Most people around the world are right-handed. This
also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made
at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in
these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness
has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the
world’s population is left-handed.
Why are there more right-handed people than
left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their
own jobs. For most people, the hand is used to find things or hold things. The
right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work
of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a
person’s hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left-side of
the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing
problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and
studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as
among people in other jobs.
No one really knows what makes a person become
right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of
the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are
born. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must
be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people
usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the
gene(基因) for right-handedness, he / she may become
either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they
work or live with.
Though right-handedness is more common than
left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or
unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right
hands like other children, but today they don’t have to.
1.After studying works of art made at different times
in history, the scientists found _______.
A. the art began from 1,500 B.C.
B. the works of art ended in the 1950s
C. most people shown in the works of art are
right-handed
D. most people shown in the works of art are
left-handed
2.How many people in the world are left-handed now?
A．Less than one
sixth. B．More than a
half.
C．About 40%. D．The passage
doesn’t tell us.
3.What is the hand for most people used to do?
A．It’s used to find or hold things.
B．It’s used to work with things.
C．It’s used to make a person’s eyes
work together.
D．It’s the centre for thinking and doing problems.
4.According to the passage, which of the following is
NOT true?
A．No one really
knows what makes a person become right-handed.
B．Left-handedness
is cleverer than right-handedness.
C．Today
children are not made to use their right hands only.
D．Scientists
think there must be some reason why people become left-handed.
5.The best title for this passage is _______.
A．Scientists’ New Inventions B．Left-handed
People
C．Which Hand D．Different
Brains, Different Hands
things
ng and then be reduced to a thousand dollars.
that three years in high school ________ not long. 