Ladies, if you find yourselves wandering an unknown city with a man who is questioning your directional abilities, don’t doubt yourselves.
A recent small study published in the journal Psychological Science found that the longstanding theory that women have a more difficult time reading maps wasn’t true.
Historically, men have performed better than women in studies that tested their spatial(空间的)ability. But the leading study author Margaret Tarampi and a researcher from the University of California, Santa Barbara theorized that social influences had an effect on this outcome: The cultural belief that women are worse at reading maps could be seen as a stereotype(固有模式) threat, meaning women believe they’re bad at something, so they perform poorly as a result. The researchers also theorized that women performed better at skills that involve a social element. In other words, if reading a map means helping someone else, they might perform better.
Tarampi and her team tested both theories on undergraduate students at UCSB across three separate experiments. And, indeed, the results showed that men scored better than women only when they were mentioned the stereotype of male superiority before the test.
When the researchers did not mention it and gave a social context for reading the map, women’s scores improved across the board. Women also performed better when the test maps simply included human figures, rather than just random objects and landmarks.
So ladies, next time you struggle to figure out whether you should make a left or right at the Louvre, take out your tourist map with a healthy dose of confidence.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?A.To warn women of one of their shortcomings. |
B.To introduce the topic of the passage. |
C.To encourage women to read maps. |
D.To state a social phenomenon. |
A.a poor sense of direction | B.a lack of experience |
C.a social stereotype | D.threats from others |
A.they were asked to help someone else by reading a map |
B.they were informed of the stereotype before the test |
C.the test maps simply included human figures |
D.there were social elements in the map |
A.Women can read maps as well as men. | B.Women are better drivers than men. |
C.Women always have difficulty reading maps. | D.Women are better at spatial ability. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】When you start working on something but don't finish it, thoughts of the unfinished work continue to jump into your mind even when you've moved on to other things. Psychologists refer the phenomenon as the Zeigamik effect. The effect was first observed by a Russian psychologist named Bluma Zeigamik. While sitting in a busy restaurant in Vienna, she noted the waiters had better memories of unpaid orders. Once the bill was paid, however, the waiters had difficulty remembering the exact details of the orders.
In one of her studies, participants were asked to complete simple tasks such as putting together puzzles, or solving math problems. Half of the participants were interrupted halfway through these tasks. After an hour-long delay, Zeigamik asked the participants to give an account of what they'd been working on. She discovered that those who had their work interrupted were twice as likely to remember what they had been doing as those who had actually completed the tasks.
We can use this effect to our advantage. For example, if you're struggling to memorize something important, momentary interruptions might actually work to your advantage. Rather than simply remember the information over and over again, review it several times and then take a break. While you're focusing on other things, you'll find yourself mentally returning to the information you were studying.
We often put off tasks until the last moment, only completing them in a rush at the last possible moment. Unfortunately, this tendency can lead to heavy stress and even poor performance. One way to overcome this is to put the Zeigamik effect to work. Start by taking the first step, no matter how small. Once you have begun — but not finished — your work, you'll find yourself thinking of the task until, at last, you finish it. You might not finish it all at once, but each small step you take puts you closer to your final goal.
1. What does the Zeigamik effect refer to?A.Waiters tend to have good memories. |
B.Once interrupted, one will forget things easily. |
C.Most people can't focus on one thing for a long time. |
D.People remember unfinished tasks better than completed ones. |
A.Repeat over and over again. |
B.Divide our study session. |
C.Focus on several tasks at a time. |
D.Have enough rest before studying. |
A.How to get rid of heavy stress. |
B.Why we should set a final goal. |
C.How to break the habit of delaying work. |
D.Why we always complete tasks in a rush. |
【推荐2】Everyone talks about the “five” senses of man.And it is true that we get our information about the outside from our sense of sight,hearing,smell,touch and taste.Researchers tell us that the sense of sight—our visual sense—gives us up to 80% of what we know about the world outside our bodies; while the other senses,the auditory (hearing),the olfactory (smell),the tactile (touch),and the gustatory (taste) bring into our brains information about the other 20% of what is happening.But there are two other senses that we cannot get along without,though they are little noticed.These are the senses of balance (平衡),without which we would act like a drunk after a heavy drink,and the kinesthetic sense(动觉),which gives us our ideas about our own motion (运动).
