2016年12月四级 第1套 Section A 选词填空

Many men and women have long bought into the idea that there are "male" and "female" brains, believing that explains just about every difference between the sexes. A new study __26__ that belief, questioning whether brains really can be distinguished by gender.

In the study, Tel Aviv University researchers _27 for sex differences throughout the entire human brain. And what did they find? Not much. Rather than offer evidence for __28__ brains as "male" or "female," research shows that brains fall into a wide range, with most people falling right in the middle.

Daphna Joel, who led the study, said her research found that while there are some gender-based — __29__ , many different types of brain can't always be distinguished by gender.

While the "average" male and "average" female brains were __30__ different, you couldn't tell it by looking at individual brain scans. Only a small __31__ of people had "all-male" or "all-female" characteristics.

Larry Cahill, an American neuroscientist (神经科学家), said the study is an important addition to a growing body of research questioning __32__ beliefs about gender and brain function. But he cautioned against concluding from this study that all brains are the same, __33__ of gender.

"There's a mountain of evidence __34__ the importance of sex influences at all levels of brain function," he told The Seattle Times.

If anything, he said, the study __35__ that gender plays a very important role in the brain—"even when we are not clear exactly how."