2018年6月大学英语六级听力常考时文：Gender of Instruments

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　　1.How do our sexual stereotypes influence us? They influence ...
        　　2.According to a recent study, who are more likely to pick instruments like
drums or the saxophone? ...
        　　3.What did the researchers find about the sexual stereotypes? ... was far
easier to break away from them.
        　　Almost from the beginning, our sexual stereotypes have become so entrenched
that they influence nearly everything we do, from the sports we play to the
instruments we study to the careers we finally pick. A recent study reaffirmed
that young boys are far more likely to pick instruments generally considered
"male," like drums, the trumpet or the saxophone, and girls will pick "feminine"
instruments", like the violin, clarinet or flute. Betty Repacholi of the
University of Washington and her former student, Samantha Pickering of the
University of Sydney, reported their findings in the current issue of the
journal Sex Roles. The researchers, who studied more than 600 kindergarten and
fourth-grade Australian children over the past couple of years, found that it't
far easier for a little girl to break away from the stereotypes and pick a
masculine instrument than it is for a little boy to pick up the violin. Some
boys do, of course, and many of the true masters of that instrument are men,
perhaps indicating that gender is far less important as the inner muse takes
over on the road to excellence. But in those early years, it can be really tough
for a little guy to pick up his violin case instead of a football and head out
to school. That's not what boys are supposed to do. In other words, it might not
sting as much for a girl to be called a tomboy as it does for a boy to be called
a sissy. So girls, the researchers suggest, make the break more easily than
boys, at least in the short term.