Is your brain male or female?

Watch the video just for fun before doing the PAU test


                

Do you have a "male" or "female" brain? Are there really significant brain differences between the sexes and if so, do these differences matter? BBC Horizon investigates.

When it comes to the tricky and explosive question of how much, if at all, male and female behaviour is driven by brain differences, Professor Alice Roberts and I sit on different sides of the fence.

I believe that our brains, like our bodies, are shaped by exposure to hormones in the womb and this may help explain why males tend to do better at some tasks (3D rotation), while women tend to do better at others (empathy skills), although there is, of course, an awful lot of overlap and social pressure involved.

Alice, on the other hand, thinks these differences are largely artificial, the result of how the tests are carried out. She worries that such claims may discourage girls from going into science. "We live in a country where fewer than three out of ten physics A levels are taken by girls, where just 7% of engineers are women" she points out, before adding "and where men still earn on average nearly 20% more than their female colleagues." So the BBC's Horizon programme asked us to go and explore the science, put forward research that would support our different views, but also look for common ground.

One of the scientists who has most strongly influenced my beliefs is Professor Simon Baron-Cohen of Cambridge University. He argues that, broadly speaking, there are two different "brain types". There are empathisers, who are good at identifying how other people are thinking or feeling, and there are systemisers, people who are more interested in trying to take apart and analyse systems i.e. people who are a bit nerdy.

We are all a mix of the two, but most of us are more one than the other. Men tend to sit more along the systemising end of the spectrum, women at the empathising end, though there are plenty of exceptions.

 Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a. The writer and Professor Alice Roberts share the same opinions.

b. The writer believes that all the differences between male and female brains are merely   genetic.

c. The BBC wanted answers to the questions .

d. We could make mistakes thinking the rule applies to everyone equally.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a.What does the writer think about the difference in our brains?

b. What does Alice Roberts fear?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a. relevant (par.1)                                              b) to be inclined (par.3)

c) usually (par.4)                                              d) to back up (par.4)

e) very interested in technical matters (par.5)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a.   “Are there really significant brain differences between the sexes? Do these differences matter?

       BBC’s Horizon asked ……………………………………………………

b. The BBC’s Horizon programme asked us to go and explore the science.

       We ……………………………………………………………………………..

c. People believe that men are better tan women at some tasks.That’s why women earn 20% less tan men.

            If ………………………………………………………………………………

  

Question 5 (3 points) Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

            What differences can you see between men and women?