1 . Chinese speakers have got a new thing to be proud of. The language they are speaking is more difficult than English.
Understanding Chinese requires both sides of the brain, but English speakers listen with only half their minds on the job, UK scientists say.
UK psychologist Sophie Scott and researchers from hospitals in Oxford and London performed brain scans on volunteers as they listened to their native languages. When English speakers heard the sound of their language, the left parts of their brains lit up on screen. When Chinese speakers heard their native tongue, there was an action in both the right and left sides.
“We were very surprised to discover that people who speak different sorts of languages use their brains to decode speech in different ways.” said Scott.
The left side is normally connected with putting sounds together into words; the right with processing melody (音调) in music and speech, so this part “lights up” when English speakers hear music. The researchers do not yet know whether the right side is active in English speakers when they hear Chinese.
In Chinese, a different intonation (语调) delivers a different meaning, the syllable (音节) “ma”, for instance, can mean mother, hemp (麻), horse or scold according to its musical sound.
“Speech really is a complex sound,” said Scott. “As well as understanding words, the brain uses the way in which words are spoken, such as intonation and melody, to turn spoken language into meaning.”
“We think Chinese speakers interpret intonation and melody in the right sides of their brains to give correct meaning to the spoken words.”
The study suggests that language itself might affect the way the brain develops in a young child. It could explain why native speakers of English find it so extraordinary hard to learn Chinese.
1. What does the underlined “volunteers” in paragraph 3 refer to?| A．Chinese speakers. | B．English speakers. |
| C．People who speak different languages. | D．Researchers and Chinese and English speakers. |
| A．Music. | B．Meanings. |
| C．Intonation and melody. | D．The way the brain develops. |
| A．The left sides of their brains are not used for language. |
| B．They can hardly understand words when there is music. |
| C．The right sides of their brains are never used in childhood. |
| D．They can hardly understand words in the right side of the brain. |
| A．How the Brain Responds to Music |
| B．How the Brain Responds to Chinese |
| C．The Brain Responds to Languages Differently |
| D．The Two Sides of the Brain Work Differently |
2 . When drawing scientists. U. S. children now depict (描画) female scientists more often than ever, according to new Northwestern University research, which has analyzed five decades of “Draw-A-Scientist” studies conducted since the 1960s.
This change suggests that children’s stereotypes (刻板印象) linking science with men have weakened over time, said the researchers, consistent with more women becoming scientists and children’s media depicting more female scientists on television shows and other media.
In the first study, conducted between 1968 and 1979, less than one percent of 5,000 children drew an image resembling a woman when asked to draw a scientist. Almost all their artwork depicted men working with laboratory equipment, often with lab coats, glasses and facial hair.
But in later studies (1988 to 2019), 28 percent of children drew a female scientist, on average. In addition, both girls and boys drew female scientists more often over time, though girls overall drew female scientists much more often than boys.
“Our results suggest that children’s stereotypes change as women’s and men’s roles change in society.” said study lead author David Miller. “Children still draw more male than female scientists, but that is expected because women remain a minority in several science fields.”
The researchers also studied how children form stereotypes about scientists across child development. The results suggested children did not associate science with men until grade school; around age 5, they drew roughly equal percentages of male and female scientists. During elementary and middle school, the tendency to draw male scientists increased strongly with age. Older children were also more likely to draw scientists with lab coats and glasses, suggesting that children learn other stereotypes as they mature.
“These changes across children’s age likely reflect that children’s exposure to male scientists accumulates during development, even in recent years.” said Miller.
“To build on cultural changes, teachers and parents should present children with multiple examples of female scientists across many contexts such as science courses, television shows and informal conversations,” Miller said.
1. What is the change in children drawing scientists?| A．Children draw more male scientists. |
| B．Children draw more female scientists. |
| C．Girls draw more scientists than boys. |
| D．Children draw more female than male scientists. |
| A．It’s not surprising. | B．It’s not reasonable. |
| C．It’s unexpected. | D．It’s not acceptable. |
| A．How children develop their drawings. |
| B．How children’s stereotypes change with age. |
| C．Why children draw more male scientists. |
| D．What scientists look like in children’s drawings. |
| A．By encouraging children to attend science courses. |
| B．By encouraging children to become scientists in the future. |
| C．By giving children an example of drawing female scientists. |
| D．By making female scientists known to children in various situations. |
3 . Lunch hour is crazy at SAME Café, the restaurant my husband, Brad, and I run in Denver.
