People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions---and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
“We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions,” Jack said. “Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, while Easterners favor the eyes and ignore the mouth.”
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used reliably to convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the facial movements of 13 Western people and 13 Eastern people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, or angry. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did. “The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions,” Jack said. “Our data suggest that while Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less.”
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.The discovery shows that Westerners______.
| A．pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth |
| B．consider facial expressions universally reliable |
| C．observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways |
| D．have more difficulty in recognizing facial expression |
What were the people asked to do in the study?
| A．To make a face at each other |
| B．To get their faces impressive |
| C．To classify some face pictures |
| D．To observe the researchers’ faces |
What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 6 refer to?
| A．The participants in the study |
| B．The researchers of the study |
| C．The errors made in the study |
| D．The data collected from the study |
In comparison with the Westerners, Easterners are likely to_____.
| A．do translation more successfully |
| B．study the mouth frequently |
| C．examine the eyes more attentively |
| D．read facial expressions more correctly |
It’s 8:30, time for John to start work. So he turns on his radio. Then he eats breakfast. As he eats, he reads his e-mail and reviews his to-do list. Then he sits on the sofa and thinks about an article he needs to write ... Wait a minute! Radio? Breakfast? Sofa? What kind of workplace is this? Well, actually it is John’s house, and he is a telecommuter — he works at home, communicating with the workplace through the Internet.
Like John, millions of people — and their employers — are finding that telecommuting is a great way to work. Telecommuters can follow their own timetables. They work in the comfort of homes, where they can also look after young children or elderly parents. They save time and money by not traveling to work. Their employers save, too, because they need less office space and furniture. Studies show that telecommuters change jobs less often. This saves employers even more money. Telecommuting helps society, too, by reducing pollution and traffic problems.
Jobs that are suited to telecommuting include writing, design work, computer programming and accounting. If a job is related to working with information, a telecommuter can probably do it.From the passage we can learn that John does his job.
| A．by telephon | B．through the Internet |
| C．in his office | D．away from home |
One of the advantages of telecommuting is that you can.
| A．work for several employers | B．enjoy a lot of traveling |
| C．get along well with other workers | D．work on your own schedule |
Telecommuters change jobs less often, so.
| A．their employers can save money |
| B．their employers will give them a higher pay |
| C．they can get more work experience |
| D．they will have a longer paid holiday |
The underlined phrase “suited to” in the third paragraph probably means “”.
| A．acceptable for | B．bad for | C．difficult for | D．fit for |
Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.
Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, this story is about the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive (令人赞叹的) as the building itself.
First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Mad in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial (纪念物) to celebrate their love.
The heartbroken Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out, and more than 20,000 workers worked nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains under the center of the building.
Later, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days, eight years, imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it until he was buried next to his wife.
Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange and sad story, people who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired its construction.The first two paragraphs were written mainly to show that ______.
| A．the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building |
| B．India has some of the most famous buildings in the world |
| C．ancient Indian emperors were cruel |
| D．construction workers led a hard life in ancient India |
The Taj Mahal was first built as ______.
| A．a memorial building | B．a tourist attraction |
| C．a prison | D．a gift to Mumtaz |
From the passage we can learn that Mumtaz probably died in ______.
| A．1626 | B．1653 | C．1632 | D．1634 |
The underlined word “happiness” in the last paragraph refers to “______”.
| A．the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal |
| B．the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal |
| C．the married happiness of the emperor and his wife |
| D．the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power |
Scholars and researchers have tried to discover what personality characteristics go along with success in different cultural experiences. Their findings have often been unclear or incomplete. But three typical characteristics stand out in their reports: patience, a sense of humor, and the awareness of being unclear.
Patience, of course, is the ability to keep calm when things do not go as one wants them to, or as one hopes they would, or even as one was sure they would. Impatience sometimes brings improvements in relations with other people, but usually it does not.
A person with a sense of humor is less likely to take things too seriously and more ready to see the humor in his own reaction than a humorless person. The value of a sense of humor really needs to be paid more attention to.
