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Most people are right-handed and children usually have the same handedness as their parents. This suggests that genes are at work. But identical twins have identical genes, so genes cannot be the whole story. Cultural attitudes seem to have played an important part in the development of hand preferences. In the past, left-handers have suffered anything from teasing to flogging. Even today in some countries enforced right-handedness, particularly for writing and eating, is still common.To explain the observed patterns of handedness, researchers have devised what is known as a ’gene-culture coevolution’ model. The initial assumption of the model-drawn from observation of non-human primates and other mammals such as mice is that early on in human evolution, the genetic make-up of individuals inclined them to prefer one hand or the other, but that the population was equally divided between right- and left-handed people. Over time, according to the model, the interaction of genes and culture has produced a state where everyone has identical genes for handedness. This would happen if, for whatever reason, right-handers were more likely to survive and reproduce. The idea may not be that far-fetched. Many biologists believe that handedness is related to brain structure--say for example, early right-handers may have been better at language.The model predicts that today everyone has genes which confer a basic predisposition of 78% to be right-handed. How children actually turn out, however, can be influenced by whether their parents are dextral or sinistral. For example, children may mimic their parents. Or parents may influence the handedness of their children in the way that they hand them toys or food.The researchers reckon that a child with two right-handed parents has a 91% probability of being right-handed; a child with two left-handed parents has a probability of only 63% of being right-handed. But parental influence does not account for everything. Random events during a child’s development can also have a small effect on handedness. Even if identical twins have parents who are both dextral, factors such as their position in the womb may result in the twins not preferring the same hands.The model seems plausible. It accurately predicts the results of 13 studies of the handedness of twins as well as the proportion of left-handers found in the population at large (roughly 12%, a figure that seems to be quite stable). Asymmetries in early tools, and in the way in which prey were clubbed, suggest that hominids as early as the Australopithecines may have preferred their right hands. Whatever the origin of this dextrous preference, though, left-handers remain at large. Some people are just sinister. The author points out at the beginning that ().
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Questions 14 to 16 are based on an introduction to a video "phone. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 14 to 16.The telephone that you will use before long will be much more complicated than the one you use today. It will be a video phone, a phone that can transmit and receive pictures as well as sound. With a video phone you not only hear, but also see the person you are talking to. People will be able to hold business conferences by using video phones. Each person in the conference will sit in his or her own office and talk with others in the conference held in other cities.The telephone of the future will be more convenient to use than today’s telephones. You will be able dial almost any city in the world. You will also dial people almost any place in the world, even if they live in the country. Besides being able to dial great distances, you will have less trouble with busy signals. When you call someone and the line is busy, you can simply have the phone call you back. When the line is free, you will get your call and go ahead with your message.Television will bring change in many ways also. Screens will become larger. You can have one of wall size if you wish. It will be like having a movie theater in your own home. Most programs will probably reach you by overhead satellite. Some of these programs will be shown on all TV sets free of charge within a certain area. There will be other special programs that you may select if you wish to pay for them. There will be programs about certain subjects on video tapes that you may borrow from your public library. You will be able to hook these into your home TV set and enjoy them just as you would have a regular TV program. You will be able to watch your special program any time you choose. Which of the following statements about the telephone of the future is NOT true().
Questions 11 to I3 are based on the following talk on different superstitions and customs. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 11 to 13.Molly, an English woman, is talking to Victor, who is Asian and they are discussing different superstitions and customs.Molly: There’s a black cat. That’s a lucky sign.Victor: I don’t think that as it just scratched me.Molly: Black cats are often used as good luck symbols in Europe.Victor: You have a lot of strange beliefs. I think I was told if you give someone a present with a sharp edge or point, like a knife or a brooch, you also have to give a coin.Molly: Yes, that’s right, then we say that the friendship will never be cut or broken.Victor: What about crossed knivesMolly: That’s supposed to be unlucky but we cross our fingers for good luck.Victor: The old people of my country believe in lots of things like that but I think it’s all a lot of rubbish. I can’t see how it can affect any thing.Molly: Well, many people say it’s bad luck to walk under a ladder and my uncle always laughed at that belief until one day he was walking under one and a pot of paint fell on his head. Now he’s changed his mind!Victor: Do you think that number 13 is unluckyMolly: Not really, but airlines must as there is never a seat mumber 13. They go from 12 to 14 direct.Victor: That’s only because they think that the passengers might be superstitious.Molly: My grandmother hates to break a mirror as she says that it brings seven years bad luck.Victor: Why Why not 5 or 10Molly: Don’t ask me!Victor: I have a friend who came here from Indonesia and when she first arrived she was insulted when I gave her something in my left hand.Molly: People who travel a lot have to be very careful how they behave in foreign countries as they might do or say something that is considered all right at home but dreadful in another place.Victor: That often happens, then people get the wrong idea about foreigners. It just needs a little understanding and common sense.Molly: My cousin was horrified at college when an Asian student belched in front of her, then spat on the ground.Victor: Spitting is a dirty habit but I don’t think that belching is wrong.Molly: It’s just a matter of opinion.Victor: That can be applied to most things in life.Molly: You’re right. Why is it necessary to give a coin to someone when you give him a present with a sharp edge or point().
