Do you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? Normally the 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（聪明的） 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 is made up of “grey matter” and “white matter”. While men have more of the white matter, the amount（数量）of “thinking” brain is almost the same in both men and women.
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 may learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of different information 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.
There are other important differences between two sexes（性别）. As white matter is the key to spatial（空间的）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（胎儿）are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children when they are very young. A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would ask for 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.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 1?

A．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.

B．Men’s brain is 10% less than women’s.

C．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.

D．Men and women have the same amount of white matter.

【小题2】What can you infer from Paragraphs 2 and 3?

A．Men have weaker spatial abilities.

B．Women do not need to tell directions.

C．Women prefer doing many things at a time.

D．Women do many jobs at a time better than men.

【小题3】What can you learn from Paragraph 4?

A．Our children needed more spatial skills.

B．Women may have more feelings than men.

C．Young boys may be stronger than young girls.

D．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills.

【小题4】 The passage is mainly about _______.

A．ways of being more intelligent

B．differences between men and women

C．studies on brains between two sexes

D．studies on white matter and grey matter

To most of us, school means classes, teachers, schedules, grades and tests. But for the children at Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, school is very different.

Firstly, there are no lessons. All the children, aged between 4 and 19, do whatever they want. There are no teachers, only “staff members”. The idea behind this is that you do not need to make children learn, because children want to learn anyway. “You do not need to say to a three-year-old, ‘Go explore your environment.’ You can’t stop them!”says Daniel Greenberg, a founder of the school. “But if you make children do what you want all day… they will lose all taste of learning.” At Sudbury Valley School, you will find children talking, reading, painting, cooking, working on computers, studying French, playing the piano, climbing trees, or just running around. Two boys spent three years just fishing!
The other way that Sudbury Valley School is different is that the children can decide the rules. Every week, there is a school meeting where both children and staff have one vote (投票)each—even the four-year-olds. They decide the school rules, how to spend the school money, and even which staff they want and do not want anymore.
When the school first opened in 1968, people said it would never work. But today, the school has 200 students, and 80% of its students go on to college. Even the two boys who went fishing all the time have successful careers today. One of them is a musician and the other is a computer scientist.
【小题1】What's special about the school?

A．There is nobody but students there.

B．All the students are of the same age.

C．There are no classes for the students.

D．There are no rules in the school.

【小题2】What do the students do in the school?

A．They learn everything there from the staff members.

B．They grow up there without learning anything.

C．They spend all the time with their parents.

D．They do whatever they are interested in.

【小题3】The school seems to believe that children________.

A．learn best when they are doing what they want

B．are too young to learn anything by themselves

C．can look after themselves without any help

D．can't go to college without any hard work

【小题4】The last paragraph wants to tell us that_         .

A．the writer doesn't like the idea of the school

B．the school is quite successful in its work

C．most of the parents don't believe in the school

D．younger students learn better there than older ones

【小题5】The underlined word career in the last paragraph most probably means_.
A. family   B. money    C. lifestyle   d. job

Do you want to know anything about ma staying in America? Well, Let me tell you the truth, it is really an eye-opening experience to study here.
In China, I had English classes five times a week since the fifth grade. However didn’t know textbook English was very different from everyday English until I came to Hotchkiss School, Connecticut.
When I first studied English, I was told to say，“I am fine” when people say “How are you?”But in the US, I found that people say,” I am good” or “I am tired.”
One day, someone greeted me with” What’s up?”It made me confused. I thought for a moment and then smiled because I didn’t know what to say.
Since then, I have discovered more and more differences between Chinese and the US cultures.
To my surprise, the US girls spend a lot of time in burning sun getting a tan （晒黑）. However, in China, girls try every possible way to get their skin paler（白的）.
I am also surprised by how hardworking the US students are. In China, schoolwork is almost everything, so we study hard all the time. But here, an “excellent” student gets good grades, does a lot for the public and plays sports or music .The kids here are so talented ，I am starting to be sorry that I gave up playing the piano at an early age and that I have never thought about sports.
【小题1】 How often did the writer have an English class in Grade Five?
A. Four times a week.
B. Five times a week.
C. Six times a week.
【小题2】To the winter, textbook English is          everyday English.
A. quite different from B. the same as   C. easier than
【小题3】A good US student spends his/her time         .
A. only in doing homework 
B. only on sports or music
C. on studies, sports or music and public work
【小题4】Which of following is NOT true?             
A. The writer is now in the US
B. American girls love to have while skin
C. The US students are talented and hard working.
【小题5】Which is the best title for the passage?           
A. My own Travel in the US.
B. My Study in the US.
C. My friends in the US.

