Ñòð.63 Unit 7 ÃÄÇ Âåðáèöêàÿ Forward 9 êëàññ

Ïðèâåäåì âûäåðæêó èç çàäàíèÿ èç ó÷åáíèêà Âåðáèöêàÿ, Ìàêêèíëè, Õàñòèíãñ 9 êëàññ, Âåíòàíà-Ãðàô:

READING AND VOCABULARY

1 Work in pairs. Describe the photo, then answer the questions.

• Do boys of this age behave differently to girls? In what ways?

• In which ways do men and women differ in their hobbies and interests?

2 Read the article, listening to its recording, and answer the questions.

1 How many types of brain are there?

2 Does the type of brain you have depend on your gender?

3 Is there a type of brain which is better than the others?

Òåêñò àóäèðîâàíèÿ:

Like Father, Like Son? Perhaps Not ...

A new report suggests that our brain chemistry at birth is as important as our upbringing.

Go into a busy newsagent’s and have a look at what kind of things people are reading. The chances are that the women are reading about fashion, beauty, romance or relationships and the men are reading about cars, photography, equipment or sport. This ought not to be a surprise. After all, these choices are also seen in typical male and female hobbies — men generally enjoy things such as looking after their cars, buying new parts for their stereos, bird-watching or playing computer games, while women seem to prefer keeping in touch with friends and entertaining.

For a long time, experts thought that these differences between male and female interests depended on how parents brought up their children and indeed society in general. However, when we look at young babies, we see that boys and girls have interests which we can call typically ‘male’ or ‘female’ from a very early age. A baby girl, as young as 12 months old, is sympathetic when she sees a sad or worried face — she also looks sad and makes comforting sounds. Baby girls also make more eye contact and look longer at other people. Boys of the same age look longer at mechanical objects — toys that spin, light up or move. Later, when they become toddlers, boys usually enjoy putting things together and building towns or bridges or vehicles. Boys are often more selfish and aggressive when they play with other children while girls are better at joining in with others. Just like the adults.

So where do these differences between male and female behavior come from? Although it is true that culture and upbringing play an important role, many scientists now believe that the answer also lies in the amount of male and female hormones in the mother’s body before a child’s birth. Research has shown that this balance of hormones leads to three different

types of brain: type E, type S and type B. People who are born with a type S or male brain are generally interested in systems: constructing and organizing things and working out how things work. They tend to be good at working out where they are, from maps, making things from plans or collecting things. Others have a type E or female brain, which means they are good at understanding other people’s emotions and treating people with care because they are sensitive themselves. Others are born with characteristics of both these male and female brains — this is called the type B or balanced brain.

Perhaps the most crucial thing that the researchers found out was that the type of brain you have does not have to depend on your sex. Not all men have the male brain, and not all women have the female brain. But on average, more males than females have a type S brain, and more females than males have a type E brain.

So does this mean that one sort of brain is superior? No, not at all. Some people find some things easier to do than others, but both sexes have their strengths and their weaknesses. Researchers hope that understanding how people are born with different types of brain can help make all of us more tolerant of difference.

3 Read the article again. Are the statements true or false?

1 Generally speaking, women and men both prefer reading about people than reading about, gadgets or equipment.

2 Experts used to believe that parents had a lot of influence on what hobbies their children liked.

3 Even when they are babies, girls seem more interested in people than boys.

4 It seems to be easier for little girls to get on with people than for boys.

5 People with a type S brain get lost easily.

6 It is extremely unusual for women to have a type  brain.

4 Match these adjectives from the article with definitions 1-6.

sympathetic (para. 2)

comforting (para. 2)

selfish (para. 2)

aggressive (para. 2)

balanced (para. 3)

tolerant (para. 6)

1 allowing people to do what they want, especially when you do not agree with it

2 showing that you understand and care about someone’s problems

3 behaving in a violent and angry way towards people

4 having not too much of any one tiling

5 making someone feel better when they are anxious

6 caring only about yourself and not other people

5 Try the personality test. Then look at page 118 to find out what your answers suggest. Do you agree?

How balanced is your brain?

Choose six sentences which you can identify with the most

1 I dislike listening to gossip.

2 I enjoy collecting things (e.g. CDs, magazines, aircraft numbers).

3 I enjoy getting to know' other people.

4 I like finding out how something works or fixing things.

5 I love reading about any of these things - military history, science, the universe, instruction manuals, computers.

6 I sometimes make a faux pas when with people.

7 I think I often know what other people are thinking.

8 I usually trust my intuition or first impressions when I meet people.

9 I worry when one of my friends is having problems.

10 I'm hopeless at doing several things at once.

11 I enjoy being a host/hostess - for example organizing a party.

12 It’s easy for me to read maps.

13 It’s important for me to leave close friends.

14 It’s quite easy for me to ‘fit in’ in a new situation or with new people.

15 Literature is one of my strongest subjects.

16 Maths is one of my strongest subjects.