People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions--and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
"We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions," Jack said. "Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect the mouth."
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Whites and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did. "The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions," Jack said. "Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less."
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.
【小题1】The discovery shows that Westerners __
A.pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth |
B.consider facial expressions universally reliable |
C.observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways |
D.have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions |
A.To make a face at each other. |
B.To get their faces impressive. |
C.To classify some face pictures. |
D.To observe the researchers' faces. |
A.The participants in the study. |
B.The researchers of the study. |
C.The errors made during the study. |
D.The data collected from the study. |
A.do translation more successfully |
B.study the mouth more frequently |
C.examine the eyes more attentively |
D.read facial expressions more correctly |
A.The Eye as the Window to the Soul |
B.Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions |
C.Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills |
D.How to Increase Cross-cultural Understanding |
科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年辽宁沈阳铁路实验中学高二下期期中考试英语卷(带解析) 题型:阅读理解
Parkour (跑酷) is a new sport that is developing quickly in the world. The aim of parkour is to jump, climb or run over any all stair, or fence on your path easily. Usually, it is done in a city environment. Practicers take very wall or roof as their training place. If you have seen the beginning of the James Bond movie Casino Royale, then you have seen an excellent example of parkour.
David Belle, a young Frenchman, developed parkour in the 1990s. His father's experiences as a fireman as well as an acrobat(杂技演员)influenced him a lot. His childhood friend, Sebastien Foucan, is the actor in the movie Casino Royale with his parkour performance. Foucan is thought to have developed free-running, which is a more artistic and skillful type of parkour. David belle traveled to India and said one way he trained was by watching a physical one. The aim is to become so skillful, and it is almost unnecessary for you to think about the different actions in running through a path full of barriers(障碍物).
Parkour is not exactly a sport. It is not developed fro competition. It is more about learning to control mind and body in difficult situations. There are many basic movements in parkour. One example is where practicers swing through the narrow space between two bars while keeping their body level with the ground. This is called the underbar. Other movements are the tic-tac and the kong vault jump. Skillful practicers seem to get out of control of gravity.
The popularity has spread largely because of parkour videos and organizations on the Internet. And if you search on the Web, you will find parkour groups performing their skills near you.
【小题1】The author wrote this text to _______
A.introduce a new sport parkour | B.show how parkour is popular in the world |
C.Tell the history of parkour | D.explain the basic movements in parkour |
A.David Belle. | B.James Bond. | C.Sebastien Foucan. | D.David Belle's father. |
A.the newspaper | B.the Internet | C.the radio | D.TV |
A.Children should not be allowed to do parkour. |
B.Casino Royale is a movie introducing parkour |
C.Most of the lovers of parkour are Internet users. |
D.Parkour is a mental exercise as well as a physical one |
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科目:高中英语 来源:2014届浙江象山普通高中高三第二次模拟英语卷(解析版) 题型:阅读理解
The economic growth that many nations in Asia and increasingly Africa have experienced over the past couple of decades has transformed hundreds of millions of lives – almost entirely for the better. But there’s a byproduct to that growth, one that’s evident – or sometimes less than evident – in the smoggy, smelly skies above cities like Beijing, New Delhi and Jakarta. Thanks to new cars and power plants, air pollution is bad and getting worse in much of the world, and it’s taking a major toll (伤亡人数,代价) on global health.
How big? According to a new analysis published in the Lancet, more than 3.2 million people suffered deaths from air pollution in 2010, the largest number on record. That’s up from 800,000 in 2000. And it’s a regional problem: 65% of those deaths occurred in Asia, where the air is choked by diesel soot (内燃发动机烟雾) from cars and trucks, as well as the song from power plants and the dust from endless urban construction. In East Asia and China, 1.2 million people died, as well as another 712,000 in South Asia, including India. For the first time ever, air pollution is on the world’s top – 10 list of killers, and it’s moving up the ranks faster than any other factor.
So how can air pollution be so damaging? It is the very finest soot – so small that it roots deep within the lungs and then enters the bloodstream – that contributes to most of the public – health toll of air pollution including death. Diesel soot, which can also cause cancer, is a major problem because it is concentrated in cities along transportation zones affecting overpopulated areas. It is thought to contribute to half the deaths from air pollution in urban centers. Fro example, 1 in 6 people in the U.S. live near a diesel – pollution hot spot like a rail yard, port terminal or freeway.
We also know that air pollution may be linked to other non – deadly diseases. Fortunately in the U.S. and other developed nations, urban air is for the most part cleaner than it was 30 or 40 years ago, thanks to regulations and new technologies like the catalytic converters (催化式排气净化器) that reduce automobile emissions. Govemments are also pushing to make air cleaner – see the White House’s move last week to further tighten soot standards. It’s not perfect, but we’ve had much more success dealing with air pollution than climate change.