1. Which is the best title for this passage?A.The Five Senses of Man |
B.The Senses of Man |
C.Senses and Information |
D.Important Senses |
A.about half of our information about the world |
B.about 20% of our information about the world |
C.80% of our information about the world |
D.all the needed our information about the world |
A.about half of our information about the world |
B.about 20% of our information about the world |
C.about 80% of our information about the world |
D.all the needed our information about the world |
A.is blind |
B.is deaf |
C.has no sense of taste and touch |
D.has no sense of balance and motion |
【推荐3】Baby rattles (拨浪鼓) are simple toys designed for babies. They are made of wood, plastic, and other things.
Rattles are more than simple toys when it comes to child development. A newborn baby’s vision (视力) is still underdeveloped and poor in the first few months.
Baby rattles must be safe for babies. Factories should produce rattles through materials that are not harmful. As for parents, they should clean the surface of rattles before babies play with them. It’s because babies often taste things given to them.
Baby rattles are usually thrown away as a baby develops into a toddler (刚学步的儿童). Toddlers may still enjoy toys that produce noise.
A.But the noise may be harmful. |
B.If rattles are dirty, babies may get sicken. |
C.They will soon dislike something not tasty. |
D.And they contain small balls to produce the sound. |
E.But a rattle as such may no longer hold their interest. |
F.So his early learning quite relies on hearing and touching. |
G.Through rattles, babies can also learn the cause and the result. |
【推荐1】On Sunday, March 11, most Americans will set their clocks forward an hour, as daylight saving time (sometimes wrongly called daylight savings time) begins and most of the United States can enjoy an extra hour of daylight. The spring and fall clock changes continue a long tradition started by Benjamin Franklin to conserve energy.
Benjamin Franklin lakes the honor (or the blame, depending on your view of the lime changes) for coming up with the idea to reset clocks in the summer months as a way to conserve energy. By moving clocks forward, people could take advantage of the extra evening daylight rather than wasting energy on lighting. At the time, Franklin was ambassador to Paris and so wrote a letter to the Journal of Paris in 1784, rejoicing over his “discovery” that the sun provides light as soon as it rises.
Even so, DST (Daylight Saving Time) didn’t officially begin until more than a century later. Germany established DST in May 1916 as a way to conserve fuel during World War I. The rest of Europe came onboard shortly thereafter. And in 1918, the United States adopted DST.
Though President Woodrow Wilson wanted to keep daylight saving time after WWI ended, the country was mostly rural at the time and farmers objected, partly because it would mean they lost an hour of morning light. And so daylight saving time was abolished until at the start of WWII, on Feb. 9, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt re-established daylight saving time year- round, calling it “War Time.”
After the war, a free-for-all system in which U.S. states and towns were given the choice of whether or not to observe DST led to disorder. And in 1966, to avoid such “Wild West” confusion, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act. That federal law meant that any state observing DST — and they didn’t have to jump on the DST system — had to follow a uniform timing system throughout the state in which daylight saving time would begin on the first Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October.
Then, in 2007, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 went into effect, expanding the length of daylight saving lime to the present timing.