“The awareness of being unclear” is a more difficult concept to understand than patience and a sense of humor. Foreigners often find themselves in situations that are unclear as they are newcomers. That is, they do not know what is happening in a certain situation. Perhaps they do not understand the local language well enough, or they do not know how some system or organization works, or they can’t be sure of different people’s roles in what is going on. “It’s like that I just got here from the moon,” a Chinese graduate student who newly arrived in the United States said. “Things are just so different here.”The passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．about some uneasy traveling experiences in foreign countries |
| B．about the three main ways to communicate with foreigners |
| C．about some typical characteristics in different cultural experiences |
| D．how to show your characters to foreigners |
According to the passage, which characteristic should be focused on most?
| A．The ability to keep cool. | B．The sense of humor. |
| C．Patience. | D．The awareness of being unclear. |
“The awareness of being unclear” refers to “______” .
| A．not knowing what is happening in a situation |
| B．not understanding the local language well enough |
| C．being aware that the situation is unclear |
| D．not knowing how some system or organization works |
By what the Chinese graduate student said, we can learn that ______.
| A．he is not used to the culture of America |
| B．he went to the United States to study the moon |
| C．he is a person with a sense of humor |
| D．he has just returned from the moon |
The home computer industry has been growing rapidly in the United States in the last ten years. Computers used to be large, expensive machines that were very difficult to use. But scientists and technicians have been making them smaller and cheaper while at the same time they have been made easier to use. As a result, their popularity has been increasing as more people have been buying computers for their homes and businesses.
Computers have been designed to store information and compute problems that are difficult for human beings to work out. Some have voices that speak to their operators. Stores use computers to keep records of their inventories and to send bills to their customers. Offices use computers to copy letters, record business and keep in touch with other offices. People also use computers in their homes to keep track of the money they spend.
One important new use of computers is for entertainment. Many new games have been designed to be played on computers. People of all ages play these games. People also buy home computers to watch movies and listen to concerts at home. They have become very popular indeed.Compared with those of today, computers used to ______.
| A．work rapidly | B．be used for fun |
| C．be large and expensive | D．be easy to use |
In recent years, computers have become ______.
| A．more and more difficult to use | B．slower and slower |
| C．more and more expensive | D．smaller and smaller |
Home computers can be used for ______.
| A．doing business | B．writing letters |
| C．playing games | D．all of the above |
Salesmen use computers mainly to ______.
| A．talk with their friends | B．write letters |
| C．check the list of goods and send bills | D．play games for pleasure |
"I didn't hear them call my name," explained Shelley Hennig to Active Teens (AT) as she talked about that exciting moment on national television when she won the honor of Miss Teen USA 2004. "Are you ready?" is what she heard. Then she said, "I shook my head no, and then they said ‘yes’ and it was announced again."
It was four days after that life changing moment for the seventeen-year-old high school student from Destrehan, Louisiana----she was still on cloud nine．
"I was so shocked! I never believed that it could actually really happen." Present in the audience（观众）that day were: her mother and father, older brother, her friends, and her dance teacher.
Understanding why members of her family and her friends would be there, AT asked why her
dance teacher had traveled so far to see her compete（比赛）．"She's always been my role model．I've danced with her since I was six. She's been through so many difficulties and came through them all. I've learned to get over bad life's experiences and learned how to move on because of her."
One of those bad life's experiences for Shelley happened three years ago when her brother Brad was killed in a drunk driving accident. He was 18. She found writing helped her get through the rough days. She said, "I write a lot about my brother. I write a lot, a lot, a lot...”
As Miss Louisiana Teen, she traveled around the state speaking to teens（青少年）about the dangers of drinking and driving. In her role as Miss Teen USA, Sheiley will continue to speak to youth about safe driving, in addition to many other things to help the youth.
When AT asked Miss Teen USA if she had any advice for our readers, she said, "Don't let anyone change you. Hang out with people that make you feel good about yourself. That way, it is easy to be yourself."What do the words “on cloud nine” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．frightened | B．troubled | C．very happy | D．very angry |
Shelley takes her dance teachers as a role medel mainly because she is .
| A．determined | B．friendly | C．strict | D．experienced |
How many children did the Hennigs have according to the text?
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
What suggestion does Shelley give to the teens?
| A．Be yourself with the support of friends |
| B．Meet friends whenever possible |
| C．Go easy on yourself and others |
| D．Have a good role model |