Will developing nations like India eventually catch up? Hopefully – though the problem may get worse before it gets better. The good news is that it doesn’t take a major technological advance to improve urban air. Switching from diesel fuel to unleaded (无铅燃油) helps, as do newer and cleaner cars which are less likely to send out pollutants. Power plants – even ones that burn mineral fuels like coal – can be fitted with pollution – control equipment that, at a price, will greatly reduce smog and other pollutants.
But the best solutions may involve urban design. In the Guardian, John Vidal notes that Delhi now has 200 cars per 1,000 people, far more than much richer Asian cities like Hong Kong and Singapore. Developing cities will almost certainly see an increase in car ownership as residents become wealthier – and that doesn’t have to mean deadly air pollution. Higher incomes should also lead to tougher environmental regulations, which is exactly what happened in the West. We can only hope it happens before the death toll from bad air gets even higher.
1.What tends to give rise to the highest death toll according to the passage?
A.The lack of tight environmental protection standards.
B.The increasing numbers of the diesel cars and trucks.
C.The frighteningly high death rate from deadly cancer.
D.The world’s serious air pollution such as soot and dust.
2.The “byproduct” (Paragraph 1) most probably refers to .
A.consequence B.solution C.reform D.design
3.The basic reason why so many people die from air pollution is that .
A.the diesel soot is too small to be seen
B.the diesel soot is much too poisonous to breathe
C.the diesel soot roots in lungs and gets into blood
D.the diesel soot can also contribute to deadly cancer
4.According to the passage, the writer actually wants to convince the readers that .
A.the global economic growth is mainly to blame for air pollution and climate change
B.the developing countries are repeating the same mistakes as the developed ones made
C.the ecological situation and air pollution in India are becoming worse and worse
D.the unbeatable air is increasingly becoming a major killer throughout the world
5.By describing urban design as “the best solution” in the last paragraph, the writer means that .
A.the making of tougher environmental regulations alone is of little use
B.more sever regulations should be made to handle air pollution
C.the urban construction in western developed countries is the best choice
D.the pace of development has to be slowed down to reduce air pollution
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科目:高中英语 来源:2014届辽宁沈阳铁路实验中学高二下期期中考试英语卷(解析版) 题型:阅读理解
Exchanging music over the Internet is fun and easy. Better yet, it's free, which means you don't have to pay for any more expensive music CDs. Several online file-sharing services make it easy for music lovers to exchange their favorite tunes with one another.
However, this illegal sharing of music — a form of music piracy(盗版)— is doing harm to the music industry. Industry experts estimate (估计) that US$4.3 billion in worldwide sales was lost to music piracy last year. These lost profits could force record companies to stop producing the music of many popular artists. That would hurt both musicians and music fans alike.
Music producers are puzzled about how to fight music piracy. Their efforts to fight piracy using the law have had only limited success. The music industry did win a legal victory against Napster, a famous music website. The courts ordered Napster to stop giving away copyrighted music from their site. But a number of other music-sharing networks have sprung up in its place.
These new networks are made up of thousands, or even millions, of individuals. Unlike Napster, there's no one company controlling the distribution(发行)of music over each network. So it's nearly impossible to stop the illegal activities.
Now people in the music industry have decided that " if you can't beat them, join them." They've begun to offer legal alternatives to online music piracy. Major music producers have given companies like Apple Computer permission(许可) to sell their music online. Apple's iTune Music Store allows computer users to legally download any song for 99 cents.
Will these new measures save the music industry from piracy? That depends on whether music fans are willing to pay 99 cents fro a song that they can download illegally for free. Unfortunately, many people believe music should be free. The music industry, however, hopes to persuade these music fans to change their tune.
1.This text is written to _____.
A.discuss music piracy on the Internet
B.introduce the popularity of online music
C.persuade music fans to give up downloading music
D.protect copyrighted music from being downloaded illegally
2.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.Some online file-sharing services are responsible for music piracy.
B.Napster, a famous music website, broke down because of its piracy.
C.There have been no perfect measures to put an end to piracy.
D.Legal sharing of music is available at Apple's iTune Music Store.
3.Which of the following statements would the author agree with?
A.The only effective way to fight music piracy is to stop it by law.
B.Music lovers will be persuaded to pay for online music in time.
C.It is certain that no one will be willing to pay for online music.
D.There is a long way for music industry to go in fighting piracy.
4.The underlined word "illegal" in Paragraph 2 probably means _____.
