EuropeanWorkExperienceProgramm-优题课

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（聪明的） 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（空间的） 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（胎儿） 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 （障碍物） 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．
The passage mainly tells us ________．

A．the difference between men’s and women’s brains

B．the changes in brain throughout our lives

C．that men are better at spatial tasks

D．that brain differences are related to our ancestors

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．k.s.5.u

C．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain．

D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter．

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．

What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A．Defensive．

B．Persuasive．

C．Supportive．

D．Objective．

Among various programs, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style. But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and Oprah Winfrey shows.Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of "rubbish talk". The topics on his show are as surprising as can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people's lives.
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes the TV talk show to its top. But Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.
Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a "final word". He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.
Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show's main audience are middle-class Americans. Most of the people have the time, money and ability to deal with life's tough problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to 21year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show's exploitation.
Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows are____.

A．more interesting

B．unusually poplar

C．more detailed

D．more formal

Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people who watch the shows ______.

A．show disbelief in them	B．are ready to face up to them
C．remain cold to them	D．are willing to get away from them

Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?

A．A new type of robot.	B．National hatred.
C．Family income planning.	D．Street accident.

We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows ____.

A．have become the only ones of its kind	B．exploit the weaknesses in human nature
C．appear at different times of the day	D．attract different people

What is the advantage of the Jerry Springer show?

A．The show exposes the dark sides of society.	B．The show pours poisonous waste into society.
C．Jerry sums up the whole idea of the show.	D．Jerry talks abou the improvement of society.

Can people change their skin colour without suffering like pop king Michael Jackson? Perhaps yes. Scientists have found the gene that determines skin colour.
The gene comes in two versions, one of which is found in 99 per cent of Europeans. The other is found in 93 to 100 per cent of Africans, researchers at Pennsylvania State University report in the latest issue of Science.
Scientists have changed the colour of a dark-striped zebrafish to uniform gold by inserting a version of the pigment(色素) gene into a young fish. As with humans, zebrafish skin colour is determined by pigment cells, which contain melanosomes(黑色素). The number, size and darkness of melanosomes per pigment cell determines skin colour.
It appears that, like the golden zebrafish, light-skinned Europeans also have a mutation(变异) in the gene for melanosome production. This results in less pigmented skin.
However, Keith Cheng, leader of the research team, points out that the mutation is different in human and zebrafish genes.
Humans acquired dark skin in Africa about 1.5 million years ago to protect bodies from ultra-violet rays of the sun(太阳光紫外线), which can cause skin cancer.But when modern humans leave Africa to live in northern latitudes, they need more sunlight on their skin to produce vitamin D. So the related gene changes, according to Cheng.Asians have the same version of the gene as Africans, so they probably acquired their light skin through the action of some other gene that affects skin colour, said Cheng.
The new discovery could lead to medical treatments for skin cancer. It also could lead to research into ways to change skin colour without damaging it like chemical treatment did on Michael Jackson.
The passage mainly tells us that ________.

A．people can not change their skin colour without any pain

B．the new discovery could lead to search into ways to change skin colour safely

C．pop king Michael Jackson often changed his skin colour as he liked

D．scientists have found out that people’s skin colour is determined by the gene

It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．nowadays people who want to change their skin colour have to suffer a lot from the damage caused by the chemical treatment	B．Europeans and Africans have the same gene
C．the new discovery could help to find medical treatments for skin cancer	D．there are two kinds of genes

Scientists have done an experiment on a dark-striped zebra fish in order to ________.

A．find the different genes of humans’
B．prove the humans’ skin colour is determined by the pigment gene
C．find out the reason why the Africans’ skin colour is dark	D．find out the ways of changing peopl’s skin colour

The reason why Europeans are light-skinned is probably that ________.

A．they are born light-skinned people
B．light-skinned Europeans have mutation in the gen for melanosome production
C．they have fewer activities outside	D．they pay much attention to protecting their skin

The writer’s attitude towards the discovery is ________.

