Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown. The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological basis to their preferences.
Psychologists Dr Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants aged nine months to 36 months. The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys. Some were stereotypically boys' toys - a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy. The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set. They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked. Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded.
Of the youngest children (nine to 14 months), girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did. Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it. The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched. There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children’s choice.
Dr Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization. Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference. But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys. There could be a biological basis for their choices. Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colors such as pink, the color of a newborn baby.”Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because .
| A．baby boys are much more active |
| B．baby girls like bright colors more |
| C．their parents treat them differently |
| D．there is a natural difference between them |
Both baby boys and baby girls like to play with according to the study.
| A．a ball | B．a teddy | C．a car | D．a doll |
What can we infer from Paragraph 3 ?
| A．Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all. |
| B．Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls. |
| C．The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is. |
| D．Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys. |
What conclusion did Dr. Brenda Todd draw from the results of the study?
| A．Adults purposely influence their babies preference. |
| B．Babies’ preference isn’t affected by social surroundings. |
| C．Baby boys preferring to moving toys will be good at hunting. |
| D．Baby girls preferring warmer colors will be warm-hearted. |
We may read this article in a section of a newspaper.
| A．science | B．health | C．education | D．entertainment |
Every school has notice boards．Let's see what is on the notice board of an American school.
| School Policy ·Fighting, saying bad words and all other behavior will not be allowed ·Do not throw rocks, snowballs or sticks on the school grounds ·Hand in a note or telephone to school if your child will be absent for the day ·Parents and visitors need to check in at the office when entering the school. |
Report Card Report card about your school life and work will be given to your parents. Look at the marking key for your school work. MARKING KEY 【评分标准】 Goes beyond grade level standards 4 Meets grade level standards 3 Does not meet grade level standards 2 Making progress Does not meet grade level standards, 1 Not making progress |
| Class Announcement【通知】 Testing Dates: The math test in June 12-13 The science test is June 15 Parents Meeting: The next parents meeting is on Friday June 22 at 7:00 pm in the meeting hall. Homework: Please check the Homework Board at the school homepage to find your homework. |
After-school program The after-school programs will continue for the year 2012. The programs will be open from 3:30 to 6:00 pm every day. ·3:30-4:30 Homework & Reading ·4:30-6:00 Acitivities If you have any questions, feel free to call the school at 524-9752 |
According to School Policy, visitors have to when entering the school.
| A．hand in a note |
| B．call at 524--9752 |
| C．check in at the office |
| D．telephone to the school |
From , parents can get information on the parents meeting.
| A．School Policy | B．Report Card |
| C．After--school Program | D．Class Announcement |
Report Card shows parents．
| A．certain school rules |
| B．after--school activities |
| C．plans for classes and tests |
| D．children's school life and work． |
Suppose Tony doesn't do well at school but makes progress, he will get______ on the Report Card．
| A．1 | B．2 | C．3 | D．4 |
Students do their homework and read books．
| A．from 3:30 to 4:30 | B．from 3:30 to 6:00 |
| C．from 4:30 to 6:00 | D．from 6:00 to 7:00 |
In the past years a lot of people migrated from one country to another in Europe. They had to leave their countries with their traditions, their cultures and sometimes also their families. People migrate because they think that they will have a better life, they will find a job and they will make a lot of money for their families to survive. Sometimes it's true, and they find a job, they make a lot of money and then they go back to their families to help them. But sometimes they are not that lucky.
The problem that those people create is that a lot of people from Europe are unemployed and they don't have jobs because immigrants have taken so many jobs. But the question is also: Would European people want a job such as cleaning or hard labor? I think that most of them wouldn't. So we should stop criticizing for a moment and think. We would then maybe realize that it's not that bad to have immigrants at home.