A.being protected by the law B.popular C.being against the law D.surprising
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科目:高中英语 来源:2013届安徽省亳州市高三摸底联考英语试卷(解析版) 题型:阅读理解
It has been argued that an infant under three who is cared for outside the home may suffer because of the separation from his parents.The British psychoanalyst John Bowlby believes that separation from the parents during the sensitive "attachment" period from birth to three may scar (留下疤痕) a child's personality and incline to emotional problems in later life.Some people have drawn the conclusion from Bowlby's work that children should not be sent to day care before the age of three, and many people do believe this.But there are also arguments against such a strong conclusion.
Firstly, anthropologists (人类学家) point out that the hidden love between children and parents found in modem societies does not usually exist in traditional societies.For example, we saw earlier that among the Ngonis the father and mother of a child did not raise their infant alone.But traditional societies are so different from modern societies that comparisons based on just one factor are hard to understand.
Secondly, common sense tells us that day care would not be so widespread today if parents and caretakers found that children had problems with it.But Bowlby's analysis raises the possibility that early day care has delayed effects.The possibility that such care might lead to more mental illness or crime 15 or 20 years later can only be noticed by the use of statistics.Statistical studies of this kind have not yet been carried out, and even if they were, the results would be certain to be complicated and controversial.
Thirdly, in the last decade, there have been a number of careful American studies of children in day care, and they have reported that day care had a neutral of slightly positive effect on children's development.But tests that have had to be used to measure this development are not widely enough accepted to settle the issue.
1.This passage is mainly talking about________.
A.children's personality
B.advantages of infants' early care
C.infants' education
D.negative effect of infant school
2.The phrase "day care in the first paragraph probably means_____.
A.nursing school B.baby-sitter
C.boarding school D.primary school
3.According to Bowlby, children under the age of three______.
A.should not be sent to school
B.should be cared for outside the home
C.will not suffer fro m parental separation
D.don't mind who will look after them
4.The argument against Bowlby's conclusion shows that___.
A.children have problems with day care
B.there is no negative effect on infants who go to school before three
C.there is a long-term effect on infants who go to school before three
D.children who are sent to school before three are sent to mental illness
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科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年贵州省六高三第一次考英语试卷(解析版) 题型:完型填空
One year ago, I traveled 15,000 kilometers from Australia to the US. I am from a beachside town in the 16 of Sydney, and thought there would be almost no 17 differences between my home country and my 18 . I was surprised at how wrong I was, and at 19 different the two countries could be.
The United States is 20 in almost every aspect. The buildings are gigantic (巨大的) and so are the people who 21 and work in them. At mealtimes, the portions (份额) often 22 to me to be big enough for three or four people. I once 23 a baked potato which turned out to be bigger than my head! This was a big 24 for me.
The longer I spent in the US, the more I started to 25 smaller differences like the culture of 26 in restaurants. In Australia we don’t tend to give a tip 27 the service has been really excellent. In the US you tip for 28 everything, even at the hairdresser. Waiters and shop assistants 29 to be given 15 percent of the bill, although in places 30 New York or Washington DC, a tip can be as much as 20 percent.
31 , I also became more wary (谨慎的) of believing the stereotypes (成见) I had heard at home as I traveled. Not all Americans are ignorant of geography, for example.
Despite this, certain stereotypes about places did seem to 32 true for me. There is an immense (强烈的) sense of speed in New York. Everyone 33 to and fro, and very seldom takes time to 34 the moment. This is very different from the Australian lifestyle. Australians are laid back. Even in a major city like Sydney, we “Aussies” take time to “stop and smell the roses”---very different from our American counterparts.
Navigating (驾驭) the culture divide between Australia and the US was challenging at times. But I took up that 35 and learned a lot from it. It was an adventure.
1. A.heart B.city C.center D.suburbs
2. A.cultural B.commercial C.economic D.scientific
3. A.home town B.departure C.location D.destination
4. A.how B.why C.however D.where
5. A.big B.modern C.small D.fashionable
6. A.travel B.survive C.live D.serve
7. A.happened B.seemed C.proved D.managed
8. A.brought B.ordered C.designed D.fetched
9. A.laughter B.pleasure C.shock D.embarrassment
10. A.prefer B.notice C.tell D.appreciate
11. A.serving B.tipping C.donating D.toasting
12. A.unless B.if C.when D.since
13. A.rarely B.mostly C.almost D.hardly
14. A.try B.wait C.think D.expect
15. A.like B.along C.for D.in
16. A.So B.Therefore C.However D.But
17. A.come B.become C.turn D.get
18. A.walks B.drives C.wanders D.rushes
19. A.depend on B.reflect on C.spy on D.watch on
20. A.experience B.job C.challenge D.business
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