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Girls who play with Barbie dolls tend to see fewer career options available to them, compared with the options available to boys, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon State University and the University of California (UC), Santa Cruz.
The study’s authors, psychology professors, Aurora Sherman of Oregon State University and Eileen Zurbriggen at UC Santa Cruz, describe their findings as significant. “This is one of the first studies to investigate how playing with sexualized dolls affects young girls, and also one of the first to look at the impact of such play on achievement or career aspirations (愿望), rather than body image,” said Zurbriggen. Sherman suggests that Barbie and similar dolls are part of the burden of early and inappropriate sexuality placed on girls.
Sherman and Zurbriggen used girls’ doll play to study the impact of fender role socialization, a process through which children learn to follow cultural norms and which encourages gender stereotypical(约定俗成的) behavior.
Thirty-seven girls from the age of four to seven from an Oregon college town were randomly arranged to play for five minutes with either a sexualized Doctor Barbie or Fashion Barbie doll, or with a more neutral (中性的) Mrs. Potato Head doll. The girls were then shown photographs of ten occupations and asked how many they themselves or boys could do in the future.
The girls who played with a Barbie doll saw themselves in fewer occupations, compared with boys. Those girls who played with Mrs. Potato Head reported nearly as many career options available for themselves as for boys.
The two Barbie dolls were the same except for clothing, with unrealistic bodies, extremely youthful and attractive faces, and long full hair. The researchers believe that the doll itself has more of an effect on girls than the role or career aspirations suggested by its costume.
“It’s significant that a few minutes of play with a Barbie doll had an immediate impact on the number of careers that girls saw as possible for themselves,” Zurbriggen said. “And it didn’t matter whether the Barbie doll was dressed as a model or as a doctor, suggesting that the doll’s sexualized shape and appearance might have more of an effect than whatever accessories (装饰品) are packaged with her.”
1.Which of the following is TRUE?
A. Playing with dolls affects the academic performance of young children.
B. Body image has a big influence on girls’ career options.
C. Researchers used doll play to study the impact of gender role socialization on girls.
D. Boys who played with a Fashion Barbie doll found more career options than girls.
2.What is stressed in the second paragraph?
A. The method adopted by the study.
B. The significance of the study.
C. The purpose of the study.
D. The process of the study.
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Why Barbie dolls are the world’s best-selling dolls.
B. That playing with Barbie dolls could limit girls’ career choices.
C. What negative effects Barbie dolls have on young girls in the long term.
D. That Barbie dolls make girls want to be thin.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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People with an impulsive personality refer to those who tend to do things without considering the possible dangers or problems first. According to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia, such people may be more likely to have food addiction. The study found that people exhibiting impulsive behavior weren’t necessarily overweight, but impulsiveness was related to a direct relationship with food, and therefore, less healthy weight.
Food addiction has been compared to addictive drug use. Studies have linked the dopamine (多巴胺) release that occurs after tasting delicious food to the dopamine release that happens when people consume other addictive substances.
Impulsive behavior involves several personality traits (特点). Two of these traits, known as negative urgency and lack of perseverance, were particularly associated with food addiction and high BMI (身体质量指数) during the study.
Negative urgency is characterized by the tendency to behave impulsively when experiencing negative emotions. Some people might drink alcohol or take drugs. For others, it could mean eating to feel better. Lack of perseverance is when a person has a hard time finishing hard or boring tasks. People with a lack of perseverance might have difficulty attempting to change addictive eating behavior, which could also cause obesity.
“Impulsiveness might be one reason why some people eat in an addictive way despite motivation to lose weight,” said Dr. Ashley Gearhardt, a clinical psychologist. He was involved in developing the Yale Food Addiction Scale in aid of those people. “We are theorizing that if food addiction is really a thing, then our measure, the Yale Food Addiction Scale, should be related to helping control impulsive action,” said Gearhardt.
Clinical psychologist Dr. James MacKillop, whose lab was conducting the study, believes that therapies used to treat addictive drug behavior could help people who suffer from addictive eating habits.
“Most of the programs for weight loss at this point focus on the most obvious things, which are clearly diet and exercise,” MacKillop said. “It seems that managing strong desires to eat would naturally fit in with the skills a person would need to eat healthily.”
