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Does Gray Matter Matter? 男生，女生，谁的数理强？

課文朗讀

課文中英文講解

 繁體中文譯本

All kinds of theories have been proposed to explain the belief that, generally speaking, men perform better in science than women. Some contend that it is mainly due to innate ability, while others think culture plays a more important role. Hoping to put this argument to rest, scientists looked deep into the brain to clear up this mystery.

一般而言，男性在科学领域表现比女性好，而各种理论都被提出来解释这项信念。有些人主张，这主要是因为天生的能力；而有些人则认为，文化占有更重要的地位。为了平息争论，科学家深入探究人类大脑以澄清谜团。

According to neuroscientists, women’s brain are, on average, ten percent smaller than men’s, even after adjusting for women’s smaller body size. However, women have more gray matter, the neurons that are thought to do most of the brain’s thinking. Men’s brains, for their part, are packed with more white matter, the tissue between neurons.

根据神经学家的看法，即使数据已因女性较小的身躯而调整，女性的脑袋还是平均比男性脑袋小百分之10。然而，女性大脑有较多灰质，也就是被认为是负责大半思考的神经细胞。男性大脑则充满较多白质，也就是神经细胞之间的组织。

Although males have less gray matter, they appear to devote 6.5 times more of their gray matter to intelligence-related tasks. On the other hand, women rely far more heavily on white matter when pondering. In addition, while solving problems like those on intelligence tests, men and women use different proportions of their gray and white matter. When it comes to the brain, the physical differences between males and females are obvious. However, can we confirm that men are more suited for scientific careers than women?

虽然男性大脑灰质比较少，但男性似乎比女性多使用6.5倍的灰质在与智力相关的工作上。另一方面，女性在思考时，更依赖白质。此外，男性和女性在解决像是智力测验方面的问题时，会使用不同比例的灰质和白质。谈到脑部时，男和女之间实体差别是很明显的。然而，我们可以确定男性比女性更适合科学方面的职业吗？

Vocabulary

contend [kənˋtɛnd] v. 坚决主张

innate [ˋɪnˋet]adj. 与生俱来的；天生的

ponder [ˋpɑndɚ] v. 沉思，默想；仔细考虑

proportion [prəˋporʃən] n. 比例；比率

More Information

propose [prəˋpoz] v. 提议，建议，提出

neuroscientist [͵njʊroˋsaɪəntɪst]n. 神经学家

neuron [ˋnjʊrɑn] n. 神经单位（细胞）；神经元

pack [pæk] v. 挤（塞，装）满

課文中英文講解

The debate on brains and the sexes was brought to another level when, in 2003, students in 41 countries participated in a test. Boys did moderately better on the math section in just over half of the countries. For nearly all the other countries, there were no significant differences between the sexes.

在2003年，41个国家的学生参加考试，有关脑和性别的争论被带到了另一层面。仅有超过20个国家的男孩在数学方面考得较好。而几乎在其他的国家中，两性之间没有显着差异。

However, average scores varied wildly from place to place. Japanese girls, for example, were on a par with Japanese boys on almost every math section. Overall, they scored higher than boys of many other countries. In Iceland, girls broke the mold completely and outscored Icelandic boys by a large margin on all parts of the test. Researchers were puzzled by these results, since they somehow contradict the belief that boys outshine girls in math.

然而，平均分数因地方而有很大不同。举例来说，日本女孩和男孩在几乎每个数学题部份都有一样的分数。整体来说，日本女孩考得比许多其国家的男孩高分。在冰岛，女孩们则完全打破这模式，并在所有部份的得分都大幅超过冰岛男孩。研究人员对这些结果感到困惑，因这些结果多少和他们相信男孩的数学比女孩优秀的看法有所抵触。

What is becoming increasingly apparent is that culture has an impact on how well students do on math tests. While innate ability is one factor, cultural preferences can also affect scores. Societies that emphasize the sciences, as in Asia, produce more high-scoring students, boys and girls alike, in those fields.

越来越明显的，文化会影响学生在数学考试上的表现。尽管天生能力是一项因素，文化偏好也可能会影响成绩。像是在亚洲那些注重科学的社会里，便能培育出更多在科学领域得高分的男女学生。

Throughout history, people have used biological differences to support the idea that men do better in science than women. This has more to do with prejudice than reality. While science has uncovered physical differences between the brains of the sexes, it would seem that how and where we use our brain, instead of gender and size, determine our intelligence.

从古至今，人们一直使用生物学的差别支持男性比女性擅长科学的想法。这想法与其说跟事实有关，不如说跟偏见有关。当科学已揭露两性脑部的实体差别，决定我们智商的要素，似乎是我们「怎样」和「在哪里」运用我们的大脑，而非取决于性别和脑袋大小。   

−by J. Michael Cole

Vocabulary

on a par with 与...同等重要(或同水平等) at the same level as someone or something

mold [mold] n. 模式

contradict [͵kɑntrəˋdɪkt] v. 与……矛盾；与……抵触

biological [͵baɪəˋlɑdʒɪk!] adj. 生物的

prejudice [ˋprɛdʒədɪs] n. 偏见，歧视

More Information

moderately [ˋmɑdərɪtlɪ] adv. 适度地; 不过分地; 有限地

break the mold: 打破模式; 打破窠臼 to do something differently, after it has been done in the same way for a long time

outshine [aʊtˋʃaɪn] v. 优于; 使…黯然失色

Reading Questions

1.   What belief is the opening paragraph of the article referring to?

A.  That men’s scientific superiority is a recent phenomenon.

B.  That men and women are equally suited for the science.

C.  That men make better scientists than women.

D.  That science has absolutely nothing to do with the brain.

2.   Which of the following is true in terms of men and women?

A.  That men are indeed better at science than women.

B.  That women have more white matter and use it more often.

C.  That men have less gray matter and smaller brains than women.

D.  That men and women use different parts of their brains to do intelligence-related tasks.

3.   Which is true of societies that strongly emphasize math and science in their curriculums?

A.  Only men are going to get higher scores on math tests.

B.  Their emphasis does not influence how well students do on math tests.

C.  It increases the likelihood that students will get high scores on math or science tests.

D.  Child brain development will be faster there than in the rest of the world.

4.   How could we describe the opinion that men are better at science than women?

A.  It is the result of a biased view of human capabilities.

B.  It is an idea based on solid scientific evidence.

C.  It is a lie spread by women to avoid having to study sciences.

D.  It is an idea that has only recently caught on.

Answer