Passage OneMost people lie in everyday conversation when they are trying to appear likable and competent, according to a study conducted by University of Massachusetts psychologist Robert S. Feldman. The study found that lies told by men and women differ in content, though not in quantity. Feldman said the results showed that men do not lie more than women or vice versa, but that men and women lie in different ways. "Women were more likely to lie to make the person they were talking to feel good, while men lied most often to make themselves look better," Feldman said. A group of 121 pairs of undergraduate UMass students were recruited to participate in the study. They were told that the purpose of the study was to examine how people interact when they meet someone new. Participants were told they would have a 10-minute conversation with another person. Some participants were told to try to make themselves appear likable. Others were told to appear competent. A third, control group was not directed to present themselves in any particular way. Participants were unaware that the session was being videotaped through a hidden camera. At the end of the session, participants were told they had been videotaped and consent was obtained to use the video-recordings for research. The students were then asked to watch the video of themselves and identify any inaccuracies in what they had said during the conversation. They were encouraged to identify all lies, no matter how big or small. Feldman said the students who participated in the study were surprised at their own results. "When they were watching themselves on videotape, people found themselves lying much more than they thought they had," Feldman said. The lies the students told varied considerably, according to Feldman. Some were relatively minor, such as agreeing with the person with whom they were speaking that they liked someone when they really did not. Others were more extreme, such as falsely claiming to be the star of a rock band. "It’ so easy to lie," Feldman said. "We teach our children that honesty is the best policy, but we also tell them it’s polite to pretend they like a birthday gift they’ve been given. Kids get a very mixed message regarding the practical aspects of lying, and it has an impact on how they behave as adults." Feldman felt that the ideas told to the children about lie-telling were very()
A. insincere
B. groundless
C. irresponsible
D. confusing
Time for another global-competitiveness alert. In the Third International Mathematics and Science Study--which last year tested a half-million students in 41 countries- American eighth graders 21 below the world average in math. And that’s not even 22 part. Consider this as you try to 23 which countries will dominate the technology markets of the 21st century: the top 10 percent of America’s math students scored about the same as the average kid in the global 24 , Singapore. It isn’t exactly a news flash these days 25 Americans score behind the curve on international tests. But educators say this study is 26 because it monitored variables both inside and outside the classroom. Laziness- the factor often 27 for Americans’ poor performance--is not the culprit here. American students 28 spend more time in class than pupils in Japan and Germany. 29 , they get more homework and watch the same amount of TV. The problem, educators say, is not the kids but a curriculum that is too 30 . The study found that lessons for U.S. eighth graders contained topics mastered by seventh graders in other countries. Teachers actually agree that Americans need to 31 their kids to more sophisticated math earlier. Unfortunately, experts say, the teachers don’t recognize that 32 these concepts are taught is as important as the concepts themselves. Most educators rely 33 on textbooks and rote learning (死记硬背) . While many textbooks cover 34 ideas, most do so superficially, 35 students with the techniques but not the mastery of the broader principles. 34()
A. advanced
B. colorful
C. controversial
D. ambitious
Passage TwoModern Japan, despite its ready adoption of Western manners, is in things theatrical still faithful to the ancient feudal day. It is true that within the last few years, the old school drama has to some extent lost ground, and quite recently performances of Shakespeare’s Othello and Hamlet, and Daudet’s Sappho have been received with favor by Tokyo audiences. The explanation of this curious survival of the old form of play, at a time when all Japan is eagerly imitating the foreigner, is undoubtedly to be found in the peculiar customs of the country. The progressive Japanese finds it easier to change his mode of dress than to reform habits bred in the bone. The old plays, lasting, as they formerly did, from early morning until nearly midnight, just suited the Japanese play-goer, who, when he does go to the theatre, makes an all-day affair of it. Indeed, theatre-going in Japan is a very serious matter, and not to be entered upon lightly or without due preparation. Recently Sada Yoko and Oto Kawakami, who learned a good deal in their foreign travels, introduced the comparatively short evening performance of three or four hours, an innovation which was at once welcomed by the better class of people. But the new arrangement found little favor with the general public, and particular indignation was aroused in the bosom of the Japanese Matinee Girl who loves to sit in the theatre as long as possible and weep over the play. For, to the young gentlewoman, the theatre is essentially the place for weeping. Japanese girls are extremely sentimental, and a play without tear-provoking situations would not appeal to them in the least. The Japanese women are passionately devoted to the drama. It is usual for a party to book a box through a tea house connected with the theatre and at the same time make arrangements for what refreshments they wish served. The Japanese maiden makes the most elaborate preparations days beforehand. To be at the theatre on time, playgoers must rise with the sun, and all their meals, including breakfast, are eaten in the tiny box in the playhouse. It is not an easy task to reach one’s seats and once the family has settled down, nothing but a catastrophe would induce it to leave its box. The women chew candy and the men freely drink sake as the play goes on. Paragraph 1 stresses the idea that the general public in Tokyo()
A. favors Shakespeare’s masterpieces
B. enjoys Japanese old school drama
C. appreciates Western classic theatre
D. likes performances of foreign styles