Despite gains in recent years，women still fall behind men in some areas of math achievement，and the question of why has caused heated argument. Now，a study of first and second graders suggests what may be part of the answer：Female primary school teachers who are concerned about their own skills could be passing that along to the little girls they teach.
Young students tend to model themselves after adults of the same sex，explained Beilock，an associate professor in psychology at the University of Chicago. Little girls may learn to fear math from the women who are their earliest teachers. Beilock and her colleagues studied 52 boys and 65 girls in classes taught by 17 different teachers. Ninety percent of the US primary school teachers are women，as was all of those in this study.
Students’ math ability was not related to teachers’ math anxiety at the start of the school year，but at the end of the year，the more anxious teachers were about their own skills，the more likely their female students—but not the boys—were to agree to that “boys are good at math and girls are good at reading”．In addition，the girls who answered that way scored lower on math tests than either the classes’ boys or the girls who had not developed such a belief，the researchers found.
After seeing the results，the researchers recommended that the math requirements for obtaining a primary education teaching degree should be rethought. “If the next generation of teachers，especially primary school teachers，is going to teach their students more effectively，more care needs to be taken to develop both strong math skills and positive math attitudes in these educators,” the researchers wrote.
“Girls who grow up believing females lack math skills wind up avoiding harder math classes. It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers，particularly in science technology,” Beilock said.
1. We can learn from the first three paragraphs that ______.| A．teachers in US primary schools are mostly females |
| B．the students involved in the study are starters at primary school |
| C．young students usually follow example of their female teachers |
| D．it’s true that boys do well in math while girls do well in reading |
| A．Beilock’s study will bring about a primary education revolution. |
| B．Girls’ lack of confidence in math skills affects their future jobs. |
| C．The performance of the students changed little during the process of the study. |
| D．The researchers argued that current primary school education needed improving. |
| A．Using different approaches to excite students’ interest in math. |
| B．Reducing the number of situations that make teachers anxious. |
| C．Creating more chances for boys and girls to work together in class. |
| D．Improving teachers’ math skills and changing their math attitudes. |
| A．Girls may learn math anxiety from female teachers. |
| B．Boys are free from the math anxiety of female teachers. |
| C．Primary school teachers have a far-reaching influence on students. |
| D．Students should learn how to hold positive attitudes towards math. |
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【推荐1】Since 1992, people have been talking about “Dunbar’s number”, the supposed upper limit of the number of people with whom a person can maintain stable social relationships. Named for British scientist Robin Dunbar, its value, rounded from 148 to 150, has permeated both professional and popular culture.
The Swedish taxation authority keeps offices under 150 people as a result of it, and the standard facilities of the W. L. Gore and Associates company are based around the concept. Dunbar’s number was cited in the bestselling book Tipping Point, and it also has a fair amount of academic influence, the original paper having been cited 2, 500 times.
Despite its fame, Dunbar’s number is probably wrong, according to a new study.
Less well known than the value of Dunbar’s number is how he came up with it. The value of 150 is determined by looking at the ratio (比率) between the size of a certain part of the primate (灵长类动物) brain and the average size of groups they form. These ratios were then applied to data on the human brain, and the average value of roughly 150 relationships was determined.
In the new study, the researchers did similar calculations but with updated information on the size of monkey brains and social networks. When the researchers applied Dunbar’s exact same methods to their new data, they found that the value was between roughly 5 and 292 people. This is far too wide a range to be of any use.
Additionally, the researchers noted the fact that human brains often work differently than those of our nearest evolutionary (进化的) cousins, as evidenced by our ability to create things. The idea that we would process social information exactly like other primates do is a bold and largely unsupported claim.
So, is there a new Dunbar number? Well, this isn’t the point of this study. The researchers end their paper with: “It is our hope that this study will put an end to the use of ‘Dunbar’s number’ within science and in popular media…”
1. What does the underlined word ”permeated“ in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Well preserved. | B．Deeply affected. |
| C．Depended heavily on. | D．Taken full advantage of. |
| A．Dunbar’s number has always been the subject of debate. |
| B．The samples in the study were too small to be of any use. |
| C．The calculations leading to Dunbar’s number were too complex. |
| D．The ratio from primates couldn’t be carried over to humans. |
| A．To replace Dunbar’s number. |
| B．To offer Dunbar’s number new evidence. |
| C．To stop the spreading of Dunbar’s number. |
| D．To find new applications of Dunbar’s number. |
| A．Animal. | B．Science. |
| C．Culture. | D．Education. |
【推荐2】While retiring ahead of time may be easier on the body, a new set of research has found that it may not be so beneficial to the mind. The study, carried out at Binghamton University, finds that an early retirement can speed up the usual rate of cognitive (认知的)decrease among the elderly.