Do you want to know anything about ma staying in America? Well, Let me tell you the truth, it is really an eye-opening experience to study here.
In China, I had English classes five times a week since the fifth grade. However didn’t know textbook English was very different from everyday English until I came to Hotchkiss School, Connecticut.
When I first studied English, I was told to say，“I am fine” when people say “How are you?”But in the US, I found that people say,” I am good” or “I am tired.”
One day, someone greeted me with” What’s up?”It made me confused. I thought for a moment and then smiled because I didn’t know what to say.
Since then, I have discovered more and more differences between Chinese and the US cultures.
To my surprise, the US girls spend a lot of time in burning sun getting a tan （晒黑）. However, in China, girls try every possible way to get their skin paler（白的）.
I am also surprised by how hardworking the US students are. In China, schoolwork is almost everything, so we study hard all the time. But here, an “excellent” student gets good grades, does a lot for the public and plays sports or music .The kids here are so talented ，I am starting to be sorry that I gave up playing the piano at an early age and that I have never thought about sports.
【小题1】How often did the writer have an English class in Grade Five?
A. Four times a week.
B. Five times a week.
C. Six times a week.
【小题2】To the winter, textbook English is          everyday English.
A. quite different from B. the same as   C. easier than
【小题3】A good US student spends his/her time         .
A. only in doing homework 
B. only on sports or music
C. on studies, sports or music and public work
【小题4】Which of following is NOT true?             
A. The writer is now in the US
B. American girls love to have while skin
C. The US students are talented and hard working.
【小题5】Which is the best title for the passage?           
A. My own Travel in the US.
B. My Study in the US.
C. My friends in the US.

To most of us, school means classes, teachers, schedules, grades and tests. But for the children at Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, school is very different.
Firstly, there are no lessons. All the children, aged between 4 and 19, do whatever they want. There are no teachers, only “staff members”. The idea behind this is that you do not need to make children learn, because children want to learn anyway. “You do not need to say to a three-year-old, ‘Go explore your environment.’ You can’t stop them!”says Daniel Greenberg, a founder of the school. “But if you make children do what you want all day… they will lose all taste of learning.” At Sudbury Valley School, you will find children talking, reading, painting, cooking, working on computers, studying French, playing the piano, climbing trees, or just running around. Two boys spent three years just fishing!
The other way that Sudbury Valley School is different is that the children can decide the rules. Every week, there is a school meeting where both children and staff have one vote (投票)each—even the four-year-olds. They decide the school rules, how to spend the school money, and even which staff they want and do not want anymore.
When the school first opened in 1968, people said it would never work. But today, the school has 200 students, and 80% of its students go on to college. Even the two boys who went fishing all the time have successful careers today. One of them is a musician and the other is a computer scientist.
【小题1】What's special about the school?

A．There is nobody but students there.

B．All the students are of the same age.

C．There are no classes for the students.

D．There are no rules in the school.

【小题2】What do the students do in the school?

A．They learn everything there from the staff members.

B．They grow up there without learning anything.

C．They spend all the time with their parents.

D．They do whatever they are interested in.

【小题3】The school seems to believe that children________.

A．learn best when they are doing what they want

B．are too young to learn anything by themselves

C．can look after themselves without any help

D．can't go to college without any hard work

【小题4】The last paragraph wants to tell us that_         .

A．the writer doesn't like the idea of the school

B．the school is quite successful in its work

C．most of the parents don't believe in the school

D．younger students learn better there than older ones

【小题5】The underlined word career in the last paragraph most probably means_.
A. family   B. money    C. lifestyle   d. job