Traditionhasitthatboysaregoodatcountingandgirlsaregooda...

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Tradition has it that boys are good at counting and girls are good at reading. So much so that Mattel once produced a talking Barbie doll whose stock of phrases included “Math class is tough!”

   Although much is made of differences between the brains of adult males and females, the sources of these differences are a matter of controversy. Some people put forward cultural explanations and note, for example, that when girls are taught separately from boys they often do better in subjects such as maths than if classes are mixed. Others claim that the differences are rooted in biology, are there from birth, and exist because girls’ and boys’ brains have evolved to handle information in different ways.

Luigi Guiso of the European University Institute has just published the results of a study which suggests that culture explains most of the difference in maths, at this week’s Science, they show that the gap in mathematics scores between boys and girls virtually disappears in countries with high levels of sexual equality, though the reading gap remains.

Dr. Guiso took data from the 2003 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment. On average, girls’ maths scores were lower than those of boys. However, the gap was largest in countries with the least equality between the sexes, while it vanished in countries where the sexes are more or 1ess equal to one another. The researchers also did some additional statistical checks to ensure the correlation was material. They say their data therefore show that improvements in maths scores are related not to economic development, but directly to improvements in the social position of women. However, the gap in reading scores not only remained, but got bigger as the sexes became more equal. Average reading scores were higher for girls than for boys in all countries.

This suggests an interesting paradox. At first sight, girls’ rise to mathematical equality suggests they should be invading maths-heavy professions such as engineering—and that if they are not, the implication might be that prejudice is keeping them out. However, as David Ricardo observed almost 200 years ago, economic optimisation is about comparative advantage. The rise in female reading scores a longside their maths scores suggests that female comparative advantage in this area has not changed. According to Paola Sapienza, a professor of finance at Northwestern University in Illinois who is one of the paper’s authors, that is just what has happened. Other studies of gifted girls, she says, show that even though the girls had the ability, fewer than expected ended up reading maths and sciences at university. Instead, they went on to be become successful in areas such as law.

In other words, girls may acquire an absolute advantage over boys as a result of equal treatment. This is something that society, more broadly, has not yet taken on board. Mattel may wish to take note that among Teen Talk Barbie’s 270 phrases concerning shopping, parties and clothes, at least one might usefully have been, “Dostoevsky rocks!”

71. The mathematical gap between boys and girls_____.

A. is a traditional misunderstanding

B. is a controversial claim without proof

C. can be interpreted as the evolution of information handling

D. narrowed with improvement in women’s social position

72. The differences between boys and girls in reading______.

A. result from a cultural source

B. may have a biological origin

C. are a reflection of sexual inequality

D. become larger with the decrease of the maths gap

73. What is the main reason preventing woman from crowing the profession of engineering?

A. Social prejudice against them           B. Their disadvantages in math

C. The appeal of woman-dominated areas    D. Their absolute advantage in reading

74. It can be inferred from that in sexually equal societies________.

A. girls have advantages in both maths and reading

B. girls are becoming as good as boys at mathematics

C. woman do better than men in math-related careers

D. a greater number of men enter reading-related fields

75. The last sentence of the passage implies that society need to_______.

A. eliminate discrimination against women in maths

B. ensure equal opportunities for boys and girls

C. recognize girls’ advantages in reading

D. encourage women to pursue maths and sciences

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