英语阅读课堂文资料章及练习

A) women are kept busy all day long B) women usually learn things faster than men

C) some women teachers cook better than their husbands D) some women have to do cleaning at night

Passage 21

Factors Influencing Marriage

The common view in social science of love relationships is not that opposites attract but that like attracts like. People fall in love with others who share their interests and tastes and whose personalities are similar. Hill, Rubin, and Peplau (1976) found only slight support for this view. On a great many characteristics, couples were not alike. On others, couples were only somewhat alike. Couples did tend to be about the same age, to be equally good looking, to have similar IQ scores, to be of the same religion, and to want the same number of children. But on each of these things, quite a few couples differed from one another. In fact, on only one question did most agree on whether they were ―in love‖.

The early interviews failed to find that being alike was very important in bringing couples together. The follow-up interview found that similarities were much more important in keeping couples together. Those who were together after two years were much more closely matched than couples who broke up, especially in terms of age, IQ, college plans, and looks. Thus, couples were much more likely to break up if one person was a lot smarter, better looking, or older. It is easy to imagine why these differences would matter. If one person is much smarter or more mature than the other, this could cause conflicts. If one person is much better looking, he or she will have more chances for other relationships.

Yet other things that would seem as important turned out not to matter. Those who stayed together differed not at all from those who broke up in how alike they were on religion, sex role ideas, beliefs about sex, idealism, or the number of children they wanted. Surely, one might suppose that marked differences in sex role attitudes could cause friction or that religious differences might lead to breakups. But there was no evidence of this.

In fact, conflict was not one of the main reasons people gave for breaking up. Most said they broke up because they got bored with the other person. Often this caused one of the pair to

become interested in someone else, thus prompting the split. Perhaps surprisingly, the woman got involved with someone else far more often than the man. Also, women were much more likely to suggest a breakup than men, regardless of the grounds. However, people were more likely to remain friends after the breakup if the man asked for the split. This suggests that the male ego is more sensitive to rejection.

1. The subject of the article is _______. A) dating couples

B) similarities within couples C) dating selections of college men D) patterns in marriage and divorce 2. The view that ―like attracts like‖_______. A) was proved false B) received slight support C) was definitely proved D) is unpopular in social science

3. Similarities within couples were most important in _______. A) bringing couples together B) keeping couples together

C) getting along with the partner’s family D) avoiding conflict

4. One similarity that seemed important to the success of a relationship was _______. A) religion B) sex roles

C) number of children wanted D) physical attractiveness

5.The main reason for breakup was _______. A) conflict B) family pressure C) boredom D) money problems

Passage 22

The Society of Ants

Through a series of experiments an American scientists has obtained an understanding of the social structure of the most complex of ant societies. The ants examined are the only creatures other than man to have given up hunting and collecting for a completely agricultural way of life. In their underground nests they cultivate gardens on soil made from finely chopped leaves. This is a complex operation requiring considerable division of labour. The workers of this type of ants can be divided into four groups according to size. Each of the group performs a particular set of jobs.

The making and care of the gardens and the nursing of the young ants are done by the smallest workers. Slightly larger workers are responsible for chopping up leaves to make them suitable for use in the gardens and for cleaning the nest. A third group of still larger ants do the construction work and collect fresh leaves from outside the nest. The largest are the soldier ants, responsible for defending the nest.

To find out how good the various size-groups are at different tasks, the scientist measured the amount of work done by the ants against the amount of energy they used. He examined first the gathering and carry of leaves. He selected one of the size-groups, and then measured how efficiently these ants could find leaves and run back to the nest. Then he repeated the experiment for each of the other size-groups. In this way he could see whether any group could do the job more efficiently than the group normally undertaking it.

The intermediate-sized ants that normally perform this task proved to be the most efficient for their energy costs, but when the scientist examined the whole set of jobs performed by each group of ants it appeared that some sizes of worker ants were not ideally suited to the particular jobs they performed.

1. In which way are the ants different from other nonhuman societies? A) They do not need to search for food. B) They do not need to look for shelter. C) Individuals vary in social status. D) Individuals perform different functions

2. It seems that smaller ants perform more of the _______.

A) construction tasks B) domestic tasks C) defensive work D) heavy work

3. The word ―good‖ refers to the ants _______ . A) co-operation in working B) sense of responsibility C) efficiency in working D) willingness to work hard

4. The scientist’s work was based on _______. A) occasional observations B) systematic observations C) observations of several nests D) observations of an undisturbed nest

5. The organization of the ants has the effect of _______. A) getting the most work done B) dividing the work up systematically C) protecting the young more effective D) each ant doing what can do best

Passage23

Humorous Story

The humorous story may be spun out to great length, and may wander around as much as it pleases, and arrive nowhere in particular; but the comic story and the witty story must be brief and end with a point. The humorous story bubbles gently along the other two burst.

The humorous story is strictly a work of art — high and delicate art — and only an artist can tell it; but no art is necessary in telling the comic and witty stories, anybody can do it. The art of telling a humorous story — I mean by word of mouth, not print — was created in America, and has remained at home.

The humorous story is told gravely; the teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even