The only problem is that it's not right that immigrants want to impose( 强加于 )their religion on other countries by leading and building mosques ( 清真寺). Because if they had done that in other countries they would have caused trouble. Phenomena like these happened a few years ago in Great Britain: It was forbidden to switch on Christmas lights outside, because Christmas is a Catholic ( 天主教的 ) recurrence and it was offensive for the Islamic people who lived there. That is not right. The country that gives hospitality to immigrants has the task to allow them to enter society, to be free to believe in their religion and their culture, but every country does not have to forget its tradition and culture. This is one of the many facts which happened in the past years, and I think that many others are going to happen because this phenomenon is developing every day more and more.The first paragraph is mainly about__________.
| A．what a life Europeans lived |
| B．why some Europeans migrated |
| C．how Europeans migrated |
| D．what migration caused |
What's the main problem between the immigrants and the native people according to the passage?
| A．Native people and immigrants fight for the same job opportunities. |
| B．Native people always leave the worst jobs to the immigrants. |
| C．Different religions and cultures often result in some conflicts. |
| D．Native people refuse the immigrants to enter their country. |
What does the author think of the European immigrants?
| A．It takes them too much trouble to migrate. |
| B．They have made contributions to the host country. |
| C．They are offered hard jobs but paid less. |
| D．They should be accepted in the host country. |
We may learn from the passage that__________.
| A．some people reject foreigners' immigrating to their own country |
| B．the author thinks immigrating can help mix different cultures together |
| C．immigrants to Great Britain were all Islamic people |
| D．immigrants can only find hard and dirty jobs in other countries |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that__________.
| A．people with different religions won' t be allowed to migrate to another country |
| B．immigrants are not free to believe in their own culture |
| C．no other European countries but Great Britain have conflicts |
| D．problems caused by different religions and cultures will exist long |
Renault's new Twizy could be the future of motoring ... or at least a big part of it. This is not some crazy future concept -- this is a real vehicle, fully electric, and on sale now. Prices for the Twizy start at £6,690, with battery hire from £45 a month. But is it a car? Technically no, it' s classified under UK law as something closer to a moped (摩托自行车).
A two-seater (the passenger sits behind the driver), the Twizy runs on electric power only, and is designed to cover all those little trips we do. And as 87 percent of Europe’s drivers do less than 37 miles a day -- 50 per cent less than 12—there’s really no need to be burning gas for that sort of journey.
The Twizy is arguably the most unusual vehicle in this country. Other cars have been beautifully designed, others have been small, but no car has turned motoring on its head in quite the same way.
The Twizy’s batteries have a range of 62 miles, and it plugs into a standard socket like any other electrical equipment, going from flat to full power in three and a half hours. There are no full doors on the vehicle, so think of it like a covered moped with four wheels, but no noise and no need for a helmet. There's also a lower-powered type being designed, the Twizy 45, for which you don' t need a license.
Seeing the Twizy in the flesh, you' re surprised by how striking it looks. Sit in it and everything feels right --just car enough to be easy, but different enough to be exciting. With the battery underneath you, the vehicle is suckered (吸) to the road, and the electric power means it accelerates with real energy up to about 50 mph. You don't feel you need any more. In the UK, the weather alone may make it a good buy, but the lack of easy access to outdoor sockets is the biggest challenge. Only time will tell if this brave move answers enough problems to find a place in our lives.According to Paragraph 1, Renault' s new Twizy________
| A．is a concept car |
| B．is classified as a car |
| C．can be hired by the day |
| D．has been put on the market |
Which of the following is TRUE about the appearance of the Twizy?
| A．Attractive. | B．Awkward. |
| C．Traditional. | D．Colorful. |
What do we know about the Twizy 45?
| A．A helmet is needed to drive it. |
| B．It makes more noise than the Twizy. |
| C．You can drive it without taking a test. |
| D．Its batteries are better than the Twizy' s. |
What will probably prevent the popularity of the Twizy?
| A．Its low speed. |
| B．Its weak batteries. |
| C．Its limited inner space. |
| D．Its demand for outdoor sockets. |
In which part of a magazine can we most probably read this text?
| A．Travel. | B．Technology. |
| C．Economy. | D．Environment. |
“Mobile phone killed my man,” screamed one headline last year. Also came claims that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones could cause memory loss. And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones could heat the brain.
For anyone who uses a mobile phone, these are worrying times. But speak to the scientists whose work is the focus of these scares and you hear a different story.
One of the oddest effects comes from the now famous“memory loss” study. Alan Preece and his colleagues at the University of Bristol placed a device that imitated the microwave radiation of mobile phones to the left ear of volunteers. The volunteers were good at recalling words and pictures they had been shown on a computer screen. Preece says he still can’t comment on the effects of using a mobile phone for years on end. But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive（认识的）abilities. “I’m pretty sure there is no effect on short-term memory,” he says.
