Question

If you're ever apart from your children， a new study says just talking on the phone will help just as much as a hug (擁抱).

If you're a parent who spends long hours on the job， you probably feel sorry for spending so much time away from your kids. But the results of a new study show that a mother's voice alone can be just as comforting to an anxious child as physical contact (接觸).

In an experiment， researchers from the University of Wisconsin Madison asked a group of girls between the ages of 7 and 12 to solve math problems in front of judges — a stressful situation for anyone. Before the girls were set to give their answers， the researchers measured their levels of two hormones(荷爾蒙)：cortisol，which goes up during stressful periods， and oxytocin， the “l(fā)ove” hormone， which goes down at the same time.

After the girls finished the problems， some of them got to meet up with their mothers right away. The moms came in and hugged the girls. Another group of the girls didn't see their mothers， but received phone calls from them， in which their mothers told them how well they'd done. The final group had no contact with their mothers， but instead watched an animal movie， March of the Penguins.

Finally， the girls' hormone levels were measured again. Although the movie was interesting， it did nothing to reduce the children's anxiety—but， surprisingly， both the physical contact and phone calls from their mothers had the same effect on reducing the girls' stress levels.

So， no matter how old you are， if you're feeling stressed about something in your life， a phone call to Mom might be just the key to help you feel better.

1.If a girl is under stress， _______.

A. she can’t solve math problems

B. she will have high levels of hormone

C. oxytocin will remain at a high level

D. cortisol will go up with oxytocin down

2.Which of the following is the right order in which the study was carried out?

a. The girls' levels of hormones were measured again.

b. The girls solved math problems.

c. The girls' levels of hormones were measured.

d. The girls were divided into three groups.

A. b-c-d-a B. d-b-c-a C. c-b-d-a D. d-c-b-a

3.From the passage， we can infer that _______.

A. it is easy for girls to solve math problems

B. the girls who had watched the movie remained anxious

C. mothers should hug their kids as often as possible

D. older girls have higher cortisol than younger ones

4.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. A mother’s voice can comfort her anxious kids.

B. Mothers should often hug their kids.

C. Mothers should spend enough time caring about their kids.

D. Scientists discovered why kids become stressed when having tests.

Answer 1