(C)

Researchers in the psychology department at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) have discovered a major difference in the way men and women respond to stress. This difference may explain why men are more likely to suffer from stress-related disorders.

Until now, psychological research has maintained that both men and women have the same "fight-or-flight" reaction to stress. In other words, individuals either react with aggressive behavior, such as verbal or physical conflict ("fight"), or they react by withdrawing from the stressful situation ("flight"). However, the UCLA research team found that men and women have quite different biological and behavioral responses to stress. While men often react to stress in the fight-or-flight response, women often have another kind of reaction which could be called "tend and befriend." That is, they often react to stressful conditions by protecting and nurturing their young ("tend"), and by looking for social contact and support from others — especially other females ('befriend").
Scientists have long known that in the fight-or- flight reaction to stress, an important role is played by certain hormones(激素) released by the body. The UCLA research team suggests that the female tend-or-befriend response is also based on a hormone. This hormone, called oxytocin, has been studied in the context of childbirth, but now it is being studied for its role in the response of both men and women to stress. The principal investigator, Dr. Shelley E. Taylor, explained that "animals and people with high levels of oxytocin are calmer, more relaxed, more social, and less anxious." While men also secrete (分泌) oxytocin, its effects are reduced by male hormones.

In terms of everyday behavior, the UCLA study found that women are far more likely than men to seek social contact when they are feeling stressed. They may phone relatives or friends, or ask directions if they are lost.

The study also showed how fathers and mothers responded differently when they came home to their family after a stressful day at work. The typical father wanted to be left alone to enjoy some peace and quiet. For a typical mother, coping with a bad day at work meant focusing her attention on her children and their needs.

The differences in responding to stress may explain the fact that women have lower frequency of stress-related disorders such as high blood pressure or aggressive behavior. The tend-and-befriend regulatory(调节的) system may protect women against stress, and this may explain why women on average live longer than men.

72. The UCLA study shows that in response to stress, men are more likely than women to ______.
A. turn to friends for help
B. solve a conflict calmly
C. find an escape from reality
D. seek comfort from children

73. Which of the following is true about oxytocin according to the passage?
A. Men have the same level of oxytocin as women do.
B. Oxytocin used to be studied in both men and women.
C. Both animals and people have high levels of oxytocin.
D. Oxytocin has more of an effect on women than on men.

74. What can be learned from the passage?
A. Male hormones help build up the body's resistance to stress.
B. In a family a mother cares more about children than a father does.
C. Biological differences lead to different behavioral responses to stress.
D. The UCLA study was designed to confirm previous research findings.

75. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. How men and women get over stress
B. How men and women suffer from stress
C. How researchers overcome stress problems
D. How researchers handle stress-related disorders

Section C
Directions: Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.

A. When a child should learn to read
B. Why it is fun to teach a child reading
C. What if a child has reading problems
D. How you prepare a young child for reading
E. What is the best way to teach a child reading
F. Whether reading early promises later achievements

76. ______________
Learning to read early has become one of those indicators — in parents' minds at least — that their child is smart. In fact, reading early has very little to do with whether a child is successful academically. Research has shown that difficulty with reading is often due not to inferior intelligence but to differences in the developmental wiring of each individual child. In some cases, there are neurological problems and developmental lags that can be overcome with proper training.

77. ______________
Traditionally, American schools teach children at age six, but many schools begin teaching informally in kindergarten and pre-kindergarten. If parents start too early to encourage reading, and a child does not immediately succeed, the parent has a hard time relaxing and letting the child go at his or her own pace.

78. ______________
Over the years, research has proved that the use of both the “whole language" method and the "phonic" method works best for a child to master reading. While the whole language approach, which includes reading to children and getting them interested in both the activity of reading and the story they are reading, is helpful, phonics must be taught. Children must be taught that one of the squiggles they see is a "p" and another a "b". Getting the print off the page requires a different ability than being able to understand the meaning of what is written.

79. ______________
You can start developing the skills needed in reading at a very young age without putting any pressure on children. Besides reading to them, parents can start "ear training" their child by playing thyme games. This develops the child's ability to recognize different sounds. In reading to children, parents also can point to words as they go, teaching the child that the funny lines on the page are the words you are saying. All this should be a fun activity.

80. ______________
Once a child is in school, the learning of reading is inevitably more serious. For children who have some kind of reading difficulty, you must get a professional diagnosis. While the teacher might say the child is merely disinterested but will get over it, disinterest or poor performance in reading can stem from a number of things, some being very specific learning disabilities that can be identified and worked on. But it is very tricky for parents to deal with their own child's learning disabilities.

Section D
Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.

While contact between adolescents (between the ages of fifteen and nineteen) and their peers (同龄人) is a universal characteristic of all cultures, the nature and the degree of such contact vary a great deal. In American contemporary society, adolescents spend much more time with their peers than with younger children or adults.

This pattern of age segregation(隔离) in American society did not become usual until the beginning of the industrialized society. Changes in the workplace separated children from adults, with adults working and children attending school. The dramatic increase of mothers in the workplace has further contributed to the reduction in the amount of time adolescents spend with adults. School reform efforts during the nineteenth century, which resulted in age-segregated schools and grades, have reduced the amount of time adolescents spend with younger children. Finally, the changes in population are considered a factor that may have contributed to the emergence of adolescent peer culture. From 1955 to 1975, the adolescent population increased dramatically, from 11 percent to 20.9 percent. This increase in the number of adolescents might be a contributing factor to the increase in adolescent peer culture in terms of growth in size.

Research supports the view that adolescents spend a great deal of time with their peers. Reed Larson and his colleagues examined adolescents' daily activities and found that they spend more time talking to their friends than engaging in any other activity. In a typical week, high school students will spend twice as much time with their peers as with adults. This gradual withdrawal from adults begins in early adolescence. In sixth grade, adults (excluding parents) account for only 25 percent of adolescent social networks. Another important characteristic of adolescent peer culture is its increasingly autonomous (白治的) function. While childhood peer groups are conducted under the close supervision of parents, adolescent peer groups typically make an effort to escape adult supervision and usually succeed in doing so.

(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN EIGHT WORDS.)

81. "This pattern of age segregation" refers to the phenomenon that adolescents segregate themselves from __________.

82. Besides changes in the workplace, __________ are the other two factors contributing to adolescent peer culture.

83. When do adolescents start to spend less time with adults?

84. How do adolescent peer groups differ from childhood peer groups?