1.According to Paragraph 1, the result of food addiction is ________.
A. less healthy weight
B. motivation to lose weight
C. negative emotions
D. taking alcohol or drugs
2.How does the author introduce the two personality traits in Paragraph 4?
A. By making comparisons and conclusions.
B. By explaining causes and effects.
C. By presenting questions and answers.
D. By giving definitions and examples.
3.What can be inferred about the Yale Food Addiction Scale from the text?
A. It has been successfully carried out among overweight people.
B. It might help some impulsive people with food addiction to lose weight.
C. It will prove whether food addiction is a problem to impulsive people.
D. It is theoretically a proper treatment for addictive food and drug behavior.
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Dopamine release caused by food addiction
B. Food addiction compared to drug use
C. Impulsive personality linked to food addition
D. Food addiction contributing to obesity
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
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People with an impulsive(冲动的)personality refer to those who tend to do things without considering the possible dangers or problems first. According to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia, such people may be more likely to have food addiction. The study found that people exhibiting impulsive behavior weren’t necessarily overweight, but impulsiveness was related to a direct relationship with food, and therefore, less healthy weight.
Food addiction has been compared to addictive drug use. Studies have linked the dopamine (多巴胺)release that occurs after tasting delicious food to the dopamine release that happens when people consume other addictive substances.
Impulsive behavior involves several personality traits(特点). Two of these traits, known as negative urgency and lack of perseverance, were particularly associated with food addiction and high BMI(身体质量指数)during the study. Negative urgency is characterized by the tendency to behave impulsively when experiencing negative emotions. Some people might drink alcohol or take drugs. For others, it could mean eating to feel better. Lack of perseverance is when a person has a hard time finishing hard or boring tasks. People with a lack of perseverance might have difficulty attempting to change addictive eating behavior, which could also cause obesity(肥胖).
“Impulsiveness might be one reason why some people eat in an addictive way despite motivation to lose weight,” said Dr. Ashley Gearhardt, a clinical psychologist. He was involved in developing the Yale Food Addiction Scale in aid of those people. “We are theorizing that if food addiction is really a thing, then our measure, the Yale Food Addiction Scale, should be related to helping control impulsive action,” said Gearhardt.
Clinical psychologist Dr. James MacKillop, whose lab was conducting the study, believes that therapies used to treat addictive drug behavior could help people who suffer from addictive eating habits.
“Most of the programs for weight loss at this point focus on the most obvious things, which are clearly diet and exercise,” MacKillop said. “It seems that managing strong desires to eat would naturally fit in with the skills a person would need to eat healthily.”
1.How does the author introduce the two personality trains in paragraph 3?
A. By making comparisons and conclusions
B. By explaining causes and effects
C. By presenting questions and answers
D. By giving definitions and examples
2.What can be inferred about the Yale Food Addiction Scale from the text?
A. It has been successfully carried out among overweight people
B. It might help some impulsive people with food addiction to lose weight
C. It will prove whether food addiction is a problem to impulsive people
D. It is theoretically a proper treatment for addictive food and drug behavior
3.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Dopamine release Caused by Food Addiction
B. Food Addiction Compared to Drug Use
C. Impulsive Personality Linked to Food Addition
D. Food Addiction Contributing to Obesity
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
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Throughout the world, boys and girls prefer to play with different types of toys. Boys typically like to play with cars and trucks, while girls typically choose to play with dolls. Why is this? A traditional sociological explanation is that boys and girls are socialized and encouraged to play with different types of toys by their parents, peers, and the “society”. Growing scientific evidence suggests, however, that boys’ and girls’ toy preferences may have a biological origin.
In 2002, Gerianne M. Alexander of Texas A&M University and Melissa Hines of City University in London surprised the scientific world by showing that monkeys showed the same sex-typical toy preferences as humans. In the study, Alexander and Hines gave two masculine toys (a ball and a police car), two feminine toys (a soft doll and a cooking pot), and two neutral toys (a picture book and a stuffed dog) to 44 male and 44 fema
le monkeys. They then assessed the monkeys’ preference for each toy by measuring how much time they spent with each. Their data showed that male monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the masculine toys, and the female monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the feminine toys. The two sexes did not differ in their preference for the neutral toys.If children’ s toy preferences were largely formed by gender socialization, as traditional sociologists’ claim, in which their parents give “gender appropriate” toys to boys and girls, how can these male and female monkeys have the same preferences as boys and girls？They were never socialized by humans, and they had never seen these toys before in their lives.
