Question

【題目】 The low percentage of women in science ，technology，engineering，and mathematics(STEM) careers is often attributed (歸因于) to men being believed to be better at the sort of thinking those fields require. Though studies have debunked the view,they have largely been based on results acquired from various several standardized tests. Now, researchers from Pennsylvania' S Carnegie Mellon University have found evidence that is hard to overlook; MRI (磁共振成像) proves that young girls and boys use the same mechanisms and networks in the brain to solve math problems.

The groundbreaking study to evaluate the biological gender differences in the math talent of young children was led by the university' s professor of neuroscience, Jessica Cantlon. For their study ,the team selected 104 young children, between 3 and 10 years old, divided almost equally by gender. The scientists used a functional MRI to observe their brain activity as they engaged in math tasks. These included watching age appropriate educational videos and doing math exercises such as counting and addition,as well as reading for comparison.

“We looked at which areas of the brain respond more strongly to mathematics content in the videos and tasks, compared to non math content like reading or the alphabet, Cantlon said.“When we do that in lite girls, we see a particular network of the brain respond,and when we do that same analysis in boys, we see the exact same regions.”

So why do girls and young women tend to avoid math and STEM careers in general? Cantlon thinks it may be rooted in social and cultural conventions. Previous studies have indicated that parents tend to spend more time with young boys in play that inspire spatial cognition (空間認(rèn)知)-such as toys that involve learning number skills and shapes and solving puzzles. Educators were also observed to spend more time with boys during math class.

【1】What does the underlined word“debunked” in paragraph 1 mean?

A.Disproved.B.Supported.

C.Confirmed.D.Overlooked.

【2】What does paragraph 2 mainly focus on?

A.The purpose of the research.

B.The process of the research.

C.The participants of the research.

D.The findings of the research.

【3】What contributes to the lack of women in STEM careers?

A.Mental capacity.B.Gender difference.

C.Traditional prejudice.D.Family background.

【4】What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.MRI- A Great Helper in Research

B.Toys- Boosters for STEM Potential

C.Boys and Girls: Equally Talented in Math

D.STEM Careers: Calling for More w omen

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】B

【3】C

【4】C

【解析】

這是一篇說(shuō)明文。研究表明，年輕男孩和女孩大腦中使用相同的機(jī)制和網(wǎng)絡(luò)來(lái)解決數(shù)學(xué)問(wèn)題。并介紹了研究的過(guò)程以及解釋了女孩和年輕女性一般都傾向于避開數(shù)學(xué)和STEM職業(yè)的原因。

【1】

詞義猜測(cè)題。第一段中的“The low percentage of women in science ，technology，engineering，and mathematics(STEM) careers is often attributed (歸因于) to men being believed to be better at the sort of thinking those fields require.”女性在科學(xué)、技術(shù)、工程和數(shù)學(xué)職業(yè)上的低比例往往歸因于男性被認(rèn)為更擅長(zhǎng)這些領(lǐng)域需要的思考方式�！�young girls and boys use the same mechanisms and networks in the brain to solve math problems.”年輕男孩和女孩大腦中使用相同的機(jī)制和網(wǎng)絡(luò)來(lái)解決數(shù)學(xué)問(wèn)題。根據(jù)句意，并且though表示轉(zhuǎn)折，可以推斷出前后觀點(diǎn)不一致，所以，研究結(jié)果駁斥了前面的觀點(diǎn)。由此可知“debunked”的意思是反駁，故選A項(xiàng)。

【2】

細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段的內(nèi)容“the team selected 104 young children, between 3 and 10 years old, divided almost equally by gender. The scientists used a functional MRI to observe their brain activity …”在他們的研究中，研究小組選擇了104名年齡在3到10歲之間的兒童，他們的性別幾乎相同�？茖W(xué)家們使用功能性核磁共振成像來(lái)觀察……可知，第二段講述了研究對(duì)象，觀察的方法，研究的內(nèi)容等，所以第二段關(guān)注了研究的過(guò)程。故選B項(xiàng)。

【3】

細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段的內(nèi)容“it may be rooted in social and cultural conventions. Previous studies have indicated that parents tend to spend more time with young boys in play that inspire spatial cognition (空間認(rèn)知)—such as toys that involve learning number skills and shapes and solving puzzles. Educators were also observed to spend more time with boys during math class.” Cantlon認(rèn)為這可能根植于社會(huì)和文化習(xí)俗。之前的研究表明，父母傾向于花更多的時(shí)間和小男孩一起玩能激發(fā)他們空間認(rèn)知能力的游戲，比如學(xué)習(xí)數(shù)字技能、形狀和解決謎題的玩具。研究還發(fā)現(xiàn)，教育工作者在數(shù)學(xué)課上花更多的時(shí)間和男孩在一起�？芍�，傳統(tǒng)的偏見導(dǎo)致了STEM職業(yè)中缺少女性。故選C項(xiàng)。

【4】

主旨大意題。文章第一段中的“young girls and boys use the same mechanisms and networks in the brain to solve math problems”（年輕男孩和女孩大腦中使用相同的機(jī)制和網(wǎng)絡(luò)來(lái)解決數(shù)學(xué)問(wèn)題。）是全文的主題句，后文解釋了研究的過(guò)程以及女孩和年輕女性一般都傾向于避開數(shù)學(xué)和STEM職業(yè)的原因。可知，所以這篇文章最合適的題目是“男孩和女孩:在數(shù)學(xué)方面同樣有天賦”，故選C項(xiàng)。

概括主旨的方法是：先看首尾或各段開頭再看全文找主題句，若無(wú)明顯主題句，就通過(guò)關(guān)鍵詞句來(lái)概括(如議論文中尋找表達(dá)作者觀點(diǎn)態(tài)度的詞句，記敘文尋找概括情節(jié)和中心的動(dòng)詞或反映人物特點(diǎn)的形容詞)。文中出現(xiàn)兩種或兩種以上的不同觀點(diǎn)時(shí)，務(wù)必牢記作者的觀點(diǎn)才是體現(xiàn)全文中心的。該文是介紹一個(gè)研究結(jié)果的，該類文章的中心一般就在第一段。因此，考生直接抓住第一段中的“young girls and boys use the same mechanisms and networks in the brain to solve math problems”即可找到文章中心。