How We Form First Impression
1 We all have first impression of someone we just met. But why? Why do we form an opinion about someone without really knowing anything about him or her — aside perhaps from a few remarks or readily observable traits.
2 The answer is related to how your brain, allows you to be aware of the world. Your brain is so sensitive in picking up facial traits, even very minor difference in how a person’s eyes, ears, nose, or mouth are placed in relation to each other makes you see him or her as different1. In fact, your brain continuously processes incoming sensory information — the sights and sounds of your world. These incoming “signals” are compared against2 a host of “memories” stored in the brain areas called the cortex system to determine what these new signals “mean.”
3 If you see someone you know and like at school3, your brain says “familiar and safe. ‘‘If you see someone new, it says, “new — potentially threatening.” Then your brain starts to match features of this stranger with other “known” memories；The height, weight, dress, ethnicity, gestures, and tone of voice are all matched up. The more unfamiliar the characteristics, the more your brain may say, “This is new. I don’t like this person.” Or else, “I’m intrigued. “Or your brain may perceive a new face but familiar clothes, ethnicity, gestures — like your other friends；so your brain says: “I like this person.” But these preliminary “impressions” can be dead wrong4.
4 When we stereotype people, we use a less mature form of thinking（not unlike the immature thinking of a very young child）that makes simplistic and categorical impressions of others. Rather than leam about the depth and breadth of people — their history, interest, values, strengths, and true character — we categorize them as jocks, geeks, or freaks.
5 However, if we resist initial stereotypical impressions, we have a chance to be aware of what a person is truly like. If we spend time with a person, hear about his or her life, hopes, dreams, and become aware of the person’s character, we use a different, more mature style of thinking — and the most complex areas of our cortex, which allow us to be humane.
词汇：
trait / treɪ, treɪt/ n．特点，特征，特性
host / həʊst/ n．一大群，许多
simplistic / sɪm’plɪstɪk / adj．过分单纯化的
categorical / ,kætɪ’gɒrɪkl/ adj．绝对的
jock /dʒɒk / n．骗子
geek / gi:k / n．反常的人
stereotype / ’sterɪətaɪp/ v．对……产生成见
humane / hju:’meɪn, hjʊ- / adj．有人情味的，人文的
sensory / ’sensərɪ / adj．感官的，感觉的
cortex / ’kɔ:teks /n．脑皮层
ethnicity n．种族特点
intrigue / ɪn’tri:g / v．激起兴趣
freak / fri:k / n．怪人
注释：
1．Your brain is so sensitive in picking up facial traits, even very minor difference in how a person’s eyes, ears, nose, or mouth are placed in relation to each other makes you see him or her as different：从even开始到as different是个结果状语从句，相当于that even very minor ... .，而that是与主句中的so呼应的。
2．against：和……对比
3．If you see someone you know and like at school ...：如果你在学校里看见某个你认识而且喜欢的人…… like在这里是动词。
4．dead wrong：相当于completely wrong。dead wrong是口语表达用语。
A a stranger’s less mature type of thinking
B the most complex areas of our cortex
C the immature form of thinking of a very young child
D the meaning of incoming sensory information
E the sights and sounds of the world
F an opportunity to analyze different forms of thinking
You interpret by comparing it against the memories already stored in your brain ________.
A:a stranger's less mature type of thinking B:the most complex areas of our cortex C:the immature form of thinking of a very young child D:the meaning of incoming sensory information E:the sights and sounds of the world F:an opportunity to analyze different forms of thinking
Older Volcanic Eruptions
Volcanoes were more destructive in ancient history, not because they were bigger, but because the carbon dioxide they released wiped out life with greater ease.
Paul Wignall from the UniversityofLeedswas investigating the link between volcanic eruptions and mass extinctions. Not all volcanic eruptions killed off large numbers of animals, but all the mass extinctions over the past 300 million years coincided with huge formations of volcanic rock. To his surprise, the older the massive volcanic eruptions were, the more damage they seemed to do. He calculated the "killing efficiency" for these volcanoes by comparing the proportion of life they killed off with the volume of lava that they produced. He found that size for size, older eruptions were at least 10 times as effective at wiping out life as their more recent rivals.
The Permian extinction 1, for example, which happened 250 million years ago, is marked by floods of volcanic rock in Siberia that cover an area roughly the size of western Europe. Those volcanoes are thought to have pumped out about 10 gigatonnes of carbon as carbon dioxide. The global warming that followed wiped out 80 per cent of all marine genera at the time, and it took 5 million years for the planet to recover. Yet 60 million years ago, there was another huge amount of volcanic activity and global warming but no mass extinction. Some animals did disappear but things returned to normal within ten thousands of years. "The most recent ones hardly have an effect at all," Wignall says. He ignored the extinction which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, because many scientists believe it was primarily caused by the impact of an asteroid. He thinks that older volcanoes had more killing power because more recent life forms were better adapted to dealing with increased levels of CO2.
Vincent Courtillot, director of the Paris Geophysical Institute inFrance, says that Wignall"s idea is provocative. But he says it is incredibly hard to do these sorts of calculations. He points out that the killing power of volcanic eruptions depends on how long they lasted. And it is impossible to tell whether the huge blasts lasted for thousands or millions of years. He also adds that it is difficult to estimate how much lava prehistoric volcanoes produced, and that lava volume may not necessarily correspond to carbon dioxide emissions.
词汇：
dioxide [daɪˈɒksaɪd] n. 二氧化物
lava ["lɑ:və] n. 熔岩
Permian [ˈpə:miən] adj. 二叠纪
gigaton ["dʒɪgətʌn] n. 十亿吨梯恩梯
genera ["dʒenərə] n. 种类
dinosaurs ["daɪnəsɔ:z] n. 恐龙
asteroid [ˈæstərɔɪd] n. 小行星
注释：
1.The Permian extinction:二叠纪物种灭绝
How did Wignall calculate the killing power of those older volcanic eruptions?
A:By estimating how long they lasted B:By counting the dinosaurs they killed C:By studying the chemical composition of lava D:By comparing the proportion of life wiped out with the volume of lava produced
By comparing past problems with present ones, the author draws attention to the ______.
A:significance of this crisis B:inadequacy of governments C:similarity of the past to the present D:hopelessness of the situation
（ ） with the size of the whole earth, the highest mountain doesn’t seem high at all.
A:When compared B:Compare C:While comparing D:Comparing
This idea is much better ______ the last one.
A:compared with B:comparing with C:compared by D:comparing by
______ with the size of the whole earth, the highest mountain doesn' t seem high at all.
A:When compared B:Compare C:While comparing D:Comparing
This idea is much better ______ the last one.
A:compared with B:comparing with C:compared by D:comparing by
______ with the size of the whole earth, the highest mountain doesn' t seem high at all.
A:When compared B:Compare C:While comparing D:Comparing
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