Washington: A research conducted at the University of Maryland looks at the numerous complex reasons as to why young children decide to include or exclude (排斥) other kids from their group of friends.
It suggests that the kids’ decision-making process is much more complex than previously believed.
"They take into account group information, ranging from cliques (小圈子) and networks, when deciding what makes a group work well. Sometimes kids are excluded because they lack social skills, but a lot of time it has nothing to do with that. Instead it has to do with what we refer to as ’group membership’ such as gender, race, nation, and culture," says Professor Melanie Killen, the Associate Director of the Centre for Children Relationships and Culture at Maryland, who led the 4-year project.
Reporting their findings in the journal, the researcher said whatever was the reason, individuals who experienced long-term exclusion (排斥) from the group of friends suffered from depression, anxiety and loneliness.
The study looked at two models to define how children make decisions regarding acceptance of other kids in their group -- the individual social deficit model and the inter-group social cognition (认同) model. While the former says that children’s rejection occurs due to social deficits like shyness, wariness or fearfulness, the latter says that it happens because of group dynamics, prejudice and exclusion.
It was also found that the age of children was also a factor that influenced their decisions regarding other kids’ acceptance as friends.
"With age, kids become more aware of group dynamics, conventions, customs, and rituals. With this comes a greater concern about group functioning, which can lead to exclusion which can be negative from a social justice viewpoint," says Killen.
The researcher believes that her study may have many benefits, as it could provide insights into how to help when children are rejected by their peers.While making friends, kids think more about the following EXCEPT ______.
A.social skills | B.culture | C.race | D.gender |
The underlined word "deficit" in Paragraph 5 may mean “_______”.
A.skill | B.relationship | C.weakness | D.experience |
One of the major purposes of the research is to _______.
A.tell the reader how to tell inclusion from exclusion |
B.remind children to be careful while making friends |
C.seek ways to help kids excluded by their peers |
D.stop the children belonging to the inter-group social cognition model |
While making friends, children exclude those of social deficit model to _______.
A.keep their groups purer |
B.make their groups more socially powerful |
C.refuse other customs and cultures |
D.prove their groups to be strict |
The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers. It has been made to help you better manage your money. The Winners Club is a transaction account (交易账户) where you receive a key – card so you can get to your money 24/7 – that's 24 hours a day, 7 days aweek!
It's a club with impressive features for teenagers:
●No account keeping fees!
You're no millionaire so we don't expect you to pay large fees. In fact, there are no account keeping or transaction fees!
●Excellent interest rates!
You want your money to grow. The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits (储蓄) without taking them out in a month.
●Convenient
Teenagers are busy – we get that. You may never need to come to a bank at all. With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet. You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account. This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part – time job!
●Mega magazine included
Along with your regular report, you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money. There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members.
The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers. And it is so easy to join. Simply fill in an application form. You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key-card) but it is easy. We can't want to hear from you. It's the best way to choose to be a winner!The Winners Club is a bank account intended for _________.
A.parents | B.teenagers |
C.winners | D.adults |
Which of the following is TRUE about the Winners Club?
A.Special gifts are ready for parents. |
B.The bank opens only on work days. |
C.Services are convenient for its members. |
D.Fees are necessary for the account keeping. |
The Winners Club provides magazines which _________.
A.encourage spending |
B.are free to all teenagers |
C.are full of adventure stories. |
D.help to make more of your money |
If you want to be a member of the Club, you must _________.
A.be an Internet user |
B.be permitted by your parent |
C.have a big sum of money |
D.be in your twenties |
What is the purpose of this text?
A.To set up a club. |
B.To provided part – time jobs. |
C.To organize key – cards. |
D.To introduce a new banking service. |
In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic---and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8. Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each semester.
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree!
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be __________.
A.a writer | B.a teacher |
C.a judge | D.a doctor |
Why did the author quit school in her second year of college?
A.She wanted to study by herself. |
B.She fell in love and got married. |
C.She suffered from a serious illness. |
D.She decided to look after her grandma. |
What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 4 and 5?
A.She was busy yet happy with her family life. |
B.She ignored her guilty feeling for her sons. |
C.She wanted to remain a full-time housewife. |
D.She was too confused to make a correct choice. |
What does the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?
A.Failure is the mother of success. |
B.Little by little, one goes far. |
C.Every coin has two sides. |
D.Well begun, half done. |
Which of the following can best describe the author?
A.Caring and determined. |
B.Honest and responsible. |
C.Ambitious and sensitive. |
D.Innocent and single-minded. |
Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface(BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.
Recently, two researchers, Jose Milan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts.
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right band. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord (脊髓)to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices.”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.
Prof. Milan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”
He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.BCI is a technology that can ________.
A.help to update computer systems |
B.link the human brain with computers |
C.help the disabled to recover |
D.control a person's thoughts |
How" did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?
