People have wondered for a long time how their personalities and behaviors are formed.It is not easy to explain why one person is intelligent and another is not, or why one is cooperative and another is competitive.

Social scientists are, of course, extremely interested in these types of questions.They want to explain why we possess certain characteristics and exhibit certain behaviors.There are no clear answers yet, but two distinct schools of thought on the matter have developed.As one might expect, the two approaches are very different from one another, and there is a great deal of debate between proponents of each theory.The controversy is often referred to as  “nature and nurture”.

Those who support the “nature” side of the conflict believe that our personalities and behavior patterns are largely determined by biological and genetic factors.That our environment has little, if anything, to do with our abilities, characteristics, and behavior is central to this theory.Taken to an extreme, this theory maintains that our behavior is predetermined to such a degree that we are almost completely governed by our instincts(本能).

Proponents of the “nurture” theory, or, as they are often called, behaviorists, claimed that our environment is more important than our biologically based instincts in determining how we will act.A behaviorist, B.F.Skinner, sees humans as beings whose behavior is almost completely shaped by their surroundings.The behaviorists’ view of the human being is quite mechanistic; they maintain that, like machines, humans’ respond to environmental stimuli(刺激) as the basis of their behavior.

Socially and politically, the consequences of these two theories are far-reaching.In the US, for example, blacks often score below whites on standardized intelligence tests.This leads some “anature” proponents to conclude that blacks are genetically lower in status than whites.Behaviorists, on the contrary, say that the differences in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often robbed of many of the educational and other environmental advantages that whites enjoy, and that, as a result, they do not develop the same responses that whites do.

Either of these theories cannot yet fully explain human behavior.In fact, it is quite likely that the key to our behavior lies somewhere between these two extremes.That the controversy will continue for a long time is certain.

1.This passage is mainly concerned with             

    A.relation between personality and behavior

    B.relation between behavior and environment

    C.different accounts of patterns of human behavior

    D.different theories of the formation of human behavior

2.The underlined word " proponents'' in paragraph 2 means          

    A.creators         B.advisors         C.advocates        D.judges

3.In paragraph 5 , the author mainly writes about           

    A.the considerable influence of the two theories

    B.differences between the blacks and whites

    C.racial discrimination in the United States

    D.different responds to intelligence tests

4.What's the author's purpose in writing the passage?

    A.To call our attention to the changes of human behavior.

    B.To urge scientists to do more research in social science.

    C.To give us a detailed explanation of human behavior.

    D.To present an argument in the field of social science.

 

 

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

When I walked into the house after school, the first thing I noticed was a box with items I recognized from my dad’s office.When he told me that he was laid off, I thought he was joking.Then I noticed his seriousness and realized he was telling the truth.My father has always been a hard worker. He has prided himself on his career.   1  I guess I had taken his work for granted.

For starters, he was home all the time.In meant my bed had to be made, my room cleaned up, and my homework done right after school.I would come home every day to find him at the computer searching for jobs.  3   He seemed down, though he tried to be optimistic.He asked my brother and me to spend less.I gave up my spending money, which wasn’t much.I also found a part-time job.

4    He explained that he never wanted to be laid off again, so he was going to start his own business.Day by day, I watched him build it, On evening I asked if he needed help.“Only if it doesn’t affect school,” he said.I showed up at his office the next afternoon, and most afternoons after that for two months.

5   The terrible experience for our family taught me how to deal with difficulties.Now I know that through creative problem-solving, I can always find Plan B. I can ask for help and take risks.What I have learned from my dad’s understanding of business and his work ethic(信条) are two of the most important lessons I will ever learn. And they will be my principles for success.

    A.Providing for our family has been his joy.

    B.I made every effort to solve his problems.

    C.I began to notice how losing his job had affected him.

    D.My father’s unemployment created many changes in our lives.

    E.After months of searching, my dad decided to go in a totally different direction.

    F.His courage and determination helped him to become successful in his new career.

    G.I always knew he was a hard worker, but watching him in action influenced me a lot.

 

 

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