Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown. The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological basis to their preferences.
Psychologists Dr Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants aged nine months to 36 months. The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys. Some were stereotypically boys' toys - a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy. The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set. They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked. Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded.
Of the youngest children (nine to 14 months), girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did. Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it. The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched. There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children’s choice.
Dr Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization. Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference. But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys. There could be a biological basis for their choices. Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colors such as pink, the color of a newborn baby.”Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because .
| A．baby boys are much more active |
| B．baby girls like bright colors more |
| C．their parents treat them differently |
| D．there is a natural difference between them |
Both baby boys and baby girls like to play with according to the study.
| A．a ball | B．a teddy | C．a car | D．a doll |
What can we infer from Paragraph 3 ?
| A．Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all. |
| B．Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls. |
| C．The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is. |
| D．Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys. |
What conclusion did Dr. Brenda Todd draw from the results of the study?
| A．Adults purposely influence their babies preference. |
| B．Babies’ preference isn’t affected by social surroundings. |
| C．Baby boys preferring to moving toys will be good at hunting. |
| D．Baby girls preferring warmer colors will be warm-hearted. |
We may read this article in a section of a newspaper.
| A．science | B．health | C．education | D．entertainment |
Six Americans are working on a new highway. But this highway won't have any traffic．It's an "ice highway" to the South Pole.
The team has just finished a second year of work on the 1,020-mile highway. "The road is the greatest single footprint of activity we've seen in the Antarctic (南极洲)," said Alan Hemmings, an Australian environmentalist.
The highway will provide a new way for supplies to be trekked (拉, 搬) across the earth on tractor-pulled sleds (雪橇). This method will use a lot less fuel than an aircraft, the current (当前的) way that scientists and supplies reach the Amundsen-Scott Base, a U.S. research station in the South Pole. The highway will also allow for equipment that is too big for planes to carry to be brought to Antarctica．Even with these benefits, there is one disadvantage—a round trip on the road will be 30 days, compared to a few hours by plane.
Making this 20-foot-wide road isn't easy, and it takes a lot of time. The crew (工作队) has been working on the road for two summers, when it's warmer and easier to work with the ice. It probably won't be completed until 2006.
Crevasses (裂缝), or cracks, in the land often make the construction difficult. Crevasses are kind of like pot holes that form when surface ice is stretched．This can be very dangerous, especially when the crevasses are hidden under a layer (层) of snow and can't be seen.
"Last year it took us three months to go three miles across a crevasse field, full of dangerous, hidden crevasses," said the project's manager, John Wright. Each year, more crevasses appear and they have to be filled with snow and ice so the road is safe for travel. The road will also be lined with green flags so travelers know where the safe surface is. It will probably take ______ years to complete the ice highway.
| A．2 | B．4 | C．6 | D．8 |
When it is finished, the highway will not be used for ______.
| A．giving supplies to the research station in the South Pole |
| B．taking scientists to the South Pole |
| C．taking travelers to a tour of Antarctic |
| D．bringing huge equipment to Antarctic |
How many miles can be covered at most each day if you take the ice highway to the South
Pole?
| A．30. | B．34. | C．68. | D．88. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Other crevasses won’t appear if a crevasse has been filled. |
| B．Many new crevasses will form after a crevasse has been filled. |
| C．Travelers can drive their sleds on the ice highway freely. |
| D．There will be less danger if the crevasses are covered by snow. |
Bored? Don't know what to do with your time? Get your friends or family together, go to the park or go hiking, do something fun —just don't turn on your TV.
The 10th annual TV-Turnoff Week starts on Monday. The TV-Turnoff Network, a nonprofit organization, began the program in 1994 to get children and adults to watch less television so that their time is spent doing more productive things. This year, millions of people will participate and find much more interesting things to do besides sitting in front of the television.
Experts are convinced（确信）that watching too much TV keeps kids from participating in healthy physical activities. The average household has a television on for 7 hours and 40 minutes a day! Kids spend more time watching TV than they spend in school. Turning off the TV gives you a chance to be with your family and friends. Going without it frees up valuable time that could be spent reading a good book, writing, drawing, or discovering something else that may interest you.
There are many organizations that support TV-Turnoff Week, including The Boys and Girls Clubs of America, YMCA, Girl Scouts USA, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America．Even First Lady Laura Bush is a supporter. "Television is no substitute for a parent. It doesn't help develop language skills; it's simply background noise," says Mrs. Bush.
