【小阅读^大脑袋】0806 NO.397

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of “grey matter” (the part that helps us think) and "white matte"(the part that helps us transfer information).And while men have more of the latter, the amount of "thinking "brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time. Men seem to do better tackling one job at a time.

There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!

The differences begin when fetuses are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.

If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.

 

CBD
答案解析：
1. Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?
A. Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s
B. Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.
C. Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.
D. Both sexes have the same amount of white matter.
解析：C正确
根据第一段，以下哪项是正确的？
A. 大脑轻10%并不等同于少10%
B．灰质和白质的作用是不同的。
D．男人的白质比女人多。
C．可从原文直接找出：“grey matter” (the part that helps us think)

2. What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?
A. Women prefer doing many things at a time.
B. Men do better dealing with one job at a time.
C. Women do not need to tell directions.
D. Men have weaker spatial abilities.
解析：B正确
从第二段和第三段可以推断出什么？
Men seem to do better tackling one job at a time.所以选B。
其他可根据文章内容排除。

3. What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?
A. Defensive.
B. Persuasive.
C. Supportive.
D. Objective.
解析：D正确
作者写作态度是什么？
作者并没有为支持某一观点而提出论据，而是客观地摆出事实。

参考译文：
你知道吗，女人的大脑比男人的小？女人大脑平均比男人轻10%。既然研究显示大脑越大，动物就越聪明，那么男人一定比女人聪明。对吗？错。男人和女人在智力测验中的分值不相上下，尽管男女大脑大小不同。为什么呢？经过数年研究，研究者得出结论，关键的是脑中的物质，而不仅是脑的大小。大脑由“灰质”（这部分帮助我们思考），和“白质”（该部分帮助我们传输信息）。虽然男人大脑中白质含量更多，但是两性的用于“思考”功能的大脑几乎一样。

据称大脑越小，运转越快，也许因为女性大脑两侧连接得更好。这意味着小女孩趋于更早学会说话，女人可以同时理解不同来源的各种信息。同时和上司说电话，做晚饭和照顾小孩，这样的时候女人的表现更加突出。男人似乎更加适合一次做一件事。

两性之间还有其他重要的不同点。因为白质与空间能力相关，因此男人更加清楚事物间的位置关系。“一个伟大的足球运动员知道他相对于其他选手的位置，知道他该往哪里跑，”一位研究者说。这也许解释了生命的一大奥秘：为什么男人从不问路……而女人总是问路！

在还是9周大的胎儿时，这种差别开始发生,可以从行为上看出差异了。一个男孩可能会爬过面前的障碍物或者推倒它，而一个女孩则会施展魅力，寻求他人帮助。大脑的不同也解释了这样的现象，即更多男人从事的需要空间能力的工作，更多的女性从事要求语言技能的工作。根据一项研究发现，原因可能要追溯到我们的祖先，他们当中，女人需要运用语言来哄孩子，男人需要利用空间能力出去打猎。

这样的事实是否让你失望了，那大可不必哦。一位生物学家说：“在我们的生命过程中，大脑可根据我们如何利用它而发生变化。”

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词汇及短语：
intelligent: 聪明的; 理解力强的
keep an eye on: 照看, 照管; 留心; 注意
spatial: 空间的
fetus: 胎儿
barrier: 障碍物
ancestor: 祖先