Did you know that women's brains are smaller than men's? The average women's brain weighs 10% less
than men's. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more
intelligent (聰明的) than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests,
despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it's what's
inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of "grey matter" and "white matter". While
men have more of the latter, the amount of"thinking" brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.
     It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain
are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can
understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss
on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it's women who come out
on top every time.
     There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial (空間的)
tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. "A great footballer always knows where
he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go," says one researcher. That may explain one
of life's great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!
     The differences begin when fetuses (胎兒) are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of
children as young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier (障礙物) before him or push it down while a
girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs
that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors (祖先),
among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt,
according to one research. If all this disappoints you, it shouldn't. "The brain changes throughout our lives
according to what we do with it." says a biologist.

1. Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

A. Women's brain is 10% less than men's.
B. Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.
C. Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.
D. Both sexes have the same amount of white matter. 

2. What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

A. Women prefer doing many things at a time.
B. Men do better dealing with one job at a time.
C. Women do not need to tell directions.
D. Men have weaker spatial abilities.

3. Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

A. Young boys may be stronger than young girls.
B. More women take up jobs requiring speech skills.
C. Women may have stronger feelings than men.
D. Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.

4. What is the writer's attitude in writing this passage?

A. Defensive.
B. Persuasive.
C. Supportive.
D. Objective.

     A study involving 8, 500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant
when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a series of reports from NatWest that has started a five-
year research project into teenagers and money, arc particularly worrying as this generation of young people
is likely to be burdened with greater debts man any before.
     University tuition fees (學(xué)費(fèi)) are currently capped at ￡3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year
and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.
     In the research, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed
to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average ￡ 31.000 by
the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just ￡ 17,815. The teenagers expected
to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would
be less than ￡ 10.000. Average debts for graduates are ￡ 12,363.
     Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest,
said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them,
the more likely they arc to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently
and effectively."
     Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of
student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki
Fair-weather, aged 15 from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but
admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money.

1. Which of the following can be found from the five-year research project?

A. Students understand personal finances differently.
B. University tuition fees in England have been rising.
C. Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings.
D. The students' payback ability has become a major issue.

2. The phrase "to raise the ceiling" in paragraph 2 probably means "______".

A. to raise the student loans
B. to improve the school facilities
C. to increase the upper limit of the tuition
D. to lift the school building roofs

3. According to Stephen Moir, students ______.

A. are too young 10 be exposed 10 financial issues
B. should learn 10 manage their finances well
C. should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans
D. benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Many British teenagers do not know money matters well.
B. Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts.
C. Financial planning is a required course at college.
D. Young people should become responsible adults.

     You are from a middle-class family, and live in a normal-size home without any showy possessions, but
you are worried that he will want to live as they do, and wonder if you should move.
     Sometimes big pocket money, joyful birthday parties, special playrooms and super-big houses tell you that
your neighbors probably have more money than you do, and that they're not as careful as you are with money,
but you may.
     Find that they cook and dig in the garden with their children just as often as you do, talk with them as freely
and read to them every night.
     Or you may find that some of these parents stay in one wing of their big house while their child plays by
himself, way off in a wing of his own. In that unfortunate case, he is basically growing up alone without being
looked after properly, but this can happen to a child who lives in a normal-size house, too, if he has a TV, a
computer and a few video games in his room. Even the most caring parent doesn't walk in and out of it to see
what show her child is watching, what Internet site he has found and if he's still playing that video game.
     Too much uncontrolled screen time may lead to a certain loss of innocence (天真), but mostly this child
will lose the sense of unity and satisfaction that comes from being in a family.
     A neighborhood should also provide you with a sense of unity and satisfaction, and if it doesn't, you might
decide to move. Don't judge your neighborhood too harshly (嚴(yán)厲地), though. There are some things that are
right with almost any neighborhood and some things that are wrong with the best of them-like those super-big
houses. The wealth of their owners-and the way they throw money around-may make your son feel sorry for
himself, unless you help him understand that you and his dad save some of the money, give some to people
who don't have enough and use the rest to pay for whatever the family needs.
     Children want-should be provided with-explanations when their parents don't give them what they want.

1. What is the problem with the worried parent in the text?

A. Her house isn't as big as her rich neighbors'.
B. Her son is left alone without anyone in charge.
C. She cannot provide her son with a special playroom.
D. She worried about the effect of her neighbors on her son.

2. In paragraphs 2 and 3, the author seems to agree that parents should _____.

A. spend more time with their children
B. give their children more freedom
C. work hard to lead a richer life
D. set an example for their children to follow