Even kids who may not have liked going without TV have discovered the benefits. "I really didn't like TV-Turnoff Week except I did notice that my grades went up and I was in a good mood all week," said Drew Henderson, a student in Donora, Pennsylvania.The TV-Turnoff Network started TV Turnoff Week to _____.
| A．to get people to spend more time doing more productive things |
| B．to keep kids from participating in healthy physical activities |
| C．to advise people not to buy television sets |
| D．to persuade more people to join the organization |
Which is not the advantage of turning off the TV?
| A．Giving you a chance to be with your family and friends. |
| B．Sparing more time reading books. |
| C．Developing language skills. |
| D．Participating in healthy physical activities. |
Laura Bush must be _____.
| A．the first woman to support TV-Turnoff Week |
| B．the wife of American President |
| C．the first woman to organize TV-Turnoff Week |
| D．the first lady in the Boys and Girls Clubs of America |
Drew Henderson’s words in the last paragraph imply that _____.
| A．he doesn’t like TV-Turnoff Week |
| B．he doesn’t support TV-Turnoff Week at all |
| C．it’s unnecessary to have TV-Turnoff Week |
| D．he doesn’t support TV-Turnoff Week until he finds it does good to his study. |
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If you want to buy an automobile business, you should call _____.
| A．3421577 | B．6560232 | C．9497221 | D．3328725 |
Who should Dora call?
| A．Trent. | B．Stein. | C．Walter. | D．Mrs. Meikle. |
Mrs. Meikle wants to _____.
| A．apply for a position | B．employ a working partner |
| C．run a business | D．show her talents in business |
How many selling ads are there in the chart?
| A．Four. | B．Six. | C．Eight. | D．Ten. |
The earth's biosphere (the surface layer of the planet and the surrounding atmosphere) provides the land, air, water, and energy necessary to sustain life. This life-support system is a complex, interdependent one in which energy from the sun is changed into food for humans. The entire system depends on the sun, reasonably moderate temperature, and enough supplies of oxygen, pure water, and fertile soil.
Since the earth's creation millions of years ago, the ecosystem has worked as an interdependent system relatively undisturbed by outside forces. But recently, especially since the Industrial Revolution, human beings have begun to disturb the balance of nature. Natural resources have been severely depleted (消耗) (forests have been destroyed, fertile land worn away, water polluted, and minerals used up), and the life-support system of air, water, and land has been poisoned by a variety of waste products and chemicals.
The degree of these problems was noted in a report by the U.N. Developing Council on Environmental Quality. This report predicted that if present trends continue, the world will be more crowded and polluted and less stable ecologically and politically than the world we live in now.
The twin problems of resource shortages and pollution are caused by three social forces. First, the tremendous increase in population growth constantly increases the demand for food, energy, and other products. As the current population continues to increase, the stress on an already overburdened environment will be increased．A second source of the problem is the concentration of people in urban areas, where the ecosystem simply cannot absorb their waste products. Finally, environmental problems are worsened as more and more nations move toward modem development: an increased reliance on modern technology. As these nations become more technological, they will consume more energy, deplete more natural resources, and create more waste products than the biosphere can absorb.The life-support system is composed of _____.
| A．air, water and land | B．the earth, the sun and energy |
| C．food, land and energy | D．food, energy and the sun |
The life-support system _____.
| A．change energy from the sun into food for humans |
| B．depends on the sun for enough supplies of air, water and land |
| C．exists in the surface layer of the earth and the surrounding atmosphere |
| D．is a complex but independent system |
The life-support system has been badly damaged by _____.
| A．natural forces | B．human activities | C．social movements | D．political changes |
The passage mainly talks about _____.
| A．the effects of Industrial Revolution on human beings |
| B．the importance of life-support system to human beings |
| C．the significance of balance of nature |
| D．the destruction of life-support system and its causes |
The Internet has opened up a whole new on-line world for us to meet, chat and go where we've never been before.
But just as in face-to-face communication, there are some basic rules of behavior that should be followed when online. The basic rule is simple: treat others in the same way you would want to be treated．Imagine how you'd feel if you were in the other person's shoes.
For anything you're about to send: ask yourself, "Would I say this to the person's face?" If the answer is no, rewrite and reread．Repeat the process till you feel sure that you'd feel comfortable saying the words to the person's face.
If someone in the chat room is rude to you, your instinct is to fire back in the same manner. But try not to do so. You should either ignore the person, or use your chat software to block their messages. If it was caused by a disagreement with another member, try to fix the situation by politely discussing it. Remember to respect the beliefs and opinions of others in the chat room.
Everyone was new to the network once. Offer advice when asked by newcomers, as they may not be sure what to do or how to communicate. When someone makes a mistake whether it's a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer be kind about it. If it's a small mistake, you may not need to say anything. Even if you feel strongly about it, think twice before saying anything. Having good manners yourself doesn't give you license to correct everyone else.
If you do decide to tell someone about a mistake, point it out politely. At the same time, if you find you are wrong, be sure to correct yourself and apologize to those that you have offended.
It is not polite to ask others personal questions such as their age, sex, and marital status. Unless you know the person very well, and you are both comfortable with sharing personal information, don't ask such questions.When you send short messages to a person, you must _____.
| A．make sure that they mean no harm | B．read them again and again |
| C．say something good to hear | D．repeat them later to the person's face |
If you are hurt in the chat room by others, you should _____
| A．fight back in the same way | B．take them seriously |
| C．have none of them | D．be angry at them |
If a newcomer who communicates on line makes any mistakes, you _____.
| A．should point them out sharply |
| B．shouldn’t give any advice unless required by them |
| C．should say something about them |
| D．should take your responsibility to correct them |
This passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．some rules of Internet communication. | B．ways of sending messages |
| C．rules of the chat room | D．ways of making friends on the Internet |
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