A.By controlling his muscles. |
B.By talking to the machine. |
C.By moving his hand. |
D.By using his mind. |
Which of the following shows the path of the signals described in Paragraph 5?
A.scalp→computer→cap→wheelchair |
B.computer→cap→scalp→wheelchair |
C.scalp→cap→computer→wheelchair |
D.cap→computer→scalp→wheelchair |
The team will test with real patients to ________.
A.make profits from them |
B.prove the technology useful to them |
C.make them live longer |
D.learn about their physical condition |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A.Switzerland, the BCI Research Center |
B.New Findings About How the Human Brain Works |
C.BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled |
D.Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries |
Mr. Johnson, aged twenty-three, battled for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water. Mr. Johnson took the only escape route—through the boot (行李箱).
Mr. Johnson’s car had finished up in a ditch (沟渠) at Romney Marsin, Kent after skidding on ice and hitting a bank. “Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly,” Mr. Johnson said, “I couldn’t force the doors because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in.”
Mr. Johnson, a sweet salesman of Sitting Home, Kent, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn and hammering on the roof and boot (汽车行李箱). Then he began his struggle to escape.
Later he said, “It was really a half penny that saved my life. It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew(拧开…的螺丝) the back seat to get into the boot. I hammered desperately with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came.”
It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the sweet samples from the boot. Then Mr. Johnson found a wrench(扳钳) and began to work on the boot lock. Fifteen minutes passed by. “It was the only chance I had. Finally it gave, but as soon as I moved the boot lid, the water and mud poured in. I forced the lid down into the mud and scrambled (move with difficulty) as the car filled up.”
His hands and arms were cut and bruised (擦伤). Mr. Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer’s wife, Mrs. Lucy Bates. Huddled in a blanket, he said, “The thirty minutes seemed like hours.” Only the tips of the car wheels were visible(can be seen), police said last night. The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch.What is the best title for this newspaper article?
A.The Story of Mr. Johnson, A Sweet Salesman |
B.Car Boot Serve As The Best Escape Route |
C.Driver Escaped Through Car Boot |
D.The Driver Survived A Terrible Car Accident |
Which of the following objects is the most important to Mr. Johnson?
A.The hammer. | B.The coin. |
C.The screw. | D.The horn. |
“Finally it gave”(Paragraph 5) means that ________.
A.luckily the door was torn away in the end |
B.at last the wrench went broken |
C.the lock came open after all his efforts |
D.the chance was lost at the last minute |
It may be inferred from the passage that __________.
A.the ditch was along a quiet country road |
B.the accident happened on a rainy cold day |
C.Mr. Johnson’s car stood on its boot as it fell down |
D.the police helped Mr. Johnson get out of the ditch |
Good health is the most valuable thing a person can have, but one cannot take good health for granted. It is important to remember that the body needs proper care in order to be healthy. There are three things that a person can do to help stay in good shape: eat right food, get enough sleep, and exercise regularly.
Proper nutrition is important for good health. Your body cannot work well unless it receives the proper kind of “fuel”(燃料).Don't eat too much food with lots of sugar and fat. Eat plenty of foods high in protein, like meat, fish, eggs and nuts. Vegetables and fruits are very important because they provide necessary vitamins and minerals. However, don't overeat. It is not helpful to be overweight.
Getting the proper amount of sleep is also important. If you don't get enough sleep, you feel tired and easily get angry. You have no energy. Over a long period of time a little amount of sleep may even result in a change of personality .Be sure to allow yourself from seven to nine hours of sleep each night. If you do, your body will feel strong and refreshed, and your mind will be sharp.
Finally, get plenty of exercise. Exercise firms the body, strengthens the muscles, and prevents you from gaining weight. It also improves your heart and lungs. If you follow a regular exercise program, you will probably increase your life-span (寿命).Any kind of exercise is good. Most sports are excellent for keeping the body in good shapes: basketball, swimming, bicycling, running and so on are good examples. Sports are not only good for your body, but they are enjoyable and interesting, too.
If everybody were to eat the right foods, get plenty of sleep and exercise regularly, the world would be a happier and healthier place. We would all live to be much older and wiser.According to the passage,_________.
A.we should always keep fit |
B.if we were healthy, we could spend our days in doing things with less sleep |
C.one can eat a lot to stay in good shape |
D.one needn't take any exercise if he is healthy |
In order to keep good health, ___________ .
A.we should eat a lot of sweets |
B.one needs a large amount of fat |
C.people should eat according to the foods nutrition |
D.we must try to sleep now and then |
Eating more and sleeping less________.
A.can keep healthy |
B.is no good for you |
C.gets you more energy |
D.will keep your personality |
The writer explains ________in this passage.
A.how to eat
B.the importance of doing exercise
C.how to keep healthy
D.what to eat
51.The title of the article should be___________ .
A.Eating and Exercising
B.How Vitamins Work in Man's Body
C.Staying Healthy
D.Sleeping Well