Does your older brother think he’s cleverer than you? Well, he’s probably right. According to a new research published in the journal Intelligence, the oldest children in families are likely to have the highest IQs and the youngest the lowest.

A number of studies have suggested that IQ scores drop with birth order. In the most recent study, at Vrije University, Amsterdam, researchers looked at men and women whose IQ had been tested at the ages of 5, 12, and 18.

The results, which show a trend（趋势）for the oldest to score better than the youngest in each test, involved about 200,000 people. That showed that first-borns had a three-point IQ advantage over the second-born, who was a point ahead of the next in line.

The order of birth can also affect personality, achievement, and career, with first-borns being more academically（学术）successful and more likely to win Nobel prizes. However, eldest children are less likely to be creative. Charles Darwin, for example, was the fifth child of six.

Exactly why there should be such differences is not clear, and there are a number of theories on environmental influences on the child.

The so-called dilution （稀释法） theory suggests that as family resources, both emotional and physical, as well as economic, are limited, it follows that, as a result , as more children come along, the levels of parental attention and encouragement will drop. Another theory is that the intellectual（知识的）environment in the family favors the first-born who has, at least for some time, the benefit of personal care and help.

The theory which enjoys the most support is that the extra time and patience that the earlier-borns get from their parents, compared with those arriving later, gives them an advantage.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．IQ scores have little to do with the order of birth.

B．Intellectual families favor the first-born.

C．The order of birth can have an effect on IQ.

D．The order of birth can affect personality, achievement, and carrier.

2. By using Charles Darwin as an example, the author wants to prove that ______.

A．eldest children are the smartest in a family

B．youngest children will usually become experts

C．first-borns are more likely to win Nobel prizes

D．eldest children are less likely to try something new

3. What do we know about the dilution theory?

A．Intellectual parents love the first –born better

B．Parents’ attention will drop with more children coming.

C．Family resources, both emotional and physical are endless.

D．First-born get less care and help from their parents.

4. The passage is developed mainly by          .

A．offering opinion with further explanation

B．pointing out similarities and difference

C．comparing opinions from different fields

D．providing typical examples

5. What kind of people is the passage mainly written for?

A．scientists        B．students                 C．experts             D．common readers

E

Does your older brother think he’s cleverer than you ? Well, he’s probably right． According to a new research published in the journal Intelligence, the oldest children in families are likely to have the highest IQs and the youngest the lowest ,

A number of studies have suggested that IQ scores decline with birth order． In the most recent study, at Vrije University, Amsterdam,researchers looked at men and women whose IQ had been tested at the ages of 5，12 ，and 18．

The results , which show a trend for the oldest to score better than the youngest in each test, involved about 200,000people． That showed that first-borns had a three-point IQ advantage over the second-born, who was a point ahead of the next in line．

The order of birth can also affect personality, achievement, and career, with first-borns being more academically successful and more likely to win Nobel prizes． However,eldset children are less likely to be radical and pioneering ． Charles Darwin, for example, was the fifth child of six．

Exactly why there should be such differences is not clear, and there are a number of theories on environmental influences on the child．

The so-called dilution(稀释法) theory suggests that as family resources, both emotional and physical, as well as economic, are limited, it follows that, as a result , as more children come along, the levels of parental attention and encouragement will drop． Another theory is that the intellectual(智力) environment in the family favors the first-born who has, at least for some time, the benefit of individual care and help．

The theory which enjoys the most support is that the extra time and patience that the earlier-borns get from their parents, compared with those arriving later, gives them an advantage．

1．What is the passage mainly about?

A．IQ scores have little to do with the order of birth．

B．Intellectual families favor the first-born

C．The order of birth can have an effect on IQ

D．The order of birth can affect personality, achievement, and carrer．

2．By using Charles Darwin as an example, the author wants to prove that         

A．eldest children are the smartest in a family

B．youngest children will usually become experts

C．first-borns are more likely to win Nobel prizes

D．eldest children are less likely to try something new

3．What do we know about the dilution theory?

A．Intellectual parents love the first –born better

B．Parents’ attention will drop with more children coming

C．Family resources,both emotional and physical are endless．

D．First-born get less care and help from their parents．

4．The passage is developed mainly by         

A．offering opinion with further explanation

B．pointing out similarities and difference

C．comparing opinions from different fields

D．providing typical examples

E

Does your older brother think he’s cleverer than you ? Well, he’s probably right． According to a new research published in the journal Intelligence, the oldest children in families are likely to have the highest IQs and the youngest the lowest ,

A number of studies have suggested that IQ scores decline with birth order． In the most recent study, at Vrije University, Amsterdam,researchers looked at men and women whose IQ had been tested at the ages of 5，12 ，and 18．

The results , which show a trend for the oldest to score better than the youngest in each test, involved about 200,000people． That showed that first-borns had a three-point IQ advantage over the second-born, who was a point ahead of the next in line．

The order of birth can also affect personality, achievement, and career, with first-borns being more academically successful and more likely to win Nobel prizes． However,eldset children are less likely to be radical and pioneering ． Charles Darwin, for example, was the fifth child of six．

Exactly why there should be such differences is not clear, and there are a number of theories on environmental influences on the child．

The so-called dilution(稀释法) theory suggests that as family resources, both emotional and physical, as well as economic, are limited, it follows that, as a result , as more children come along, the levels of parental attention and encouragement will drop． Another theory is that the intellectual(智力) environment in the family favors the first-born who has, at least for some time, the benefit of individual care and help．

The theory which enjoys the most support is that the extra time and patience that the earlier-borns get from their parents, compared with those arriving later, gives them an advantage．

1．What is the passage mainly about?