A．neutral

B．negative

C．positive

D．indifferent

When the musical sound rings you, you immediately reach for your pocket ready to have a chat. But although you probably use it all the time, have you ever stopped to think about the manners related to talking on the phone? If you haven’t, here are some tips to guide you.
●Always give the person you are calling plenty of time to get to the phone before you hang up. If the person who answers is not the one you want，give your name and ask if you may speak to the person you want.
●Think about the time you call people. Try not to call too early in the morning(before about 9:00)or too late at night(after about 9:30). Also try not to call at mealtimes.
●If you go by plane to visit your relatives at Christmas, remember to follow airline instructions. Cell phones must be turned off as soon as the plane doors are closed and remain so until the doors open again on arrival.
●When face to face with someone, do not talk on the phone. It is rude to be on the phone when a waiter is trying to take your order in a restaurant, or when you are returning the shoes you have just been trying on in a shop. Finish any face-to-face business before taking a call. Continuing to use the phone while nodding to the person in front of you is quite impolite.
●When in a restaurant with your friends，keep phone conversations short. Make a call only if it is important. Practise speaking in a low voice. If no one looks your way, you’ve got it.
●If you go to a theatre, a concert or a cinema, consider the other people around you. Check that your phone is “off” before you enter. If you are expecting a very important call, put your phone on “vibrate”(振动)and run for the exit as soon as you feel it. If you forget both “off” and “vibrate” and your phone rings, don’t answer it, turn it off straight away.
Which is true according to the passage above?

A．You may call people anytime as you like.

B．You may talk loudly on the phone at dinner in the restaurant.

C．You may keep on talking on the phone while greeting somebody.

D．You may call people as soon as you get on the plane，but not after the doors are closed.

We may infer from these tips that__________.

A．some people don’t pay much attention to manners while making cell phone calls

B．you may ask to leave a message unless the person you are calling is in

C．calling people too early or too late in the morning is not polite

D．almost everyone has got a cell phone

What does the underlined sentence “…you’ve got it” mean in the passage?

A．You have succeeded in making a call without disturbing others.
B．You have made the phone call brief and interesting.
C．You’ve got the message you are waiting for.	D．You have made a phone call secretly．

From the tips given above, we can decide the writer is sure to share the opinion that______.

A．1ike the saying “clothes make a man”, nowadays cell phones make a man
B．as the old saying goes, money talks; nowadays cell phones talk
C．the way we use the cell phones tells what we are like	D．we are what cell phones we use

Like a growing number of young women in Vietnam’s northern part city of Haiphong, Pham Thi Hue was infected with HIV by her husband, one of the town’s many drug users. But instead of being shamed into silence, as Vietnamese with HIV and AIDS are, the 25-year-old tailor and mother of one went public, appearing on television and at conferences. Her business suffered and her neighbors insulted (辱骂)her, but Hue has now become the public face of Mothers and Wives, an HIV/ AIDS support group established in Haiphong by a Norwegian nongovernmental organization and her neighborhood’s People’s Committee. Last year, she founded a smaller group named after a local flower. People who need advice on treatment or help preparing bodies for burial can dial a hot line and get assistance from able and sympathetic(同情的)HIV victims. “We gather to support each other,” Hue says. “When we are sick, what we need most is encouragement and comfort from people who understand our situation and are willing to share our happiness, as well as our sadness.”
On a hot and damp night last month, Hue welcomed into her small home a very thin woman, also a tailor, who was HIV positive. The woman tearfully told Hue that she had not told anyone about her condition, fearing that she would lose customers and that her daughter would be insulted at school. Hue became the wise elder, offering medical and personal advice.
What did Pham Thi Hue do after she was infected with HIV?

A．She kept silent	B．She worked as usual
C．She stayed at home and cried every day.	D．She went public and gave help to others.

It can be inferred from the passage that the group Pham Thi Hue founded is made up of____.

A．drug users

B．HIV victims

C．all kinds of patients

D．poor people

From the passage we can learn that Pham Thi Hue is a woman who is_______.

A．weak and kind

B．foolish and idle

C．brave and helpful

D．cautious and energetic

A．making a telephone call	B．sending the organization a fax
C．writing an e-mail to the organization	D．going there in person by air