ACTIVITY 4 – READING

Read the text below and answer the questions that follow.

It’s a Girl

1 In an average human population, 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. This
situation may reflect an in-built natural balance because, as a population, the
world’s men tend to die some five years earlier than the world’s women. Interestingly,
this means that the average gender balance point in many populations occurs
somewhere in the optimum child-bearing years of most adults. The ratio of girls born
to boys tends to remain pretty constant, even in times of war or natural disaster. A
great many men died in the First World War in Europe, the so-called “Lost
Generation” and in the Second World War in Russia. As a result, many women went
through life without ever finding a husband after these wars. But the scarcity of men
created no impact on the gender balance among newborn babies.

2 However, recent research shows that there are some very interesting forces at work
that do seem to positively determine if a newborn will arrive in the world as a boy or a
girl. A recent study of 9,000 pregnancies in the UK by the Liverpool School of
Tropical Medicine found a startling correlation between smoking and the likely gender
of a newborn baby. Men who smoke are twice as likely to father a daughter as to
father a son. Women who smoke are 50% more likely to bring a girl into the world
than a boy. The researchers do not yet know why smoking has this effect. But they
assume that some of the chemicals in cigarettes must cause this impact. Studies in
the future are likely to focus on identifying which specific chemicals can help
determine gender and why.

3 However, there is another factor that seems to play a part in whether a couple’s first
baby will be a girl or a boy. New research shows that attractive couples are more
likely to have a girl as their firstborn than a boy. This research originates from a
number of different studies conducted in different parts of the world, all of which show
the same trend. When observers say that both a child’s mother and a child’s father
are above average attractiveness, the chance of the couple’s first child being a girl is
extraordinarily great. Think of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to prove this proposition.
To the surprise of none of the researchers looking into attractiveness as a
determinant of gender, Hollywood’s beautiful couple of 2006 brought a baby girl into
the world later that year.
4 So why does attractiveness bring forth girls? This is where research gives way to a
very disputable hypothesis. Many of the doctors and scientists involved in the
attractiveness research believe that attractiveness is embedded as an evolutionary
survival tactic in humans. They also believe that tactic is more important to women
than to men. So, in the case where there is a greater than average chance of a
couple producing an attractive child, this hypothesis goes, that child is far more likely
to be a girl than a boy. Interestingly, these attractive girls are as likely to have high
intelligence as any firstborn boy. While there may be many dumb beauties in the
world, there is no meaningful correlation between beauty and native intelligence in
girls!

5 Given all this, is it not likely that the world’s beautiful people are destined to find each
other out to produce ever more beautiful (and no less clever) children than everyone
else? The answer here is also quite surprising. Research by a team of psychologists
at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK suggests not. The team discovered
that women consistently ranked men as unattractive, attractive or very attractive.
However, when asked about their interest in getting to know a man, their rankings did
not reflect the man’s attractiveness in the same way at all. The most attractive and
successful men ranked alongside the most ugly and the least successful. The women
seemed to prefer less attractive men in high-ranking jobs or more attractive ones in
low-ranking jobs.

6 The psychologists conjecture that this outcome shows that women have a mistrust of
men who seem to have everything going for them. The psychologists wonder if this
reflects a fear that very handsome and successful men will not put the same effort
into family life and loving commitment as slightly less striking and successful ones.
Certainly there is no doubt that in modern Britain, at least having a high-powered
career involves working long hours that keeps a person away from the family. Could
it be that we are subconsciously attracted to people we think will invest in us as the
love of their lives rather than in all the things that bring material comfort to our lives?
There is no answer to this question. But what does seem obvious is that while a
person with money may not bring you love, a lovingly attractive spouse is likely to
give you a daughter if you ever bring a child into the world!

Source : Just English magazine, Vol 4, Issue 3

SECTION A (10 marks)

Find words in the paragraphs (indicated by the paragraph number) that match the meanings
below.

Meaning Word

e.g. scenario (paragraph 1) situation

1. stable (paragraph 1)

2. shortage (paragraph 1)

3. surprising (paragraph 2)

4. comes from (paragraph 3)

5. exceptionally (paragraph 3)

6. causing a lot of arguments (paragraph 4)

7. fated (paragraph 5)

8. show (paragraph 5)

9. guess (paragraph 6 )

10. clear (paragraph 6)

SECTION B (5 marks)

What do the following words refer to?

1. This situation (paragraph 1) : __________________________________________

2. their (paragraph 3) : __________________________________________

3. that year (paragraph 3) : __________________________________________

4. ones (paragraph 5) : __________________________________________

5. this (paragraph 6) : __________________________________________

SECTION C (6 marks)

Circle the letter corresponding to the best answer, eg. A , if A is the answer.

1. Which of the following statement is FALSE?

A. On average, the ratio of boys born to girls is higher.
B. The lifespan of men is generally five years shorter than that of women.
C. The average gender balance point occurs during childhood.
D. The ratio of women to men was quite high during World War I and World War II.

2. The study conducted in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine found

I. smoking affects the gender of newborn babies.
II. the chemicals in cigarettes determine the gender of newborns.
III. men and women who smoke tend to have baby girls than baby boys.
IV. There are more newborn girls than boys resulting from 9000 pregnancies.

A. I and II
B. I and III
C. II and IV
D. III and IV

3. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A. New research on attractive couples is based on the trend from many different studies
in other parts of the world.
A. Beautiful couples in Hollywood such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had a baby girl.
B. Many doctors and scientists believe that attractiveness has some correlation with
newborns’ intelligence.
C. Attractiveness is more important to women’s survival than men’s.

SECTION D (7 MARKS)
Answer the following questions.

1. According to the hypothesis, what will the firstborn of attractive couples likely to be?

a) ___________________________________________________________________
b) ___________________________________________________________________
 c) ___________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)

2. According to the psychologists at the University of Central Lancashire, how do women

usually categorize men?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

3. According to psychologists, why do women prefer less attractive men with good careers?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)