One day a woman dressed in a business outfit (套装) stepped in. “Hi, Libby.” she said. I recognized her. The first time she came two years ago, she had no money to pay for a meal. No problem. Like many customers, she volunteered to work. After her meal, she washed dishes. Look at her now. I stole a glance at Brad, in the kitchen. Wasn’t this what we’d hoped for?
In 2015, on a flight home from Texas, we’d hatched this crazy dream. We’d both done a lot of volunteering at soup kitchens. It was something we felt called to do, feeding the poor.
“I wish we could start our own place,” I said. “No cash register (收银机). Just a donation box on the counter.”
“Why don’t we?” Brad said.
It would be a charity, but we didn’t want our diners to think of it as a charity. “If they can’t pay.” Brad said, “they can help wash dishes or sweep the floor. We must treat people with dignity.”
Our first customer was a woman in her forties. She told me she was recently divorced and she and her two kids had no place of their own. “Could I have a salad?” she asked. I brought her a plate of greens with fresh fruit and nuts. Her eyes grew wide. “These are the first fresh vegetables I’ve had in four months,” she exclaimed. That alone made our struggles to open the café worth it.
SAME is short for our belief: So All May Eat. Customers came for Brad’s cooking. But they also liked what our café stood for.
“What do I owe you?” one customer asked. “Whatever you think the meal’s worth,” I said, “and whatever you can afford.” Most customers gave what they could, even if it was just a dollar.
Something was different about the woman that day. Something besides her outfit. She stopped at the counter and ordered greens with sun-dried tomatoes, and a ham and pineapple pizza
“I have something to tell you.” she said. “The last time I was here, I started talking to a woman I’d met here before. She said. ‘There’s an opening in my office. Why don’t you come in and apply?” I did—I got the job!” I knew what was different about her—confidence.
She opened her purse. “I can pay now. How can I ever thank you?”
“You just did,” I said.
1. What did the author and her husband do at soup kitchens in Texas?| A．They learned how to cook. | B．They helped feed the hungry. |
| C．They trained the volunteers. | D．They made a living there. |
| A．With respect. | B．With pity. | C．With care. | D．With effort |
| A．Customers can pay as they like. | B．Customers needn’t pay for a meal. |
| C．Customers help with charity work. | D．Customers get paid for what they do. |
| A．The woman paid for her meal. |
| B．The woman expressed her thanks. |
| C．The woman helped to wash dishes. |
| D．The woman gave her what she had hoped for. |
1. philosophy n.
2. individual adj.
3. fascinating adj.
4. roar vi.
5. amount n.
6. assume vt.
7. previous adj.
8. album n.
9. impact n.
10. talent n.
1. 收获季节；收获 n.
2. 聚集；集合 v.
3. 农业；农艺 n.
4. 气氛；大气层 n.
5. 有重大意义的 adj.
6. 坦率的；直率的 adj.
7. 婚礼；结婚庆典 n.
8. 美德；优秀品质 n.
9. 珍稀的；宝贵的 adj.
10. 婚姻；结婚 n.
1. 确保；保证；担保 vt.
2. 热切的；渴望的 adj.
3. 风俗；习俗；习惯 n.
4. 挤满；使拥挤 vt.
5. 迎接，问候 vt.
6. 平凡的，普通的 adj.
7. 瞄准，力求达到 v.
8. 概要，轮廓 vt.
9. 治疗；对待；处理 n.
10. 恭喜；祝贺 n.
| A．competition | B．competitor | C．confusion | D．cooperation |
| A．Applications | B．Appliances | C．Applicants | D．Opponents |
| A．As for | B．Apart from | C．After all | D．Except for |
| A．intelligence | B．procedure | C．determination | D．disappointment |
