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  3. That boys and girls—and men and women—are programmed by evolution to behave differently from one another is now widely accepted.

That boys and girls—and men and women—are programmed by evolution to behave differently from one another is now widely accepted.

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问题     That boys and girls—and men and women—are programmed by evolution to behave differently from one another is now widely accepted.  But which of the differences between the sexes are "biological", in the sense that they have been honed by evolution, and which are "cultural" or "environmental" and might more easily be altered by changed circumstances, is still fiercely debated.
    The sensitivity of the question was shown last year by an uproar at Harvard University. Larry Summers, then Harvard’s president, caused a storm when he suggested that innate ability could be an important reason why there were so few women in the top positions in mathematics, engineering and the physical sciences.
    Even as a proposition for discussion, this is unacceptable to some. But biological explanations of human behavior are making a comeback. The success of neo-Darwinism has provided an intellectual foundation for discussion about why some differences between the sexes might be innate. And new scanning techniques have enabled researchers to examine the brain’s interior while it is working, showing that male and female brains do, at one level, operate differently. The results, however, do not always support past clichés about what the differences in question actually are.
    Another behavioral difference that has borne a huge amount of scrutiny is in mathematics, particularly since Dr Summers’comments. The problem with trying to argue that the male tendency to systemize might lead to greater mathematical ability is that, in fact, girls and boys are equally good at maths prior to teenage years. Until recently, it was believed that males outperformed females in mathematics at all ages. Today, that picture has changed, and it appears that males and females of any age are equally good at computation and at understanding mathematical concepts. However, after their mid-teens, men are better at problem solving than women are.
    The question raised by Dr Summers does not get to the heart of the matter. Over the past 50 years, women have made huge progress into academia and within it. Slowly, they have worked their way into the higher echelons of discipline after discipline. But some parts of the ivory tower have proved harder to occupy than others. The question remains, to what degree is the absence of women in science, mathematics and engineering caused by innate, immutable ability?
    Innate it may well be. That does not mean it is immutable. A variety of abilities are amenable to training in both sexes. And such training works. Biology may predispose, but it is not necessarily destiny.
Which of the following statements is true of the passage?
选项 A、Neo-Darwinism offered biological evidence of the innate sex differences.
B、Female innate ability is not the only reason for their academic position.
C、Boys and girls performed equally well in problem solving in teenage years.
D、Dr. Summers ignored the fact that women have risen to the top of the ivory tower.
答案B
解析 此题考查考生根据上下文中的具体细节内容进行理解判断的能力。文章第五段提出在过去的50年里，女性在学术领域有重大的进步。渐渐地她们已经加入了各个学科的最高一级的梯队里。第六段提出，确实有先天因素，但这并不是说不可改变。很多能力对两性来说都是可以通过训练来改变的。根据上面的内容，可以推断出B选项为正确答案。
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