Women are friendly. But men are more competitive. Why? Researchers have found it's all down to the hormone oxytocin (荷尔蒙催生素). Although known as the love hormone, it affects the sexes differently.
"Women tend to be social in their behavior. They often share with others. But men lend to be competitive. They are trying to improve their social status," said Professor Ryan.
Generally, people believe that the hormone oxytocin is let out in our body in various social situations and
our body creates a large amount of it during positive social interactions (互动) such as falling in love or giving birth.
But in a previous experiment Professor Ryan found that the hormone is also let out in our body during negative social interactions such as envy.
Further researches showed that in men the hormone oxytocin improves the ability to recognize competitive relationships, but in women it raises the ability to recognize friendship. Professor Ryan's recent experiment used 62 men and women aged 20 to 37. Half of the participants（参与者）received oxytocin. The other half received placebo (安慰剂).
After a week, the two groups switched with participants. They went through the same procedure with the other material.
Following each treatment, they were shown some video pictures with different social interactions. Then they were asked to analyze the relationships by answering some questions. The questions were about telling friendship from competition. And their answers should be based on gestures, body language and facial expressions.
The results indicated that, after treatment with oxytocin, men's ability to correctly recognize competitive relationships improved, but in women it was the ability to correctly recognize friendship that got better.
Professor Ryan thus concluded: "Our experiment proves that the hormone oxytocin can raise people's abilities to better distinguish different social interactions. And the behavior differences between men and women are caused by biological factors (因素) that are mainly hormonal."What causes men and women to behave differently according to the text?
| A．Placebo | B．Oxytocin | C．The gesture | D．The social status |
What can we learn from Professor Ryan's previous experiment?
| A．Oxytocin affects our behavior in a different way. |
| B．Our body lets out oxytocin when we are deep in love. |
| C．Our body produces oxytocin when we feel unhappy about others' success. |
| D．Oxytocin improves our abilities to understand people's behavior differences. |
Why did Professor Ryan conduct the recent experiment?
| A．To test the effect of oxytocin on the ability to recognize social interactions. |
| B．To know the differences between friendship and competition. |
| C．To know people's different abilities to answer questions. |
| D．To test people's understanding of body language. |
The author develops the text by______.
| A．explaining people's behaviors |
| B．describing his own experiences |
| C．distinguishing sexual differences |
| D．discussing research experiments |
Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they are teaching it. One studypublished this year found that about three out of every four teachers say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by providing instruction for 10 to 15 minutes a day,and then other teachers who basically teach it for 60to 70 minutes a day — which really is pretty much for handwriting.
Many adults remember learning that way — by copying letters over and over again. Today's thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express ideas. After all，that is why we write.
Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can be read. The other is fluency — writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to develop up until high school.
But not everyone masters these skills.Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of their kids have poor handwriting.Some people might think handwriting is not important any more because of computers and voice recognition programs.
But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school, especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write in cursive,which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the College Board,which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75 percent of students choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive. Which of the following is WRONG for traditional handwriting in the USA?
| A．The students are taught by practicing a long period. |
| B．The letters are repeated many times. |
| C．Handwriting includes two skills. |
| D．To write in cursive is taught first. |
The underlined word “legibility” in Paragraph 3 means “ __________ ”
| A．easy to read |
| B．complex |
| C．unexpected |
| D．unreadable |
The best title for the passage is __________.
| A．How to improve handwriting in school |
| B．Right or wrong ： the death of handwriting |
| C．Handwriting involves two skills |
| D．Handwriting lessons are on the way out |
The author's attitude towards whether still to learn handwriting in school is __________.
| A．negative |
| B．objective |
| C．critical |
| D．optimistic |
Cell phones with cameras are really a popular way to capture a moment in time, but some “clever” students found another use—capturing tests as a way to cheat.
The Magnolia Independent School District in Montgomery County has added camera phones to a list of electronic devices (器具) students are banned from having at school.
School officials said the move was made as a preventative measure to stop potential (潜在的) test cheaters, since students could use the phones to snap pictures of test questions. Another concern was that students might take inappropriate (不合适的) pictures of classmates to later share or post on a website. Cell phones without cameras are allowed on campus, but must be turned off. Camera cell phones will be taken away from students if found on campus, and disciplinary action will be taken, officials said.
Some students were unhappy to hear about the ban. “I’d be lost without my phone,” said Kendall Paul, a Magnolia High School student. “All my numbers are in it. I’ve never used it to cheat and I don’t know anyone who has at our school, so I think it’s kind of stupid. ” But other students said they saw it all the time at their school.
“You would take a picture of the test and then send it to the next person taking the test,” said Melissa Sparks, a student.
“They would send the question and the answer, or just the number of the question and the answer. It’s quicker that way,” another student said.
Parents often provide their children with cell phones for use in emergencies（紧急情况）and to keep in better touch with them. “My Mom wants me to have my phone with me all the time for emergency purpose. So, it goes with me wherever I go,” Paul said.Which of the following can probably replace the words “banned from having” in the second paragraph?
| A．Forbidden to have. | B．Allowed to have. |
| C．Ordered to have. | D．Kept having. |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Cell phones can’t be taken into the school. |
| B．Students’ parents are in favor of the ban. |
| C．Students have different opinions about the ban. |
| D．Students can use cell phones without camera freely at school. |
What does the writer think of the ban?
| A．The writer thinks every coin has two sides. |
| B．The writer thinks that the ban is right. |
| C．The writer thinks schools shouldn’t invade (侵犯) students’ rights. |
| D．The writer’s opinion is not mentioned in the passage. |
The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refers to the fact that _________.
| A．some students cheat in exams |
| B．some students get lost without their camera cell phones |
| C．the School District’s ban is stupid |
| D．some students cheat in exams with camera cell phones |
Cancer researchers urged people on Wednesday to take more vitamin D to lower risk of cancer, saying studies showed a clear link. “Our suggestion is for people to increase their intake (吸入，摄入), through diet or a vitamin supplement,” Dr. Cedric Garland said in a telephone interview.
