As Amy walked home from school one afternoon, she saw images of symmetry (对称) all around her: in the faces of people, in the buildings she passed, and in the cars that went by. Even the autumn leaves that covered the sidewalk. A butterfly landed on a branch above her, and Amy suddenly stopped. She held her breath and smiled, watching as it opened and closed its perfectly symmetrical wings.
All that month, Amy’s class had been studying different forms of symmetry, and Amy was deeply attracted. They’d observed the mirror symmetry of violins and the rotational symmetry of starfish. They’d even studied symmetry using a microscope and recorded the beauty with a phone camera. Now Mr. Garcia, their science teacher, had given them their final assignment: to find the most beautiful example of symmetry and give a report to the class on it.
“The most beautiful example of symmetry. What on earth could that be?” Amy asked herself. She finally decided to use her microscope to find one. Amy spent hours in the garden on the examination of cells, pieces of rock, and drops of pond water. Although she was amazed by what she saw, none was truly beautiful.
“What are you bringing to class?” Amy asked her friend Cathy on the bus ride to school. “A model airplane,” replied Cathy proudly. “And my brother Mathew is bringing his guitar.” Those things are nice, thought Amy, but there must be something more beautiful.
That evening, she stayed with her microscope until her father called out, “Get inside, Amy. It’s freezing outside. The weather forecast says it’s going to snow.”
Amy’s heart sank. There would be fewer things to study under the microscope. Snow would cover the area like a blanket, hiding everything from sight. Her assignment was due in just a few days. Amy began to feel panic as she was packing up her microscope. Then she caught sight of something white blown onto the stage of her microscope. Yes! The snowflake (雪花)! She looked through the microscope and was amazed by its beauty.
注意：
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“I have to show it to my class,” Amy cried excitedly.
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Finally, it was the day to report.
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2 . Do you get nervous thinking about a coming math test? If yes, you are far from alone. Math anxiety has become a common condition among students around the world. Students in countries with higher levels of math anxiety tend to achieve lower math grades, according to a study published by the National Academy of Sciences on Feb 15.
Math anxiety — a negative emotional reaction to the core subject — causes fear, physical suffering and behavior problems among young pupils, according to a University of Cambridge study. Some people also experience physical symptoms such as sweaty palms or a racing heart. They may then try to avoid every situation involving numbers, meaning they are held back from pursuing careers related to this subject, such as technology or engineering, according to The Guardian.
Relief comes from the fact that those with math anxiety aren’t destined (注定的) to be bad at math. “If a child has math anxiety, don’t assume that they’re not good at math. They may have had a really bad experience with math and there are ways to improve math achievement,” Daniel Ansari, the senior author of the study told The London Free Press.
Also, there are ways to manage your stress related to math. If you’re feeling stressed before a math exam, it may help to spend a few minutes exploring those feelings before the exam begins. “It’s about making sure you’re interpreting your feelings correctly,” Sian Beilock, a cognitive (认知的) scientist told the BBC. “Just because you have a fast heartbeat and sweaty palms, that does not necessarily mean you will fail.”
Math doesn’t come easy, no matter how clever you are. Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian artist, was a huge fan of mathematics. But his notebooks show that Da Vinci couldn’t do fractions (分数). He could never grasp, for instance, that dividing a number by one-quarter is the same as multiplying by four, resulting in a higher number than the original.
1. What do we know about math anxiety?| A．People who are good at math don’t experience math anxiety. |
| B．It is most commonly seen among teenagers. |
| C．It can cause unpleasant symptoms both mentally and physically. |
| D．Math anxiety leads to people struggling in their career. |
| A．Math anxiety may contribute to better grades. |
| B．Students with math anxiety may have higher cognitive abilities. |
| C．Math anxiety does not reflect the ability to solve math problems. |
| D．Bad experience with math can cause cognitive disadvantages. |
| A．Practice more before you take math exams. |
| B．Learn to understand your feelings. |
| C．Ask cognitive experts for help. |
| D．Take all nervous energy as a challenge. |
| A．To show that math definitely isn’t easy. |
| B．To explain why math is a particularly difficult subject. |
| C．To show da Vinci’s math anxiety is very serious. |
| D．To suggest a way to solve math anxiety. |