The research team studied China's new rural pension (退休金)system, as well as China's most recent Retirement Longitudinal Survey ( CHARLS), in order to look into the effects of early retirement and pension benefits on individual cognition among adults over the age of 60. After going over all of the data, the research team noted a clear direction: people receiving pension benefits were experiencing much more rapid mental decline (智力下降)than those still on the workforce. Surprisingly, women seemed to experience even sharper mental decline after retiring early. Overall, the results support the view that decreased mental activity speeds up cognitive decline.
Nikolov, the lead researcher, had actually carried out former studies that found retirement led to a number of physical health benefits for retirees, such as improved sleep patterns, less stress, and reduced alcohol consumption. However, retirement also usually goes with a decline in social activities and less communication with people, which has also been linked to cognitive decline.
“For cognition among the elderly, it looks like the bad effect on social connection is more than the good effect of the program on fitness and sleep,” Nikolov says. “ Or social connection may simply be the single most powerful factor for cognitive performance in old age.”
The research team are hopeful that their findings will be considered by older adults when thinking about retirement, but perhaps more importantly, they hope that policy makers in developing countries take note while drawing up new pension plans. They suggest building social get-togethers and work shops for recent retirees to help cut down the decline in social communication and creative thinking that often comes along with retirement.
1. Which of the following best describes retiring ahead of time for the mind?| A．Useless. | B．Beneficial. | C．Damaging. | D．Improving. |
| A．Men retiring on former plan. | B．Women over the age of 60. |
| C．Men retiring ahead of time. | D．Women retiring early. |
| A．Shorter sleep time. | B．Fewer social activities. |
| C．More financial stress. | D．Less time with family members. |
| A．The government should make new policy. |
| B．People should build more shops for the elderly. |
| C．The retirement in developing countries should be common. |
| D．The newly retired people should communicate more. |
【推荐3】Nasr Majid started hunting this fall at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (保护区) on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in USA. He’s one of the relatively few new hunters who officials hope will help stop a nearly four-decade decline nationally in what has become a hobby for fewer than 5 percent of Americans.
Natural resources and wildlife officials in Maryland are encouraging hunting of deer, turkeys and some other wild animals, which is believed to be good for the environment. Without hunting, they say, sika deer will overpopulate the wildlife refuge and they’ll overeat the bushes and other plants that provide important habitat for birds. On the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, hunting is also important to prevent the spread of diseases such as Lyme.
In many families, the hunting tradition has been handed down for generations. But as longtime sportsmen age and children lose interest, the number of hunters in the United States fell by 2 million, from 2011 to 2018, to about 11 million.
“Everything is changing. Kids are growing up in front of video games and computers instead of going hunting.” said Chris Markin, a hunting specialist for the state natural resources department. “Adults usually focus on working and providing for their families. Those pressures are preventing many other potential hunters from going out, and from raising the next generation of hunters.”
To avoid such a decline, a new approach is needed. Government agencies and nonprofit groups are now launching mentoring (指导) programs to train more hunters, which not only helps preserve an industry and a culture but also means more protection for wildlife and their habitats through deer population control and investment.
Luckily, there are those still eager to learn, like Majid. He was just looking for an outdoor hobby he could share with his children when he came across the mentorship program. Now, he feels capable of hunting on his own, but also has someone he can text with questions that pop up. His new pastime has already paid off for him—on his second hunt with his mentor, in the last minutes of daylight, he bagged his first deer.
1. In this passage,Nasr Majid is considered as a symbol of________.| A．devotion | B．bravery | C．enthusiasm | D．hope |
| A．No one is interested in hunting any more. |
| B．The hunting tradition is facing challenges. |
| C．Parents fail to spend enough time with kids. |
| D．Hunting adds to many adults life pressures. |
| A．Raising questions. | B．Looking for hunters. |
| C．Learning to hunt. | D．Sharing a new hobby. |
| A．Teach hunters new skills | B．Make Hunting More Popular |
| C．Reduce the pressure of life | D．Train more skilled hunters |
