In the past hundred years, the U.S. presidency has turned more and more to the left – not in policy, but in handedness. Barrack Obama is the latest to join a long list of left – handed presidents from the 20th century: James Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Henry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were all southpaws.
What makes lefties so electable? Some experts think left-handed people have a greater ability for language skills, which may help them craft the rhetoric necessary for political office. And as for the bout of recent left-handed presidents, some think it’s because teachers only recently stopped working to change lefties to rightist at an early age.
Bill Gates
Claiming the nation’s richest man among their number is a source of considerable pride for America’s society of southpaws. In fact, the Microsoft titan and philanthropist(巨头兼慈善家) is one of a surprising number of U.S. business moguls(巨头) to be left-handed, including Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and former IBM head Lou Gerstner. But the club seems to be a guys-only organization — research suggests that while left-handed men tend to earn more than their right-handed colleagues(同事), there is no similar advantage for women. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research raised the idea that left-handed men favor "divergent" thinking, a form of creativity in which the brain moves "from conventional(常规的) knowledge into unexplored association." Maybe that’s what it takes to develop a net worth valued at $ 57 billion.
Oprah Winfrey
The talk-show queen doesn’t need much more to set her apart from the rest — what with her valued $ 2.7 billion fortune and a magic ability to sell books just by glancing at them — but she also has the distinction(名誉) of being a member of the left-handed club. Since men are more likely to be left-handed than women, that makes Oprah doubly impressive. She’s in good company: Other show-business ladies of the left – handed persuasion include Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie
Marie Curie
Not only was atomic scientist Marie Curie left-handed, but she was the matriarch(女家长) of a whole family of accomplished, southpaw scientists. Curie, who discovered the principles of radioactivity and won two Nobel Prizes, was married to fellow lefty Pierre Curie, who was instrumental(有帮助的) in helping Marie’s atomic research and shared one of her Nobel awards. Historians believe their daughter, Irene, was also left-handed. Irene went on to win a Nobel Prize of her own with her husband — who, you guessed it, was also left-handed.
64.The underlined word “southpaws” in the last sentence of Paragraph 1 means_______.
A.people coming from the south B.powerful presidents
C.people who use their left hand D.forceful speakers
65.What makes it so easy for lefties to be elected as presidents according to the passage?
A.Their great gift for foreign language.
B.Their great language skills to make speeches.
C.The need of left – hinders in the political office.
D.Teachers stopping to force them to use their right hand.
66.It can be implied that Bill Gates, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and Lou Gerstne_______.
A.have creative thinking B.have formed a special club.
C.earn more money than their wives D.are wealthy philanthropists
67.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 “She is in good company” means “_______”.
A.she works in a very good company B.she has many good friends
C.she has got on well with others D.she is among many female lefties