Garland’s research team reviewed 63 studies, including several large long-term ones, on the relationship between vitamin D and certain types of cancer worldwide between 1966 and 2004. “There’s nothing that has this ability to prevent cancer,” he said, urging governments and public health officials to do more to fortify (增强) foods with vitamin D. Garland is member of a team at San Diego Moores Cancer Hospital that published its findings this week online in the American Journal of Public Health. Vitamin D is found in milk, as well as in some fortified orange juice, yogurt and cheeses, usually at around 100 international units（IU）a serving. “People might want to consider a vitamin supplement to raise their intake to 1000 units per day” Garland said, adding that it was well within the safety guidelines established by the National Academy of Sciences.
The authors said that taking more vitamin D could be especially important for people living in northern areas, which receive less vitamin D from sunshine.
“African Americans, who don’t produce as much of the vitamin because of their skin color, could also benefit significantly from a higher intake,” the authors said.According to the passage, people are advised to take more Vitamin D, because ________.
| A．it is nutritious |
| B．it can’t harm people’s health |
| C．it can lower cancer risk |
| D．it is not taken enough every day |
Garland is probably ________.
| A．a health researcher | B．a doctor |
| C．a medicine scientist | D．a public health official |
Which of the following foods can lower people’s chance of getting cancer?
| A．Milk. | B．Fortified orange juice. |
| C．Fortified yogurt. | D．All of the above. |
________ should take more Vitamin D according to the passage.
| A．Asian people | B．African people |
| C．American people | D．Oceanian people |
I hated dinner parties. But I decided to give them another shot because I’m in London. And my friend Mallery invited me. And because dinner parties in London are very different from those in New York, “I’m having a dinner party” means: “I’m booking a table for 12 at a restaurant and we’ll be sharing the cheque evenly (平均地), no matter what you eat.” In Manhattan there is always someone who leaves before the bill arrives. They’ll throw down cash, half of what they owe, and then people like me, who don’t drink, end up paying even more. But if you try to use the same trick, the hostess will shout: “Where are you going ?” And I cannot say I have somewhere to go because everyone knows I have nowhere to go.
But in London, dinner parties are in people’s homes. Not only that, the guests are an interesting mix. The last time I went to one, the guests were from France, India, Denmark and Nigeria; it was like a gathering at the United Nations. In New York, the mix is less striking. It’s like a gathering at Bloomingdatle’s, a well-known department store.
For New Yorkers, talking about other parts of the world means Brooklyn and Queens in New York. But at Mallery’s, when I said that I had been to Myanmar recently, people knew where it was, while In New York people would think it was a usual club.What does the word “shot” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．Choice | B．Try | C．Style | D．Goal |
What does the writer dislike most about dinner parties in New York?
| A．There is a strange mix of people. |
| B．The restaurants are expensive. |
| C．The bill is not fairly shared. |
| D．People have to pay cash. |
What does the author think of the parties in London?
| A．A bit unusual | B．Full of tricks |
| C．Less costly | D．More interesting |
What is the author’s opinion of some New Yorkers from her experience?
| A．Easy-going. | B．Self-centered. |
| C．Generous. | D．Conservative |
In the animal kingdom, weakness can bring about aggression（侵略）in other animals. This sometimes happens with humans as well. But I have found that my weakness brings out the kindness in people. I see it every day when people hold doors for me, pour cream into my coffee, or help me to put on my coat. And I have discovered that it makes them happy.
From my wheelchair experience, I see the best in people, bur sometimes I feel sad because those who appear independent miss the kindness I see daily. They don’t get to see this soft side of others often and we try every way possible to avoid showing our weakness, which includes a lot of pretending. But only when we stop pretending we’re brave or strong do we allow people to show the kindness that’s in them.
Last month, when I was driving home on a busy highway, I began to feel unwell and drove more slowly than usual. People behind me began to get impatient and angry, with some speeding up alongside me, horning (按喇叭) or even shouting at me. At the moment I decided to do something I had never done in twenty years of driving. I put on the car flashlights and drove on at a really low speed.
No more angry shouts and no more horns!
When I put on my flashlights, I was saying to other drivers, “I have a problem here. I am weak and doing the best I can.” And everyone understood. Several times, I saw drivers who wanted to pass. They couldn’t get around me because of the stream of passing traffic. But instead of getting impatient and angry, they waited, knowing the driver in front of them was in some way weak.
Sometimes situations call for us to act strong and brave even when we don’t feel that way. But more often, it would be better if we don’t pretend we feel strong when we feel weak or pretend that we are brave when we are scared.The author has discovered that people will feel happy when ______.
| A．they offer their help |
| B．they receive others’ help |
| C．they feel others’ kindness |
| D．they show their weakness |
The author feels sad sometimes because ______.
| A．he has a soft heart |
| B．he relies much on others |
| C．some people pretend to be kind |
| D．some people fail to see the kindness in others |
In this passage, the author advises us to ______.
| A．handle problems by ourselves |
| B．accept help from others |
| C．admit our weakness |
| D．show our bravery |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Wheel Chair Experience. |
| B．Weakness and Kindness. |
| C．Weakness and Strength |
| D．A Driving Experience |