1. What is the passage mainly about?A.What is Daylight Saving Time? |
B.How did Daylight Saving Time start? |
C.Who proposed Daylight Saving Time? |
D.Why Daylight Saving Time is adopted? |
A.DST was adopted in the US mainly to preserve fuel |
B.DST lasted for 24 years in the US before being canceled |
C.it is still free for the states in the US to adopt the DST or not |
D.farmers in the US rejected DST for losing an hour of evening light |
A.Taking pride in. | B.Taking interest in. |
C.Feeling regret for. | D.Feeling surprised about. |
A.France. | B.Germany. |
C.England. | D.The United States. |
【推荐2】Technologies used for human purposes are now being applied to improve pets well-being. And the pet humanization trend (趋势) of recent years is shown in technology, with a great increase in demand for different kinds of wearable tech devices (设备) from pet parents around the world. Today, it’s not unusual to see dogs or cats with something tied to their body to monitor (监控) their activity or track their location.
“People don’t know the answer to questions about how much exercise or the amount of food their dog needs and that’s where wearable monitoring device comes in,” says CEO and co-founder of PitPat, Andrew Nowell. Between 2020 and 2021,this UK developer of a pet tracking device for dogs shipped 39% more of its products. At the same time the UK pet population increased by 10% to more than 9 million and a new type of pet owner appeared, the so-called Generation Y. They are the majority of customers that buy a wearable tech device, mainly wanting to know how far their pet has gone and what the dog is doing while they’re out.
The wearable tech field is mainly made up of small startup companies. But this may change in the near future. “All the big players are very interested. They will jump into the field in one way or another,” said Asaf Dagan, co-founder of the wearable tech device producer PetPace. Market research companies are predicting (预料) that the field will be worth between $2.4 billion and $3.5 billion in the coming years, with a yearly increase ranging between 13.5% and 25% by 2025.
Despite the potential (潜力), there are still some challenges that companies will soon have to face. Awareness is one of them. “The function of the GPS tracker is better known among pet parents, but there is still work to do to help them know about activity monitors. It is a matter of putting the message across. The value is there and the need is there. It’s about providing a connection and creating awareness,” commented Dagan.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us about wearable tech devices?A.They help improve human well-being. |
B.They require some changes to serve pets well. |
C.They were invented for human-pet relationships. |
D.They are becoming increasingly popular with pet owners. |
A.To keep their pets warm. |
B.To monitor their pets’ activity. |
C.To correct their pets’ behavior. |
D.To save their pets from getting diseases. |
A.Certain. | B.Unclear. | C.Promising. | D.Risky. |
A.Making continuous improvements to activity monitors. |
B.Getting people to know the value of activity monitors. |
C.Guiding people to use GPS trackers in a proper way. |
D.Increasing the market share of their GPS trackers. |
【推荐3】When you visit America, you will see the word Motel on signs and notice boards. It is made up of “motor” and “hotel” and it is really a hotel for people who arrive by car (however, you don’t need a car to stay at one). You have to pay when you arrive for your room, which usually has a bath. Meals are not provided, but there will certainly be a cafeteria (自助餐馆). Americans eat a lot of salads and sandwiches. Along the main roads there are a lot of motels. Each tries to offer more than next. Some provide television in every bedroom; others have swimming pools; and so on. Motels are especially useful when you are in the country, far from a town or city. You will also find them in the big National Parks.
In these great National Parks, you may meet guests you don’t expect to see. An American friend told me a little story. In the middle of a moonless night she heard strange noises outside her motel window in the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Thinking it might be a thief, she jumped out of bed, opened the door and crept towards a dark shadow. As she got close, she saw the thief. She was dreadfully frightened: it wasn’t a human thief — it was a big black bear. The bear was turning over some empty tins with its paw, looking for tasty bits of food. My friend decided to leave that particular thief alone!
There are also, of course, places called “rooming houses”, where they receive lodgers (房客). You will see such signs as Tourists or Rooms Rent, and you could try one of these. A word of warning — looking for a room in New York during the tourist season is like looking for gold on the moon!
