Barack Obama

In the past hundred years, the U.S. presidency has turned more and more to the left – not in policy, but in handedness. Barrack Obama is the latest to join a long list of left – handed presidents from the 20th century: James Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Henry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were all southpaws.

What makes lefties so electable? Some experts think left-handed people have a greater aptitude for language skills, which may help them craft the rhetoric necessary for political office. And as for the bout of recent left-handed presidents, some think it’s because teachers only recently stopped working to convert lefties to rightist at an early age.

Bill Gates

Claiming the nation’s richest man among their number is a source of considerable pride for America’s society of southpaws. In fact, the Microsoft titan and philanthropist(巨頭兼慈善家) is one of a surprising number of U.S. business moguls to be left-handed, including Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and former IBM head Lou Gerstner. But the club seems to be a guys-only fraternity — research suggests that while left-handed men tend to earn more than their right-handed colleagues, there is no similar advantage for women. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research floated the idea that left-handed men favor "divergent" thinking, a form of creativity in which the brain moves "from conventional knowledge into unexplored association." Maybe that’s what it takes to develop a net worth estimated at $ 57 billion.

Oprah Winfrey

The talk-show queen doesn’t need much more to set her apart from the rest — what with her estimated $ 2.7 billion fortune and a magic ability to sell books just by glancing at them — but she also has the distinction of being a member of the left-handed club. Since men are more likely to be left-handed than women, that makes Oprah doubly impressive. She’s in good company: Other show-business ladies of the left – handed  persuasion include Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie

Marie Curie

Not only was atomic scientist Marie Curie left-handed, but she was the matriarch of a whole family of accomplished, southpaw scientists. Curie, who discovered the principles of radioactivity and won two Nobel Prizes, was married to fellow lefty Pierre Curie, who was instrumental in helping Marie’s atomic research and shared one of her Nobel awards. Historians believe their daughter, Irene, was also left-handed. Irene went on to win a Nobel Prize of her own with her husband — who, you guessed it, was also left-handed.

59．The underlined word “southpaws” in the last sentence of Paragraph 1 means_______.

A．people coming from the south B．powerful presidents

C．people who use their left hand D．forceful speakers

60．What makes it so easy for lefties to be elected as presidents according to the passage?

A．Their great gift for foreign language.

B．Their great language skills to make speeches.

C．The need of left – hinders in the political office.

D．Teachers stopping to force them to use their right hand.

61．It can be implied that Bill Gates, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and Lou Gerstne_______.

A．have creative thinking              B．have formed a special club.

C．earn more money than their wives   D．a(chǎn)re wealthy philanthropists

62．The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 “She is in good company” means “_______”.

A．she works in a very good company   B．she has many good friends

C．she has got on well with others        D．she is among many female lefties

 

【答案】

59—62 CBAD   

【解析】略

 

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