Another expert, Tattersall, remarked that his latest findings have removed fears about memory loss. One result, for instance, suggests that nerve cell synapses（神经元突触） exposed to microwaves become more — rather than less — receptive to undergoing changes linked to memory formation.
An even happier outcome would be that microwaves turned out to be good for you. It sounds crazy, but a couple of years ago a team led by William Adey at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California found that mice exposed to microwaves for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours when given a cancer-causing chemical.
“If it doesn’t certainly cause cancer in animals and cells, then it probably isn’t going to cause cancer in humans,” says William. And while there’s still no absolute evidence that mobile phone use does damage your memories or give you cancer, the conclusion is: don’t be afraid.Mobile phone users are worried because ______.
| A．they are not sure whether mobile phones can cause memory loss |
| B．it’s said that mobile phones have a lot of side effects |
| C．one headline reported “Mobile phone killed my man” |
| D．a British newspaper showed mobile phones could heat the brain |
According to the scientists, ______.
| A．there is no evidence that mobile phones cause illness in people |
| B．the more people use mobile phones, the healthier they’ll be |
| C．mobile phone users are less likely to develop cancer |
| D．mobile phones’ radiation is the same as the general radiation |
According to this passage, we can know that _____.
| A．the mobile phone is a most wonderful invention |
| B．there’s no need to worry about the radiation from mobile phones |
| C．something must be done to stop people using mobile phones |
| D．mobile phone companies shouldn’t cheat customers |
The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
| A．mobile phone radiation |
| B．a cancer-causing chemical |
| C．a happy outcome |
| D．a brain tumour |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．New Mobile Phones. |
| B．Special Mobile Phones. |
| C．New Special Investigation: Mobile Phones. |
| D．New Investigation. |
Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick——Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia (白血病). Ryan, who was 3 at the time, began making silly faces at Walter and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume. Several days later, Ryan moved to another hospital. Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan.
"He inspired me to fight against my cancer," said Walter, now 17, a football player. Then one day, Walter saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt at a mall, which made him decide to search out Ryan. Back home, Walter typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain cancer" on his computer, and a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. But, the news was shocking.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8, 2005. He was 6. The Facebook page was for the Ryan Lamantia Foundation, a non-profit organization that Ryan's family formed after his death to raise money for brain cancer research.
Walter left this message right away: ."Ryan is my hero. My trips to the hospital were always horrible, until the day I met Ryan."
Ryan's mom's eyes were filled with tears as she read Waiter's message. "We always knew Ryan was special, but to hear it from somebody else, it really means the world to us," Lamantia said.
Walter wasn't the only person who was greatly impressed with Ryan.
"He was a little superhero," said Wendy Stellpflug, a nurse at Children' s Memorial Hospital. "Ryan always kept his spirits high, even after he suffered hearing loss and experienced 14 operations."
"Ryan didn’ t let his illness stop him. He always had a smile on his face," said Dr. Stewart Goldman, the doctor who treated Ryan.
Walter and his family have been in touch with the Lamantias for the past few weeks. And last week, they met for the first time since Ryan's death. The families told stories of being affected by cancer so young and Walter expressed his hope to volunteer with Ryan' s foundation.Walter and Ryan_________.
| A．first met in 2005 |
| B．suffered severe illnesses |
| C．were in the same hospital for a long time |
| D．both liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume |
Walter finally wanted to get in touch with Ryan because___________.
| A．he saw the news about Ryan on the Internet |
| B．he wanted to thank Ryan in person |
| C．an object reminded him of Ryan |
| D．he raised money for Ryan |
After reading Waiter's message online, Ryan' s mom felt_____.
| A．proud of her son |
| B．grateful for his help |
| C．happy about his recovery |
| D．sad again at her son' s death |
Which of the following can best describe Ryan?
| A．Determined and considerate. |
| B．Optimistic and brave. |
| C．Friendly and patient. |
| D．Brave and proud. |
We know from the text that Walter_________.
| A．survived the cancer |
| B．experienced 14 operations |
| C．searched for Ryan on the Facebook |
| D．founded the Ryan Lamantia Foundation |