1. Which of the following is TRUE about motels?A.The word “motel” is formed by two words. |
B.They are free for people who arrive by car. |
C.You can only find motels in the big National Parks. |
D.If you want to stay at a motel, you must have a car. |
A.Baths. | B.Meals |
C.TV. | D.Swimming pools.. |
A.an interesting story | B.the experience of the author |
C.we may meet animals in the National Parks | D.bears usually look for food at night |
A.tourists can find gold there |
B.it is difficult to find a room there |
C.tourists can have a sweet dream there |
D.there is warning for tourists to New York |
【推荐1】Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge
This modern-art gallery in a Victorian house was founded in the 1950s by Tate Jim and reopened in February following a two-year redevelopment by Jamie Fobert Architects, the team behind the 2017 Tate Steves extension. This means a new cafe, a four-floor education wing and improved gallery space that can accommodate more visitors. The gallery’s permanent collection includes works by Joan Miró, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
Being Brunel, Bristol
To celebrate the life and work of famous civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunei, Being Brunei will open in March on Bristol’s harbourside. The museum will include a range of interactive and entertaining exhibits, including talking portraits of his friends and family and personal possessions, including an 1821 school report. It is a good place for families to strengthen connections.
Royal Academy of Arts, London
The RA reopens on 19 May for its 250th anniversary, following a £50m renovation (翻新) with a gallery and expanded exhibition programme. These will include three day-lit galleries, which will host exhibitions with a focus on contemporary art and architecture. The grand frontwall of the Burlington Gardens building has also been restored—possibly the first time it’s had a proper clean in its 150 year history.
V&A, Dundee
One of the most significant new openings of the year will be Scotland’s first design museum and also the first V&A anywhere outside of London on 15 September. The museum building sits on the river Tay. It will celebrate Scottish design and objects in its collection.
1. What do we know about Being Brunel?A.It has a long school report. |
B.It includes three day-lit galleries. |
C.It is family-friendly. |
D.It possesses permanent collections. |
A.to expand the exhibition |
B.to mark its 250th anniversary |
C.to display contemporary art |
D.to present its 150-year history |
A.To compare different tourist attractions. |
B.To attract more visitors to the UK. |
C.To describe some famous museums and artists. |
D.To introduce openings of some famous art museums. |
【推荐2】On a bright early summer morning, many young swimmers gather at a local swimming pool in the state of Maryland. They are members of a competitive summer swim team, and that’s a regular part of their daily life. As they train and cut seconds off their times, which makes them closer to the championship in the following large-scale (大规模的) competitions, they are getting lots of physical exercise and vitamin D from the sun. However, the benefits of belonging to a sports team are not just honor or health related. You can learn useful life skills.
Paul Waas, coach of the swim team, explains, “The discipline (自制力) comes into play when you’re talking about concentrating on the details that your coaches are saying as it makes you faster rather than going up and down the pool the same way you have every time. When you focus on what you’re doing right and what you can do better, then you’ll see the improvement.”
Besides, there is also responsibility, goals and workings within a group. Again, here is Coach Waas. “It’s really great! It’s so fun to watch from year to year. I’ve had kids who as 7-year-olds on the team could barely pay attention in practice and were only interested in who was going first. Now they’ve come back as 8-year-olds, having set some goals and having things that they want to achieve. These skills can help them a lot.”
But playing the sports is not without harm. Some can be hard on the body. Young athletes suffer serious injuries that follow them into adulthood. Coach Waas says that in fact, swimming is different from most others. First, it poses a lower risk of injury. The second one relates to how swim teams are structured. Actually, children are not the only ones who can benefit. Adults can also benefit from team sports.
1. Why do the swimmers gather at a swimming pool in the early morning?A.To obtain vitamin D from the sun. | B.To build practical skills for future. |
C.To join in a large-scale competitive. | D.To carry out their routine practice. |
A.Swimmers should concentrate on details. |
B.Members get disciplined and focused in the team. |
C.Coaches play a key role in layers’ improvement. |
D.Most swimmers enjoy sinning in the same way. |
A.They are more aware of what to do. | B.They pay less attention to training. |
C.They devote more time to practice. | D.They care more about who goes first. |
A.Exercise benefits everyone. | B.Swimming is better than other sports. |
C.Team sports teach life lessons. | D.Physical exercise should be a habit. |
【推荐3】A Letter to My Younger Self
Dear 17-year-old self,
When your Laker (洛杉矶湖人队球员) dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family and friends. This sounds simple, but you have to take some time to think it over.