1.Traditional sociologists believe boys’ and girls’ toy preferences ________.
A. are passed down from their parents
B. are largely formed in later life
C. have nothing to do with gender socialization
D. have a biological origin
2.The study by Alexander and Hines shows that monkeys________.
A. also have a sex typical toy preference
B. also play toys as humans do
C. have no toy preferences
D. like to play different toys at different time
3.Alexander and Hines carried out the study to ________.
A. find more evidence for traditional sociology
B. test the intelligence of monkeys
C. test whether monkeys like to play toys
D. find out why boys and girls prefer different toys
4.According to the study, if given a stuffed dog, ________.
A. only the male monkeys showed interest
B. the female monkeys showed more interest
C. the male and female monkeys showed the same interest
D. neither the male nor the female monkeys showed any interest
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Throughout the world, boys and girls prefer to play with different types of toys. Boys typically like to play with cars and trucks, while girls typically choose to play with dolls. Why is this? A traditional sociological explanation is that boys and girls are socialized and encouraged to play with different types of toys by their parents, peers, and the “society”. Growing scientific evidence suggests, however, that boys’ and girls’ toy preferences may have a biological origin.
In 2002, Gerianne M. Alexander of Texas A&M University and Melissa Hines of City University in London surprised the scientific world by showing that monkeys showed the same sex typical toy preferences as humans. In the study, Alexander and Hines gave two masculine toys (a ball and a police car), two feminine toys (a soft doll and a cooking pot), and two neutral toys (a picture book and a stuffed dog) to 44 male and 44 female monkeys. They then assessed the monkeys’ preference for each toy by measuring how much time they spent with each. Their data showed that male monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the masculine toys, and the female monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the feminine toys. The two sexes did not differ in their preference for the neutral toys.
If children’ s toy preferences were largely formed by gender socialization, as traditional sociologists’ claim, in which their parents give “gender appropriate” toys to boys and girls, how can these male and female monkeys have the same preferences as boys and girls？They were never socialized by humans, and they had never seen these toys before in their lives.
1.Traditional sociologists believe boys’ and girls’ toy preferences ________
A．are passed down from their parents
B．are largely formed in later life
C．have nothing to do with gender socialization
D．have a biological origin
2.The study by Alexander and Hines shows that monkeys________
A．also have a sex typical toy preference
B．also play toys as humans do
C．have no toy preferences
D．like to play different toys at different time
3.Alexander and Hines carried out the study to ________
A．find more evidence for traditional sociology
B．test the intelligence of monkeys
C．test whether monkeys like to play toys
D．find out why boys and girls prefer different toys
4.According to the study, if given a stuffed dog, _______
A．only the male monkeys showed interest
B．the female monkeys showed more interest
C．the male and female monkeys showed the same interest
D．neither the male nor the female monkeys showed any interest
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Throughout the world, boys and girls prefer to play with different types of toys. Boys typically like to play with cars and trucks, while girls typically choose to play with dolls. Why is this? A traditional sociological explanation is that boys and girls are socialized and encouraged to play with different types of toys by their parents, peers, and the “society”. Growing scientific evidence suggests, however, that boys’ and girls’ toy preferences may have a biological origin.
In 2002, Gerianne M. Alexander of Texas A&M University and Melissa Hines of City University in London surprised the scientific world by showing that monkeys showed the same sex typical toy preferences as humans. In the study, Alexander and Hines gave two masculine toys (a ball and a police car), two feminine toys (a soft doll and a cooking pot), and two neutral(中性的) toys (a picture book and a stuffed dog) to 44 male and 44 female monkeys. They then assessed the monkeys’ preference for each toy by measuring how much time they spent with each. Their data showed that male monkeys showed significantly（显著地） greater interest in the masculine toys, and the female monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the feminine toys. The two sexes did not differ in their preference for the neutral toys.
