男女来自不同星球?专家称属无稽之谈

    Some days the opposite(相反的) sex seems so different, you can almost believe that they come from another planet（行星）.
    Indeed, the theory that we are all hard-wired by our gender¹ has proved so popular that a book on the subject, Men Are From Mars（火星）, Women Are From Venus, became an international best-seller.
    Now a leading neuroscientist says women's brain power is no different to men's after all – and we are actually incredibly similar when it comes to intellect. Professor Gina Rippon says the idea that our brains are controlled by our gender is outdated² and wrong.
    And she has even accused researchers of producing findings that can be used to support the old prejudice that women are not men's intellectual equals.
    'There is increasing concern within the neuroscience community about the misinterpretation and abuse of our findings on the links between brain structure and behaviour,' she said.
    'This "neurohype" is designed to support stereotypes³ and to suggest that there is a major biological（生物的,生物学的） and structural⁴ difference in the brains of men and women that explains their social roles and status.
    'This is nonsense. There may be some very small differences between the genders⁵ but the similarities are far, far greater.’
    Professor Rippon's comments follow a spate⁶ of books promoting the idea that there are structural differences between men's and women's brains.
    However, the professor from Aston University in Birmingham, argues that although today's researchers can observe the minute workings of the brain, they are still asking questions that appear to be inspired by old-fashioned male-female stereotypes.
    Take a look at the characters in programmes such as Mad Men, the TV series about a 1960s advertising⁷ agency, and you'll get the idea.
    'Throughout history, biological explanations have been used as weapons to explain and maintain social differences,' she added.
    'In Victorian times, scientists suggested women thought with a different part of their brain from men. In the 1950s they came up with the idea that women's "inferior" thinking was controlled by their hormones⁸. Now the idea is that men and women have different brain structures –but there is no real evidence for any of it.'（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

3 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 genders   

n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

参考例句：

• There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句
• Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网

6 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

7 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

8 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。