A person’s nose is important for breathing and smelling. The nose is also used in many popular expressions. Some people are able to “lead other people by the nose.” For example, if a wife “leads her husband by the nose,” she makes him do whatever she wants him to do. Some people are said to be “hard-nosed.” They will not change their opinions or positions on anything. If someone is “hard-nosed,” chances are he will never “pay through the nose,” or pay too much money, for an object or service. 

  It is always helpful when people “keep their noses out of other people’s business”—they do not interfere. The opposite of this is someone who “noses around all the time. “ This kind of person is interested in other people’s private matters. He is considered “nosey.” Someone who “keeps his nose to the grindstone” works very hard. This can help a worker “keep his nose clean,” or stay out of trouble. 

              One unusual expression is “that is no skin off my nose.” This means that a situation does not affect or concern me. We also say that sometimes a person “cuts off his nose to spite his face.” That is, he makes a situation worse for himself by doing something foolish because he is angry. More problems can develop if a

 person “looks down his nose” at someone or something. The person acts like something is unimportant or worthless. This person might also “turn up his nose” at something that he considers not good enough. This person thinks he is better than everyone else. He “has his nose in the air.”

            In school, some students “thumb their nose” at their teacher—they refuse to obey orders or do any work. Maybe these students do not know the correct answers. My mother always told me, if you study hard, the answers should be “right under your nose,” or easily seen. 

29. Which of the following can best describe a “hard-nosed” person?  (      )

A. Stubborn. B. Wise. C. Jealous. D. Generous. 

30. A person will not welcome if he___________. 

A. “keep one’s nose clean”

B. “noses around all the time”

C. “keeps one’s nose to the grindstone”

D. “keep one’s nose out of other people’s business”

31. The expression “turn up one’s nose” is similar with___________. 

A. “that is no skin off one’s nose”    

B. “look down one’s nose”

C. “have one’s nose in the air”     

D. “thumb one’s nose”

32. Something “right under your nose” means______. 

A. something hard to understand     

B. something a teacher asks in class

C. something a student refuses to do   

D. something easy to find

D

        A man enters a store to buy milk. He walks out of the store with milk. That is all—milk. At the same time, a woman enters the same grocery store also to buy milk. She buys it. But, she also buys chicken and lemons to make dinner that night. Then she remembers to buy food for her son to eat at school. She also gets a bottle of wine for drinks with friends and a birthday card for her husband’s niece. Then she gets coffee for breakfast, ice cream for dessert and remembers stamps to mail the bills. And don’t forget soap for the bathroom. 

And that is the difference between the female and male brains simply explained in a grocery store. 

Generally speaking, men do one thing at a time. Women do many. Now scientific research supports this theory about male and female brains. A recent study has confirmed what we have known all along—men and women think differently. 

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania studied brain images of 949 people aged from eight to 22 years old. They found that male brains have more connections on one side of the brain, or hemisphere. In the female brain, they found more activity and connections between the right and left sides of the brain. The left side of the brain is known as the side of “reason. “ The right hemisphere is known as the “creative” side. 

Regina Verma is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-wrote the report. She says when women are asked to do something difficult they might use different parts of the brain. Men, she adds, generally use just one side of the brain. As a result, men generally deal directly with a problem. There is a strong connection between the “understanding” and the “action” parts of their brains. Women, however, might include other parts of the brain when solving a problem. Women take a less direct path to find a solution. 

33. The author mentioned the shopping in Paragraph 1 to___________. 

A. show women’s carefulness   

B. prove men’s quick action

C. object to an opinion        

D. bring up the topic to be discussed

34. The main idea of Paragraph 4 is___________. 

A. women have two same brains on both sides

B. men have more complicated brains than women

C. different kinds of brain images have been studied

D. men’s structure of brain is different from women’s

35. What causes the difference between men’s and women’s behaviour?  (      )

A. Watching things from different sides. 

B. Having different attitudes towards life. 

C. Using different parts of the brain to think. 

D. Reacting at different speed to problems. 
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