If children’s toy preferences were largely formed by gender socialization, as traditional sociologists’ claim, in which their parents give “gender appropriate” toys to boys and girls, how can these male and female monkeys have the same preferences as boys and girls？They were never socialized by humans, and they had never seen these toys before in their lives.
1.Traditional sociologists believe boys’ and girls’ toy preferences ________.
A. are passed down from their parents
B. have a biological origin
C. have nothing to do with gender socialization
D. are largely formed in later life
2.The study by Alexander and Hines shows that monkeys________.
A. also play toys as humans do
B. also have a sex typical toy preference
C. have no toy preferences
D. like to play different toys at different time
3.Alexander and Hines carried out the study to ________.
A. find out why boys and girls prefer different toys
B. test the intelligence of monkeys
C. test whether monkeys like to play toys
D. find more evidence for traditional sociology
4.Masculine toys are mainly intended for________.
A. monkeys B. adult C. boys D. girls
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Barbie(芭比娃娃)，believe it or not，is 50 this year and she's still as popular as ever.A doll is a doll，but Barbie illustrates how，over the last five decades，women have become a standard for judging what freedom really means. How women are treated in different countries tells you a lot about the politics and culture of where they live.
The doll that every little girl wants enables young children to test their possibilities in role playing，giving them a glimpse of what they might be when they grow up，whether to be frivolous or serious (or both)．
But in many countries that's not an option. In Saudi Arabia，where woman can't drive or go out publicly unless covered，Barbie is banned. They think Barbie dolls are offensive to Islam(伊斯兰教) and a threat to morality.In America，she represents the swiftly changing roles of women. Barbie is fun to tease but she's as American as miniskirts_and_pantsuits in her flexible identities and her “growth” from model to astronaut.
Barbie inspired a dollrevolution movement. When a Teen Talk Barbie was programmed electronically to say “Math class is tough”，she was criticized by a national women's group and was regarded as a bad stereotype. Some of her critics also say she's a bad influence because she's too thin and encourages anorexia，that she has run through too many stereotypes(固定模式)，and that she lends too much significance to the fantasy stages of child's play.
In some Muslim countries, substitute Barbie dolls have been developed that promote traditional values，with their modest clothing and profamily backgrounds. They are widely seen as an effort to resist the American dolls that have flooded the market.
Toy seller Masoumeh Rahimi welcomed the dolls，saying Barbie was “foreign to Muslim culture” because some of the dolls have little clothing. She said young girls who play with Barbie，could grow into women who reject Muslim values. “I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile，”Ms. Rahimi said.
1.The writer mentioned “miniskirts and pantsuits”(in Paragraph 4) to imply that ________.
A．these are the only clothes a doll should wear
B．these are very traditional American clothes for women
C．there are a range of different life options available for women
D．readers should wear these clothes more often
2.The underlined word “anorexia” (in Paragraph 5) most probably means“________”．
A．an illness of refusing to eat
B．giving up math study
C．the wearing of inappropriate clothes
D．a decrease in people's imagination
3.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A．children who like Barbie dolls won't be so serious when they grow up
B．Muslim Barbies are the same as American Barbies
C．Muslim societies are generally more conservative than western societies
D．Americans have no worry about Barbie's influence on children
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Compared with those girls who have no to education, you are happy and lucky.
A.way B.access C.means D.approach
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
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The Barbie doll first appeared at the toy fair in New York in 1959. Its creator was Ruth Handler, an American businesswoman. She and her husband Elliott along with Harold Matt Matson started the toy company Mattel. She based the design of the new doll on a German doll named Bild Lilli and named her after their daughter Barbara.
The first Barbie wore a black and white swimsuit and had her hair in a ponytail(马尾辫). She looked very grown-up. But any concerns that parents would not want to buy it for little girls were soon proved wrong.
Mattel sold 300,000 Barbie dolls in the first year at a price of three dollars. Today, a fifty-year-old Barbie in good condition might cost more than 27,000 dollars.
Barbie dolls have represented 50 different nationalities and are sold in 150 countries. Mattel says 90% of girls in the United States between the ages of three and ten own at least one Barbie doll. It says girls between the ages of three and six own an average of about 12.
