Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage·
A major sociological（社会学的）theory known as symbolic interactionism（符
号互动论）offers some important clarification of how men and women are taught to fill different roles in society．The key concept in symbolic interactionism is that communication makes a big difference in behavior：people act on the basis of messages they receive from others，and how they understand those messages. This can be seen in a concept developed by sociologist Charles Horton Cooley known as the looking-glass self．
By the looking-glass self，Cooley meant the self-image that each of us develops according to the messages we receive from others；we think and behave according to our understanding of those messages．If, for example，a young girl is repeatedly told that she is pretty, she will come to believe that（1）she is in fact pretty，and（2）being pretty is an important thing in her life．Similarly，if she is told that she is not good（or not expected to be good）at certain things（such as math） she will come to believe that she is not good at such things and would better off working at things she can be successful at．The likely product is a young woman who devotes a great deal of attention to her appearance，regards being pretty as a key to success in life，and who is intimidated by anything involving numbers．
Since we know that young girls are given messages like these，and that young boys are given different messages，we can see a good part of how sex roles are taught．There is little or no evidence of differences in what young girls and young girls and boys can do，but the older children become，the greater the differences in the areas in which boys and girls are likely to stand out.
26．Symbolic interactionism helps to explain______．
A．how to make a difference in people’s social behavior
B．how to make people understand different social roles
C．how men and women learn to communicate in society
D．how men and women learn to take different social roles
27．The “looking-glass self'’ concept offers a clue as to______．
A．whether one can improve one’s self-image
B．whether one is likely to succeed in an area
C．how one receives different social messages
D．how social messages shape one’s self-image
28．The example of the young girl shows that______．
A．women care more about appearance
B．women are inferior to men in numbers
C．people are liable to social expectations
D．people regard looks as a key to Success
29．The phrase “better off’（para.2）probably means——-
A．more comfortable
B．more dependable
C．more respectable
D．more reasonable
30．Boys and girls are likely to stand out in different areas______．
A．as they advance in age
B．as they grow in wisdom
C．as their interests diversify
D．as their capacities develop
