Question

Do you believe that only boys do well in science? Does it seem to you that girls have better language skills than boys? In your opinion, are boys better at building things? If your answer to each of those questions is “Yes”, you are right, according to an article in Current Science. There are exceptions(例外), but here are the facts. Usually, boys score higher in tests about math, while girls do better in tests about words, spelling and memory. But these differences may not always be true. In the future, a person’s abilities may not be decided by gender.

Jerome Kagan, a scientist at Harvard University, is studying the watching ability of 10-month-old children recently. Baby boys and baby girls are watching a “show” while seated on their mothers’ laps. In Act I of the show, an orange-colored ball is lifted from a blue box and moved slowly. Then it is returned to the box. This is repeated six times. Act II is almost the same with Act I, except that the orange ball is smaller.

Baby boys do not seem to notice the difference in the size of the ball, but baby girls immediately become excited and begin to make noises.

It’s also known that baby girls usually talk at an earlier age than baby boys do. Scientists believe that the left side of the brain develops faster in girls than in boys. As a result, by the time they start to school, little girls have an advantage that boys don’t have, but what have the boys been doing in the years before starting school? They have been developing something called aggression. An aggressive person feels strong and independent. He is often the first one to start a fight. It is said that aggression is caused by hormones(荷爾蒙). Scientists believe that hormones are not the only reason. They say aggression in boys is also caused by mothers.

1.What can we learn from Paragraph One?

A. Boys and girls have completely different skills.

B. Girls always get higher scores than boys in math.

C. Boys may usually do better in building things than girls.

D. It is impossible for girls to become a scientist in the future.

2.The writer uses the example of the orange balls to show that ____.

A. baby boys are cleverer than baby girls

B. baby boys are not interested in shows

C. baby girls are better at watching different things

D. baby girls talk at an earlier age than baby boys do

3.Scientists believe that ____.

A. girls never start a fight with others

B. boys’ left side of the brain doesn’t develop at all

C. boys are all bad at study when they start school

D. boys’ left side of the brain develops slower than girls’

4.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “aggression”?

A. Feelings of anger.

B. Feelings of sadness.

C. Feelings of happiness.

D. Feelings of disappointment.

5.What does the text mainly talk about?

A. Development of our brains.

B. Differences between boys and girls.

C. Relationships between boys and girls.

D. Reasons why boys are smarter than girls.

Answer 1