What is it that brings about such an intimate connection between language and thinking Is there no thinking without the use of language, namely in concepts and concept combinations for which words need not necessarily come to mind Has not every one of us struggled for words although the connection between " things " was already clear (46)We might be inclined to attribute to the act of thinking complete independence from language if the individual formed or were able to form his concepts without the verbal guidance of his environment. Yet most likely the mental shape of an individual, growing up under such conditions, would be very poor. Thus we may conclude that the mental development of the individual and his way of forming concepts depend to a high degree upon language. This makes us realize to what extent the same language means the same mentality. In this sense thinking and language are linked together. What distinguishes the language of science from languages as we ordinarily understand the word How is it that scientific language is international (47)What science strives for is an utmost acutencess and clarity of concepts as regards their mutual relation and their correspondence to sensory data. As an illustration, let us take the language of Euclidean geometry and Algebra. They manipulate with a small number of independently introduced concepts, respectively symbols, such as the integral number, the straight line, the point, as well as with signs which designate the fundamental concepts. This is the basis for the construction, respectively definition of all other statements and concepts. The connection between concepts and statements on the one hand and the sensory data on the other hand is established through acts of counting and measuring whose performance is sufficiently well determined. (48)The super-national character of scientific concepts and scientific language is due to the face that they have been set up by the best brains of all countries and all times. In solitude and yet in cooperative effort as regards the final effect they created the spiritual tools for the technical revolutions which have transformed the life of mankind in the last centuries. Their system of concepts has served as a guide in the bewildering chaos of perceptions so that we learned to grasp general truths from particular observations. What hopes and fears does the scientific method imply for mankind I do not think that this is the right way to put the question. Whatever this tool in the hand of man will produce depends entirely on the nature of the goals alive in this mankind. Once these goals exist, the scientitle method furnishes means to realize them. Yet it cannot furnish the very goals. (49)The scientific method itself would not have led anywhere, and it would not even have been born without a passionate striving for clear understanding. Perfection of means and confusion of goals seem—in my opinion—to characterize our age. (50)If we desire sincerely and passionately the safety, the welfare and the free development of the talents of all men, we shall not be in want of the means to approach such a state. Even if only a small part of mankind strives for such goals, their superiority will prove itself in the long run.
The Economist recognises these talented people through its annual Innovation Awards, presented in six fields: bioscience, computing and communications, energy and environment, business-process innovation, consumer products and a flexible "no boundaries" category. The awards were presented at a ceremony in London on November 9th by John Micklethwait, The Economist’s editor-in-chief. And the winners were:Bioscience: Marvin Caruthers, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Colorado at Boulder, for the development of automated DNA synthesis--the ability to "print out" arbitrary strands of genetic material.(41) Computing and communications: a creative individual who dreams up new ideas of computing and communi6ations and turn them into reality.(42) Energy and environment: a creative individual who dreams up new ideas of energy and environment and turn them into reality.(43) No boundaries: a creative individual who dream up new ideas of internet and turn them into reality.(44) Business-process innovation: a creative individual who dreams up new ideas of business-process and turn them into reality.(45) Consumer products: a creative individual who dreams up new ideas of consumer products and turn them into reality. We extend our congratulations to the winners, and our thanks to the judges.[A] Nicolas Hayek, chairman of Swatch, for revitalising the Swiss watch industry. During the 1980s Switzerland’s legendary watch industry fell into decline, with exports falling by half within a decade as a result of Japanese competition. Mr. Hayek’s response was to consolidate the industry to create the Swatch Group. It went on to beat the Japanese at their own game, creating the bestselling watch brand in history and becoming the largest watchmaker in the world, with a quarter of the market.[B] Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom of Skype, for the development of internet file-sharing and telephony using peer-to-peer technology, which allows millions of computers to link up over the internet without central co-ordination. In 2000 Messrs Friis and Zennstrom launched KaZaA, which became the dominant means of sharing music and video files, despite attempts by the entertainment industry to shut it down. Skype, launched in 2003, lets users make free phone calls over the internet, forcing traditional telecoms operators to slash their prices.[C] Sam Pitroda, chief executive of WorldTel, for pioneering India’s communications revolution. In 1987 Mr. Pitroda was asked by Rajiv Gandhi, the Indian prime minister, to help democratise access to telecommunications. His response was to deploy instantly recognizable yellow telephone kiosks in every town and village. This helped to release India’s telecoms industry from state control and opened it up to private firms, paving the way for a technology boom. He now promotes similar policies in other countries.[D] Pierre Omidyar, founder and chairman of eBay, for the development of electronic marketplace technology and his promotion of access to markets as a tool for social change. Mr. Omidyar set up eBay in 1995 with the aim of creating a marketplace accessible to any internet user. The business was profitable by 1996. People all over the world buy and sell items in 45 000 categories; some even make a living trading on eBay.[E] Hernando de Soto, founder and president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy. Mr. de Soto argues that bureaucracy and the lack of formal property rights are major causes of poverty in developing countries. Red tape and the lack of legal title to property, preventing its use as collateral, make it hard for the poor to establish or expand businesses. While serving as economic adviser to the Peruvian government, Mr. de Soto initiated a property-titling scheme which helped 1.2m families. Similar reforms have been implemented in El Salvador, Haiti, Tanzania and Egypt. Mr. de Soto has also championed the use of league tables to shame governments into cutting red tape.[F] Johannes Poulsen, former chief executive, Vestas Wind Systems, for the commercialisation of wind energy. In 1987 Mr. Poulsen took the helm at Vestas, then a small Danish firm with 60 employees. By the time he retired in 2002, Vestas had 5 000 employees and a quarter of the world market for wind turbines. Under Mr. Poulsen, Vestas greatly improved the efficiency of wind turbines, reducing costs and making wind power more competitive.
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