Barbie also faced her share of critics. A well-known example was when women’s education groups objected to a talking Barbie doll that declared, among other things, “Math class is tough!” Mattel agreed to change it. Saudi Arabia has banned Barbie dolls. And a lawmaker in the American state of West Virginia would like to do the same. Last month, he proposed banning sales of Barbie and other dolls that influence girls to put too much importance on physical beauty.
Some people say Barbie is an unhealthy role model for young girls. Robin Gerber disagrees. She wrote a book about Barbie. She points out dolls like scientist Barbie and race car driver Barbie. She says people who criticize Barbie should tell girls the story of the businesswoman who created her. She says Ruth Handler wanted the dolls to help girls think about what they wanted to do with their lives.
1.The first Barbie doll might not be popular among little girls because _______.
A.her hairstyle was out of fashion
B.her appearance looked much too mature
C.her way of dressing was against the tradition
D.physical beauty wasn’t thought to be important
2.From the passage we know that Mattel ________.
A. is one of the world’s largest toy companies
B. is the director of an American toy company
C. was the woman who originally created Barbie
D. was a salesman who was good at selling Barbie dolls
3.Barbie dolls are criticized partly because they make girls ________.
A. pay too much attention to their physical beauty
B. neglect their schoolwork and inner beauty
C. prefer physical beauty to inner beauty
D. waste too much time and money on clothes
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that in her book Robin Gerber ________.
A. shows Barbie dolls have a negative influence on girls
B. praises a successful person who sells Barbie dolls
C. expresses her own favorable opinion about Barbie
D. argues for banning the sales of Barbie dolls
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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"Mummy, I don' t know what to play with." Steve interrupts his mother, who is talking to a friend, for the fourth time. "You've got a room full of toys!" his mother says, impatiently. In fact it is the jumble of toys which is to blame for four-year-old Steve's lack of interest in his dolls, cars and stuffed (packed) animals. Each morning he tips out three washing baskets of toys all over his floor, listlessly pulls out something and shortly after is standing at his mother's desk or following her into the kitchen saying: "Mummy, I am bored."
A family therapist ( 心理医生) explains why children lose interest when they have a whole "toy shop" at home: "According to their brain development, little children are not in a position to judge the quality of a variety of things at once. There is always just one favorite toy for the moment. All the rest is left lying about." What can parents do to stop their children from being oversupplied with toys? Under no conditions simply make something disappear without the child's knowledge. If he/she takes no more notice of a toy, a parent can ask if it can be stored or given away. Be warned though the child will always say he/she wants it then! A talk with relatives and friends may also help. Lyn is the mother of four-year-old Jessie, and we like her way. A small set of shelves in her child's room holds the toys and books that are the current (at present) favorites. When it seems to her that her daughter is tired of these toys, they put them away in a box together and select some other toys from a cupboard in another room. The box of "old" toys goes into the cupboard. When her child says she is "bored", they also get something from her cupboard - it may be something she has had for some time but because she hasn't seen it for a while it is almost like a new toy.
Some favorite toys stay out all the time, and there is collection of dolls which sits in the corner, but in this way Lyn has found that she has fewer toys to put away at the end of the day and her daughter always has something "fresh" to play with.
1.Steve interrupted his mother several times because _____.
A.he felt uninterested in his toys
B.he disliked his mother's guest
C.he didn't have enough toys to play with
D.he hoped his mother would play with him
2.According to the therapist, children often complain that they have nothing to play with because _____.
A.they can't play alone for a long time
B.they are too young to play with so many toys
C.they are too lazy to pick out their favorites
D.they lack the ability to value too many things at a time
3.Which of the following can be used in place of "jumble"?
A.Simple choice. B.Mixture in disorder.
C.Ordinary appearance. D.Same shape.
4.Which is the advice given to parents in the text?
A.Buy fewer toys for their children.
B.Form good habits for their children.
C.Spare some time to play with their children.
D.Put some toys away without telling their children.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
le monkeys. They then assessed the monkeys’ preference for each toy by measuring how much time they spent with each. Their data showed that male monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the masculine toys, and the female monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the feminine toys. The two sexes did not differ in their preference for the neutral toys.