A．IQ scores have little to do with the order of birth．

B．Intellectual families favor the first-born

C．The order of birth can have an effect on IQ

D．The order of birth can affect personality, achievement, and carrer．

2．By using Charles Darwin as an example, the author wants to prove that         

A．eldest children are the smartest in a family

B．youngest children will usually become experts

C．first-borns are more likely to win Nobel prizes

D．eldest children are less likely to try something new

3．What do we know about the dilution theory?

A．Intellectual parents love the first –born better

B．Parents’ attention will drop with more children coming

C．Family resources,both emotional and physical are endless．

D．First-born get less care and help from their parents．

4．The passage is developed mainly by         

A．offering opinion with further explanation

B．pointing out similarities and difference

C．comparing opinions from different fields

D．providing typical examples

How would you like to study at an American university in China?

36  the news that New York University (NYU) is opening a campus on Chinese mainland, the possibility of getting an American education is coming closer to a 37    .

But how will Chinese students deal with a very different style of teaching? 38    that encourages debate, discussion and critical thinking?

You know how kids constantly ask questions? They have so much to learn and simply 39  

information. Asking questions 40____ they are curious.

   So 41____ does that natural 42    become weaker? Not at kindergarten, nor at primary school. But perhaps with puberty(青春期) 43    self-consciousness and a reluctance to draw attention to yourself by asking the teacher questions.

  44   , that’s a pity, because asking your teachers questions should be encouraged. After all, they’ve been educated, 45    a lot more experience than you and perhaps possess a little wisdom.

  When I taught journalism at college in Scotland I 46    answering students’ questions. Some of them asked difficult ones. I didn’t always know the answers. If I didn’t, I’d admit47   and try to find out later.

  At university we were encouraged to challenge our peers and tutors. A student would prepare a paper on a subject and other students would 48       it. It was a way of 49____  critical and logical thinking.

  You can learn to think logically, 50   some of the more difficult problems would probably require advanced math. Having a logical mind    can help develop critical thinking.

  My wife doesn’t have a logical mind, but she does have emotional intelligence. An ability to empathize(有同感) with people, relate to them and 51    their personalities is also important to critical thinking.

   I can’t claim to have 52    like her emotional intelligence, but I’d like to think some of it has influenced me. If you can’t 53     try to put yourself in someone else’s 54    , how can you understand their situation and their problems?

   So try to develop your powers of critical thinking. 55    books, films, music and newspapers. And don’t believe everything you read or see. Think for yourself.

Recently we told you about a finding that more years of school could help students get higherscores on intelligence tests．That was the finding of a study of teenage males in Norway．Now，other research shows that physical activity may help students do better in their classes .

The research comes as educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like physical education．They are using the time instead for academic subjects like maths and reading．The studies appeared between 2007 and 2013．They included more than 55，000 children，aged 6 to 18．

Amika Singh：“Based on the results of our study，we can conclude that being physically active is beneficial for academic performance. There are，first，Physiological explanations，like more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brain．Being physically active means there are more hormones(荷尔蒙)produced like endorphins(内啡肽)．And endorphins make your stress level lower and? your mood improved, which means you also perform better.”

Also，students involved in organized sports learn rules and how to follow them．This could improve their classroom behavior and help them keep their mind on their work．

The study leaves some questions unanswered，however．Ms．Stash says it is not possible to say whether the amount or kind of activity affected the level of academic improvement．This is because of differences among the studies .

Also．they were mostly observational studies．An observational study is where researchers do not do controlled comparisons．They only describe what they observe．So they might observe a link that students who are more active often have better grades．But that does not necessarily mean being active was the cause of those higher grades．

The researchers said they found only two high - quality studies．They called for more high-

quality studies to confirm their findings．They also pointed out that “outcomes for other parts of the world may be quite different. ”

Still，the general finding was that physically active kids are more likely to do better in school．Ms．Singh says schools should consider that finding before they cut physical education programs．Her paper on “Physical Activity and Performance at School”is published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine．

1.The passage mainly tells us that ＿＿＿＿

A．a research on physical education has been done by the researchers

B．there exists a possibility that physical activity leads to higher grades

C．the amount or kind of activity directly affects academic level

D．the research shows that the children aged 6 to 1 8 don't do sports

2.Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Being mentally active is good for academic subjects．

B．The more hormones you have，the more stressed you will get．

C．They have found many high-quality studies to prove the research．

D．The educators in the research think studies，not exercise，mean much to students．

3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 7 probably means ＿＿＿＿.

A．good marks result from high-quality study

B．findings probably vary in different areas

C．physical activity will spread all over the world

D．academic performance depends on the surroundings

4.What's the purpose of writing the passage?

A．To call our attention to the sports at school．

B．To introduce all types of physical activities．

C．To represent the academic performance．

D．To improve students' health ．