Do you look like your parents? What genetic traits(遗传特性) did your parents pass on to you? Was it their eye colour or their height? It could be their sense of humour or their musical talent. Or maybe it was their fear of mathematics.
A research at Ohio State University in the US has found that genes are partly responsible for children's maths skills and anxiety about maths.
Scientists studied over 500 sets of twins to find out how genes affect maths anxiety. Over a period of 10 years, the twins completed maths tests and filled out surveys about their levels of maths anxiety. They found that fraternal twins (twins with different genes) have different levels of skills and anxiety about maths. Identical twins (twins with the same gene set) have similar levels.
This shows that people's fear of maths is partly affected by their genetic make-up. Maths anxiety has a strong effect on a child's abilities. The University of Chicago found maths anxiety can cause the same feeling as being physically hurt.
This anxiety means that some students are not willing to study maths as much as they should. Therefore, they become even worse at maths and less confident in their skills. This only adds to their fear.
But if you're bad at maths, don't try to blame(责怪) it on your parents. The environment, including school and family, is also one of the factors.
(
A
) 1. The underlined word "anxiety" in paragraph 2 refers to a(n) ______ feeling.
A. unhappy B. curious C. relaxing D. crazy
(
B
) 2. What did the researchers at Ohio State University find?
A. Fear of maths is very common among twins.
B. Maths anxiety has something to do with genes.
C. Parents can pass their eye colour on to their children.
D. Children's maths skills are decided by their parents.
(
D
) 3. What can we know from the passage?
A. People are born with maths anxiety.
B. There is no way to deal with maths anxiety.
C. Parents should learn maths well themselves.
D. Genes are not the only cause for maths anxiety.
(
D
) 4. What is responsible for children's maths anxiety according to the passage?
A. Genes. B. The environment.
C. School and family. D. All of the above.
(
D
) 5. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. Fraternal twins have the same genes.
B. Maths anxiety is the same as being physically hurt.
C. People's fear of maths is totally affected by their genetic make-up.
D. The feeling caused by maths anxiety is not different from that of being physically hurt.