I said invest.
I did not say give.
Let me explain.
Purely giving material things to your siblings (兄弟姐妹) and friends may appear to be the right decision. You love them, and they were always there for you growing up, so it’s only right that they should share your success and all that comes with it. You buy them a car, a big house, and pay all of their bills. You want them to live a comfortable life, right?
But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back.
You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made you feel good to see them smiling. That was extremely selfish of you. While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but taking away the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth.
Understand that you are about to be the leader of the family. This involves making tough choices, even if your siblings and friends do not understand them at the time.
Invest in their future; don’t just give.
Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in their own right. Hold them to the same level of dedication (全身心投入) that it took for you to get to where you are now and where you will eventually go.
I’m writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately and don’t have to deal with the struggle of getting rid of the addiction you caused. That addiction only leads to anger and jealousy from everybody involved, including yourself.
As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be much better as a result.
There’s plenty more I could write to you, but at 17, I know you don’t have the attention span (注意力持续时间) to sit through 2,000 words.
The next time I write to you, I may touch on the challenges of mixing blood with business. The most important advice I can give to you is to make sure your parents remain PARENTS and not managers.
Before you sign that first contract, figure out the right budget for your parents - one that will allow them to live beautifully while also growing your business and setting people up for long-term success. That way, your children’s kids and their kids will be able to invest in their own futures when the time comes.
Your life is about to change, and things are about to come at you very fast. But just let this sink in a bit when you lay down at night after another nine-hour training day.
Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache, some of which remains to this day.
Much love,
Kobe
(节选自the Player’s Tribune)
1. According to Bryant, “giving” could make ______.①him feel satisfied with himself
②him stand out from other players
③his siblings and friends live a comfortable life
④his siblings and friends depend on him
A.①②③ | B.①③④ | C.①②④. | D.②③④ |
A.had never dreamed of playing for the Lakers |
B.spent a large sum of money buying houses for himself |
C.had trouble handling family relationships |
D.has a circle of supportive friends |
A.shared his success with others |
B.inspired his siblings to achieve their goals through hard work |
C.looked for well-paid jobs for his siblings |
D.refused to live with his siblings |
A.criticize his siblings for wasteful spending |
B.give advice to young people about how to treat their family if they become rich |
C.complain about feeling tired of looking after his friends |
D.remind young people to use every means to take good care of their family |
【推荐1】One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste — electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.
Many millions of tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded each year, partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them, but also because we lack the skills to repair them. A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste generated every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world.
However, there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of many founded around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that “this project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault.”
As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting (提取) these materials from electronic gadgets. It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 element, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.
These projects make total sense — collections of e-waste for recycling are “stagnating (停滞不前) or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr, of the United Nations University And in countries where there is no legislation, much of it just gets dumped. However, the European Union, for example, is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.
1. According to the passage, electronic items are thrown away because ________.A.they are totally useless |
B.we have to recycle them |
C.they will pollute our rivers and oceans |
D.it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them |
A.Growing trend for repair events. |
B.E-waste generating cleaner energy. |
C.Our being hungry for new technology. |
D.Mining valuable metals in electrical items. |
A.E-waste used to be the fastest growing waste stream in the world. |
B.Tremendous amounts of e-waste are thrown away each year. |
C.We can’t find the solution to the problem of c-waste. |
D.Land-filling allows us to reduce e-waste. |
A.Solving the Problem of E-waste |
B.How to Stop Damaging Our Planet |
C.Saying No to Throwing Away Things |
D.How to Collect E-waste for Recycling |
【推荐2】If you want to learn a language and become fluent in it, you really need to start as early in life as possible, because the older you get, the harder it can be to get your tongue round new words and sounds. However, that is not a reason to put off learning a language later in life, because there are still many advantages to it.
