Unit 6 单元拓展阅读训练 2023—2024学年 冀教版 英语八年级下册

Unit 6 单元拓展阅读训练 2023—2024学年 冀教版 英语八年级下册 一、阅读理解 Jorge and Maria Ramirez and their six-year-old son are smiling and laughing as they watch the baby giant panda. They are at a zoo as part of a large crowd watching the baby panda learning to walk. Why are people so attracted by the baby giant panda? Cuteness is the answer. Experts say the things we describe as “cute” share several qualities（品质）. What make something cute is different from what makes something beautiful. People often describe pandas as cute, but they don’t usually say they are beautiful. A butterfly, on the other hand, may be beautiful but not cute. While we tend（倾向于）to admire（欣赏） beautiful things, we do not tend to have the fondness for them that cute things inspire （激发） in us. Scientists have discovered some key facial features and behaviors that cute things have in common. Two important features are a round face and bright eyes. The position of the eyes is also important: the eyes should at least appear to face forward and not be high on the face. There are also certain behaviors that cute things have in common, such as walking and moving arms, legs and wings unsteadily. Other important qualities of cuteness include youth, innocence（天真）and neediness, as well as being vulnerable（脆弱的）to possible harm or danger. The baby panda, with its round face, big black eyes and unsteady movements, has all the key features which add up to being cute. Another popular creature that shares many of these cute qualities is the baby emperor penguin. And many of people’s pets can be described as cute. Scientists believe there is an important reason why we are attracted to all these cute qualities. It is because human babies have all these qualities. They have round faces, bright eyes and unsteady movements. Human babies cannot get by without help from adults. Scientists point out that the cuteness of babies makes adults want to take care of them. This allows babies to survive（存活）, become adults and have their own babies.