Personality types are linked with structural differences in the brain, which could explain why one
child grows up to be impulsive (冲动的) and outgoing while another becomes diligent and introspective.
Structural differences between the brains of 85 people have been measured and linked with the
four main categories of personality types, which were classified as“novelty seeking”, characterized
by impulsive actions; “harm avoidance”, marked by pessimism and shyness; “reward dependence”,
with an addictive personality; and “persistence”, who are people tending to be diligent, hardworking
and perfectionists.
The researchers said the brain differences are structural and can be measured in the size of specific
regions of the brain that appear to be linked with each of the four personality types. For instance, people
defined as noveltyseeking personalities had a structurally bigger area in the brain while people with
harmavoidance personalities had significantly smaller volumes of tissue in brain regions.
The fact that characteristics are reflected in specific structural differences is useful to know, for
instance, when it comes to understanding a child"s behavior and choosing the right approach so that
somebody who is, for example, particularly timid, might be helped through education and development.
There is no point shouting at a child who is very shy and telling them off, because it does not come
naturally to them to put themselves forward. But actually knowing there is a biological basis for this
helps educators or parents to use the right approach to help a child to compensate.
People who have a rewarddependence personality could, for example, be helped at an early age
because they are at risk of turning to drink, drugs or food if they do not get the family support and
encouragement they need.
“This study shows that personality characteristics are something you are born with, but their full
expression can be adjusted during development with the right approach.” said Professor Venneri, who
carried out the study with colleagues from the University of Parma in Italy and Washington University
in St Louis.
If you know it"s not something you do but something you are, you can change the environment
to reduce the risk. Knowing that someone has such a predisposition (体质)could help them adopt
preventive strategies and avoid situations where they might seek rewards which could be potentially
harmful.
3. We can infer from the passage that ____________.
Over the summer, 18-years-old Roberto Mancera of Chandler wasn"t looking forward to dances,
football games or even his last year in high school.He was more excited about building a robot that will
compete in the sixth annual FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)Arizona Regional.
FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, a nonprofit
organization that believes the heroes of today"s youth should be engineers, not sports or pop stars.They
aim to change the culture by hosting athleticlike competitions for robots,with cheering fans, mascots (吉祥物) and music.
Mancera and a team of about 14 of his schoolmates will compete this year against 44 other high
school teams from all over Arizona,California and New Mexico at the Arizona Veterans Memorial
Coliseum in Phoenix.Finalists will move on to the FRC 2009 Championship in Atlanta to face teams from
48 states and seven other countries.
For the 40 regional events worldwide, a similar“ kit (工具包) of parts” is given to each of the 1,680
teams from around the globe every January.The robot functions are different every year, and after a
sixweek building season, robots are boxed up and shipped off to the competition"s destination.
The competition has a minimum $6,000 entrance fee, and students are sponsored and mentored by
adult professionals and experts,like computer science teacher Sam Alexander, 39, at Chandler High.“I
try to give the kids the challenge and they try to figure it out,” he said.“They work through the entire
scientific method without me giving them the answers.”
FIRST students are also eligible(有资格的)to apply for $9.7 million in college scholarships,
something that Alexander"s students have taken advantage of.
“You learn skills that your average student isn"t learning.” Mancera said.“It"s really amazing, and I"ve
been able to meet a lot of interesting people.” Mancera said that he found himself when he joined the
robot ics team.He now has set a career goal and has learned valuable leadership skills.
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