The low percentage of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers is often attributed (归因于)to men being believed to be better at the sort of thinking those fields require. Though studies have debunked the view, they have largely been based on results acquired from various standardized tests. Now, researchers from Pennsylvania's Carnegie Mellon University have found evidence that is hard to overlook: MRI (磁共振成像)proves that young girls and boys use the same mechanisms and networks in the brain to solve math problems.
The groundbreaking study to evaluate the biological gender differences in the math talent of young children was led by the university's professor of neuroscience, Jessica Cantlon. For their study, the team selected 104 young children, between 3 and 10 years old, divided almost equally by gender. The scientists used functional MRI to observe their brain activity as they engaged in math tasks. These included watching age appropriate educational videos and doing math exercises such as counting and addition, as well as reading for comparison.
“We looked at which areas of the brain respond more strongly to mathematics content in the videos and tasks, compared to non-math content like reading or the alphabet,” Cantlon said. “When we do that in little girls, we see a particular network of the brain respond and when we do the same analysis in boys, we see the exact same regions.”
So why do girls and young women tend to avoid math and STEM careers in general? Cantlon thinks it may be rooted in social and cultural conventions. Previous studies have indicated that parents tend to spend more time with young boys in play that inspires spatial cognition (空间认知)—such as toys that involve learning number skills and shapes and solving puzzles. Educators were also observed to spend more time with boys during the math class.
5.What does the underlined word “debunked” in paragraph 1 mean?　　　　　　 　　　　　　 　　　　　　
A.Disproved.     B.Supported.　　
C.Confirmed.　 　D.Overlooked.
6.What does paragraph 2 mainly focus on?
A.The purpose of the research.
B.The process of the research.
C.The participants of the research.
D.The findings of the research.
7.What contributes to the lack of women in STEM careers?
A.Mental capacity.　　
B.Gender differences.
C.Traditional prejudice.　　
D.Family backgrounds.
8.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.MRI—A Great Helper in Research
B.Toys—Boosters for STEM Potential
C.Boys and Girls: Equally Talented in Math
D.STEM Careers: Calling for More Women
（B）
5.A。本题题干意为:第一段中的画线单词“debunked”是什么意思?根据第一段第一句可知,女性在科学、技术、工程和数学职业中的低比例,往往归因于男性被认为更擅长这些领域需要的思考方式。文章第一段最后一句表明“年轻男孩和女孩大脑中使用相同的机制和网状系统来解决数学问题”。由此推断出前后观点不一致,所以,研究结果驳斥了前面的观点。故A选项(证明……是错误的)正确。B.支持;C.证实;D.忽视。
6.B　本题题干意为:第二段主要关注的是什么?第二段中提到,在他们的研究中,研究小组选择了104名年龄在3到10岁之间的儿童,按照几乎相同的性别分组。科学家们使用功能性核磁共振成像来观察他们做数学任务时的大脑活动。由此可知第二段讲述了研究对象、观察的方法、研究的内容等,所以第二段关注了研究的过程。故B选项正确。A.研究的目的;C.研究的参与者;D.研究的发现。
7.C　本题题干意为:什么导致了STEM职业中女性的缺乏?根据文章最后一段可知,Cantlon认为这可能根植于社会和文化习俗中。之前的研究已经表明,父母倾向于花更多的时间和小男孩一起玩能激发他们空间认知能力的游戏,比如(玩)涉及学习数字技能、形状和解决谜题的玩具。研究还发现,教育工作者在数学课上花更多的时间和男孩在一起。由此可知,传统的偏见导致了STEM职业中缺少女性。故C选项正确。A.大脑容量;B.性别差异;D.家庭背景。
8.C　本题题干意为:文章合适的标题是什么?根据文章第一段中的 young girls and boys use the same mechanisms and networks in the brain to solve math problems可知,这篇文章合适的题目是女孩和男孩在数学方面同样有天赋,故C选项正确。