题目

阅读理解 It's commonly thought that boys perform better than girls in math and science. Researchers have challenged that stereotype (刻板印象) for a longtime, and a recent study, published in the journal Nature Communications in September, found a new way to attack it. The study found that women are better than men at sustaining (维持)their performance on longer tests, including math and science. Researchers Pau Balart, from the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain, and Matthijs Oosterveen from Erasmus University in the Netherlands, analyzed data collected every three years from 2006 to 2015. The data came from 74 countries and regions, for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This is a standardized test of 15-year-old students' performance in reading, math and science. Their earlier results agreed with earlier findings that boys do better than girls in math and science. But when they compared the two groups' scores at different stages of the test, girls tended to perform more stably(稳定地) in math and science, while boys started getting fewer correct answers. Although boys seemed to show advantages from the start in math and science, the authors wrote, "This finding suggests that longer tests shrink it in math and science, " according to Nature. To prove this, the researchers analyzed another database with over 400 math tests, which lasted longer than PISA's two hours. They found that, at least for math, the scoring gap between boys and girls decreased. This isn't the observation of better test endurance (忍耐力) in women. Oxford University used to add an extra 15 minutes to its math and computer science exams. They found female students' scores improved. Olga Shurchkov, an associate professor at Wellesley College in the US, told Newsweek: "This study is important because it provides cross-country evidence that suggests these gender (性别) gaps can be reduced. " In her earlier study, she found that, given more time, women tended to be more careful and make fewer mistakes. They also were less likely to quit a task early. This also supports the finding of the present study. （1） What did the new study find? A . Boys are better than girls at math and science. B . Girls usually do better than boys in shorter tests. C . The length of a test affects girls and boys' scores. D . Girls prefer longer math and science tests than boys （2） What does the underlined word "shrink" probably mean? A . make something grow in number B . make something smaller C . keep something the same D . make something appear （3） As to the findings about female students on tests, which of the following is true? A . They tended to be more patient and careful on longer tests B . They were not as quick at thinking as male students. C . They tended to perform better at the beginning of a test. D . They were more likely to give up on longer tests. （4） According to the text what is the importance of the study? A . It answered questions raised by earlier studies.   B . It is the first cross-country study of gender gaps on tests. C . It could attract girls to study math and science. D . It could help to reduce gender gaps on tests. 答案： C B A D

查看本题答案和解析