【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 used mainly to control our thinking and get us to buy products that we don39。t need, the media also contribute to keeping people informed. In other words, while dangers do exist, the benefits of the media far outweigh（超過(guò)） the disadvantages. Most of the messages brought to viewers, listeners, and readers and designed either to inform or to entertain, and neither of these goals can be considered dangerous or harmful. If consumers of the media could be taught at an early age to examine messages critically, ., to think carefully about what is being municated, they would be able to take advantage of the information and enjoy the entertainment without being hurt by it. The key to critical thinking is recognizing the purposes of the news or scriptwriters, the advertisers, and so on. Are both sides of an issue being presented? Is the amount of violence and killing shown necessary to the point of a story? Have enough facts about a product being advertised been presented? Besides, in a country with a democratic (民主的 ) form of government, the people can be kept informed by the mass media. To be able to express their views and vote intelligently, citizens need the opportunity to hear news, opinions, and public affairs programming. Information about current events is presented indepth on publicly funded TV channels and radio stations as well as in newspapers. In addition, the public broadcasting media can help viewers and listeners to plete or further their education. The media also give people the information they need in their daily lives and the media can be a valuable means of educating the public. Even though the media can be misused, most of their effects are positive. 40. The main point the writer tries to make in this text is that ________ A. advertising is harmful when it presents incorrect information B. the positive effects of the mass media outweigh the negative ones C. people should learn to take advantage of the media39。s benefits is more useful as a means of entertainment than as a means of providing information 41. What should consumers of the mass media be taught at an early age? A. To bring their imagination into full play when watching programs of low quality. B. To buy products advertised so that the demand increases. C. To turn off the TV set when hurt by bad programs. D. To think critically about the messages brought to them. 42. We can learn from paragraph 3 that citizens will be in a better position to express their view and make their choices if they are . A. highly educated through TV and radio B. well protected by the government C. highly paid by the employers D. well informed by the media 43. The underlined phrase indepth in paragraph 3 could be best replaced by________. A. thoroughly B. partly C. relatively D. simply C The classical study of family size and IQ was conducted in the Netherlands. It was based on the military examinations of more than 386,000 Dutchmen. Researchers found that the brightest subjects came from the smallest families and had few, if any, brothers and sisters when they were born. Thus the firstborn child in .a family of two was usually brighter than the last child in a family. The effects of family size on intelligence may be explained by what a house full of children does to the home environment. It increases the amount of time a child spends with other children and decreases the amount of parental attention he or she receives. For example, a parent with one restless child is likely to sit and play with the child. The same parent with two or three restless children is more likely to ask them to play with each other. Some psychologists say that when a child interacts (交往 ) with an adult alone, the child learns more and therefore intelligence is increased . Researchers have also found that parents often expect more from their firstborn , which motivates (激發(fā) ) such children to seek a higher standard. Not all psychologists agree that firstborns tend to be more intelligent. They say that the data need to be examined more closely for other possible explanations. For example, in industrialized nations most large families e from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.