Throughout the world, boys and girls prefer to play with different types of toys. Boys typically like to play with cars and trucks, while girls typically choose to play with dolls. Why is this? A traditional sociological explanation is that boys and girls are socialized and encouraged to play with different types of toys by their parents, peers, and the “society”. Growing scientific evidence suggests, however, that boys’ and girls’ toy preferences may have a biological origin.
In 2002, Gerianne M. Alexander of Texas A&M University and Melissa Hines of City University in London surprised the scientific world by showing that monkeys showed the same sex typical toy preferences as humans. In the study, Alexander and Hines gave two masculine toys (a ball and a police car), two feminine toys (a soft doll and a cooking pot), and two neutral toys (a picture book and a stuffed dog) to 44 male and 44 female monkeys. They then assessed the monkeys’ preference for each toy by measuring how much time they spent with each. Their data showed that male monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the masculine toys, and the female monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the feminine toys. The two sexes did not differ in their preference for the neutral toys.
If children’ s toy preferences were largely formed by gender socialization, as traditional sociologists’ claim, in which their parents give “gender appropriate” toys to boys and girls, how can these male and female monkeys have the same preferences as boys and girls？They were never socialized by humans, and they had never seen these toys before in their lives.
小题1:Traditional sociologists believe boys’ and girls’ toy preferences ________
A．are passed down from their parents
B．are largely formed in later life
C．have nothing to do with gender socialization
D．have a biological origin小题2:The study by Alexander and Hines shows that monkeys________
A．also have a sex typical toy preference
B．also play toys as humans do
C．have no toy preferences
D．like to play different toys at different time小题3:Alexander and Hines carried out the study to ________
A．find more evidence for traditional sociology
B．test the intelligence of monkeys
C．test whether monkeys like to play toys
D．find out why boys and girls prefer different toys小题4:According to the study, if given a stuffed dog, _______
A．only the male monkeys showed interest
B．the female monkeys showed more interest
C．the male and female monkeys showed the same interest
D．neither the male nor the female monkeys showed any interest
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:C
题目分析：本文介绍了男孩女孩在选择玩具方面的不同，通过做实验，得出结论，这是由生理因素造成的。
小题1:细节题：从第一段的句子：however, that boys’ and girls’ toy preferences may have a biological origin.可知孩子喜欢不同的玩具是因为生理因素。选B
小题2:细节题：从第二段的句子：University in London surprised the scientific world by showing that monkeys showed the same sex typical toy preferences as humans.可知猴子也有这样的偏爱。选A
小题3:推理题：从文章最后一段的内容，可知这项研究是为了弄清男孩和女孩为什么喜欢不同的玩具。选D
小题4:推理题：从文章第二段的句子：The two sexes did not differ in their preference for the neutral toys.可知对玩具狗公猴子和母猴子没有什么差别。选C
点评：这类阅读理解要求考生根据文章所述事件的逻辑关系，对未说明的趋势或结局作出合理的推断；或根据作者所阐述的观点理论，对文章未涉及的现象、事例给以解释。考生首先要仔细阅读短文，完整了解信息，准确把握作者观点。