents and I went to visit my aunt and uncle in Seattle, a city on the northwest American coast. Dad did some research and had no difficulty in finding us cheap tickets online.
On the day of our flight, we had to wake up very early. When we checked our bags in, we found that one bag weighed too much, so we had to pay a fine. After that, dad insisted that we go and have some breakfast at the airport restaurant. We had a lot of fun watching many different people there. Then we realized it was getting late, so we rushed to the gate. It took one hour for everyone to get on the plane, but finally the door was shut and we were on our way!
I think my favorite experience during our trip was our visit to Mount Rainier, a volcano near Seattle. It was nothing like I had expected. Before we left, my aunt lent us hats to protect us from getting sunburned, so I supposed that it would be very hot. Imagine my surprise when we drove up the mountain and I discovered the top was covered with snow and ice.!
My uncle led us to a small path beyond the main trails to increase our chances of seeing wildlife. We walked over a small hill, and suddenly before us there appeared a field of snow. Small wild flowers grew up through the snow; underneath the snow we could hear rushing water—a small stream. Little animals stood still to avoid being noticed; tiny birds rose into the air. It was the most beautiful sight that I’d ever seen.
1.What ticket did the father buy for the family?
A.Bus B.Ship
C.Train D.Airplane
2.Why did they pay a fine?
A.Because they got up late. B.Because they didn’t wait in line.
C.Because they came to the airport late. D.Because their bag was overweight.
3.What was the writer’s most impressive experience?
A.The flight to Seattle B.The breakfast in the airport
C.The visit to Mount Rainier D.The discovery of a small stream
4.Why did they choose a small path instead of the main trails?
A.To enjoy more of the wildlife B.To take a shortcut to save time
C.To avoid the snowy road D.To avoid being attacked by animals
2014年12月26日世界上一次性建设里程最长、运营速度最高的高铁——武广高铁正式开通运营，沪昆高铁杭长段将于2014年9月正式开通，十二五期间将建设的渝厦高铁也将经过长沙，长沙南站将成为罕见的三高铁枢纽中心。请据此写一篇100词左右的英文短文：
1、高铁（high-speed rail）极大的方便了长沙居民出行，有利于长沙走向全国，走向世界。
2、人们乘坐高铁舒适快捷，安全性能高，票价也可以被接受。
3、高铁可以减少大气和噪音污染，有利于环境保护
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。（每空只填 1 个单词）
Many people think a telephone is a necessity (必需品). But I think it is a pest (有害的事物) and a time waste. Very often you find it impossible to escape from it. If you have a telephone in your own house, you will admit that it always rings when you don’t want it to ring; when you are asleep, or in the middle of a meal or a conversation, or when you are just going out, or when you are taking your bath. Are you strong-minded enough to ignore it, to say to yourself, “Ah, well, it will all be the same in a hundred years’ time” You are not. You think there may be some important news or messages for you. I can assure you that if a message is really important it will reach you sooner or later. Have you ever rushedfrom the bathroom, only to be told that you are a wrong number?
But you will say, you need not have your name printed in the telephone directory, and you can have a telephone which is only usable for outgoing calls. Besides, you will say, isn’t it important to have a telephone in case of sudden emergency—illness, accident, or fire? Of course, you are right, but here in a country with a large population like England one is seldom far from a telephone in case of emergency.
I think perhaps I had better try to prove that what I like is good. I admit that in different cases—if I were a wealthy and powerful business person, for instance, or badly ill and had to lie in bed, I might find a telephone a necessity. But then if I were a taxi-driver I should find a car necessity. Let me put it another way: there are two things for which the English seem to show particular talent; one is mechanical (机器的) invention, the other is literature. My own business happens to be with the use of words but I see I must now stop using them. For I have just been handed a piece of paper to say that somebody is waiting to speak to me on the telephone. I think I had better answer it. After all, one never knows, it may be something important.
Title: The Telephone | ||
Different1.about it
|
Many people
| It is2. when one wants to make a call, especially in time of emergency. |
The author
| It may3. time and even be harmful | |
Not everyone, except a business person or a sick person who has to stay in bed, needs it. | ||
I don’t need it because my job is writing. | ||
Problems with it
| It always seems to 4. when one is doing something else or doesn’t want it to ring. | |
Almost 5. can ignore it even if they want to. | ||
One rushes to answer it only to find that he is misdialed. |
The word for milk in German is "Milch", In french it is "lait". Usually, you don't find the same words in every language. But there is an exception for the word OK! The word OK is the most frequently(频繁地) spoken expression in the world, and it turned 175 years old on March 23, New York Daily News reported. “OK” was first introduced to the world in the Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839. It read : o.k. —oll correct (all correct). Although it was only a joke at that time, later people began marking OK on documents and using OK on the telegraph (电报) to say that all was well. Today, we use this expression every day. “How about 2 o’ clock? OK?” “OK.” “OK, then.” The word OK is easy to say and write, and clear enough to be understood. Besides, it offers neutrality (中性) that other words don’t have. If you say something is great, some people may say it isn’t. But with “OK” everyone generally agrees.
Are these any other words that can cross countries and cultures? “Huh” is another universal word. Researchers found that “huh” means surprise or disbelief in 10 different languages, Los Angeles Times reported. Sometimes, people need a word to express many meanings at once. For example, sometimes there is a problem of understanding, or you want to ask somebody for response(反应). Saying “huh” is short and easy to say and hear. Also, you don’t need to learn this word, just like you don’t need to learn to cry or laugh. “Huh” just comes out naturally.
Other widely used words include “mama”, which is considered to be the easiest word for babies to pronounce. Don’t forget “game over”. It is not only used by game fans but also a hot word to describe the end of an event in real life.
Did you know?
1. The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. It’s a kind of lung (肺) disease.
2. The word “set” has more definitions than any other word in English language. It probably has 424 definitions.
3. The most common noun is “time”, the adjective is “good” and the verb is “be”. According to the dictionary.
回答以下问题：
1.Can we find the same words in a language?
2.When was OK introduced to the word first?
3.Which word means surprise and disbelief in 10 different language according to Los Angeles Times?
4.When is “game over” used according to this passage?
5.How many definitions does “set” have?
