阅读理解 Scientists have tried to come up with biological explanations for the diffe

阅读理解

Scientists have tried to come up withbiological explanations for the difference between boys and girls.

However, none were believable enough toexplain the general picture. As one scientist points out, “ There are slightgenetic（遗传的） differences between the sexesat birth which may affect the subjects boys and girls choose. But thedifficulty is that by the time children reach school age, there are so manyother effects that it is almost impossible to tell whether girls are worse atscience and math, or whether they’ve been brought up to think of these subjectsas boys territory.”

Statistics（统计数据）showthat in mathematics, at least, girls are equal to boys. A recent reportsuggests that girls only stop studying mathematics because of social attitudes.One of the reports’ authors says, “While it is socially unacceptable for peoplenot to be able to read and write, it is still acceptable for women to say thatthey are ‘hopeless’ at math. Our research shows that, although girls get markswhich are as good as the boys, they have not been encouraged to do so.”

The explanation for the difference, whichis very clear during the teenage years, goes as far back as early childhoodexperiences. From their first days in nursery school, girls are not encouragedto work on their own or to complete tasks, although boys are. For example, boysnot girls, are often asked to ‘help’ with repair work. This encouragement leadsto a way of learning how to solve problems later on in life. Evidence（证据）shows that exceptional（例外的） mathematicians and scientists did nothave teachers who supplied answers; they had to find out for themselves.

A further report on math teaching showsthat teachers seem to give more attention to boys than to girls.

Most teachers who took part in the studyadmitted that they expect their male students to do better at mathematics andscience subjects than their female students. All of this tends to encourageboys to work harder in these subjects, gives them confidence（信心） and makes them believe that they cansucceed.

Interestingly, both boys and girls tendto regard such ‘male’ subjects like mathematics and science as difficult. Yetit has been suggested that girls avoid mathematics courses, not because theyare difficult, but for social reasons.

Mathematics and science are mainly malesubjects, and therefore, as girls become teenagers, they are less likely totake them up. Girls do not seem to want to be in open competition with boys.Neither do they want to do better than boys because they are afraid to appearless femaleお and so, less attractive.

1.The underlined word “territory” in thesecond paragraph most probably means “_____________”.

A. interest    B.areaof land

C.special field       D.district

2.According to scientificstudies_____________ .

A. math is not fit for girls to learn

B.boys have a special sense of math

C.girls are poorer at math because theyare the weaker sex

D.girls can learn math as well as boys ifgiven enough encouragement

3.Those who made extraordinarycontribution toお mathematics and science_____________.

A. usually had good teachers to help them

B.had the abilities to solve problems bythemselves

C.usually worked harder than others

D.were encouraged to repair things whenyoung

4.Which of the following is not trueaccording to the text?

A.It seems socially acceptable for a girlnot to be able to read and write.

B.It is a social problem rather than aproblem of brains that girls are poor at math.

C.Mathematics and science are not easysubjects to either girls or boys.

D.There is no connection between a girl’sability in math and her appearance.

5.What would be the best title for thetext?

A. Who’s Afraid of Math Anyway?

B. Are Boys Cleverer than Girls?

C. Boys Are Better at Math than Girls byBirth

D. Math—A Difficult Subject

试题答案

答案：C;D;B;A;A