阅读表达。
[1] "Having a Sister Makes You Happier" was the headline on a recent article about a study finding that
adolescents who have a sister are less likely to have such feelings as "I am unhappy, sad or depressed". But
why?
[2] The usual answer that girls and women are more likely than men to talk about emotions is somehow
unsatisfying, especially to a researcher like me. Much of my work over the years shows that women's styles
of friendship and conversation aren't better than men's by nature, simply different.
[3] My own recent research about sisters suggests a more subtle dynamic. Together with my students I
interviewed more than 100 women about their sisters, but if they also had brothers, I asked them to make a
comparison. Most said they talked to their sisters more often, at greater length and, yes, about more personal
topics. This often meant that they felt closer to their sisters, but not always. One woman, for example, says
she talks for hours by phone to her two brothers as well as her two sisters. But the topics differ. She talks to
her sisters about their personal lives; with her brothers she discusses history, geography and books. And talking for hours creates and reinforces connections with both brothers and sisters, regardless of what they talk about.
[4] So the key to why having sisters makes people happier-men as well as women - may lie not in the kind of talk they exchange but in the fact of talk.
[5] So maybe it's true that talk is the reason why having a sister makes you happier, but it needn't be talk
about emotions. When women told me more often, at greater length and about more personal topics, I suspect
it's that first element - more often - that is crucial rather than the last.
1. What is the main idea of this passage? (no more than 8 words)
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2. Complete the following statement with proper words. (no more than 8 words)
The answer to why having sisters makes people happier may be , not the ways or the content of talking.
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3. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 5 with proper words. (no more then 5 words)
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4. What's the advantage of women's talking long and often with both their brothers and sisters?
(no more than 15 words)
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5. What does the word"them" (line 4, paragraph 3) probably refer to? (no more than 5 words)
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