As you get older, it can become more and more tempting to stick to things you are most familiar with. However, giving yourself something new to do can help to keep your brain active, and the more active your brain is, the younger you will feel.
We all need new challenges every now and again. It makes life interesting. Don’t set your expectations too high-you aren’t going to become fluent in a couple of months, for example. Instead, set yourself short-term goals-to finish a text-book or to practice your skills on a language speaker. The challenge will provide you with a renewed energy for life.
Many people, especially when they are older, put off going overseas because they are worried about communicating with the local people. However, once you start to learn a language, you will have much more confidence to travel in countries where the language is spoken. Once you are able to buy things, ask directions and have free conversations, you will find traveling much more enjoyable.
One of the best reasons for learning a language later in life is simply because you can. When younger, you probably had little spare time. Now, you probably have more time in hand because your family has grown up and you may even have retired. There are so many tools you can use to learn languages these days (the television and Internet are two obvious ones), so you may not even have to pay.
1. It is commonly believed that when a person is old, _________.A.he will stop learning | B.he is slow in thought |
C.he can hardly learn anything new | D.he has got no time to do anything |
A.do the things he is familiar with | B.set a high goal for later life |
C.take up something new | D.save his brain for future |
A.they are planning to travel abroad alone | B.they have more time than the young |
C.they have been left behind by families | D.they have a better memory |
A.Learn a Language Later in Life | B.Gain Advantages in Later Life |
C.Build up Confidence When Old | D.Older People to Meet Challenges |
【推荐3】American children are still eating lots of fast food---and in spite of restaurants’ promises of healthy options, most kids are sticking with fries over salads. Some infamous chains like McDonald’s and Wendy’s have promised to offer healthier options on their kid’s menus, but they aren’t all sticking it, according to a report from the Rudd Center.
In fact, nearly all parents are buying their kids at least one fast food meal a week. Healthy fruits and vegetables may be all the rage among adults, but busy parents still choose quick meals for themselves and their kids. It doesn’t look like fast food is going away any time soon.
Scientists at the Rudd Center surveyed about 800 parents in 2010, then again in 2013 and 2016. Things have not improved much over the years. Of the vast majority of parents who had made a trip to McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s or Subway in the last week, 74% ordered an unhealthy side or drink. The older the children, the more likely their parents were to choose fries instead of a fruit, or a similar less healthy menu item. And about 35% of parents ordered regular adult menu items for their 2 to 11--year-old children, meaning these kids were often getting larger, less nutritious lunches and dinners.
Even as they introduced options like fruit juices, low-fat milk and yogurt to their menus, some restaurants have also added desserts and other calorie-heavy options to their kids’ menu items. So despite what’s now on offer, kids are getting equally or less nutritious meals, nowadays, which is mostly because fast food restaurants still promote their unhealthy options, and sides like fries are still allowed.
“While most fast-food restaurants do have healthier kids’ meal drinks and sides available, many do little to make parents aware of the healthier options or to encourage parents to choose the healthier options instead of unhealthy ones,” said lead study author Jennifer Harris. “If restaurants are serious about children’s health, they will make the healthiest choice and easiest for parents and the most appealing choice for children.”
1. What do the underlined words “all the rage” in Paragraph 2 mean?A.popular. | B.necessary. | C.potential. | D.modern. |
A.Many parents like to eat in McDonald’s. |
B.Many parents think eating fast food is healthy. |
C.Many parents tend to choose unhealthy food in their daily life. |
D.Many parents always ignore the healthy food in their daily life. |
A.Fruits juices. | B.Desserts. | C.Low-fat milk. | D.Yogurt. |
A.Offer healthier meals for kids. | B.Take children’s health seriously. |
C.Be honest about their business. | D.Guide parents how to order a healthy meal. |