Romantic novelists rarely fail to include in their writings that special moment when two strangers look into each other's eyes across a crowded room and feel the tingle of desire. Now these writings have now been validated（证实）by science, for experts have discovered that eye-to-eye contact in fact leads to a burst of activity in the reward center of the brain.
Neuroscientists at University College London asked eight female and eight male volunteers to look at photos of the faces of 40 different people who were either looking at the camera or gazing to one side.
While the volunteers looked at the pictures, they were given a scan with functional magnetic resonance imaging（磁性共振成影仪器）, which measures increased blood flows to the various parts of the brain and thus provides a "map" of cerebral activity（大脑活动）.
The volunteers were then asked to rate the attractiveness of each face, and their score was matched against the scan.
The result: when volunteer had direct eye contact with the face, there was an increase of activity in the ventral striatum（腹面纹状体）, a central part of the brain that anticipates reward or pleasure. But if the eyes did not meet, there was no activity in that brain area at all. The activity increase occurred regardless of the gender of the face in direct eye contact.
However, there was a bigger-than-usual increase if the person giving the eye was found to be attractive. Activity in the ventral striatum surged. But if the cute person gazed to one side, the ventral striatum remained dormant, apparently disappointed that the stranger was clearly not interested.
Interestingly, the ventral striatum also perked up if a plug-ugly person gazed to one side, rather than looked at the volunteer right in the eyes.
| Origin of the experiment | Romantic novelists like to describe in their writings that two strangers look into each other's eyes across a crowded room and feel the tingle of desire in a special ____71____. |
| __72__ of the experiment | Investigate whether eye-to-eye contact ____73____ a burst of activity in the reward center of the brain. |
Procedure of the experiment | ◆Ask ____74____ volunteers（8 female and 8 male）to look at photos of the faces of 40 different people who were either looking at the camera or gazing to one side. ◆____75____ blood flows to the various parts of the volunteers’ brain and thus provides a "map" of cerebral activity. ◆Ask the volunteers to rate the attractiveness of all ____76____, ◆____77____ their score against the scan. |
____78____ of the experiment | ◆As long as the eyes meet ____79____, there must be activities in the brain area. On the other hand, there is no activity at all. ◆The activity of the brain is also ___80_____ with the people’s appearance closely. |
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What will Zafirakou do with her prize money?
| A．Make a movie. | B．Build new schools. |
| C．Run a project. | D．Help local musicians. |
【推荐2】A British woman who won a S1 million prize after she was named the World's Best Teacher will use the cash to bring inspirational figures into UK schools.
Andria Zafirakou, a north London secondary school teacher, said she wanted to bring about a classroom revolution (变革). “We are going to make a change,” she said. “I’ve started a project to promote the teaching of the arts in our schools.”
The project results from the difficulties many schools have in getting artists of any sort - whether an up-and-coming local musician or a major movie star - into schools to work with and inspire children.
Zafirakou began the project at Alperton Community School, her place of work for the past twelve years. “I've seen those magic moments when children are talking to someone they are inspired by - their eyes are shining and their faces light up,” she said. “We need artists. more than ever in our schools."
Artist Michael Craig-Martin said: “Andria's brilliant project to bring artists from all fields into direct contact with children is particularly welcome at a time when the arts are being downgraded in schools." It was a mistake to see the arts as unnecessary, he added.
Historian Sir Simon Schama is also a supporter of the project. He said that arts education in schools was not just an add-on. “It is absolutely necessary. The future depends on creativity and creativity depends on the young. What will remain of us when artificial intelligence takes over will be our creativity, and it is our creative spirit, our visionary sense of freshness, that has been our strength for centuries."
What should be stressed in school education according to Schama?
| A．Moral principles. |
| B．Interpersonal skills. |
| C．Creative abilities. |
| D．Positive worldviews. |
A. And my mother says Mrs. White said the children are just beginning to get excited about using words. She doesn't want to lower that enthusiasm with red ink. Spelling and grammar can wait. The wonder of words won't...
B. It would make my heart filled with happiness. But it worried my mother, so she asked her why she never corrected my mistakes.
C. And maybe she didn't say it exactly like that. It was a long time ago. And what my mother gave me what she could remember. I added the rest in. Because I grew up learning to use words with loving confidence like that.
D. I don't remember much about what we learned in her class, but my mother once told me that we used to write a lot. When she found mistakes, there would be no red corrections. And always a star. Sometimes even a Good!
E. My kindergarden teacher was Mrs. White. And I remember thinking she must be some older relation of Walt Disney's Snow White, because she had the same bright blue eyes, short dark hair, and fair skin.
